Movies: Queen movie:Bohemian Rhapsody (lets rewrite history)

[Jumptheshark]

Not sure why they had we will rock you come in 80 when it came out in 77.

As a fan of queen there is a lot of nibbles I have with stuff they got wrong.

The big one is how they had him begging to get back in the band and how they said they had not played together for years.

My biggest complaint is how they decided to ignore queen toured in 84 and 85 and it was their road crew hired for live aid. It was not their manager at the mix board but their road producer.

Queen was one of the few bands doing stadium tours and their guys got hired for the gig.


I also think deacon told may and Taylor the less I am in it the happier he would be.

It is also what I view as a g rated queen story.

Queen got into shit over playing sun city in South Africa.

Also. They completely ignored bands finances. The song death on two legs is about one of their former business associates

 

[Jumptheshark]

 

[Vodka_Tonic]

Thanks for that.

And honestly, I just don't see the need for most of the changes. I understand that you sometimes need to condense or alter the real story for dramaturgical reasons. But this just seems like lazy writing. There are loads and loads of funny, sad, dark or emotional real stories and anecdotes regarding Queen to fill two movies.

That they had to shove Adam Lambert into the movie for a cameo is another thing that really bothered me. That scene wasn't needed in any way to further the story.

I guess it's a perfect movie for people who own one or two of the greatest hits albums or like the songs when they hear them on the radio.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Thanks for that.
1
And honestly, I just don't see the need for most of the changes. I understand that you sometimes need to condense or alter the real story for dramaturgical reasons. But this just seems like lazy writing. There are loads and loads of funny, sad, dark or emotional real stories and anecdotes regarding Queen to fill two movies.

That they had to shove Adam Lambert into the movie for a cameo is another thing that really bothered me. That scene wasn't needed in any way to further the story.

I guess it's a perfect movie for people who own one or two of the greatest hits albums or like the songs when they hear them on the radio.

the more I think about there is one other things that bothers me and I think I know why they did it. The 25 minutes of the 2:15h run time was all live aid and recreating that performance. I think that was done partly due to last minute edits(like Brian May's first wife asking her speaking role to be removed) and done to families of some people complaining as well

I was reading an online article and it suggested the Queen business managers from the 70's (death on two legs era) were originally in the movie and was cut--if that had been kept in--the CBS deal that Freddie signed might have made more sense if linked to that.

Queen is famous for the fact that they were broke until 1976 because while they were getting royalties from being on the radio and record sales--they had hired business people to monitor and control their money. Roger Taylor gave an example of how he was warned about breaking drum stick by a guy who bought a new rolls royce a few days later--when Queen was able to get from under the contract--they found that things like a a drum stick--their business group were charging them something like 500% to replace it

rolling stone fact checks the movie as well

Fact-Checking The Queen Biopic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ – Rolling Stone


and then you have bassis John Deacon

Ex-Queen bassist John Deacon is worth £105m but he's been a recluse for 30 years | Daily Mail Online

it is intersting that while May and Taylor have been married a few times--JD is married to the same woman since 1975--right before the band exploded

 

[Jumptheshark]

 

[Blitzkrug]

Thinking back on it, i really don't understand the need to slam the AIDS diagnosis into the whole live aid thing.

Mercury had his first test in 1985 (so they got that part kinda right) but if memory serves his first one came back negative. The second, and obviously positive test was sometime around when The Miracle was being worked on (or it led to The Miracle getting done far ahead of schedule because of Freddie deciding he wanted to pump out as much music as humanly possible before he passed)

The little bits i can look past. Sure they totally screwed up some of their chronology like having Fat Bottomed Girls being performed roughly 3-4 years before the album it was on was even produced. Or having We Will Rock You show up as if it was recorded sometime between 1980 and 1981 when it should have been 3 years earlier (and obviously not on The Game)

Freddie outright says in the movie "i will not be their ****ing poster boy/victim" or whatever it was...only for the movie to paint him as exactly that anyway. Last act was ****ed but was still enjoyable.

 

[Vodka_Tonic]

Well... looks like it will top the US box office with an estimated $48.9M. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Sends Thunderbolts And Lightning Through B.O. As Freddie Mercury Biopic Nears $50M Opening


iTunes Global Digital Artist Ranking | 11/03
1 +1 Queen 5755
2 -1 Lady Gaga 5563
3 = Bradley Cooper 3610
Global Digital Artist Ranking

 

[TheBeastCoast]

My interest is mild at best but the girlfriend really wants to see it....Looked into seeing it tonight and it was straight up sold out. Was not expecting to see that lol.

 

[Vodka_Tonic]

Queen in a nutshell... The critics hate, the longtime fans nitpick and the general public loves it

But it is nice to see Queen having success in the US again.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Queen in a nutshell... The critics hate, the longtime fans nitpick and the general public loves it

But it is nice to see Queen having success in the US again.

hey-if I wanted to nit pick I would have complained about the following line

"Lets face facts. Bohemian Rhapsody wont be a song kids will bang their head to in the back seat of their cars" Mike Myers--okay-yeah I should have led with that 4th wall break there

 

[CokenoPepsi]

Will see it as a big fan but expecting it to mostly suck.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Nowhere near the same caliber as "Ray" or "Walk the Line". Rami Malek was very good though and the way they incorporated the songs into the movie made it impossible not to like a little bit.

Good movie, could've been much much better

 

[Jussi]

Saw it today, I was entertained but it was a bit bland. 7 or 7½ out of 10. The whole Live Aid set was so well done, even though it was missing two songs (Crazy Little Thing Called love and We Will Rock You). The whole historical inaccuracy about Freddie's solo career and HIV contraction put me off, plus the whole overmelodramatic bit before Live Aid in general. They really should have omitted the solo career part and put in the Sun City part and perhaps emphasized their money issues early in their career. I realyl wanted this to be better than it ended up being.

 

[JianYang]

I just watched the movie. Very good performance from Malek. However, the way they executed the story of Freddie, and Queen left a lot to be desired IMO.

It would have been nice to see more of their struggles early on, and Freddie's determination to continue singing into the late 80's, but I also understand that it was a fine line to walk considering Freddie isn't here to defend himself, and he wanted to keep the ordeal super private anyways.

Malek saves it from being ouright bad. 6.5/10

 

[Vodka_Tonic]

Brian May posted a picture on his Instagram. Looks like the movie is #1 in every country it's been released.

 

[Jumptheshark]

 

[Datsyukian Deke]

Saw it yesterday, not bad at all I must say, very entertaining, but as others have mentioned, could have been a little better. I was rooting for the Sacha Baron Cohen version to get filmed, just because I feel it would have had a more real feel to it, but that's just me.

 

[kihei]

Just watch the Live Aid segment on youtube and cut out the middleman. The rest of the movie seems about as authentic as a unicorn.

 

[Jussi]

Just watch the Live Aids segment on youtube and cut out the middleman. The rest of the movie seems about as authentic as a unicorn.

Live Aid, not aids. Live Aid was about famine in Africa/Ethiopia, not aids.

 

[kihei]

Live Aid, not aids. Live Aid was about famine in Africa/Ethiopia, not aids.

Whoops. Thanks for coming to my aids.

 

[the squared circle]

Any of you guys old enough to remember Live Aid? I feigned sickness to stay home from soccer practice, so I could watch (and tape) it all day. LOVED IT.
Live Aid deserves its own thread

 

[Jussi]

Any of you guys old enough to remember Live Aid? I feigned sickness to stay home from soccer practice, so I could watch (and tape) it all day. LOVED IT.
Live Aid deserves its own thread

I think we have had one. I was shocked that there wasn't a thread for the 30th anniversary in 2015 (granted I forgot it myself) as the whole concert was aired on Finnish tv on the anniversary (of course I messed that as well). My only memory of Live Aid from 1985 was Nik Kershaw effing up the lyrics or chorus on "The Riddle".

 

[Voight]

Now THATS how you do a Biopic.

The Live Aid scene was just.... I don't even know what word to use here, realistic doesn't do it justice. I except a best actor nom at minimum.

Got chills everytime they performed one of the songs in concert. Its crazy that his impact is felt to this day.... every time I see an artist do something out of the blue at a concert or do some crazy stunt I think of Freddie's legend carrying on.

History wise he didn't test positive for AIDS until a year or so after Live Aid IIRC but I get why they showed it was before in the movie.

I was happy they showed Mercury as the pompous ass hat he could be at times and how while it is true he was Queen and they were nothing without him he made sure everybody knew that. I was worried they'd give people the wrong perception of him in memoriam.

 

[Voight]

Saw it yesterday, not bad at all I must say, very entertaining, but as others have mentioned, could have been a little better. I was rooting for the Sacha Baron Cohen version to get filmed, just because I feel it would have had a more real feel to it, but that's just me.

Malek fits Mercury's build better tho IMO which is what swayed it in his favour.

 

[Dubi Doo]

I thought the movie rocked. The Live Aid concert was incredibly well done. I got chills. f*** the critics, the people have spoken- 94% on rotten tomatoes by the general public.