Films Where the Props Were Better Than the Film Itself

In this live-stream excerpt, Adam answers Tested member questions from squallxgamer, EnigmaticPenguin and C2 Lawson about The Matrix, favorite limited-sets movies and movies in which the props and design are better than the movies themselves. Thank you squallxgamer, EnigmaticPenguin and C2 Lawson for your questions! Join this channel to support Tested and get access to perks like asking Adam questions:
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[@granander]

12 Angry Men is a fantastic limited set movie. Many gloss over it since its from 1957 and that is a shame. If you haven't I can wholeheartedly recommend it. Thank you for your thoughts Adam!

[@ErizotDread]

Also I would add Hitchcock's Rear Window...a riveting movie that takes place in a single apartment!

[@GigAnonymous]

"12 Angry Men" immediately sprung to mind for me too. In more recent films, I'd say "The Man from Earth" is also pretty great.

[@thomashverring9484]

I love that movie! I can't remember how I got to know about, but I was about twenty when I saw it the first time (which is at least twenty years ago ...). 12 Angry Men is an absolute pearl!

[@nathanlevesque7812]

There's a more recent Russian homage which is great too.

[@jeffburns1092]

I was going to say the same thing

[@johnnyjohnson6643]

One of my favorite limited set / "bottle episode" films is Moon, starring Sam Rockwell.

[@MiaogisTeas]

Stunning film. Until recently I didn't notice it played with Tom Clarke's subjective continuity of consciousness. Fascinating and disturbing

[@ErizotDread]

I really enjoyed that one! I love Sam Rockwell!

[@repletereplete8002]

that's a damned good choice.

[@tested]

Also a great film!

[@johnnyjohnson6643]

Duncan Jones is one of, like, a TINY handful of writer/directors who seem like I wished them up out of a genie's bottle. Taika Waititi and Alex Garland are two others! Speaking of whom, Ex Machina is also an INCREDIBLE "bottle episode" film (And if you count Sunshine, then that one too!).

[@Bad_Wolf_Media]

"Cube" HAS to be the answer for the best limited-set movie. Not the sequels or prequels, but the first film. There was one full 14'x14'x14' room built and one partial. A film made for $350k, and yet stands up even now, nearly 25 years later.

[@Daemonworks]

Oddly, my pick is also named Cube, made by an early Jim Henson. It was gloriously weird.

[@user-ee9cz6mc1x]

@@Daemonworks Imagine seeing that movie on mushrooms for the first time. That was my experience. Couldn't follow what was going on but it looked amazing. Still one of my favorite movies.

[@allreviews983]

That's a great example!!

[@antivanti]

12 Angry Men is just a room with a long table and not only does it hold up 64 years later, it's one of the best movies ever made. I saw it for the first time only a couple of years ago and was floored by it

[@jessmac1893]

You're right, and it is a fantastic movie. But I also hate that movie. It hits all the parts that I hate about horror and does it really well. Pretty sure I checked every room before walking in for the next week. I never watched the sequels. Once was good enough for me and it sticks with me years later.

[@sharkuc]

Looking over the comments so far I'm surprised there's no love for Das Boot as a limited set movie. Shot almost entirely in a full size replica of a Type VIIC U-boat where the director is said to have been so obsessed with detail that every screw had to be in the right place and of the right type as it would have been on a real sub.

[@jordivermeulen2519]

It's not really a limited set if you build an exact replica of a submarine...

[@lordofthemound3890]

@@jordivermeulen2519 Have you ever seen how tiny the interior is of a WWII U-Boat?

[@galfisk]

@@lordofthemound3890 no, but I've seen cold war era Swedish war planes. You can almost see what the engineers who designed them were thinking: Weapons: Hell yes. Engine: Hell to the power of yes. Pilot: Aw man, do we really have to?

[@nerfherder4284]

Das Boot is an excellent movie, but it doesn't take place entirely on the sub.

[@Draknfyre]

@@galfisk I've been on a WWII US sub. They definitely classify as a limited set. Having to turn sideways to walk down what could loosely be called a corridor, grabbing the edges of hatches to duck and crab-walk through them, and the cook having a kitchen literally the size of a closet is not what I'd call big. Space was at such a premium they often didn't have enough bunks for the men and some literally had to bunk in the fore and aft torpedo rooms, throwing a blanket over a live torpedo and using it as a bed. And despite having two showers, they were rarely used primarily because they'd instead use them as storage closets for additional food.

[@haris300tt]

The Animatrix is incredible. It's surprising to me how few people I know that have actually seen it.

[@MrKylederp]

I have waking dream experiencing that floating part from that movie

[@ohboy5999]

Still have the DVD

[@keithtorgersen9664]

I only remember 2 segments from that movie, where the man and woman are literally sparring/flirting, and the one where the young guy from the 3rd film wakes himself up.

[@ashakydd1]

The Animatrix is still the second best Matrix movie.

[@cascadianrangers728]

The part with the agent Smith Samurai was freaking epic

[@JesseCohen]

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (starring Law, Jolie, Paltrow) was pretty inspiring from concept to set, given the narrow budget “passion project” flavor and the fact that the whole thing was shot in a small warehouse/garage, green screen top to bottom, stem to stern. Then fully visualized in post.

[@illyth63]

A deeply underappreciated film, in my opinion. It's incredibly rich in homages to pulp sci fi and fantasy of the 1930s and the adjacent decades. At one point Gwyneth Paltrow quotes several lines from Orson Welles's War of the Worlds broadcast, but still in the context of the story she's in. Tickles me every time I see it.

[@AlanCanon2222]

@@illyth63 Dr Strangelove too.

[@illyth63]

@@AlanCanon2222 indeed!

[@ZelosPhotizo]

I didn't know what to make of it at first, but I find myself re-watching it more and more. I've didn't dislike it but I've grown to really like it.

[@drmodestoesq]

The problem with Sky Captain was the script. Especially the lack of a good antagonist. You can't have Star Wars without a Darth Vader.

[@pudddinounder]

Elysium, movie was kind of not good but it had alot of cool stuff in it.

[@ARTofTY-TV]

Feel the same way about Chronicles of Riddick

[@mcgoose258]

i'll never forget the rad laser cutter tool that let you choose all those ridiculous shapes (e.g star, christmas tree) to slice into whatevevr you were aiming at. that movie is incredibly dense with cool design

[@repletereplete8002]

good choice. Middling movie with ridiculous ending but some excellent fx, props and tech ideas.

[@danielpratt237]

For my money, the best single set movie is 12 Angry Men. Not even close.

[@sclogse1]

Theater. Where it really started. Why Welles is a good as he is, and of course, his radio days.

[@maluraq]

Best limited set movie ever is The Cube. Fantastic horror IMHO and so well written in a bunch of quirky ways. Single small room, lighting to change rooms.

[@nathanlevesque7812]

The Circle is also an excellent, prop oriented movie.

[@stinkyham9050]

Cube is awsome. Too bad so few people have seen it.

[@antivanti]

Cube is great but 12 Angry Men absolutely wins the prize for me. Also really love The Man From Earth. And My Dinner With Andre as Adam mentioned is way more engaging than it has any right to be

[@MichaelBabcock]

@@antivanti yes, the vast majority of 12 Angry Men takes place in one limited room but in The Cube they manage to make you believe it takes place in multiple rooms, in a larger environment, when it does not.

[@rbcrist]

The same with Blair Witch project.

[@leonardocucchiara4782]

"12 Angry Men" is the obvious answer for the best limited set movie! But to name another great one, "Carnage" starring Christoph Waltz, Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly is an awesome movie that takes place entirely in an apartment.

[@crazywilly85]

One of the best movies I've watched with Colin Farrell in it, is phone booth. Great actor.

[@johnnyjohnson6643]

Also qualifies for that "limited sets" category!

[@bashcrash9148]

This.

[@esporev]

In Bruges is a classic Colin Farrell flick too, it’s hilarious

[@ElectroDFW]

I think that's the only thing I've seen him in, but unfortunately, it didn't make me think much of his acting. To each their own I guess.

[@Games_and_Music]

I was looking for this comment, but i expected it to be about the "limited set" question. I have only seen it once, but i remember the hype about it at the time, for exactly the reason of it being a limited set movie. As i'm writing this comment, i remembe the more recent hype about Ryan Reynolds' Buried movie, also for being mostly shot in one location. Similar to Gravity with Sandra Bullock then i guess.

[@bookon999]

"Films Where the Design Was Better Than the Film Itself" There should be an award for films like this. We can all it the Jupiter Ascending Award.

[@edrdnc6706]

Limited Set movie nomination: The Man from Earth (2007) - a one room cabin in the woods for 90%, then a brief shot just outside. Almost no action at all, and still tickled my brain more than most.

[@MjStrwy]

Yes! The Man from Earth is one of my favorite speculative fiction movies. Could be, and probably was, a stage play but so mind-bending.

[@koleusrey302]

This is a long-time favorite of mine. I recently showed this movie to my wife, who grew up surrounded by college professors, and she found it to be exactly the sort of conversation that would enthrall a bunch of academics.

[@dustinmorse8497]

100% Just commented this myself. A fantastic movie.

[@Chukijay]

Phone Booth and the original 12 Angry Men for limited sets. Excellent films.

[@tested]

What's YOUR favorite limited-set movie? Or suggestions of films in which you thought the props/design were better than the film itself? Thank you squallxgamer, EnigmaticPenguin and C2Lawson for your questions! Join this channel to support Tested and get access to perks like asking Adam questions: kzbin.info/door/iDJtJKMICpb9B1qf7qjEOAjoin Use JOLLYGOOD to get 20% off everything in our online shop! Shop here: tested-store.com

[@Daniel-Strain]

My "Dinner with Andre" is a FANTASTIC film. As for the Wachowskis, totally agree. I think "Cloud Atlas" is a super underrated masterpiece.

[@nathanielpea5819]

Blade runner.... What now? Really? Blasphemy Also.... Limited set films..... D A S B O O T......

[@marvindebot3264]

Is that Bundaberg Ginger Beer? If it is tell Jamie he needs to try to get the Christmas-only spiced version, not sure they export it but if they do it's delicious!

[@MikeHerbstUSA]

Best Limited Set Movies: "Exam" is set almost entirely in one room, and as a bonus, has the coolest character name ever: 'The Invigilator' "Cube" was filmed entirely in one set room, dressed as multiple rooms with changes in light colors and minor props.

[@brianbaker2455]

I saw My Dinner With Andre in college, and was an actor in college studying limited set stage productions. I loved the minimal set production of Amadeus, Fiddler on the Roof, and 12 Angry Men. I would recommend a movie called Deathtrap, adapted from a stage play, starring Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve. I think that on the stage, the set can be minimal if the plot is engrossing and the costuming is interesting.

[@GeekCinema]

Valerian and the city of a thousand planets. One of the most visually stunning movies I have ever seen. Yet the story, plot and the acting is completely forgettable.

[@IdealGrain]

I don’t think I could have told you what that movie was about immediately after watching it. But it was beautiful.

[@user-ee9cz6mc1x]

Don't forget the total miscasting of Ravian

[@thedad7313]

Great design, god awful movie. Shame they didn’t tell any of the actors to act.

[@Piromanofeliz]

I absolutely enjoyed the movie. It was a trip. I also enjoyed that it was optimistic (almost utopian) sci fi. That's a pretty rare thing when you think of it.

[@markaustin5359]

Forgettable? I wish.

[@HRConsultant_Jeff]

One other in the room movie is Alfred Hitchcock's "The Rope". It appears to be done all in one take, almost entirely in the one room of the apartment with a group of people coming in and out. it was not filmed in one take, but it is often studied for the way it is filmed. Hitchcock at one of his best and great actors.

[@RobsRacingMotoVLOG]

Watching movies in other languages is the best piece of advice I’ve ever heard.

[@TheYrthenarc]

Agreed, but why would you watch a Final Fantasy movie in French? Surely Japanese is the only correct answer here.

[@NetAndyCz]

@@TheYrthenarc Because you are learning French;)

[@paulcochran1721]

Not a film, but the Eagle ships from "Space 1999" are one of my favorites even though the show itself was not a favorite of mine.

[@PaulMansfield]

I agree, the Eagles were exactly how my young self thought a utility craft would be on the moon, and I desperately wished I could have grown up to be an Eagle pilot.

[@Poohze01]

So excited to hear you talk about My Dinner with Andre! I saw it at a festival here in Australia back in the 80's, and have absolutely adored it ever since. So simple, but so engrossing! Oh, and my wife just reminded me of a wonderful Australian film from 1998 called The Interview starring Hugo Weaving which almost all takes place in a police interview room. Hugo Weaving is such a genius actor and this is one of his best performances.

[@aaronleverton4221]

Watched years later on ABC Asia-Pacific and at first I thought I was watching an episode of Wildside (I didn't see the opening credits), casting Tony Martin might have been lazy or might have been genius. But Weaving is all over the place in that little stageplay and it is mesmerising to watch his character go through all those changes.

[@jllaine]

Animatrix - best of the whole set in my opinion. Watching authentic anime with subtitles instead of dubbing also gives you a more accurate translation of the writer's intended dialog, since they don't have to change the wording to sync up with the animated mouth movements. You get a closer peek to the societal norms and values instead of a corny & stilted spew of words with the best mouth shape. What's really fascinating is to watch one with both dubbing and subtitles, and experience how big the difference between the dubbed translation and the subtitle translation.

[@MrGittz]

So just a heads up. Roger Ebert did not say “My Dinner with Andre” lacked genre. The quote is “Someone asked me the other day if I could name a movie that was entirely devoid of clichés. I thought for a moment, and then answered, My Dinner with Andre."

[@nathanlevesque7812]

How is it not a drama...

[@michaelpalmer5995]

@@nathanlevesque7812 clichés, not genre

[@nathanlevesque7812]

@@michaelpalmer5995 Fragment, not a sentence

[@michaelpalmer5995]

@@nathanlevesque7812 Sorry, I wasn't trying to be rude. The idea is simply that My Dinner with Andre absolutely has a genre, to a degree even single-setting can be a genre. However, it strays from cliché in every way possible, which is what makes it unique.

[@samcoon6699]

Animatrix has parts in it that has entrenched itself into my soul. There is something horrible about the "killing" of the machines and the following machine war that has affected me more than any movie before or since. I've always been a fan of anime and have watched a lot of it over the years but The Animatrix will forever haunt me with the imagery and script.

[@JanneRanta]

The original matrix had a ton of practical effects. I'm afraid the new one will just be completely shot on green screen.

[@WilliamBlakers]

Limited sets movie for me is Hitchcocks, Rope, closely followed by Rear Window.

[@Gowaduv]

I came to the comments to say I'm surprised he didn't nod to Rope. For those who haven't seen it it's a single shot (which given camera technology of the time necessitated single location).

[@WilliamBlakers]

@@Gowaduv another limited set Hitchcock worth watching, though is very dated, is Lifeboat. Im not sure if Rear Window would be considered limited set.

[@Gowaduv]

@@WilliamBlakers other folks have suggested Rear Window so you're in good company. I haven't seen it in a couple years but as I recall it's a courtyard, building entryway, and four(five?) apartments, two of which the camera enters. I'd say it leans toward limited sets if I'm not going to argue that an apartment building with a courtyard is a single set. Thanks for letting me know about Lifeboat. (Feels like it needs an exclamation mark for added drama... Lifeboat!)

[@jackmorris4099]

Jupiter ascending is one of my guilty pleasures. It always reminds me of some of Terry Gilliams classics.

[@jamesbarisitz4794]

The movie questions rock. Unprepared answers beat scripted ones any day.

[@Firedoomcaster]

Hehe. My uncle worked as one of the carpenters on the set of the Total Recall reboot. Apparently it was nicknamed ‘Total Re-Shoot’ on set.

[@iainbagnall4825]

The new Matrix movie was being filmed right before covid, in the building opposite mine in SF. Was pretty cool watching the high wire work from the 41st floor bar.

[@arthand7672]

Best limited set movie.. I really like the second evil dead movie, although I'm sure there are alot of horror movies that could fall on this list. I'm also not sure if deadpool counts, but the constant cut back to the bridge scene takes up half the film and deadpool's apartment is also heavily featured. I'm sure the final battle was probably 90% on green screen so that film was probably just 3 sets... the bridge, his apartment, and the lab

[@shaeferweleschuk1324]

Amazon Prime’s Tales from the Loop is the definition of design surpassing story. I found myself bored by almost every episode of pretty lackluster writing. But the visuals are enthralling

[@wakamiwailer]

I thought the storytelling was really good, actually. During boring, slow, or quiet times in a good story I try to imagine what the characters are feeling or how they're being shaped by the events. I feel like there is a lot of character subtext in that show. The design is great though.

[@Skorpychan]

That's because they took the aesthetic and worldbuilding from the artist's books, then spun their own plots in it, based on the captions in the books. I watched it, I don't think I'll rewatch it. It's seriously messed up, and it won't have the same impact again.

[@shaeferweleschuk1324]

@@wakamiwailer That’s a fair point, the acting was generally quite good, so you could feel a lot of emotion from even an uneventful performance. And don’t get me wrong, there were a few episodes that I thought were really great, like the one where the boys switch bodies, or where the man is transported to an alternate universe where he meets the man of his dreams, who is already married to the alternate version of himself… that one was wild.

[@shaeferweleschuk1324]

@@Skorpychan i got so excited from the trailer for the show, I thought it would be a big hit so I started building a whole cosplay of the boy with the robot gauntlet controller from the original artworks, but kinda lost steam on that one after feeling quite let down watching the episodes themselves 😂

[@edwardchester1]

Loved the one where the friend betrays the other in the body swap. That was just harrowing and hit like a hammer.

[@Fr33dan]

This is slightly tangential but what you said about theater being more transcendent than film because it begets a deeper emotional impactreally resonated with me. This is because I realized when you said it that's exactly how I feel about video games. In the same way being in the room invokes deeper feelings for you, actually being in control does for me.

[@tfcooks]

Not a movie but the TV series 'Legion" had fantastic set design. I'd say better than the show itself.

[@Games_and_Music]

My favorite limited set movie is Noises Off (1992), which is also one of my all time favorite movies. A hilarious (in my opinion, of course) film adaptation to the Broadway play within a play. It's got a great (and small) cast, Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, Christopher Reeve, John Ritter, Denholm Elliott, Nicollette Sheridan, Marilu Henner, Julie Hagerty and Mark Linn-Baker. Directed by Peter Bogdanovich, it got panned at the time it came out, mostly cursed because the play itself was so successful, so the movie had the similar "book was better" stigma. It's a farce comedy, fast paced scenes from stage view and behind stage view. The actors ("real people") are performing a play called "Nothing On", which is some vaudeville-esque lame comedy play, but the movie jumps in at the general rehearsal, and you'll notice soon enough that everyone is ill prepared, they have lots of questions about the plot of the play and forgetting lines, etc. I won't spoil too much. But, i heard Marilu talk about it on a podcast with Gilbert Gottfried, and apparently some things happened on set which she rather not discuss, so i'm not sure what that is about, but i wonder if the actors dislike having done that movie. Which would be a shame, as i loved it since i first saw it as a 10 year old, and it's the movie i've watched most times in my life so far. My other favorite limited set movie, and again, probably my favorite movie so far, is Moon (2009), of course you know Moon, you know Sam Rockwell is a fellow San Franciscan, so i don't need to say more, aside from, i love the Alien inspired set, which immediately made me like the movie, but then the atmosphere and Sam blew me away.

[@matthewjohntaylor69]

I love the Animatrix collections, including the comics, which all enrich the world. It's been a while since I last read the comics. I still remember the feeling when first reading the 'glitch' in the Goliath short story. Made me pause and reread as it made me 'glitch'. (Hopefully no spoilers) Beyond is beautiful. Lovely pace and intriguing. Worldrecord has a great build up and a thoughtful end. Kid's Story has good energy. Second Renaissance I & II could be a prediction for IRL future if we lose control of our creations. Shows the lack of empathy computers have. Program and Final Flight of The Osiris look great as they follow characters who are well aware of the Matrix. Matriculated and A Detective Story are the weakest for me, but do have value in the collection.

[@jenssylvesterwesemann7980]

Colin Farrell's rendering of "Coach" in Guy Ritchie's "The Gentlemen" is probably my favourite acting bit in that gem of a film, and that's against some very tough competition.

[@ResoluteGryphon]

A really good "limited set" movie is Wait Until Dark (1967) with Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin. Clearly developed from a stage play, it almost solely takes place in Susy's (Hepburn) apartment.

[@thedatatreader]

This might sound odd, but watching Star Wars Episodes 2 and 3 with an entirely different plot via Auralnauts parodies rather than a different language made me appreciate them more than ever. The planets, ships, costumes, and even some camera shots are phenomenal when taken from a purely visual standpoint. It helps me understand why I enjoyed them so much and what created such a thriving community in the early 2000s and onward.

[@zenistfpv]

Auralnauts saved Obi-wan for me...

[@jasonsheath3294]

For set design- the original Solaris by the Russian director Tarkovsky was a mind blowing viewing experience - the movie was almost 3 hours. And it dragged at times. But to see the Soviet era set design which took you to another place - a space station around another planet- was epic.

[@kevint.5712]

One could argue about that it was a bit corny in a few places , but, Derek Meddings made "Moonraker" an AMAZING film to look at. His models and techniques are holy grail-esque to me personally as a lifelong Bond fan. One in particular that makes me grin , is the practical use of a shaker of salt to simulate the Booster trail from the shuttle as it ascends to Space en route to Drax's Space-Station .

[@elcapitan008]

Ghost in the Shell: Live Action, the art that went behind that movie was amazing but they took a terrible script written by someone who barely understood the original and shot it like a cheap sci-fi flick.

[@MaskedBurrito]

Weta did such an unreal job with that movie, that the props would be better than the movie even if it had a script that was darn near perfect.

[@elcapitan008]

@@MaskedBurrito Indeed, occasionally I still go back and look at WETA's art reel for the film and you can tell that the artists genuinely love GitS as a world and incorporated little nods to everything from the manga to the shows. I wonder how they felt seeing their hard work wasted so haphazardly.

[@shubinternet]

And then they miscast the lead role. Don’t get me wrong, I dearly love Scarlett Johansson as an actress, and I think she can make almost any movie she is cast in, but she was not the right actress for that movie. There are a number of Japanese actresses who could have done that role and done so superbly. And “Major” is a rank, not a name.

[@Tensen01]

@@shubinternet The Major was not Japanese. The original author has said as much, she was not of any specific ethnicity.

[@shubinternet]

@@Tensen01 - Motoko Kusanagi was a full body replacement, so nothing that we can see of her as an adult is actually human, and so therefore it couldn’t really be said to actually be any particular nationality. Many of the characters in the original anime seemed to be of questionable nationality. However, the name is certainly Japanese, and the little girl that she once was certainly appeared to be Japanese. If they wanted to stress that “The Major” wasn’t specifically Japanese, then they could have used a multi-racial actress. But Scarlett Johansson definitely has a particular racial characteristic as Caucasian, not multi-racial or pan-racial.

[@spookmineer]

There is a device that was used in a *lot* of sci-fi movies and series. It looks like a weird double lathe and has a few red "laser" beams in each of them, which can be lit alternatively. It always looks very important.

[@HappyCynic]

Dredd was mostly set in one place and is a phenomenal film.

[@johnnyjohnson6643]

Absolutely phenomenal, but they had a bunch of sets they needed for that "one place" (A HUUUUGE one place).

[@repletereplete8002]

one of my top ten action films. I saw it on release in 3d on a huge screen and those slo-mo scenes really stuck with me.

[@garrettburnham9926]

I watched My dinner with Andre tonight for the first time based on this video. What a wild ride, I was not prepared for getting that philosophical on a casual Sunday night. 10/10 would recommend!

[@MusicMissionary]

Love that movie. Shocking how relevant it still is. Prophetic even.

[@FablestoneSeries]

I've worked on many TV shows who put so much work into the set and costumes that went unappreciated because it got cut from the final film. I did this one western, casting and costumes had done such an amazing job with all the background. Everyone looked like they had their own story. and 90% of it got cut. That's just the way it is sometimes.

[@jamisonedwards8162]

A friend had recommended "The Booth At The End" as a good limited set television show. Only takes place in a diner, but you seem to remember some of the stories as if they were filmed. I also like Timothy Omundson's short "The End" as well. One guy talking to himself for a few minutes.

[@forthwithtx5852]

Are you drinking Hoppe’s No. 9 gun cleaning solvent?

[@ElectroDFW]

And of course, the award for "Best (Single) Movie to Combine a Visually Stunning World, Set Design, and Script" has to go to 'The Fifth Element'.

[@TreeCutterDoug]

You're not wrong... I'm completely baffled, coming across someone who doesn't love it.

[@pleakhouse]

Not wrong. I would argue that many contemporary movies (Phantom Menace, Fifth Element) oddly owe some debt for their sprawling planet cities to Judge Dredd. A truly abysmal film with stunning production design and soundtrack.

[@Draknfyre]

@@TreeCutterDoug **Waves** I don't love it. I understand it's a classic campy sci-fi flick, but I've always been a little confused as to why everyone thinks it's the sci-fi version of Citizen Kane or something. Personally, I feel like it's just meh. Has some good bits, and of course Milla Jovovich in a fetish-inspired vinyl strap outfit, but otherwise to me it's a pretty typical 90s-era camp sci-fi nothing burger.

[@robertkelleher1850]

Bladerunner is not perfect? Blasphemy!!! lol. I love this discussion. Thank you for your perspective Adam! My personal favorite notwithstanding.

[@LatitudeSky]

Totally agree on Jupiter Rising. The visual design and aesthetic reminded me much of Fifth Element, another wild movie with gorgeous design. Whether or not either of those movies made complete sense and felt perfect, my eyes sure got their money's worth, and if I can get that much out of a movie, I'm happy. That is the whole point of seeing a movie versus watching it on TV. A big screen spectacle. Many movies don't understand this duty and really are just boring TV-worthy dull slapped on big screen. Anyway, I love watching movies in other languages. It ALWAYS makes the movie more interesting because your mind optimistically fills in details and fleshes out the plot you imagine is happening. Watching something in Japanese before I understood the language versus after, it is always better before when whole parts of the story were essentially missing. No problem. My brain filled them in. Not that it is BAD after understanding. Just different.

[@sanguinemoon9201]

My favorite limited set, great concept is "Lo". The idea could be turned into an epic movie Divine Comedy inspired film.

[@EricTheRea]

Watching this after Matrix Regurgitations came out and listening to Adam's excitement feels so tragic.

[@annamonson212]

my favorite way to find movies who had better design than plot is to see character designs last as people still make costumes, even if they themselves don't care for the movie or franchise deeply. I think this applies to newt scamander and jack frost, both of whom don't come from bad movies, those movies had their days in the sun. However I think people still dress up because the design for both characters is so electric and enjoyable. I've only seen fantastic beasts once, I would still dress up as newt.

[@gurthangorcus]

My favorite movie where the design is better than the movie - mortal engines. My personal head cannon is that the movie is secretly a high budget mechanicum (warhammer 40k) fan film.

[@ML-bx9sw]

One of my favorite limited set films is a French film called “What's in a Name?” ( Le Prénom). Takes place in a tiny Parisian flat during a dinner party. Very good IMO.

[@andrefelixstudio2833]

It’s been such a long time from the first matrix movie that I’m sure seeing the latest and greatest will bring back the WOW factor!

[@christianallan4555]

Locke with Tom Hardy is a gem of a limited set movie.

[@omarsdroog]

12 Angry Men, Rear Window, Clerks, Reservoir Dogs All fantastic uses of an extremely limited set.

[@blankskater1]

I am SO glad you mentioned The Animatrix, it is such a great piece of the series.

[@rsalbreiter]

The booth at the end was a brilliant one set show at a diner

[@hankadelicflash]

Speaking of Blade Runner universe, if you play games you HAVE to play The Ascent on XBox and PC. I've never heard of the studio who made it before, and don't know how big they are, but they have crammed SO much detail into a superbly designed and beautiful game. A must play if you're a fan of that type of aesthetic.

[@justinlewis1609]

Hateful 8, great limited set movie. Stagecoach and a room, thats its and its so good

[@raidengl]

The Sunset Limited is my pick for greatest single location film. Absolutely amazing film with two powerhouse actors working together with no egos.

[@writerpatrick]

There was a Total Recall 2070 TV series that felt more like Blade Runner than Total Recall. While it does have a TV budget, it was still quite interesting.

[@drewid88]

Limited sets movie - Final Approach. An absolute little gem of a movie. Mostly one room (with a couple of flashback cutaways) two main actors for the vast majority of it. Just a great watch.

[@TreeCutterDoug]

That's a brilliant take on the first two episodes of Star Wars. I totally agree, and I'll have to give a try, watching them with subtitles. I don't think I've seen the second episode, even a second time...

[@adamszki427]

recently i watched prospect, I'm sure with your love of space and space suits you will have seen it too. i thought visually it was fantastic and very immersive. and of course the space suits and props were amazing too.

[@edwardvarby4363]

Seen My Dinner with Andre several times. It got me into Erik Satie. Some of the stories seem to be based on real people, but the names are different, and characters might be based on several people. Or so I remember..

[@jmalmsten]

"You should make movies in a way so that the japanese audience don't need to read subtitles." I don't remember who said that, I think it was Coppola or George Lucas or someone of that group... well... The advice in this video is a fun reversal of that concept. To watch movies deliberately in a language you don't understand so that you are forced to pick up on nonverbal cues. And you are free to look at and enjoy the visual design unhindered. It's been a long while since I've seen Spirits Within... Maybe watching the the japanese dub will help things out.

[@shaolinwisdom]

Stalag 17 (1953) had fantastic movie, limited set(?) Maybe, I dunno, it kind of is. 3 rooms and an outdoors area? Just so brilliant. Had grit and comedy. Every time I see it I feel just great. Brings back memories of laughing while watching it with my dad, and also being on edge during the big reveals in the story!

[@pabloapostar7275]

Find the autobiography called Flamekeepers, of an army air corpsman pow near the end of ww2. The contrast with Stalag 17 makes 17's Hollywood story and theatrical comedy stick out like a sore thumb (a pure drama of pow existence would be box office poison hence all the make-believe in 17)). Hogan's Heroes only keeps the Hollywood story formula and comedy and tosses all bits of reality in 17 out the window.

[@alwaysfallingshort]

The Animatrix is so amazing, love that Adam loves it too. I am a Wachowskis fan to the core, I have accidentally watched one of their movies without knowing they made it and fell in love when other people hated it (Jupiter Ascending) and then when I realized they made it I was like "Yeah, figures." I definitely think the other 2 movies are weaker, but I still loved them so much more than everyone else. I ate it up.

[@poisonzombii]

Thank you for echoing my sentiments, the Animatrix is wonderful and is my 2nd fav movie after the original movie. It pleases me greatly that Adam shares this opinion as well.

[@Hawk1966]

I think one of the kings of limited set movies has to be Cube. I'm sure it's already been mentioned but two identical rooms and some lighting gels and boom, movie. I was fascinated by how minimalist that movie was.

[@gaijinhito]

My favorite limited sets movie is Spalding Gray's "Swimming to Cambodia". Humor and drama with one man sitting at a desk with some maps behind him. Directed by Jonathan Demme.

[@waithereivegonetogethelp3240]

My personal take on the Matrix is based on agent Smiths explanation, that previous incarnations of the Matrix were too perfect and the human mind rejected them as false, so they made it grungier. following this logic, if you had people rejecting the new 'grungy' matrix (like Neo and the others), the best thing to do would be shunt them into an even grungier program called 'Zion' ... that's why Neo still had 'powers' outside of the Matrix - because he never really left, he just got moved into another program. Plus Neo was never 'The One' (ie. the bug in the program) Agent Smith was. He's the only one who's actually a software part of the program who started acting erratically and crashed the system as a result. The real 'Real world' is an Eden. the war with machines ended millennia ago. the machines all retreated to artificial realities leaving automated systems tending the human crops. If humans ever actually break out of the Matrix they'll just find a jungle world waiting for them, and defeating the AI will be as simple as pulling the plug.

[@TreeCutterDoug]

😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱 Heavy...

[@Vivi2372]

Honestly not all that taken with your interpretation. I won't say it's invalid (any interpretation that can be remotely supported by the text of the film so to speak is by definition valid), but thematically I don't like separating the film from the context of it being trans allegory. Maybe a bit selfish on my part but it's the most important aspect of the movie to me and your interpretation requires completely removing that aspect of it.

[@grahamstrouse1165]

Another huge fan of The Animatrix here! Great stuff!

[@lindleya]

Another great "Limited Set" movie is 12 Angry Men. Literally just 1 room, and some external shots of the courthouse. But it's such a classic movie

[@patrickwilliams2744]

Greatest limited set movie of all time. The original “Twelve Angry Men”

[@Thermalions]

Couldn't agree more. Ticks the boxes for limited set, outstanding acting, and all round perfect movie that's both enjoyable to watch while making you question which juror are you.

[@Firedoomcaster]

Super late to the party on this! But my uncle was one of the carpenters on set for the Total Recall remake. I think he worked on a room that had tons of green pillars in it (I’ve never seen the movie, it’s not my thing). Apparently it was nicknamed Total Re-Shoot by everyone who worked on it.

[@johanwilhelmsson1199]

I think it was Ken Levine (the script writer, of MASH and Cheers among other things) who recommended the movie Seven Psychopaths (which is great) and to check out Colin Farrells acting, and particularly his reactions to the other characters.

[@twalt]

Found in the wikipedia of My Dinner With Andre: > Although the film was based on events in the actors' lives, Shawn and Gregory denied (in an interview by film critic Roger Ebert) that they were playing themselves. They said that if they remade the film, they would swap the two characters to prove their point.

[@dangranot5703]

Great advice about the other languages, I'll start doing that. Also, thanks to your take on Colin Ferrell and Total Recall, I'm going to watch it. I've always written it off as just a bad cash grab and maybe that wasn't the right call.

[@WyldstaarStudios]

My favorite single set film would have to be Cube (1997). Brilliant use of the same set for dozens of different locations.

[@aaronleverton4221]

This room is green.

[@xosaint4736]

The Cowboy Bebop live action. I loved the series but it doesn’t hold up compared to the anime. The set design and aesthetic were on point though.

[@adventuresinsimland4626]

Limited set movie recommendation 'Locke'. Man driving to work in his car while his life falls apart in a series of phone conversations. I think it was originally a radio drama but Tom Hardy brings enough acting heft to make it work as a film. The lighting really stood out to me as well, really clever use of a limited palette. Not necessarily The Best (TM) but definitely worth a watch.

[@robertsneddon731]

Spielberg's "Duel" is quite a limited set, almost claustrophobic.

[@Kevlar-78]

I watched the Animatrix many, many times. Some awesome stuff in those shorts.

[@drumset09]

Lifeboat from 1944 is my favorite limited set film. One scene, 10 people, one lifeboat, 1 hour 37 minutes

[@Merennulli]

I haven't tried it with live action, but I will say reading subtitles covers many problems. A lot of anime I watch is only good subtitled. Some of that is lousy voice acting - a lot of anime gets American actors who don't know what they're reading and just read the lines as flat as a pancake, and even the ones that do good with it have a limited pool they draw from that leaves far too many characters sounding identical. But there are a lot that have good or even great voice acting that I can't watch in English, usually due to social anxiety - usually things like putting characters in awkward situations and then dragging it out.

[@patrickstewart3446]

Limited Set movie: Master and Commander, if you want to count the entire ship as a set (seeing a how the Surprise was an actual ship that they shot the film on.)

[@chrisgriffith1573]

I didn't know Jupiter Ascending was a Wachoski Brothers movie... that was one of my favorite epic sci-fi movies!

[@douglasfeilen4344]

The 2 rollers really cracked me up!

[@pandora8610]

Not really a limited sets film, but Monty Python & The Holy Grail did make excellent use of limited castles, using Doune castle shot from different angles and with small changes to dressing to film half scenes set at or in half a dozen different castles.

[@AaronSmith-kr5yf]

Glad to see somebody else nerding out about the Animatrix, incredible storytelling that really fleshes out that whole world. Gonna go see the new movie tomorrow.

[@danielpratt237]

I watched Attack of the Clones on the Spanish HBO channel back in like 2003, it was way better when I couldn’t understand a word.

[@youknowwhoiam1314]

Love the tenticle cell phone holder lol

[@marks6928]

A limited sets movie that I love is Ex Machina. It feels like the whole thing could have been a really excellent stage play.

[@intrinsical]

My favorite limited set film is The Man from Earth, written by Jerome Bixby who also wrote several Twilight Zone and Star Trek episodes.

[@jpdornberger]

Colin Farrell, "!n Bruges" 10/10

[@mj1653]

Ad Astra. Awesome movie to watch visually but the plot falls short.

[@TreeCutterDoug]

I think you're grossly underselling it... It's gotta be one of the worst sci-fi's in the past twenty years. Maybe I'll try watching it in Portuguese with subtitles... I doubt it'll change my mind.

[@elobiretv]

@@TreeCutterDoug What was wrong with it? I remember it being pretty good and visually very well made.

[@climateteacherjohnj7763]

I believe you're thinking of, "My Dinner With Andre" (1981, directed by Louis Malle)?

[@johntheexplainer]

When I first heard that Wallace Shawn was in 'My Dinner with Andre', I was disappointed that it wasn't Andre *the Giant* - knowing Wallace only from Princess Bride at that time.