My favorite thing about Lost in adaptation is every now and then I get to hear the story of a book or film that I find interesting but probably wouldn't actually read/watch myself.
Same! My mom is super strict about movies and stuff, and I'm easily grossed out by gore. I can handle blood coming from anywhere that isn't the face or yk anywhere weird, but otherwise, especially closeups, I really can't manage it, so it's nice to be able to hear the stories without having to subject myself to anything disturbing.
To be fair, they are very similar names so it's not hard to see how he got them mixed up. Similar to how a lot of people get Switzerland and Sweden mixed up
Honestly, I feel like Ewan would've been better for the role of Richard than Leo. While Leo is genuinely a great actor, I feel that Ewan would've pulled off the "I am going butt fucking insane" aspect of the character better.
Leo had just starred in the biggest movie in the world; he was too shiny a bauble for Danny Boyle to not take and Im sure he at least doubled the film’s budget with the casting change. Ewan would 900% have been better in it though.
I agree Richard in the book is English wouldn’t have been too hard to give Ewan McGregor vocal training on the other hand accent training in America is woeful
Literally the one thing I really remember from the book, aside from a general feeling of disquietude, is a chapter where everyone gets terrible food poisoning and vomits and sh*ts out in the open continuously and Richard slips in it and leaves a character to die, who doesn't but hates him thereafter. I remember it almost like PTSD; the in-depth descriptions stuck in my head so much. Yet it's not mentioned in the synopsis 😅
yeah it was playing up on both his crush on Francoise and his dislike of Bugs. Bugs is begging for help and Richard needs to bring Franscoise towels and he basically just abandons him. haven't read it since I was 16 (am now 38) and can still remember it. also Richard mercy kills one of the swedes when Jed says he won't leave without him. the swede is barely holding on and Richard basically suffocates him.
The beach (Maya bay close to Phuket) wasn't destroyed by the film, although they certainly left a footprint. It was the ensuing tourism (and litter) that was destroying the corals, that led to a short term (that then turned longer term.. as covid hit) closure of 4 years, to help clean it up. It is now once again open to the public, but boats aren't allowed to go into the actual bay/cove. Source: I went there in 2011, and they were definitely still capitalizing on the fame of The Beach - although most tourists going seem to think The Beach was a nice story about an idyllic beach... not about a utopia gone wrong.
I guess it’s good they opened it back up because forbidden fruit is guaranteed to attract the biggest assholes in the world. I hope the corals were able to recover well because they’re not having a very good century so far. 🫤
I went there in 2004. It wasn't trashed then. Was lucky enough to spend a couple hours swimming at the beach. I understand now that it needs to be preserved and people shouldn't go on the beach, not to mention the petrol boats aren't the cleanest. In from Australia and I appreciate that the beaches are clean and secluded. With a population of 26 million and the land size of China it's easy to drive an hour or 2 and have a whole beach to yourself.
I remember the ad campaign for The Beach. They definitely misrepresented the film as being more Blue Lagoon than Club Dread and I think that had an impact on how well it was received by the general audience. I don't think the film is nearly as bad as its RT score would make you think, though.
Yeah, I finally saw it years later when it aired on television, and was surprised about how it was actually a pretty interesting "paradise gone wrong" story because I hadn't gotten that impression from the promos.
I remember that ad campaign too! Yeah, it just didn't give you a good idea of what the movie was actually about. It's always kinda sad when a movie is partially killed by the marketing department.
I recently rewatched this for the first time since I saw it in theaters as a teenager. The most interesting aspect, to me, was how Leonardo's performance reflected his later career. He starts the movie as the sweet young heartthrob and slowly unravels into a screaming maniac.
I see some resemblance to the 1994 Star Trek DS9 episode Paradise in this story. A paradise supposedly untouched by the civilized world, one of the settlers dies because the others refuse to get outside help, a woman gone mad with power and more.
Would love an ANNIHILATION episode! The film is great, sure, but the book just hits different and is tonally and thematically completely alien. Vandermeer himself has said he enjoys the movie a lot, but would also like to see a more direct adaptation. It's much more of a psychological nightmare than a physiological one, coupled with an unreliable narrator.
I saw the movie and was blown away by the sense of adventure and the turn it took. I read the book later and loved it more than the movie. Great breakdown, but one thing about the book. Their mental breakdown at the end was due to not just the violence but also that Richard, Jed and the group dosed the entire camp with drugs hidden in their food. They were tripping balls when the events with the farmers happened, which is why they mentally broke down. Love the channel.
For some reason, why I saw the thumbnail, I thought you were doing the movie "Old". In my defense, "The Beach" would work just as well for that movie! Shows how much this movie has stayed in my personal consciousness lol. Also yay for Asterix! To be fair, I only know about the comics because my dad is German lol, but they're a lot of fun.
My soon to be 7 year old nephew is just getting into them. I gotta say - they aged well. Still funny. My brother, nephew and I read one out loud every Sunday before dinner. Greetings from a little village in Germania 😉
@@raraavis7782 on first read, I missed the comment about Asterisks, and thought you were saying that your 7 year old was a big fan of "The Beach" and "Sandcastle" (the comic "Old" is based on), and I was concerned. 😅
So, this may be a fairly well known anecdote, but when Alex Garland was asked about changes between Annihilation's book and film, he stated that he deliberately didn't reread the book because he wanted to "adapt it like a dream of the book"
That's stupid. His dream of the book was completely different from the reality of the book! How do you miss the tower?! That's the focal point of the book!
@@darkvioletcloud look, mate, that's an anecdote I learned to impress a lecturer who really liked Annihilation, and I wanted to get a good grade on that module. I don't know why Garland adapted the book the way he did, and frankly I don't think I care enough about either version to investigate further
The filming of this movie was a big news in Thailand at the time. Especially for changing the beach front of the island they were shooting the movie. Which was a tourist spot. Afterward, there were news that the movie crew didn't restore the beach back to it's original state as promised. I can't say for sure what happen after that. Since that seems to be the last local news I remember about this movie.
Dredd is incredible. the best "mostly lone asshole goes up large building and kills lots of people" movie. absolutely > The Raid to the point I think the fact that they're always compared is pretty mean to The Raid.
It's just funny to think of all the tween girls sneaking into cinemas to see DiCaprio shirtless, then being faced with a depressing, drugged up and violent critique of tourism. Honestly though I bet most people who grew up back then remember the tie-in song by All Saints more than the movie. Very well made bit of pop music.
The film was rated 15 in the UK. I was 16 and we sneaked my friend who was 14. We were not asked for ID. I think we just thought the film was meh. It wasn't was traumatizing as seeing starship troopers when 14.
Apparently Dom and I are about the same age, as I was roughly 13 when this movie came out as well! I was in the midst of my Leo crush days and insisted on seeing it in theaters without any idea of what it was about. I barely remember any of it, especially not the hallucinating being in a video game part (which you would think would have stuck out). I had no idea it was based on a book!
It's a miracle I never saw this movie back then, considering the ads were everywhere and Leo was one of Hollywood's hottest properties fresh off Titanic fame. The only thing that's ever stuck with me regarding this movie was the bit of trivia mentioned at the end here - the fact that the titular Beach ironically became a victim of overtourism.
Oh god...the flashbacks... As someone who watched this film when I was nine basically by accident...all I could remember was sharks, murder and blackmail sex..I was scared of all the characters and regularly had nightmares about them Kinda wanna rewatch it now that I'll actually understand what's going on
Wow delighted to see you cover one of my favourite books! I read it for the first time when I was a 15 year old edgelord and Richard is my life's classic example of someone that you are NOT supposed to idolise being idolised until I reread the book at 22 and thought "what was I thinking?!" Hilarious given, as you rightfully stated, that he is written as an intentional unlikable character.
Sad to hear about the beach damage. This was one of those films I remember hearing positive word-of-mouth about, but really not caring for once I actually saw it.
Two college roomies and I saw this in the theater. One friend, an avid movie buff, was in the middle of a HUGE fight with her boyfriend wanted to get out of the house. Afterwards, she felt more relaxed and said The Beach was exactly the distraction she need. My other roomie and I, uttlerly stressed after a week living with someone who was constantly sobbing or yelling on the phone, did NOT find the movie restorative. At. All. (Sidenote: the friend and her BF worked things out and have been married about 20 years. They seem content).
It took me until pretty much the end of the review to realize I've actually watched this movie once! It must have been around when it originally came out, I was 5 or 6 then, and watched it along with my older cousins. What made it click for me was having the scene where Leo makes the bamboo traps (and later one of the farmers actually falling on it) stuck on my mind since then!!! Now I finally know the context of that disturbing image :)
Fun fact I learnt about the novel the beach from British animated sitcom Bromwell High where the school's R.E teacher Mr. Beale was said to have have wrote the novel. Another fun fact is that Bromwell High was written by budding crime author Richard Osman.
Bromwell High is such a weird show. I always remember the line Keisha says, "Hey, new boy. Get off that cloud." I only found out that Richard Osman wrote for the show last month.
Speaking as a fellow Brit, my main memory of this movie was that Leo DiCaprio was in it, and AllSaints were paid to awkwardly shoehorn a reference to it into the chorus of an otherwise unremarkable and unrelated song. A song which is now going to be droning in my head for the next week until I finally dislodge it by virtue of a biro in the ear. So, thanks for that.
I've just read the book for the first time. I loved the movie as a teenager so watched it again after reading the book. The book is far superior! I loved it! And Leo looks so young watching it as a 29 year old now.
Dammit Dominic, my want-to-read list is long enough, but with every episode you describe nearly every book you cover so well that I end up making my list longer 😁
Probably not as the people that go ham for it usually are in the cult's demographic would find s way to make the film some how bad for criticizing their lifestyle unfortunately
@@dandylionsloth446 they one's I've seen that are super big into talking about anti colonialism are the white hippies with trust funds that backpack across the globe while smoking a shit ton of pot. Who often tell me they're offended on my behalf.
depends on your demographic. anti-EUROPEAN colonialism is as in vogue as it ever was. to put it in perspective, the only asian country that was never colonized by a european power (only occupied by the US after WW2, and then only for a decade tops) only managed to do so first by going isolationist, and then by playing the game themselves.
My friend was in Thailand three years ago[before the pandemic], and there are regular cruises to this beach, like a boat one way, 30 minutes for sightseeing, and a boat back, so now it's open. Not sure about the cost but it wasn't really pricy, and each cruise had about 30 people
God, Dredd. So. Good. And apparently, there's some question about the whole "The Raid came first" - turns out the writers of The Raid have admitted later that they got a sneak peek on the script to Dredd and wrote and filmed theirs while Dredd was still being developed. So technically Dredd came first and The Raid borrowed from it. Alas, the trouble of high budget slow movie making versus low budget filming on a weekend...
I watched this film as a teen and the only scenes I remember was the video game part and the "let's put this dying guy somewhere else so he doesn't bother us" part.
I thought you already did this one, but I was thinking about the movie Old. When I see the name "The Beach" my mind just automatically adds "That Makes You Old" to the end of it.
Always worth it to watch to the very end, this time in addition to the cat clips, tongue twists and a banger of an end credits song I got to pause the video for a couple of seconds while I went "wait, indigo?"
Aww I read the book years ago, I remember liking it. I remember liking the film as well but mostly because it was pretty and I was a quite young. Sad that so many tourists ended up going to the filming location and ruining it.
Both the novel and the movie take place in Thailand, not Taiwan. (refer circa 0:42) (also 2:52) (also 17:19) I was in Thailand in 1996... 40% of the tourists had a finger jammed into The Lonely Planet Guide to mark their page... the other 60% had their finger in The Beach novel.
As much as the ratings don't really do it justice. This movie was genuinely entertaining and way different than most movies I saw around the time. It was interesting and that's what I want out of a movie.
@@aaronwimmers8904 I checked out, when I thought it was so dumb that the US Military, know there are armed gangs of pirates on the moon, who regularly attack anyone leaving the cities and yet they were still rolling around in these fragile little moon-buggies and consequently, get slaughtered
And Hearts of Darkness, which is the documentary about Apocalypse Now that shows how the whole film's production basically mirrored the same narrative arc.
One problem with the Beach film could be they failed to include Richards Monologues from the books his thoughts, and his visions. Apocalypse Now was great because they include Willard’s thoughts and monologues. Both Heart of Darkness and the book the Beach are recollections of the protagonists. Jed is in my opinion a crucial character as Richard is struck with a dilemma whether to leave Jed or to try and convince Jed to come with them. I loved the references to Vietnam and films such as Platoon and Apocalypse Now.
I think there's an important difference between "touched by humanity" and "touched by civilization". I doubt anyone would blame early cavemen for "destroying nature". Ultimately, it's sort of a gradient, but there's also a definite line somewhere - obviously "bringing a bulldozer to a beach" is firmly in the "touched by civilization" region. Still, by defining this, it becomes clear to see how a group may believe themselves "above it all" with actual merit.
Great video. I remember seeing the film back then but didn't remember anything that happened. It's also nice to see something referencing Asterix&Obelix. Americans sure miss out on fun stuff with all that superhero stuff around.
This was a really interesting episode. I might have been too young when it first came out to know anything about it, but it went in a direction I didn't quite expect
Hold up, a Sharkie and George reference?! I thought I was the only one who remembered that cartoon! It was literally one of the first Cartoon Network shows I remember watching when I was little. I can't believe I randomly found someone else who knows of its existence.
…For some reason I lived my entire life thinking that The Beach was a standard romance movie, not a closed-circle thriller. >.> Having young Leo Di Cap and Guillaume Canet in it probably didn’t help.
Ooh! I hope you do an episode on Annihilation. Absolutely fantastic movie, but I wonder how much of the message was from the book. And how much it really borrowed from Lovecraft's Colour Out of Space
I have a question about the book (which I haven't read). Is it set in Taiwan or Thailand? I'm a bit confused due to the interchanging usage of the word Taiwanese. I'm wondering if you mean Thai? Other than that, another wonderful and interesting video. 😁
I remember loving the book when I first read it in '98, it was perfect for my 15 year old mind. And I love the film, I also read Tesseract by Garland. I think both the film and book are underrated, the film, unfortunately was hit by the Titanic backlash that was still going when this film came out
Not to play the lit pedant, but the titular beach is located on an island off the coast of Thailand, not Taiwan. Would highly recommend the original novel, btw. I'm quite a slow reader, but remember blasting through it in just three days.
I kind of feel like city people complaining about being overcrowded don't seem to realize there are things between living in a city, and living in grass huts on some forbidden beach. I mean, I do like living in the middle of nowhere, but I also live having electricity and indoor plumbing.
13:15 my dude, the reason they went all cannibally and frenzied was because richard and the folks trying to escape spiked everyones fermented drinks. you also forgot the earlier scene where rich gives everyone food poisoning and there is a literal river of shit involved lol. I hated the adaptation to film, i really enjoyed the beach as a novel, i think it got me at the right time in my life. I might have to revisit it. the only thing they got right was sal's casting imho
Danny Boyle also did the incredible TRANCE about a painting heist with James Macavoy and the gut wrenching adaptation of Frankenstein trading Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch.
If anyone remembers , in the sequel of Bridget Jones , there's a guy and her friend (Bridget Jones) with the book " the beach" on their way to Thaliand .
The movie: Colonizing natural spaces is a bad thing!
The movie: (destroys a beach to make it look more cinematic)
Hollywood would cut down a forest to make a movie about deforestation
(Insert trap beat here): “This is America, don’t catch you slippin now……This is America”
Hollywood in a nutshell
Now that beach has so many permanent issues. Nothing can really fix it now.
The book is brilliant and stays true to its message
I drank everytime Dom confused Taiwan with Thailand, now I’m dead, I write this from the great beyond
I was just about to point that out 😂 please tell him Thailand and Taiwan are two separate places
@@Mark-lj1dj as she died, she can only communicate via TH-cam comments with the living realm, so you have to talk with him.
It literally said "GULF OF THAILAND"!! @ 2:52
My favorite thing about Lost in adaptation is every now and then I get to hear the story of a book or film that I find interesting but probably wouldn't actually read/watch myself.
Dom suffers so we don't have to
same!
Same! My mom is super strict about movies and stuff, and I'm easily grossed out by gore. I can handle blood coming from anywhere that isn't the face or yk anywhere weird, but otherwise, especially closeups, I really can't manage it, so it's nice to be able to hear the stories without having to subject myself to anything disturbing.
Yess!!
Agreed.
I'm so sorry Dom but every time you said Taiwan instead of Thailand I was giggling to myself.
Is it set/filmed in Taiwan or Thailand?
@@nataliemccarthy9140 Thailand
To be fair, they are very similar names so it's not hard to see how he got them mixed up. Similar to how a lot of people get Switzerland and Sweden mixed up
I'm Taiwanese and immediately knew it was a mistake because we rarely get mentioned in media lol.
I got so confused!
Honestly, I feel like Ewan would've been better for the role of Richard than Leo. While Leo is genuinely a great actor, I feel that Ewan would've pulled off the "I am going butt fucking insane" aspect of the character better.
Leo had just starred in the biggest movie in the world; he was too shiny a bauble for Danny Boyle to not take and Im sure he at least doubled the film’s budget with the casting change. Ewan would 900% have been better in it though.
I agree Richard in the book is English wouldn’t have been too hard to give Ewan McGregor vocal training on the other hand accent training in America is woeful
I don't get it. Why was this a Hollywood. Should have been British. The story was too English.
One of the biggest things left out of the movie is the whole underwater tunnel through the rock wall, where Richard almost dies.
Literally the one thing I really remember from the book, aside from a general feeling of disquietude, is a chapter where everyone gets terrible food poisoning and vomits and sh*ts out in the open continuously and Richard slips in it and leaves a character to die, who doesn't but hates him thereafter. I remember it almost like PTSD; the in-depth descriptions stuck in my head so much. Yet it's not mentioned in the synopsis 😅
@@tamagothchicIt was definitely The Beach. 29 other ppl agree 😅 - went down to 28 since I posted that 😂
Also, I've never read Lord of the Flies
100% neither of those things happen in Lord of the Flies
Not even close
yeah it was playing up on both his crush on Francoise and his dislike of Bugs. Bugs is begging for help and Richard needs to bring Franscoise towels and he basically just abandons him.
haven't read it since I was 16 (am now 38) and can still remember it.
also Richard mercy kills one of the swedes when Jed says he won't leave without him. the swede is barely holding on and Richard basically suffocates him.
Maybe he left it out to keep the video in the green.
The beach (Maya bay close to Phuket) wasn't destroyed by the film, although they certainly left a footprint. It was the ensuing tourism (and litter) that was destroying the corals, that led to a short term (that then turned longer term.. as covid hit) closure of 4 years, to help clean it up.
It is now once again open to the public, but boats aren't allowed to go into the actual bay/cove. Source: I went there in 2011, and they were definitely still capitalizing on the fame of The Beach - although most tourists going seem to think The Beach was a nice story about an idyllic beach... not about a utopia gone wrong.
I went and it was lovely. They have some limites on numbers of peoploe / tours they take there now.
I guess it’s good they opened it back up because forbidden fruit is guaranteed to attract the biggest assholes in the world. I hope the corals were able to recover well because they’re not having a very good century so far. 🫤
I went there in 2004. It wasn't trashed then. Was lucky enough to spend a couple hours swimming at the beach. I understand now that it needs to be preserved and people shouldn't go on the beach, not to mention the petrol boats aren't the cleanest. In from Australia and I appreciate that the beaches are clean and secluded. With a population of 26 million and the land size of China it's easy to drive an hour or 2 and have a whole beach to yourself.
I remember the ad campaign for The Beach. They definitely misrepresented the film as being more Blue Lagoon than Club Dread and I think that had an impact on how well it was received by the general audience. I don't think the film is nearly as bad as its RT score would make you think, though.
Yeah, I finally saw it years later when it aired on television, and was surprised about how it was actually a pretty interesting "paradise gone wrong" story because I hadn't gotten that impression from the promos.
I remember that ad campaign too! Yeah, it just didn't give you a good idea of what the movie was actually about. It's always kinda sad when a movie is partially killed by the marketing department.
Yeah, it was released at the apex of DiCaprio's popularity as a romantic lead after Romeo + Juliet and Titanic and they sold that angle hard.
Haha I remember it well too! Also having Pure Shores by All Saints as the main hit song on the soundtrack is kinda hilarious. That, and Play by Moby.
I love club dread... it's not a party til someone breaks the jacuzzi
I recently rewatched this for the first time since I saw it in theaters as a teenager. The most interesting aspect, to me, was how Leonardo's performance reflected his later career. He starts the movie as the sweet young heartthrob and slowly unravels into a screaming maniac.
I see some resemblance to the 1994 Star Trek DS9 episode Paradise in this story. A paradise supposedly untouched by the civilized world, one of the settlers dies because the others refuse to get outside help, a woman gone mad with power and more.
this episode was so unsettling and I hated her with all my heart.
I thought that too!! I love DS9
Would love an ANNIHILATION episode! The film is great, sure, but the book just hits different and is tonally and thematically completely alien. Vandermeer himself has said he enjoys the movie a lot, but would also like to see a more direct adaptation. It's much more of a psychological nightmare than a physiological one, coupled with an unreliable narrator.
I second this 👀
Oh yes please! I've never been able to read the book but the movie was strangely haunting and I'd love to see its origins.
Is the Bear in the book?
@@boxorak oh my bogs yes. It is.
@@boxorak there is no bear in the book that screams in another’s voice. That was purely the movie. And a pretty awesome addition I think.
I saw the movie and was blown away by the sense of adventure and the turn it took. I read the book later and loved it more than the movie. Great breakdown, but one thing about the book. Their mental breakdown at the end was due to not just the violence but also that Richard, Jed and the group dosed the entire camp with drugs hidden in their food. They were tripping balls when the events with the farmers happened, which is why they mentally broke down.
Love the channel.
Despite repeatedly mixing up two of my former homes, Taiwan and Thailand, you still get a like from me for this review. :D
I love this channel, but yeah. Two totally different countries, Dominic.
For some reason, why I saw the thumbnail, I thought you were doing the movie "Old".
In my defense, "The Beach" would work just as well for that movie!
Shows how much this movie has stayed in my personal consciousness lol.
Also yay for Asterix! To be fair, I only know about the comics because my dad is German lol, but they're a lot of fun.
you mean the hit movie “the beach that makes you OLD”?
My soon to be 7 year old nephew is just getting into them. I gotta say - they aged well. Still funny. My brother, nephew and I read one out loud every Sunday before dinner.
Greetings from a little village in Germania 😉
@@raraavis7782 on first read, I missed the comment about Asterisks, and thought you were saying that your 7 year old was a big fan of "The Beach" and "Sandcastle" (the comic "Old" is based on), and I was concerned. 😅
@@TheBluestflamingos
Lol, yes, that was probably a little misleading without the word 'Asterix' actually in there.
I thought the same lol
So, this may be a fairly well known anecdote, but when Alex Garland was asked about changes between Annihilation's book and film, he stated that he deliberately didn't reread the book because he wanted to "adapt it like a dream of the book"
Did not know, am amazed.
That's stupid. His dream of the book was completely different from the reality of the book! How do you miss the tower?! That's the focal point of the book!
@@darkvioletcloud look, mate, that's an anecdote I learned to impress a lecturer who really liked Annihilation, and I wanted to get a good grade on that module. I don't know why Garland adapted the book the way he did, and frankly I don't think I care enough about either version to investigate further
Dom I know you just posted this but the island is off the coast of Thailand, not Taiwan
The filming of this movie was a big news in Thailand at the time. Especially for changing the beach front of the island they were shooting the movie. Which was a tourist spot. Afterward, there were news that the movie crew didn't restore the beach back to it's original state as promised. I can't say for sure what happen after that. Since that seems to be the last local news I remember about this movie.
I completely agree with you about Dredd.
Its a great movie, even if ironically, the comic book version of Dredd would think movie Dredd was a trigger happy psycho
Dredd is incredible. the best "mostly lone asshole goes up large building and kills lots of people" movie. absolutely > The Raid to the point I think the fact that they're always compared is pretty mean to The Raid.
@@HappyCynic If you're talking about the Apocalypse War and the nuking of East-Meg One, then it was made clear that the Sov's shot first there
It's just funny to think of all the tween girls sneaking into cinemas to see DiCaprio shirtless, then being faced with a depressing, drugged up and violent critique of tourism.
Honestly though I bet most people who grew up back then remember the tie-in song by All Saints more than the movie. Very well made bit of pop music.
The film was rated 15 in the UK. I was 16 and we sneaked my friend who was 14. We were not asked for ID. I think we just thought the film was meh. It wasn't was traumatizing as seeing starship troopers when 14.
@@desiladygamer2076 fair enough. When you're that age existential stuff isn't as scary as monsters, gore and nudity lol
amazing movie!
Paradise is not a place you can go to, but a moment in life when you feel that you belong, once you find it it lasts forever!
Was I the only one who thought this would be a video about M. Night Shyamalan's Old? Lol
Nope
I thought so too
I only remember this film as the reason Pure Shores by All Saints was a popular song, was hoping Il Neige would use that for inspiration!
Apparently Dom and I are about the same age, as I was roughly 13 when this movie came out as well! I was in the midst of my Leo crush days and insisted on seeing it in theaters without any idea of what it was about. I barely remember any of it, especially not the hallucinating being in a video game part (which you would think would have stuck out). I had no idea it was based on a book!
Il Neige killed it with the ending song this time. They always do but this time was amazing.
It's a miracle I never saw this movie back then, considering the ads were everywhere and Leo was one of Hollywood's hottest properties fresh off Titanic fame.
The only thing that's ever stuck with me regarding this movie was the bit of trivia mentioned at the end here - the fact that the titular Beach ironically became a victim of overtourism.
Oh god...the flashbacks...
As someone who watched this film when I was nine basically by accident...all I could remember was sharks, murder and blackmail sex..I was scared of all the characters and regularly had nightmares about them
Kinda wanna rewatch it now that I'll actually understand what's going on
Wow delighted to see you cover one of my favourite books! I read it for the first time when I was a 15 year old edgelord and Richard is my life's classic example of someone that you are NOT supposed to idolise being idolised until I reread the book at 22 and thought "what was I thinking?!" Hilarious given, as you rightfully stated, that he is written as an intentional unlikable character.
2:37 "Geom Kane"... Dom, you're trying very hard and we love you
ah, the age-old "but im better than them" reasoning. loved il neige's song in this one, super catchy~!
Sad to hear about the beach damage.
This was one of those films I remember hearing positive word-of-mouth about, but really not caring for once I actually saw it.
I've never seen this film or read this book but whenever it gets brought up I get Pure Shores in my head. Great song, best All Saints song
Thanks for brining this song to my attention. Always appreciate hearing stuff from them.
I watched this movie back when i was 12. It came in a huge box of movies my uncle didnt want anymore.
Two college roomies and I saw this in the theater. One friend, an avid movie buff, was in the middle of a HUGE fight with her boyfriend wanted to get out of the house. Afterwards, she felt more relaxed and said The Beach was exactly the distraction she need. My other roomie and I, uttlerly stressed after a week living with someone who was constantly sobbing or yelling on the phone, did NOT find the movie restorative. At. All.
(Sidenote: the friend and her BF worked things out and have been married about 20 years. They seem content).
This was a cool comment to read. I love hearing other people's specific memories that are tied to media.
@@Aster_Risk Thanks!
It took me until pretty much the end of the review to realize I've actually watched this movie once! It must have been around when it originally came out, I was 5 or 6 then, and watched it along with my older cousins. What made it click for me was having the scene where Leo makes the bamboo traps (and later one of the farmers actually falling on it) stuck on my mind since then!!! Now I finally know the context of that disturbing image :)
Fun fact I learnt about the novel the beach from British animated sitcom Bromwell High where the school's R.E teacher Mr. Beale was said to have have wrote the novel. Another fun fact is that Bromwell High was written by budding crime author Richard Osman.
Bromwell High is such a weird show. I always remember the line Keisha says, "Hey, new boy. Get off that cloud." I only found out that Richard Osman wrote for the show last month.
Speaking as a fellow Brit, my main memory of this movie was that Leo DiCaprio was in it, and AllSaints were paid to awkwardly shoehorn a reference to it into the chorus of an otherwise unremarkable and unrelated song.
A song which is now going to be droning in my head for the next week until I finally dislodge it by virtue of a biro in the ear. So, thanks for that.
How dare you badmouth Pure Shores!
I've just read the book for the first time. I loved the movie as a teenager so watched it again after reading the book. The book is far superior! I loved it! And Leo looks so young watching it as a 29 year old now.
Jesus, You Tube did not show this to me until today, 4 days AFTER you uploaded it! I'm subscribed and have the stupid bell turned on!
The bar graph is really appreciated. Nice work.
Dammit Dominic, my want-to-read list is long enough, but with every episode you describe nearly every book you cover so well that I end up making my list longer 😁
After watching this, I think The Beach would gain more traction nowadays and spark more discussion. Anti-colonialism is bigger than ever.
Probably not as the people that go ham for it usually are in the cult's demographic would find s way to make the film some how bad for criticizing their lifestyle unfortunately
@@ayajade6683 A handful, maybe. But there are more mindful people than you think.
@@ayajade6683 LOL anti-colonialist aren't hippies and most are anti-authoritarian so not big on joining cults.
@@dandylionsloth446 they one's I've seen that are super big into talking about anti colonialism are the white hippies with trust funds that backpack across the globe while smoking a shit ton of pot. Who often tell me they're offended on my behalf.
depends on your demographic.
anti-EUROPEAN colonialism is as in vogue as it ever was.
to put it in perspective, the only asian country that was never colonized by a european power (only occupied by the US after WW2, and then only for a decade tops) only managed to do so first by going isolationist, and then by playing the game themselves.
My friend was in Thailand three years ago[before the pandemic], and there are regular cruises to this beach, like a boat one way, 30 minutes for sightseeing, and a boat back, so now it's open. Not sure about the cost but it wasn't really pricy, and each cruise had about 30 people
Karl Urban has gone on record saying Alex Garland also directed a lot of Dredd.
You are always a snappy dresser, but today's vest and tie combo are absolutely fantastic! (I love the 'texture' combination.)
The beach isn’t closed to the public. They closed it for about two years to fix it up and now it’s open
Not proud of myself for being such a mark for the recurrent Baby Shark jokes XD
God, Dredd. So. Good. And apparently, there's some question about the whole "The Raid came first" - turns out the writers of The Raid have admitted later that they got a sneak peek on the script to Dredd and wrote and filmed theirs while Dredd was still being developed. So technically Dredd came first and The Raid borrowed from it. Alas, the trouble of high budget slow movie making versus low budget filming on a weekend...
Moral of the story: A tourist's biggest enemy is other tourists.
My cats and I are always excited when you upload!
The irony that the screwed up to beach is my favourite part.
I watched this film as a teen and the only scenes I remember was the video game part and the "let's put this dying guy somewhere else so he doesn't bother us" part.
I do love that the lost in adaptation of the Alex garland book occurred on top of the release of his new film Men
15:30
Sounds like the DS9 episode "Paradise" ('94). Pretty sure that was an inspiration, too. Closer to that than Lord of the Flies
I thought you already did this one, but I was thinking about the movie Old. When I see the name "The Beach" my mind just automatically adds "That Makes You Old" to the end of it.
And now it turns out you didn't do a video on "Old" at all, and I was remembering a Ryan Hollinger video.
Always worth it to watch to the very end, this time in addition to the cat clips, tongue twists and a banger of an end credits song I got to pause the video for a couple of seconds while I went "wait, indigo?"
Aww I read the book years ago, I remember liking it. I remember liking the film as well but mostly because it was pretty and I was a quite young.
Sad that so many tourists ended up going to the filming location and ruining it.
Both the novel and the movie take place in Thailand, not Taiwan. (refer circa 0:42) (also 2:52) (also 17:19)
I was in Thailand in 1996... 40% of the tourists had a finger jammed into The Lonely Planet Guide to mark their page... the other 60% had their finger in The Beach novel.
As much as the ratings don't really do it justice. This movie was genuinely entertaining and way different than most movies I saw around the time. It was interesting and that's what I want out of a movie.
You should cover “heart of darkness” a story I seen loosely adapted basically just the plot structure
Apocalypse now
Spec ops the line
Ad Astra
Ad Astra was such a disappointment.
@@aaronwimmers8904 I checked out, when I thought it was so dumb that the US Military, know there are armed gangs of pirates on the moon, who regularly attack anyone leaving the cities and yet they were still rolling around in these fragile little moon-buggies and consequently, get slaughtered
And Hearts of Darkness, which is the documentary about Apocalypse Now that shows how the whole film's production basically mirrored the same narrative arc.
One problem with the Beach film could be they failed to include Richards Monologues from the books his thoughts, and his visions. Apocalypse Now was great because they include Willard’s thoughts and monologues. Both Heart of Darkness and the book the Beach are recollections of the protagonists. Jed is in my opinion a crucial character as Richard is struck with a dilemma whether to leave Jed or to try and convince Jed to come with them. I loved the references to Vietnam and films such as Platoon and Apocalypse Now.
Hey Dom, hope you're well!
I think there's an important difference between "touched by humanity" and "touched by civilization".
I doubt anyone would blame early cavemen for "destroying nature".
Ultimately, it's sort of a gradient, but there's also a definite line somewhere - obviously "bringing a bulldozer to a beach" is firmly in the "touched by civilization" region.
Still, by defining this, it becomes clear to see how a group may believe themselves "above it all" with actual merit.
I really hope Dominic covers Ms. Brisby and the Rats of Nimh at some point. That book/movie was a huge part of my childhood.
Great video. I remember seeing the film back then but didn't remember anything that happened. It's also nice to see something referencing Asterix&Obelix. Americans sure miss out on fun stuff with all that superhero stuff around.
It has such a deep cultural impact. We're using the phrase document A38 a lot in Germany to make fun of unnecessary bureaucracy.
@@clarawasserflasche7012 I know. haha. I am from Austria. We do that too.
I love how you are always making small improvements…the graph with your poll results makes it way easier to quickly grok.
This was a really interesting episode. I might have been too young when it first came out to know anything about it, but it went in a direction I didn't quite expect
Never saw it but I'll watch anything by you!
I read the book about ten years ago. Thought it was a nightmarish fever dream; loved it!
Hold up, a Sharkie and George reference?! I thought I was the only one who remembered that cartoon! It was literally one of the first Cartoon Network shows I remember watching when I was little. I can't believe I randomly found someone else who knows of its existence.
I was hoping someone else caught that.
I was just talking about Sharkie and George with a couple of friends tonight 😆
Credits music on point 🤘❤😎
This story sounds like quite a trip, but as always I enjoyed your analysis of it.
…For some reason I lived my entire life thinking that The Beach was a standard romance movie, not a closed-circle thriller. >.> Having young Leo Di Cap and Guillaume Canet in it probably didn’t help.
"Guillaume" is pronounced "Giyome" with a hard g live in "give" ^^
And yeah Guillaume Canet is a big thing in France XD
And is the Father of Marion Cotillard's children.
Looking sharp Dom.
I remember liking both movie and a book but I was still in school back then
That cat is beautiful.
Ooh! I hope you do an episode on Annihilation. Absolutely fantastic movie, but I wonder how much of the message was from the book. And how much it really borrowed from Lovecraft's Colour Out of Space
I have a question about the book (which I haven't read).
Is it set in Taiwan or Thailand? I'm a bit confused due to the interchanging usage of the word Taiwanese. I'm wondering if you mean Thai?
Other than that, another wonderful and interesting video. 😁
Off the coast of Thailand. Taiwan is an island in itself and as far as I can tell doesn't own tinier islands.
Thailand!
I only read the book, that one was set in Thailand.
I think he got a bit carried away and mixed the two up - it's Thailand, book and movie.
@@silviasanchez648 We do have tinier islands but nowhere as isolated
deeply underrated movie! Also the actual beach has been reopened to the public for a few years now, but under heavy regulation to keep it pristine.
I remember loving the book when I first read it in '98, it was perfect for my 15 year old mind. And I love the film, I also read Tesseract by Garland. I think both the film and book are underrated, the film, unfortunately was hit by the Titanic backlash that was still going when this film came out
I LOVE the Asterix movies😍😍😍😍😍
Stephen King's 'The Stand' as there are two miniseries adaptations of it and one is recent.
Not to play the lit pedant, but the titular beach is located on an island off the coast of Thailand, not Taiwan. Would highly recommend the original novel, btw. I'm quite a slow reader, but remember blasting through it in just three days.
the funniest thing about this is book is that if you're backpacking asia you'll 100 % see someone reading it.
also where does he do his polls
I kind of feel like city people complaining about being overcrowded don't seem to realize there are things between living in a city, and living in grass huts on some forbidden beach. I mean, I do like living in the middle of nowhere, but I also live having electricity and indoor plumbing.
May i once again say how much i love the ending songs!
My body may be present... but my soul is on the beach.
Thanks for creating!
we had to read+watch this in school and i'm still traumatised
13:15 my dude, the reason they went all cannibally and frenzied was because richard and the folks trying to escape spiked everyones fermented drinks. you also forgot the earlier scene where rich gives everyone food poisoning and there is a literal river of shit involved lol. I hated the adaptation to film, i really enjoyed the beach as a novel, i think it got me at the right time in my life. I might have to revisit it. the only thing they got right was sal's casting imho
Danny Boyle also did the incredible TRANCE about a painting heist with James Macavoy and the gut wrenching adaptation of Frankenstein trading Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch.
whats great about this channel is i t makes it so i never have to read the book or the movie and still understand when people talk about either
Always love your videos, including this one, just here to say your outfit is mighty sharp!
The Dom changes the name of the country from Thailand to Taiwan in a worse change to book than anything the movie did. :)
i somehow knew he mixed them up
i knew nothing about any of this so i was looking at the actor for Richard and kept thinking, 'gee, he really looks like leonardo dicaprio'...
Sal was American in the book. Always thought it was weird the movie switched her and Richard’s nationalities.
If anyone remembers , in the sequel of Bridget Jones , there's a guy and her friend (Bridget Jones) with the book " the beach" on their way to Thaliand .
That All Saints song was a banger, though.
The movie is really good,ok not prect but still wild.And captures the themes.
Baby shark du du du
I always, always love the endings songs but--I think this one is now my absolute favorite. It was perfect! lol