Fincher's camera crew were absolute masters of their job. The way it sweeps around each room or moves in on small objects really sucks the audience into the mother's apartment. It lends a very claustrophobic feel as well. If you have a small room and a projector that can be hooked up to a DVD player, do yourself a favor and watch this movie in there. You might even try stacking empty boxes around you to emphasize the space. It's a vastly different experience that really ratchets up the terror. I did this and made sure the woofer was close by and set to a low frequency. There was a shocking difference between this and watching it on a TV in a wide open living room.
I just wanted to say this was an excellent directorial essay and technical breakdown of a very underrated thriller. I had subconsciously ingested Finchers obsessive detailing and choreography but this brings the work out to another level.
Thanks for taking the time to recognize the mastery in Panic Room. I too as you whish more talked about it. I opened the video as soon as I saw it. I love the movie and their own way of portraying it through the behind the scenes.
Thanks a lot for this! It's one of my all favorite thrillers! Such a playful thrill ride filled with nods and homages to films which influenced fincher, such as rare window, straw dogs, the exorcist etc. It's one of the most joyful cinematic experiences of the last 20 years.
@@daniel_netzelYour videos are really great, Daniel. I think you should talk about Sons of Anarchy, Legion, Hellboy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Batman, The Rocketeer, Guardians of the galaxy, Oz(HBO show), Arcane, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, El Camino, Smallville, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Agents of Shield, Moon Knight, Andor, The Shield, Justified, Mayans MC or Superman and Lois in your next videos. Keep up the good work.
Wow. This is probably one of the best videos on Your channel. I didn't know there were so much layers in this movie. Just astounding. Fincher is technical maniac and this prooves why he is one of the best of this time.
That is so kind of you, thank you! Fincher might not be for everyone, you don't have to love his movies, but anyone who says he's a bad director is just demonstrably objectively wrong. Truly no one out there with quite like him.
Such a good video essay. I loved Panic Room when I watched it but even I haven't appreciated the way it deserves. It's no surprise it's Soderbergh's favorite Fincher film.
I looooove Panic Room! First time in the cinema the tension during the almost silent sequence of getting the cell phone from under the bed, everyone held their collective breathes and clenched their collective assholes. Masterful conducting of an audience.
Well done video, dude! I’ve always seen this film as a quintessential example of a solid thriller. One correction though: it would be said that the camera is able to be omnipresent, not omniscient-the latter pertains to knowledge rather than physical space.
Panic Room is one the best thrillers of the 2000's. This is why I love Fincher's films and the cast and crews he works with, technique, craftsmanship, and and an unflinching demand to give the audience the best story told in the best way possible. This is also why I look forward to every David Fincher project that is released.
Another really great video, Fincher is to me one of the most interesting filmmakers and I will do a little doc on him at some point for sure. I just wanted to let you know sth you talked about on the Podcast recently considering sponsorships: So in case you will do a sponsorship again, there is definitely something you could offer if a video might perform very well. Many bigger creators I know (actually learned this from the RUclips Partners Discord which taught me a lot from the "big guys") do a fixed fee for a minimum of views and then additional CPM of 20-30 Dollars for every view over that capped at eg a million. So for example 3000 Dollars for 200.000 views guarantee and CPM of 25 for everything over that capped at a million. Its just so hard that noone talks about that and you really need to know people to see all the options you have. I know that smaller RUclipsrs dont even get those deals with view guarantees at all. Deals through agencies definitely suck like you said, they lowball you sooo hard everytime and are really pushy about it.
I was very young when I watched Panic Room and Constantine and instantly fell in love with both. Later when I found out that both were not considered to be among the greatest works of the respective directors, I was shocked because both the movies, in my young and inexperienced eyes, were nothing short of two masterpieces. I am so happy that the young generation is now re-visiting old movies and films like Panic Room and Constantine are slowly but surely achieving cult classic status.
I've always loved Panic Room I got it in a weird knock off looking 2 part set along with Flight Plan and was so happy I watched it, I was impressed with the camera work even before I really knew what that was.
Panic Room is a film I wated over and over, learning a tiny bit of new information each time, but still having questions. Questions like "What was the exact conversation had on the stairs by three men while Meg's trying to get her phone?", and "Why was Burnham a 'good' bad guy, like carring Sarah over the broken glass, whereas Raul is much darker?"
Same. One I can always return to as well, which is rare for me with thrillers, normally they get boring once you know everything, but I never get bored of Panic Room
the security cameras could use NDs to cut down the light, i think it's just the setup of the crew that will be in shot that forced them to reshoot for them or else it would be dumb not to nd the cameras and get it done with.
"Not Fincher's best film", but one of his very best. It is very underrated, because most people didn't understand what it is about. Conditioned by the brilliant "Seven", "Fight Club" and "The Game", they expected a deeply philosophical movie and didn't notice the metaphoric dimensions of "Panic Room", that looks much more straightforward on the first view. It has a lot of parallels to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the red Death", I think, because it relates to a privileged class of people who try to keep themselves and their property save from the outer world, while ignoring the fate of the other people out there. It is about the selfishness of privileged classes and maybe especially american (and every other national) isolationism in world politics and economics. Already the opening titles, with it's business-card-esthetic, the text rows that are nailed to the front of the city architecture like protective shields, suggest that. The Removal Van at the beginning of the film, with the label "Mayflower" may be another hint. And of course the upstage acting of the realtor, that showcases the apartment to the protagonists at the beginning of the film. But finally there is no safety. The Disadvantaged and Exploited besiege and intrude into the allegedly safe place, that becomes a prison and trap for it's residents. Extreme inequality causes extreme greediness and violence. And the conflict escalates. Beyond that, it is one of the most suspenseful movies I have ever seen. The arc of suspense is sublime and masterly. Another comparison, I was thinking of after I first saw "Panic Room", was William Wyler's "The desperate Hours" (1955), with Frederic March and Humphrey Bogart.
To keep the focus on some of the specifics, there were a few things I left out that definitely added to the difficulty of the production. Khondji dropped out because he felt he wasn't given enough freedom after Fincher already planned all of the shots, so he was replaced by Conrad W. Hall. And then Nicole Kidman was originally the lead role, but she had to drop out because of an injury and they had to reshoot a few scenes. But yeah, all around a difficult production
i remember working in hollywood at this post facility running dubs seeing the trailers for finchers new film panic room. I wondered what this new film from fincher would be like. low and behold fincher would book an editing bay that week at this post facility and would spend a month redoing the opening credits that would become the films opening. I remember thinking he spent over 6 figures and weeks in a editing bay redoing the opening credits for his movie, it must be good ;)... the credits are pretty slick a la CGI go check em out ;)
@@daniel_netzelSir, in the🥇place thanks for the reply. And I duly understand your intention behind the use of the term & I do get the idea you want to highlight. The only point of my comment is an effort so that other viewers of this video don't get confused.
I remember watching Panic Room in the theater when it was released. It was just so incredibly disappointing after the audacious, multi-layered themes, biting satire, complex content of Fight Club. So much to bite into it! Then there was Panic Room. "He made a home invasion thriller? That's it? That's it?", I remember thinking. As it is, it's a nifty thriller. But the characters are not interesting and the movie is ultimately unfulfilling. I could see why Fincher needed a smaller movie and a thematic break after the grueling Fight Club.
For me Fincher gets better the less flamboyant his movies look. Zodiac and Panic room make Fight Club look like a cartoon movie. Also Fight Club commits the cardinal sin of having a subjective camera without admitting its subjectivity, which made the reveal utterly gimmicky - the exact opposite to the careful way the hints are dropped in this sequence.
Idk, I'll always love Fight Club. It was the first Fincher movie I saw, and I've seen it like 100 times and still love it. It's got its problematic audience, but that to me has always been a result of people misreading the movie more than anything. But I love his directing, it's bold and just totally unique, and I feel like its subjectivity is made clear, at least it always tracked that way for me
i love that u did a thoughtful critique of this film, but i must disagree. i think it’s one of his best; better than The Social Network which is an interesting film about an asshole & too many seem to love, but boring compared to all of his other films. besides being a fun thriller, Panic Room has the best if not one of the best “money shots” ever in film.
I love The Social Network for how non-Fincher it feels, and I don't find it boring at all. But I'll always love Panic Room, so many great scenes. And which money shot? I feel like there's a few lol The door slam on the fingers, the sledgehammer, all absolutely iconic
I get a lot of hate for my stance on Benjamin Button, but I have always absolutely adored it. I think it's probably Fincher's most underrated, it's his only romance film and I think it's gorgeous. I did love Mank, but it was just missing something for me that was hard to put my finger on. But hey, these things can change with time. I've seen Benjamin Button at least a dozen times since it first came out, I've only seen Mank once, so who knows how I'll feel about Mank in a few years
Despite my appreciation for the motives behind the omniscient camera work, I always thought it felt a bit cheesy to see it flying through parts of the house
Aa far as I am concerned, the only problem with Panic Room is Jared Leto. His "acting" was so amateur, over the top & not believable at all to me. He was clearly miscast. Other than that, it is a great film.
I actually always loved his performance, he sticks out like a sore thumb but he's supposed to, he's some snotty little rich kid who's trying to act tough and play criminal for the night, but he's a total phony and I thought Leto captured that perfectly.
@@daniel_netzel this is the only movie I actually like him in (and Fight Club because he doesn’t do much other than getting his face smashed in). I was excited to see him on other movies and then just got more and more disappointed. I still like him in this though.
@@daniel_netzel I'm with you there. It's one of the few times his ham acting actually fits the role and the movie. He's supposed to be somewhat of a pompus buffoon and that's exactly the way he comes across. He's the comic foil, but he's totally unaware of it.
Not nearly enough ppl appreciate this masterpiece. And I do think it’s one of his best actually.
Fincher's camera crew were absolute masters of their job. The way it sweeps around each room or moves in on small objects really sucks the audience into the mother's apartment. It lends a very claustrophobic feel as well. If you have a small room and a projector that can be hooked up to a DVD player, do yourself a favor and watch this movie in there. You might even try stacking empty boxes around you to emphasize the space. It's a vastly different experience that really ratchets up the terror. I did this and made sure the woofer was close by and set to a low frequency. There was a shocking difference between this and watching it on a TV in a wide open living room.
Panic Room is definitely underrated. I admire the craftsmanship behind it a lot
I just wanted to say this was an excellent directorial essay and technical breakdown of a very underrated thriller. I had subconsciously ingested Finchers obsessive detailing and choreography but this brings the work out to another level.
Thanks for taking the time to recognize the mastery in Panic Room. I too as you whish more talked about it. I opened the video as soon as I saw it. I love the movie and their own way of portraying it through the behind the scenes.
Thanks for watching! Fincher always has the best behind the scenes to be honest, there's an entire film school in the bonus materials for his stuff.
I’m a film buff, this is so so good. Thank you. Glad I found the channel.
Thanks Adam, glad you did too!
Thanks a lot for this! It's one of my all favorite thrillers! Such a playful thrill ride filled with nods and homages to films which influenced fincher, such as rare window, straw dogs, the exorcist etc. It's one of the most joyful cinematic experiences of the last 20 years.
Straw Dogs was a big inspiration for him! There's a shot in the film that pays homage to the poster.
Well done, Daniel. Great analysis!!
Thank you!
@@daniel_netzelYour videos are really great, Daniel. I think you should talk about Sons of Anarchy, Legion, Hellboy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Batman, The Rocketeer, Guardians of the galaxy, Oz(HBO show), Arcane, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, El Camino, Smallville, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Agents of Shield, Moon Knight, Andor, The Shield, Justified, Mayans MC or Superman and Lois in your next videos. Keep up the good work.
Sad how this great movie is so underappreciated, your videos are very good
I appreciate that!
Wow. This is probably one of the best videos on Your channel. I didn't know there were so much layers in this movie. Just astounding. Fincher is technical maniac and this prooves why he is one of the best of this time.
That is so kind of you, thank you! Fincher might not be for everyone, you don't have to love his movies, but anyone who says he's a bad director is just demonstrably objectively wrong. Truly no one out there with quite like him.
@@daniel_netzel Indeed :)
i love that you did a video on panic room! it's so underrated and i always recommend it to people! your breakdown is awesome and eye-opening.
A technical masterpiece of “cat and mouse” tension
Fantastic analysis. Love your emphasis at the small, but vital blocking techniques necessary for building tension. Not enough people do that.
It's one of the first things I notice in a bad thriller, and Panic Room keeps that pacing and blocking tighter than most movies I've seen
I’ve always enjoyed this film. Your excellent breakdown gives me a whole new appreciation for it though. Thank you and keep up the great work.
Thanks for watching! Shining a spotlight on some underrated stuff is always one of my favorite things to do on this channel
Such a good video essay. I loved Panic Room when I watched it but even I haven't appreciated the way it deserves. It's no surprise it's Soderbergh's favorite Fincher film.
I didn't know that, but that's cool! I've always respected Soderbergh, and the man's got good taste haha
I could watch your channel all day long. Amazing work! Keep it up!
Thank you! I do have a few other Fincher videos on this channel that are worth watching ;)
I looooove Panic Room! First time in the cinema the tension during the almost silent sequence of getting the cell phone from under the bed, everyone held their collective breathes and clenched their collective assholes. Masterful conducting of an audience.
Great scene, and great use of slow motion.
don't care what everyone says, panic room is one of my fincher favourites. watched on the big screen and it was a delight
Incredible analysis, especially all the focus on camera direction and blocking. Really inspiring stuff.
Great work Daniel! Really enjoying the video 😊
Thank you Ali!
the amount of effort that went through this is unbelievable, thank you so much really appreciate it!!
Well done video, dude! I’ve always seen this film as a quintessential example of a solid thriller.
One correction though: it would be said that the camera is able to be omnipresent, not omniscient-the latter pertains to knowledge rather than physical space.
Panic Room is one the best thrillers of the 2000's. This is why I love Fincher's films and the cast and crews he works with, technique, craftsmanship, and and an unflinching demand to give the audience the best story told in the best way possible. This is also why I look forward to every David Fincher project that is released.
Great essay man keep up the solid work!
Thank you, I'll do my best!
Def a slept on classic, this video just made me like the movie more so thanks
Thank you for giving a renewed appreciation for this movie!
My pleasure, thanks for watching!
Great video on this overlooked movie. Thanks!
Another really great video, Fincher is to me one of the most interesting filmmakers and I will do a little doc on him at some point for sure. I just wanted to let you know sth you talked about on the Podcast recently considering sponsorships: So in case you will do a sponsorship again, there is definitely something you could offer if a video might perform very well. Many bigger creators I know (actually learned this from the RUclips Partners Discord which taught me a lot from the "big guys") do a fixed fee for a minimum of views and then additional CPM of 20-30 Dollars for every view over that capped at eg a million. So for example 3000 Dollars for 200.000 views guarantee and CPM of 25 for everything over that capped at a million. Its just so hard that noone talks about that and you really need to know people to see all the options you have. I know that smaller RUclipsrs dont even get those deals with view guarantees at all.
Deals through agencies definitely suck like you said, they lowball you sooo hard everytime and are really pushy about it.
Thanks a lot for your essay
I saw this one day when I was home sick from school and this movie gave me 18 new levels of paranoia forever
I was very young when I watched Panic Room and Constantine and instantly fell in love with both. Later when I found out that both were not considered to be among the greatest works of the respective directors, I was shocked because both the movies, in my young and inexperienced eyes, were nothing short of two masterpieces. I am so happy that the young generation is now re-visiting old movies and films like Panic Room and Constantine are slowly but surely achieving cult classic status.
Amazing video like always
Thank you :)
Just watched it. Loved it!
I've always loved Panic Room I got it in a weird knock off looking 2 part set along with Flight Plan and was so happy I watched it, I was impressed with the camera work even before I really knew what that was.
That's the same feeling I had! Honestly Fincher is a big part of what made me want to learn more about movies in the first place
Panic Room is a film I wated over and over, learning a tiny bit of new information each time, but still having questions. Questions like "What was the exact conversation had on the stairs by three men while Meg's trying to get her phone?", and "Why was Burnham a 'good' bad guy, like carring Sarah over the broken glass, whereas Raul is much darker?"
Excellent as always.
Thank you!
I absolutely love this movie. I can and have watched it multiple times. Perfect cast. didn’t know Fincher directed
Same. One I can always return to as well, which is rare for me with thrillers, normally they get boring once you know everything, but I never get bored of Panic Room
the security cameras could use NDs to cut down the light, i think it's just the setup of the crew that will be in shot that forced them to reshoot for them or else it would be dumb not to nd the cameras and get it done with.
At the beginning of the movie a man walks past the Mayflower removal van and he looks exactly like Hitchcock.
I just rewatched it after seeing this. I forgot how good it was
"Not Fincher's best film", but one of his very best. It is very underrated, because most people didn't understand what it is about. Conditioned by the brilliant "Seven", "Fight Club" and "The Game", they expected a deeply philosophical movie and didn't notice the metaphoric dimensions of "Panic Room", that looks much more straightforward on the first view. It has a lot of parallels to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the red Death", I think, because it relates to a privileged class of people who try to keep themselves and their property save from the outer world, while ignoring the fate of the other people out there. It is about the selfishness of privileged classes and maybe especially american (and every other national) isolationism in world politics and economics. Already the opening titles, with it's business-card-esthetic, the text rows that are nailed to the front of the city architecture like protective shields, suggest that. The Removal Van at the beginning of the film, with the label "Mayflower" may be another hint. And of course the upstage acting of the realtor, that showcases the apartment to the protagonists at the beginning of the film. But finally there is no safety. The Disadvantaged and Exploited besiege and intrude into the allegedly safe place, that becomes a prison and trap for it's residents. Extreme inequality causes extreme greediness and violence. And the conflict escalates.
Beyond that, it is one of the most suspenseful movies I have ever seen. The arc of suspense is sublime and masterly. Another comparison, I was thinking of after I first saw "Panic Room", was William Wyler's "The desperate Hours" (1955), with Frederic March and Humphrey Bogart.
You're doing Alien 3 dirty putting it in D tier!
Don't leave out this film's titles. Some of the best ever.
Honestly though
From the title I kind of expected there will be covered situation with DP Darius Khondji replacement. But other than that, it's worth watching.
To keep the focus on some of the specifics, there were a few things I left out that definitely added to the difficulty of the production. Khondji dropped out because he felt he wasn't given enough freedom after Fincher already planned all of the shots, so he was replaced by Conrad W. Hall. And then Nicole Kidman was originally the lead role, but she had to drop out because of an injury and they had to reshoot a few scenes. But yeah, all around a difficult production
I bet the editor was pulling their hair out in post production for this.
Still a great movie.
i remember working in hollywood at this post facility running dubs seeing the trailers for finchers new film panic room. I wondered what this new film from fincher would be like. low and behold fincher would book an editing bay that week at this post facility and would spend a month redoing the opening credits that would become the films opening. I remember thinking he spent over 6 figures and weeks in a editing bay redoing the opening credits for his movie, it must be good ;)... the credits are pretty slick a la CGI go check em out ;)
Need 4K releases of all Fincher movies plz!
Seriously
Is that the reason why we didn't get a Blu-ray release or even a 4K release of this film?
They are Eye-traces not Match (graphic) cuts
I never went to film school so I may have gotten my terms messed up, but that was the term I had always heard. The idea is still the same though
@@daniel_netzelSir, in the🥇place thanks for the reply. And I duly understand your intention behind the use of the term & I do get the idea you want to highlight. The only point of my comment is an effort so that other viewers of this video don't get confused.
I loved this film.
No Blu-Ray?
A Blu-Ray does exist to my knowledge, but they seem hard to come find
The theives represent Jodie Foster's psyche: her compassion(Burnham),
Her greed(Junior), and her rage(Raul) as she processes her divorce.
That would be great if that was actually what the film was about. But heavy handed symbolic readings of standard thriller films is not my thing.
I remember watching Panic Room in the theater when it was released. It was just so incredibly disappointing after the audacious, multi-layered themes, biting satire, complex content of Fight Club. So much to bite into it! Then there was Panic Room. "He made a home invasion thriller? That's it? That's it?", I remember thinking. As it is, it's a nifty thriller. But the characters are not interesting and the movie is ultimately unfulfilling. I could see why Fincher needed a smaller movie and a thematic break after the grueling Fight Club.
Just saw the film and I thought it was pretty great.
Just watching this video bugs my mind. OMG it really is a 4D chess 😵
For me Fincher gets better the less flamboyant his movies look. Zodiac and Panic room make Fight Club look like a cartoon movie. Also Fight Club commits the cardinal sin of having a subjective camera without admitting its subjectivity, which made the reveal utterly gimmicky - the exact opposite to the careful way the hints are dropped in this sequence.
Idk, I'll always love Fight Club. It was the first Fincher movie I saw, and I've seen it like 100 times and still love it. It's got its problematic audience, but that to me has always been a result of people misreading the movie more than anything. But I love his directing, it's bold and just totally unique, and I feel like its subjectivity is made clear, at least it always tracked that way for me
This is peak fincher for me… it only went south from there…
there is no blu-ray or 4k of this movie… let that sink in… wtf!?
i love that u did a thoughtful critique of this film, but i must disagree. i think it’s one of his best; better than The Social Network which is an interesting film about an asshole & too many seem to love, but boring compared to all of his other films. besides being a fun thriller, Panic Room has the best if not one of the best “money shots” ever in film.
I love The Social Network for how non-Fincher it feels, and I don't find it boring at all. But I'll always love Panic Room, so many great scenes. And which money shot? I feel like there's a few lol The door slam on the fingers, the sledgehammer, all absolutely iconic
Huh. That's pretty crazy.
Hear me out and i mean it.
Panic Room over Fight Club, any day for me.
Any tension in this movie went immediately out the window the second you see Leto's ridiculous Corn Rows. Terrible Film.
I'm gonna watch this movie then watch the video
You’re really good..
Thanks dude!
It's "Raúl" xd
Ranking Benjamin Button two steps above Mank = sacrilege
I get a lot of hate for my stance on Benjamin Button, but I have always absolutely adored it. I think it's probably Fincher's most underrated, it's his only romance film and I think it's gorgeous. I did love Mank, but it was just missing something for me that was hard to put my finger on. But hey, these things can change with time. I've seen Benjamin Button at least a dozen times since it first came out, I've only seen Mank once, so who knows how I'll feel about Mank in a few years
Despite my appreciation for the motives behind the omniscient camera work, I always thought it felt a bit cheesy to see it flying through parts of the house
I love it tbh, something you don't see often
Aa far as I am concerned, the only problem with Panic Room is Jared Leto. His "acting" was so amateur, over the top & not believable at all to me. He was clearly miscast.
Other than that, it is a great film.
I actually always loved his performance, he sticks out like a sore thumb but he's supposed to, he's some snotty little rich kid who's trying to act tough and play criminal for the night, but he's a total phony and I thought Leto captured that perfectly.
@@daniel_netzel this is the only movie I actually like him in (and Fight Club because he doesn’t do much other than getting his face smashed in).
I was excited to see him on other movies and then just got more and more disappointed. I still like him in this though.
@@daniel_netzel I'm with you there. It's one of the few times his ham acting actually fits the role and the movie. He's supposed to be somewhat of a pompus buffoon and that's exactly the way he comes across. He's the comic foil, but he's totally unaware of it.
first
Sadly, all that effort for a poor, error-filled script riddled with huge plot holes and weak characters.
Corny acting & dialogue ruin it for me
lol talking about building it digitally like it’s a marvel. Baby the sims have been around for years
That is not even remotely the same thing lol
@@daniel_netzel as someone that took 2 years of architecture you’re right but it was made to reflect those programs