Entertainment
Kevin Costner Accidentally Starts Civil War And Steals Your Wife In R-Rated, Post-Apocalyptic Hero’s Journey
By Robert Scucci
| Updated
I have so many things to say about 1997’s The Postman that I don’t even know where to start. The first thing I’ll say is that Kevin Costner has proven himself to be a reliable leading man. Field of Dreams (1989) and Dances with Wolves (1990) made waves on the big screen, and Yellowstone was never the same after he parted ways with Tyler Sheridan to focus on his sprawling Western vanity project, Horizon: An American Saga. What I’ve noticed about Kevin Costner, though, is that he has a serious hero complex and never seems particularly interested in being part of an ensemble.
You can trace this mindset all the way back to 1995’s Waterworld, which is basically Mad Max with boats. The film was considered a flop upon release because of its bloated budget and disappointing box office returns, but audiences have warmed up to it over the years thanks to a campy charm that’s hard to replicate.
The Postman is an entirely different beast because Costner serves as both director and star. He’s not just an actor following somebody else’s vision, and he’s so committed to building out his own character’s mythology that he might as well be Steven Seagal. Oh, and it’s almost three hours long, which is worth mentioning because money comes and goes, relationships change, but time is the one thing you never get back.
177 Minutes Of Kevin Costner Thinking He’s Awesome
Set in the then-future year of 2013, The Postman follows a drifter played by Kevin Costner. He travels from community to community reciting Shakespeare in exchange for three hots and a cot. He barely knows any Shakespeare, but it’s enough to impress General Bethlehem (Will Patton), the leader of a militia group known as the Holnists, who captures him and attempts to indoctrinate him.
No joke, when it’s time for Kevin Costner to match wits with Bethlehem, he says, “To be or not to be…” and this is apparently enough for the man to think he’s an intellectual and a scholar that deserves his respect, so long as he doesn’t step out of line. Anyhow, Costner escapes and seeks refuge in an abandoned mail truck, burning letters one by one for light and warmth while hiding from Bethlehem and his loyal army. Suddenly, he has a great idea: he’ll dress like a postman, show up at the nearest settlement, and use his new disguise to score food, drink, and a place to sleep.
He stumbles upon a small town called Pineview, and his plan works even better than expected. So well, in fact, that his mere presence threatens Pineview Sheriff Briscoe (Daniel von Bargen), who knows he’s just a drifter running game but can’t definitively prove it. During his stay, Kevin Costner, who’s super awesome, is approached by Abby (Olivia Williams), who wastes no time asking him to get her pregnant. Abby’s husband, Michael (Charles Esten), is sterile and has absolutely no qualms about Kevin Costner bumping uglies with his wife so they can finally have a baby.
After promising everybody in Pineview that he’s totally legitimate, definitely not a fraud, and committed to delivering mail to and from their community, Kevin Costner, who I now feel comfortable calling “The Postman,” has a run-in with one of the local youths, a young man who calls himself Ford Lincoln Mercury (Larenz Tate) and wants in on that sweet mail-delivery action. With no official authority whatsoever because he doesn’t actually have any, The Postman recruits Ford Lincoln Mercury, and the two basically cosplay as mailmen for the rest of the movie.
When Your Plan Backfires
The previous section may seem like I gave the whole movie away, but I need to remind you that this abomination is three hours long, and we’re barely through the first act. For the sake of brevity, I’ll speed things up and get to the true conflict in The Postman: General Bethlehem. I literally forgot about General Bethlehem after what I’d consider an egregious amount of worldbuilding for a movie about a guy who wants to work for the post office. When he showed up again, my immediate reaction was, “Oh yeah, that guy.”
Despite being such a scholar, General Bethlehem somehow doesn’t realize that Kevin Costner dressed up as a mailman is the same Kevin Costner who impressed him with his flaccid, first-grade rendition of Shakespeare earlier in the film. Unwittingly, and perhaps unwillingly, this whole plot escalates into a full-blown civil war because the Holnists want to maintain their power, and Bethlehem becomes convinced that the American government is slowly reclaiming its former glory because the Postal Service is allegedly operational again.
That’s right. In his mind, mail being delivered by horseback from Oregon to New York over the course of several months means his dynasty is about to crumble.
Along the way, The Postman and Abby fulfill her husband’s wishes, and she gets pregnant. He eventually leaves Pineview but is attacked by Bethlehem’s men, leaving him gravely injured. Abby finds him, and the two seek shelter in a small cabin while he recovers, making sure to make fun of her cooking every time he has enough strength to do so. Abby nearly drowns in an icy river, and The Postman saves her. She burns down the cabin so he’ll be forced to continue his work because that’s what she considers smart. Mail gets delivered, word spreads about the “Restored U.S. Government,” and Bethlehem becomes increasingly enraged as war draws closer.
The Best Unintentional Comedy Of The 90s
As ridiculous as all of this sounds, and it is, I spent most of my time watching The Postman laughing my ass off. The most obvious reason is that everybody plays it completely straight, and James Newton Howard’s score is so whimsical and triumphant. This is, at its core, a story about a mailman. He reminisces about Tang and astronauts before telling Abby that she’s weird or that her face is pretty. Meanwhile, the string section has a glorious crescendo that you’d hear in a Lord of the Rings movie before an epic battle.
Even funnier is the entire hero’s journey that The Postman finds himself on. He literally puts on a dead mailman’s clothes and wanders into town looking to lay low before eventually trying the same scam somewhere else. Within days, he’s leading a resistance movement against General Bethlehem’s sprawling army while trying to restore the long-lost sanctity of American sovereignty. They fight on horseback. Molotov cocktails get thrown through post office windows. Tom Petty shows up for a minute, and I still don’t know why. Kevin Costner rides a zipline.
It’s hilarious because this guy just wanted to keep drifting from town to town, collecting free beans and hardtack wherever he could find them. But his little scheme works so well that he somehow becomes the most important man in post-apocalyptic history. That’s like me trying to fraudulently reuse a BOGO coupon for bulk paper towels at Kroger and somehow ending up as President. I can’t adequately articulate how stupid this all is.
Listen, I’m not telling you to stop what you’re doing and watch The Postman. It’s not currently included with any major streaming subscription. But if you have four dollars you’re willing to part ways with, you can rent this beautiful disaster on-demand through Apple TV+, YouTube, or Fandango at Home.
Entertainment
The Controversial, R-Rated Sci-Fi Thriller That’s Better Than The Book
By Joshua Tyler
| Published
In 2006, the Wachowskis, the minds behind The Matrix, poured the proceeds of their success into a lie. A lie they hoped would reveal the truth.
At first, it seemed to work. People bought tickets, critics liked it, and there was hope that their idea might lead to change on a significant scale. Now, 20 years later, the exact opposite has happened. The dark future their movie predicted is closer than ever.
This is why V For Vendetta failed.
V For Vendetta Was a Conventional Success
By any conventional measure, V for Vendetta was not a failure; it was a moderate success. It got generally positive reviews, performed solidly at the box office, and more than made its budget back.
But V for Vendetta isn’t a conventional film. So before we determine why it failed, let’s define what V for Vendetta is.
V’s Truth And His Vendetta
Based on the same-named comic series written in 1982 by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, V for Vendetta tells the tale of a near-future England run by an oppressive government and a man, known only as V (Hugo Weaving), who sets out to destroy it. V is a terrorist, and he achieves his goals by murder, subterfuge, and blowing things up. He bursts onto the scene clad in dark clothes, hidden behind a Guy Fawkes mask, and spouting dialogue so complex and full of high-dollar words that it’s nearly another language.
While skulking London’s deserted, under-curfew streets, he rescues a waifish girl accosted by Fingermen, the government’s assault-hungry secret police. The girl is Evey (Natalie Portman), and it’s the 5th of November, a day the people of Britain will remember.
V takes Evey under his wing as he embarks upon a strategy of governmental destruction. He’s a terrorist, but he’s not terrorizing the people. Instead, his goal is to awaken and empower them, while striking fear into the heart of England’s totalitarian government. “If you want to see who is responsible, look no further than a mirror,” he tells the country’s citizens. “I understand, you were afraid,” he says by way of forgiving them.
It’s the people who put Britain’s corrupt, hate-driven government in power, and it’s the people who must stop it. “People should not be afraid of their governments,” pronounces V, “governments should be afraid of their people.”
V for Vendetta is a visually rich, dark, and resonant film; one that uses style to convey substance under the guise of pure entertainment. The Wachowski brothers’ script is a faithful adaptation of its source material, tweaked just enough to update it and properly translate it to the screen.
Is the movie political? Yes, but not necessarily in a way specific to any modern political party. It was, after all, written in 1982. These are the same political paradoxes that have been plaguing man for centuries. If you’re British, you’ll almost certainly find a way to apply it to Keir Starmer or Tony Blair, but that’s only because the film’s themes are universal.
Hugo Weaving is incredible as V, acting underneath a stiff, somewhat silly mask that completely covers his face, his eyes, or anything else he might use to convey the slightest emotion. Yet somehow, V is the film’s most passionate, powerful character.
Hugo uses his voice and physicality to convey that, to bring an awkward, faceless creation to electrifying life. V calls himself an idea, and with Weaving playing him, he’s a very powerful idea.
But Natalie Portman’s Evey becomes the real heart of the movie. V is an unstoppable force; Evey is a real person, caught up in his deadly rebellion. Her conversations with V, not the movie’s one or two action bits, are the driving force of the Wachowskis’ script. Evey resists V’s crusade against oppression; her mind rebels at what he says out of fear and self-preservation. So will you.
V For Vendetta’s Forbidden Message
Referencing the still unseen film back in the days before it was released, one member of a politically minded film forum was quick to declare: “You can’t make a movie about a terrorist now without endorsing bin Laden.” It’s that mindset that makes V for Vendetta so unsettling.
Sometimes, it almost feels like you’re watching something forbidden, like you’re seeing something you shouldn’t be allowed to see. It’s shocking that a movie like this ever actually got made. It’s even more unbelievable that a major Hollywood studio made it. Would the Wachowskis have been allowed to make it if they were making it now? I doubt it.
It’s fun to accuse Hollywood of excessive activism. Most of the modern message-pushing they do isn’t bravery; it’s adopting a trend and claiming to be a rebel. Not so with V for Vendetta. It’s a purposefully uncomfortable film, one that will affect different people differently depending on what you bring in with you.
Yes, V for Vendetta is rebellious and risky, subversive and dangerous. But it’s not cynical. V’s naïve take on the world is one that believes in the basic strength and goodness of people as strongly as it believes in the intrinsic corruptness of big government. It’s a viewpoint that almost certainly has no basis in reality, but that’s alright.
What makes the film great is that you’re not asked to subscribe to its philosophy, only think about it and take note. It’s not a call to rise up against your rulers, but a warning about the way fear can be used to give a person or organization too much power. It’s an old lesson, but one that bears frequent repeating.
Why V For Vendetta Failed
“By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.” – V’s personal motto
V for Vendetta is an idea. An idea’s success or failure must be measured by its impact on the world around it. V for Vendetta had none.
The movie planted a few quotes in the minds of those who saw it. People love repeating that “governments should be afraid of their people” one. But at no point did V for Vendetta cause anything to change.
By any measure, governments have only grown more powerful and less afraid of their people since 2006. In response, people have rushed to hand off even more power to centralized authority figures, citing safety, equity, or some other concern as justification.
Had V for Vendetta flopped and become a cult classic, people would be whispering its words in secret late-night showings. Had it been a box-office juggernaut, it would have cemented its place as a permanent fixture in our culture. It did neither, so it fades away, taking not just its message, but the message of the comic on which it’s based, along with it.
V for Vendetta’s idea has been neutered, and mid-level success was the tool used to do it.
Entertainment
Grab the Magic: The Gathering Foundations Jumpstart Booster Display Box on sale for under $100 at Amazon
TL;DR: Amazon has the Magic: The Gathering Foundations Jumpstart 2025 Booster Box on sale for $99.62, down from its current standard price of $105.59. That gets you 24 ready-to-mix Jumpstart boosters, with every pack including 20 cards, all the lands needed to play, and at least one Rare or Mythic Rare card.
Credit: Magic: The Gathering
$99.92
at Amazon
$105.59
Save $5.67
If you’ve been thinking about getting into Magic: The Gathering without immediately needing to learn every corner of deckbuilding, Jumpstart is still one of the easiest ways to get started with the trading card game, and you can now do so with its biggest box on sale.
As of June 3, Amazon lists the Magic: The Gathering Foundations Jumpstart 2025 Booster Box for $99.62, with the item shipped and sold by Amazon itself rather than a third-party seller. This is a 90-day low price; Amazon’s typical price for the 24-pack box is $105.59, saving you $5.97 with this sale price.
On the other hand, you can save even more when shopping outside of Amazon. TCGplayer listings starting at $89 with shipping included, dropping below its $89.09 market price. Slightly higher, Walmart sits at $89.99 via Flipside Gaming.
Magic: The Gathering Foundations Jumpstart Boosters are built around the idea of getting started simply by opening two boosters, shuffling them together, and starting to play — with no drafting, no decklist research, and no digging through your bulk box for lands required.
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Each of the included 24 Jumpstart boosters contains 20 Magic cards with all the lands already included. Every booster also comes with one anime-inspired card and at least one Rare or Mythic Rare, which is a plus for collectors.
There are over 46 possible themes, too, including Goblins, Dinosaurs, Ninjas, and other chaotic little pairings that can make each game feel different.
To get ready for what’s to come in MTG, you can preorder the 30-pack Marvel Super Heroes Play Booster Box for under $140 — a record low price. Right now, though, you can also buy the Magic: The Gathering Aetherdrift Bundle on sale for $40.
If you’re also a Pokémon TCG fan, although it is currently not available on Amazon, the newly announced Pitch Black expansion — Booster Packs, ETBs, Display Boxes, and Booster Bundles — is available to preorder at TCGplayer.
Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable’s Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.
Entertainment
Samsungs 32-inch Odyssey G5 QHD gaming monitor has dropped to a record low price on Amazon
TL;DR: Amazon has slashed the price of the Samsung 32-inch Odyssey G5 (G50F) QHD gaming monitor to $219.99, $130 off its original $349.99 price; that’s its lowest price with the retailer ever, and it still offers a 1440p gaming display with a 180Hz refresh rate.
$219.99
at Amazon
$349.99
Save $130
With the rise of OLED and 4K gaming monitors, HD and QHD models are getting more affordable than ever — and you can now score $130 off a top-tier 32-inch unit from Samsung.
As of June 3, the Samsung 32-inch Odyssey G5 (G50F) QHD gaming monitor is on sale at Amazon for only $219.99, down 37% from its usual list price, and is sold and shipped by Amazon directly. With that $130 drop, this gaming monitor is now at its lowest Amazon price ever, as confirmed by price-tracking site camelcamelcamel.
For this massively lower price, the G50F offers QHD 2560 x 1440 resolution, similar to standard HD but with 1.7 times the pixel density for a fuller display, without making the more expensive jump to 4K. Whether you’re catching up on RPGs like Crimson Desert or linear action-adventures like 007: First Light, everything will still be sharper and pleasing to the eyes.
For lovers of fast-paced multiplayer games like Fortnite, the fast IPS panel also brings a 178-degree viewing angle to help keep the picture clear, while the 180Hz refresh rate and 1ms GtG response time keep gameplay both buttery smooth and far more responsive
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Despite not being 4K, the Odyssey G5’s display still includes HDR10 for brighter highlights and deeper-looking shadows. Plus, the included AMD FreeSync and NVIDIA G-Sync compatibility helps keep any visuals intact by reducing screen tearing as much as possible.
On the off chance you’re open to diving into 4K, LG’s 32-inch OLED UltraGear monitor has been cut to just under $800 on Amazon, too.
For a model that’s a bit smaller, the 27-inch, 1440p LG OLED UltraGear gaming monitor is now only $500, down nearly half.
Mashable Deals
If you’re also a Pokémon TCG fan, although currently not available on Amazon, the newly announced Pitch Black expansion — Booster Packs, ETBs, Display Boxes, and Booster Bundles — is available to preorder at TCGplayer.
Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable’s Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.
The Controversial, R-Rated Sci-Fi Thriller That’s Better Than The Book
Grab the Magic: The Gathering Foundations Jumpstart Booster Display Box on sale for under $100 at Amazon
Jose Ramirez hits 3 doubles to guide Guardians over Yankees
Entertainment
Kevin Costner Accidentally Starts Civil War And Steals Your Wife In R-Rated, Post-Apocalyptic Hero’s Journey
By Robert Scucci
| Updated
I have so many things to say about 1997’s The Postman that I don’t even know where to start. The first thing I’ll say is that Kevin Costner has proven himself to be a reliable leading man. Field of Dreams (1989) and Dances with Wolves (1990) made waves on the big screen, and Yellowstone was never the same after he parted ways with Tyler Sheridan to focus on his sprawling Western vanity project, Horizon: An American Saga. What I’ve noticed about Kevin Costner, though, is that he has a serious hero complex and never seems particularly interested in being part of an ensemble.
You can trace this mindset all the way back to 1995’s Waterworld, which is basically Mad Max with boats. The film was considered a flop upon release because of its bloated budget and disappointing box office returns, but audiences have warmed up to it over the years thanks to a campy charm that’s hard to replicate.
The Postman is an entirely different beast because Costner serves as both director and star. He’s not just an actor following somebody else’s vision, and he’s so committed to building out his own character’s mythology that he might as well be Steven Seagal. Oh, and it’s almost three hours long, which is worth mentioning because money comes and goes, relationships change, but time is the one thing you never get back.
177 Minutes Of Kevin Costner Thinking He’s Awesome
Set in the then-future year of 2013, The Postman follows a drifter played by Kevin Costner. He travels from community to community reciting Shakespeare in exchange for three hots and a cot. He barely knows any Shakespeare, but it’s enough to impress General Bethlehem (Will Patton), the leader of a militia group known as the Holnists, who captures him and attempts to indoctrinate him.
No joke, when it’s time for Kevin Costner to match wits with Bethlehem, he says, “To be or not to be…” and this is apparently enough for the man to think he’s an intellectual and a scholar that deserves his respect, so long as he doesn’t step out of line. Anyhow, Costner escapes and seeks refuge in an abandoned mail truck, burning letters one by one for light and warmth while hiding from Bethlehem and his loyal army. Suddenly, he has a great idea: he’ll dress like a postman, show up at the nearest settlement, and use his new disguise to score food, drink, and a place to sleep.
He stumbles upon a small town called Pineview, and his plan works even better than expected. So well, in fact, that his mere presence threatens Pineview Sheriff Briscoe (Daniel von Bargen), who knows he’s just a drifter running game but can’t definitively prove it. During his stay, Kevin Costner, who’s super awesome, is approached by Abby (Olivia Williams), who wastes no time asking him to get her pregnant. Abby’s husband, Michael (Charles Esten), is sterile and has absolutely no qualms about Kevin Costner bumping uglies with his wife so they can finally have a baby.
After promising everybody in Pineview that he’s totally legitimate, definitely not a fraud, and committed to delivering mail to and from their community, Kevin Costner, who I now feel comfortable calling “The Postman,” has a run-in with one of the local youths, a young man who calls himself Ford Lincoln Mercury (Larenz Tate) and wants in on that sweet mail-delivery action. With no official authority whatsoever because he doesn’t actually have any, The Postman recruits Ford Lincoln Mercury, and the two basically cosplay as mailmen for the rest of the movie.
When Your Plan Backfires
The previous section may seem like I gave the whole movie away, but I need to remind you that this abomination is three hours long, and we’re barely through the first act. For the sake of brevity, I’ll speed things up and get to the true conflict in The Postman: General Bethlehem. I literally forgot about General Bethlehem after what I’d consider an egregious amount of worldbuilding for a movie about a guy who wants to work for the post office. When he showed up again, my immediate reaction was, “Oh yeah, that guy.”
Despite being such a scholar, General Bethlehem somehow doesn’t realize that Kevin Costner dressed up as a mailman is the same Kevin Costner who impressed him with his flaccid, first-grade rendition of Shakespeare earlier in the film. Unwittingly, and perhaps unwillingly, this whole plot escalates into a full-blown civil war because the Holnists want to maintain their power, and Bethlehem becomes convinced that the American government is slowly reclaiming its former glory because the Postal Service is allegedly operational again.
That’s right. In his mind, mail being delivered by horseback from Oregon to New York over the course of several months means his dynasty is about to crumble.
Along the way, The Postman and Abby fulfill her husband’s wishes, and she gets pregnant. He eventually leaves Pineview but is attacked by Bethlehem’s men, leaving him gravely injured. Abby finds him, and the two seek shelter in a small cabin while he recovers, making sure to make fun of her cooking every time he has enough strength to do so. Abby nearly drowns in an icy river, and The Postman saves her. She burns down the cabin so he’ll be forced to continue his work because that’s what she considers smart. Mail gets delivered, word spreads about the “Restored U.S. Government,” and Bethlehem becomes increasingly enraged as war draws closer.
The Best Unintentional Comedy Of The 90s
As ridiculous as all of this sounds, and it is, I spent most of my time watching The Postman laughing my ass off. The most obvious reason is that everybody plays it completely straight, and James Newton Howard’s score is so whimsical and triumphant. This is, at its core, a story about a mailman. He reminisces about Tang and astronauts before telling Abby that she’s weird or that her face is pretty. Meanwhile, the string section has a glorious crescendo that you’d hear in a Lord of the Rings movie before an epic battle.
Even funnier is the entire hero’s journey that The Postman finds himself on. He literally puts on a dead mailman’s clothes and wanders into town looking to lay low before eventually trying the same scam somewhere else. Within days, he’s leading a resistance movement against General Bethlehem’s sprawling army while trying to restore the long-lost sanctity of American sovereignty. They fight on horseback. Molotov cocktails get thrown through post office windows. Tom Petty shows up for a minute, and I still don’t know why. Kevin Costner rides a zipline.
It’s hilarious because this guy just wanted to keep drifting from town to town, collecting free beans and hardtack wherever he could find them. But his little scheme works so well that he somehow becomes the most important man in post-apocalyptic history. That’s like me trying to fraudulently reuse a BOGO coupon for bulk paper towels at Kroger and somehow ending up as President. I can’t adequately articulate how stupid this all is.
Listen, I’m not telling you to stop what you’re doing and watch The Postman. It’s not currently included with any major streaming subscription. But if you have four dollars you’re willing to part ways with, you can rent this beautiful disaster on-demand through Apple TV+, YouTube, or Fandango at Home.
Entertainment
The Controversial, R-Rated Sci-Fi Thriller That’s Better Than The Book
By Joshua Tyler
| Published
In 2006, the Wachowskis, the minds behind The Matrix, poured the proceeds of their success into a lie. A lie they hoped would reveal the truth.
At first, it seemed to work. People bought tickets, critics liked it, and there was hope that their idea might lead to change on a significant scale. Now, 20 years later, the exact opposite has happened. The dark future their movie predicted is closer than ever.
This is why V For Vendetta failed.
V For Vendetta Was a Conventional Success
By any conventional measure, V for Vendetta was not a failure; it was a moderate success. It got generally positive reviews, performed solidly at the box office, and more than made its budget back.
But V for Vendetta isn’t a conventional film. So before we determine why it failed, let’s define what V for Vendetta is.
V’s Truth And His Vendetta
Based on the same-named comic series written in 1982 by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, V for Vendetta tells the tale of a near-future England run by an oppressive government and a man, known only as V (Hugo Weaving), who sets out to destroy it. V is a terrorist, and he achieves his goals by murder, subterfuge, and blowing things up. He bursts onto the scene clad in dark clothes, hidden behind a Guy Fawkes mask, and spouting dialogue so complex and full of high-dollar words that it’s nearly another language.
While skulking London’s deserted, under-curfew streets, he rescues a waifish girl accosted by Fingermen, the government’s assault-hungry secret police. The girl is Evey (Natalie Portman), and it’s the 5th of November, a day the people of Britain will remember.
V takes Evey under his wing as he embarks upon a strategy of governmental destruction. He’s a terrorist, but he’s not terrorizing the people. Instead, his goal is to awaken and empower them, while striking fear into the heart of England’s totalitarian government. “If you want to see who is responsible, look no further than a mirror,” he tells the country’s citizens. “I understand, you were afraid,” he says by way of forgiving them.
It’s the people who put Britain’s corrupt, hate-driven government in power, and it’s the people who must stop it. “People should not be afraid of their governments,” pronounces V, “governments should be afraid of their people.”
V for Vendetta is a visually rich, dark, and resonant film; one that uses style to convey substance under the guise of pure entertainment. The Wachowski brothers’ script is a faithful adaptation of its source material, tweaked just enough to update it and properly translate it to the screen.
Is the movie political? Yes, but not necessarily in a way specific to any modern political party. It was, after all, written in 1982. These are the same political paradoxes that have been plaguing man for centuries. If you’re British, you’ll almost certainly find a way to apply it to Keir Starmer or Tony Blair, but that’s only because the film’s themes are universal.
Hugo Weaving is incredible as V, acting underneath a stiff, somewhat silly mask that completely covers his face, his eyes, or anything else he might use to convey the slightest emotion. Yet somehow, V is the film’s most passionate, powerful character.
Hugo uses his voice and physicality to convey that, to bring an awkward, faceless creation to electrifying life. V calls himself an idea, and with Weaving playing him, he’s a very powerful idea.
But Natalie Portman’s Evey becomes the real heart of the movie. V is an unstoppable force; Evey is a real person, caught up in his deadly rebellion. Her conversations with V, not the movie’s one or two action bits, are the driving force of the Wachowskis’ script. Evey resists V’s crusade against oppression; her mind rebels at what he says out of fear and self-preservation. So will you.
V For Vendetta’s Forbidden Message
Referencing the still unseen film back in the days before it was released, one member of a politically minded film forum was quick to declare: “You can’t make a movie about a terrorist now without endorsing bin Laden.” It’s that mindset that makes V for Vendetta so unsettling.
Sometimes, it almost feels like you’re watching something forbidden, like you’re seeing something you shouldn’t be allowed to see. It’s shocking that a movie like this ever actually got made. It’s even more unbelievable that a major Hollywood studio made it. Would the Wachowskis have been allowed to make it if they were making it now? I doubt it.
It’s fun to accuse Hollywood of excessive activism. Most of the modern message-pushing they do isn’t bravery; it’s adopting a trend and claiming to be a rebel. Not so with V for Vendetta. It’s a purposefully uncomfortable film, one that will affect different people differently depending on what you bring in with you.
Yes, V for Vendetta is rebellious and risky, subversive and dangerous. But it’s not cynical. V’s naïve take on the world is one that believes in the basic strength and goodness of people as strongly as it believes in the intrinsic corruptness of big government. It’s a viewpoint that almost certainly has no basis in reality, but that’s alright.
What makes the film great is that you’re not asked to subscribe to its philosophy, only think about it and take note. It’s not a call to rise up against your rulers, but a warning about the way fear can be used to give a person or organization too much power. It’s an old lesson, but one that bears frequent repeating.
Why V For Vendetta Failed
“By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.” – V’s personal motto
V for Vendetta is an idea. An idea’s success or failure must be measured by its impact on the world around it. V for Vendetta had none.
The movie planted a few quotes in the minds of those who saw it. People love repeating that “governments should be afraid of their people” one. But at no point did V for Vendetta cause anything to change.
By any measure, governments have only grown more powerful and less afraid of their people since 2006. In response, people have rushed to hand off even more power to centralized authority figures, citing safety, equity, or some other concern as justification.
Had V for Vendetta flopped and become a cult classic, people would be whispering its words in secret late-night showings. Had it been a box-office juggernaut, it would have cemented its place as a permanent fixture in our culture. It did neither, so it fades away, taking not just its message, but the message of the comic on which it’s based, along with it.
V for Vendetta’s idea has been neutered, and mid-level success was the tool used to do it.
Entertainment
Grab the Magic: The Gathering Foundations Jumpstart Booster Display Box on sale for under $100 at Amazon
TL;DR: Amazon has the Magic: The Gathering Foundations Jumpstart 2025 Booster Box on sale for $99.62, down from its current standard price of $105.59. That gets you 24 ready-to-mix Jumpstart boosters, with every pack including 20 cards, all the lands needed to play, and at least one Rare or Mythic Rare card.
Credit: Magic: The Gathering
$99.92
at Amazon
$105.59
Save $5.67
If you’ve been thinking about getting into Magic: The Gathering without immediately needing to learn every corner of deckbuilding, Jumpstart is still one of the easiest ways to get started with the trading card game, and you can now do so with its biggest box on sale.
As of June 3, Amazon lists the Magic: The Gathering Foundations Jumpstart 2025 Booster Box for $99.62, with the item shipped and sold by Amazon itself rather than a third-party seller. This is a 90-day low price; Amazon’s typical price for the 24-pack box is $105.59, saving you $5.97 with this sale price.
On the other hand, you can save even more when shopping outside of Amazon. TCGplayer listings starting at $89 with shipping included, dropping below its $89.09 market price. Slightly higher, Walmart sits at $89.99 via Flipside Gaming.
Magic: The Gathering Foundations Jumpstart Boosters are built around the idea of getting started simply by opening two boosters, shuffling them together, and starting to play — with no drafting, no decklist research, and no digging through your bulk box for lands required.
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Each of the included 24 Jumpstart boosters contains 20 Magic cards with all the lands already included. Every booster also comes with one anime-inspired card and at least one Rare or Mythic Rare, which is a plus for collectors.
There are over 46 possible themes, too, including Goblins, Dinosaurs, Ninjas, and other chaotic little pairings that can make each game feel different.
To get ready for what’s to come in MTG, you can preorder the 30-pack Marvel Super Heroes Play Booster Box for under $140 — a record low price. Right now, though, you can also buy the Magic: The Gathering Aetherdrift Bundle on sale for $40.
If you’re also a Pokémon TCG fan, although it is currently not available on Amazon, the newly announced Pitch Black expansion — Booster Packs, ETBs, Display Boxes, and Booster Bundles — is available to preorder at TCGplayer.
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Entertainment
Samsungs 32-inch Odyssey G5 QHD gaming monitor has dropped to a record low price on Amazon
TL;DR: Amazon has slashed the price of the Samsung 32-inch Odyssey G5 (G50F) QHD gaming monitor to $219.99, $130 off its original $349.99 price; that’s its lowest price with the retailer ever, and it still offers a 1440p gaming display with a 180Hz refresh rate.
$219.99
at Amazon
$349.99
Save $130
With the rise of OLED and 4K gaming monitors, HD and QHD models are getting more affordable than ever — and you can now score $130 off a top-tier 32-inch unit from Samsung.
As of June 3, the Samsung 32-inch Odyssey G5 (G50F) QHD gaming monitor is on sale at Amazon for only $219.99, down 37% from its usual list price, and is sold and shipped by Amazon directly. With that $130 drop, this gaming monitor is now at its lowest Amazon price ever, as confirmed by price-tracking site camelcamelcamel.
For this massively lower price, the G50F offers QHD 2560 x 1440 resolution, similar to standard HD but with 1.7 times the pixel density for a fuller display, without making the more expensive jump to 4K. Whether you’re catching up on RPGs like Crimson Desert or linear action-adventures like 007: First Light, everything will still be sharper and pleasing to the eyes.
For lovers of fast-paced multiplayer games like Fortnite, the fast IPS panel also brings a 178-degree viewing angle to help keep the picture clear, while the 180Hz refresh rate and 1ms GtG response time keep gameplay both buttery smooth and far more responsive
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Despite not being 4K, the Odyssey G5’s display still includes HDR10 for brighter highlights and deeper-looking shadows. Plus, the included AMD FreeSync and NVIDIA G-Sync compatibility helps keep any visuals intact by reducing screen tearing as much as possible.
On the off chance you’re open to diving into 4K, LG’s 32-inch OLED UltraGear monitor has been cut to just under $800 on Amazon, too.
For a model that’s a bit smaller, the 27-inch, 1440p LG OLED UltraGear gaming monitor is now only $500, down nearly half.
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If you’re also a Pokémon TCG fan, although currently not available on Amazon, the newly announced Pitch Black expansion — Booster Packs, ETBs, Display Boxes, and Booster Bundles — is available to preorder at TCGplayer.
Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable’s Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.
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