Originally published at: Here's why The Worlds End is an underrated masterpiece | Boing Boing
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Uh… okay? I liked Sean of the Dead and Hot Fuzz better, but I grant everyone’s mileage varies. Not really sure I’d call any of them a masterpiece, though.
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World’s End is probably my favorite of the three. It’s not as rewatchable as he other two (in that “put it on in the background while I work on other stuff” way), but that’s because it’s got so much you have to be watching and paying attention for.
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It did prove, again, that Nick Frost is a better actor than Simon Pegg.
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I think that this is largely due to pacing. The first two movies ramped up the action like clockwork. Hot Fuzz was a masterclass in timing.
The World’s End was quite slow until it went off the rails, and then it was over too quick. I still liked it, but I am struggling to remember anything that happened before the twist.
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I really like Hot Fuzz and Shawn of the Dead, they’re great parodies of their respective genres. The World’s End didn’t do much for me on the other hand, mainly because the main character was deeply unlikeable. I enjoyed parts of the movie but as a whole it doesn’t come together for me.
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I also liked the reversal of the dynamic they’d established in the first two films with Frost being the more solid, grounded character and Pegg the screw-up. Pegg has said in interviews that Frost is the most talented guy he knows–and I think he’s including himself–so I felt this film was both a chance for Frost to play a very different character and a personal statement about their relationship.
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Frost is such a good actor that he always convinces me that he is at least 6’ tall, rather than a bijou 5’ 7".
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I’d go Hot Fuzz, Shawn, then World’s end. But still think all three are excellent.
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Shaun of the Dead has my favorite DVD extra feature of all time. There is an option in the captions/subtitles menu, I don’t remember what it was called exactly, maybe “Zombie…argh”, that turns on a trivia closed caption with notes about music, references to other films and Spaced, and various stuff. Wonderful companion to the film.
I don’t know if Hot Fuzz or The Worlds End had features like it or not, but they are also both great fun and I love them.
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I too overall liked Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz more, but The World’s End was also fun. Really weird how it and This is the End came out around the same time.
Anyway - absolutely lost my shit when at this scene and the absolute banger of UK hip hop came on, Silver Bullet’s 20 Seconds to Comply - which I was familiar with thanks to the Big Beat masterpiece that is Lo Fidelity Allstars - On the Floor at the Boutique.
Full song
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First off, y’all… it’s SHAUN of the Dead. Not Shawn, not Sean, not Shorn. Sorry, but y’all are killing me dissing WE and not even getting the first movie’s title correct. I bet ya bums also call it Dr. Who. 
As someone who has battled mental health issues, been hospitalized for suicide attempts, and having had a binge relationship with alcohol, I really identified with Gary King in WE. He has no power over his own life and he yearns for a day when shit was a lot simpler. That said, Gary King is also a manipulative, toxic, self-obsessed asshole who endangers his friends in order to grasp one last moment of glory. I get that people don’t appreciate the slow start but it’s an EW film and a lot of easter eggs for later in the movie are being put in place.
Masterpieces? That’s for time to tell. However, in term of work ethic, attention to detail, innovative storytelling, and keeping it all engaging & entertaining, Edgar Wright is right there at the top. He’s incredible at movie comedy, and his movies since the Cornetto Trilogy (Baby Driver & Last Night In Soho) show that he’s not a one-trick pony.
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i personally feel that Shaun on the Dead is a complete masterpiece, and Hot Fuzz is a close second. i admit that i have only seen World’s End once, in the theater, so maybe i need to give it a second viewing. i liked it well enough, but it didn’t land immediately with me like the other two did. (also, @BreezerSneezers, i’m guilty of the Shaun/Shawn confusion with Shaun the Sheep as well)
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The Worlds End was great no doubt but it started and ended on a an especially dark note and had some odd pacing. Hot Fuzz definitely remains my favorite in the trilogy.
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Mine too. That was a masterclass in directing.
Shaun and WE are also ruddy good.
Hot Fuzz, though - I live in a village - mucho relatable.
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And it had Olivia Colman before she was an Oscar winner! I always like seeing her in her pre fame days like in her appearances in Mitchell & Webb sketches.
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World’s End is my favorite of the three.
And I was under the impression that it was extremely well received.
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Lesson learned: If you want to look tall, do NOT stand next to Stephen Merchant!
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That is a great track, and not cheapened by its inclusion here; unlike, I feel, “Sabotage” was in Star Trek: Beyond. Maybe it is because “Sabotage” is diegetic in ST:B, and so the character’s commenting on it kinds of undercuts what a kick ass track it is.
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