The Maze Runner (2014) PLEASE NOT CHUCK!? | First Time Watching
Jack & Dan React
223,914 views
The Maze Runner (2014)
Thomas is deposited in a community of boys after his memory is erased, soon learning they're all trapped in a maze that will require him to join forces with fellow "runners" for a shot at escape.
Director: Wes Ball
Writers: Noah Oppenheim, Grant Pierce Myers, T.S. Nowlin
Stars: Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Will Poulter
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Chapters
0:00 - Intro
05:13 - Movie Reaction
01:15:15 - Thoughts
#movie #reaction #review
FAIR USE
Images used in this video are under fair use and are copyright material of their respective owners.
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
20 Comments
@shmaniels 1 year ago
“I thought chuck was gonna be like prim or rue” both of whom….died….
@justsomeKy 1 year ago
It's not a good Saturday unless I am nestled betwixt the boys watching a beloved dystopian young adult franchise.
@Girlysoda 1 year ago (edited)
First time i see guys acknowledging how scary it must’ve felt to be the only girl waking up in a group full of guys, that was my first thought as a girl lol. Great vid as always 💜
@DanaCleopatraHerzog 1 year ago
53:43 "tommy" that is newt's nickname for thomas, my newtmas heart is hurting
@amandarparr 1 year ago
Fun fact: I was at ComicCon when they did the panel for this and Dylan was asked a question and accidentally spoiled Chuck's death... and when we finally watched it there were so many near-misses that we thought he had totally trolled us, and it lured us into a false sense of security, and it was TWICE as surprising when it actually happened.
@anniemouse3853 1 year ago
I just want to mention this difference from the books (there were a lot) when the grievers invaded the camp and were killing anyone they could find- this was a lot more intense and almost more sinister in the books. Originally, the maze just stopped closing, and it was like that for days. Every night the grievers would come and they'd take and kill one person and then leave. It turned into them just trying to survive the nights and hoping they wouldn't be the one taken. They even split into two rooms at one point and just hoped they weren't the room that got attacked. It was very intense. The Scorch Trials changes a LOT more, it turns into an entirely different story, can't wait to mention one of the key differences in that one!
@folkcallmelore 1 year ago
"It couldn't have been Maze Runner Boy No. 3?" LOL! There has never been a truer more relatable comment.
@wilhelm-z4t 1 year ago (edited)
The Maze Runner trilogy are adult films. They actually amount to a three act Greek tragedy. No teenage love triangles and romances, although there is a love story of sorts, but it's subtle. They also don't hold your hand. You have to pay attention, make the connections etc. There's an expectation the viewer can piece things together without a lot of hand-holding.
When Thomas and Minho first opened the #7 gate, they triggered a reconfiguration of the Maze and the END of the Maze Trial. The Maze was then reconfigured to funnel the Gladers to #7 gate/exit. This is what was happening when Thomas and Minho were running back to the Glade. There's a deleted scene that underlines this fact. Subsequently, all four Maze entrances in the Glade were opened. The Grievers were sent in to evict the Gladers from the Glade. Remember what Teresa said to Gally? The Grievers are going to keep coming back until you're all dead. In other words, it's pointless to remain in the Glade. By the way, all those Grievers would have section #7 keys.
The entire experiment has been a variation on "survival of the fittest." Only those Gladers who successfully exit the Maze pass Phase I. Those who stay behind will not survive. Remember when Thomas was appointed Runner, Minho took him to the Runner's Hut. He told Thomas the pattern the Maze's sections follow when they opened. This is the code to the 8 Maze gates. Since only #7 gate is available to the Gladers after the reconfiguration, it's reasonable to assume the code begins with 7, i.e., it's 71526483. If they had opened, say, #2 gate, the code would be 26483715 etc.
After Alby is stung, the other Runners quit, except for Minho, the keeper or leader of the Runners. The ex-Runners were then seen talking to Gally and probably stayed behind with Gally after Thomas and the others left. Gally was also one of the leaders of the Glade. It's reasonable to assume Gally knew the code either from the ex-Runners or because he was a keeper. He certainly knew about the "key" inside the Grievers.
After Thomas and the others left, either Gally and his mates followed them to force them back, or they were driven out of the Glade by a round 2 attack by the Grievers. On the way to gate #7, Gally and his mates either killed a Griever or found a dead one and got a key. Apparently, only Gally made it to the gate, everyone else with Gally was killed along the way. Since Gally had a key and knew the code, if one was still required, he was able to exit the Maze and enter the Lab.
Unfortunately, Gally picked up the pistol from the dead attacker, and you know the rest.
The whole idea behind the Trials (Phase I: The Maze, Phase 2: ?) is to create specific engrams in identified areas of the brains of immunes. These engrams, in turn, alter the brain chemistry of the immunes and results in the production of a specific enzyme which has been found to be useful as a temporary treatment for Flare in the non-immune. This enzyme can be extracted directly from the brain of an immune or isolated in his blood.
WCKD has discovered that subjecting immunes to life-and-death situations stresses the immunes in ways that creates engrams that sometimes result in a more effective enzyme. In its quest for a more efficacious enzyme, or an enzyme that actually cures, WCKD may vary the type of stress inflicted, its severity or lethality and/or its duration. The experiment is an iterative trial-and-error process. Accordingly, it's time-consuming, perhaps too much so. The dangers of the Trials are real, and test subjects can and frequently do die as a consequence.
The ultimate purpose of the Trials is to find the right combination of stresses that produce an actual cure to Flare. Any experiment requires a treatment group (in this case, immunes) and a control group (non-immunes). WCKD treats all test subjects as if they were lab rats, property of WCKD. All test subjects have brain implants which are used to control memory, provide limited tracking capabilities and to provide biometric data for WCKD researchers. With the possible exception of Thomas and Teresa, the test subjects are all involuntary subjects. They did not consent to be part of the Trials.
To underline and bold it: The Griever sting is Flare-like but NOT the Flare. The Griever sting was 100% curable by WCKD, the Flare is not. The point is to find a cure for Flare. As remarked above, any experiment requires a treatment group (immunes) and a control group (non-immunes) for comparison's sake. Some of the Gladers are not immune to the Flare. This needs to be remembered. Moreover, the Griever sting cannot be Flare because the immunes would be immune to it. It has to be something deadly that would affect both immunes and non-immunes because any Glader must be at risk of death from it for the sake of the experimental stresses. Unlike the actual Flare, it also can't be communicable since if one Glader is stung, WCKD would not want all the Gladers to die.
Yeah, the Mazes are a pretty big undertaking, but the entire resources of the planet were devoted to this project. The Mazes had to be very real in order to set up Phase Two.
Why do stung Gladers have so much hostility towards Thomas? Despite his youth, Thomas was a high-ranking WCKD official. In fact, he's a genius. He's also a medical doctor/researcher. Another Doogie Howser, MD, if anyone remembers that tv-series. He created the Maze, and he put the Gladers into it. Most likely he was in charge of the Maze, and was a direct report to Dr. Ava Paige, who runs WCKD.
Of course, Thomas remembers only a tiny bit of this, hardly anything at all. In his memories, we often see Dr. Paige interacting directly with Thomas, she wouldn't be doing so with some minor staffer. She tells Thomas: "Don't be easy on them (the test subjects)." Thomas ran the Trial, and Thomas was important in WCKD.
It's reasonable to assume brain implants are what are interfering with the Gladers' memory. Evidently the Flare-like virus by affecting the Gladers' brain, like the actual Flare, disables to some degree the implant's ability to affect memory. So those affected, to greater or lesser degree, have partial memory restoration.
After Ben is stung, he tries to kill Thomas. What does Ben say to Thomas? He tells him: "I saw you." In other words, Ben remembers Thomas putting him in the Maze. Naturally, Ben feels anger towards Thomas which the Flare-like WCKD virus amplifies into murderous rage.
When Thomas tries to administer the WCKD serum to Alby, Alby yells: "You shouldn't be here!" Alby knows Thomas was WCKD, he put them all in the Maze, and he ran the show. Later, Alby tells Thomas: "We can't leave, they won't let us. I remember ... you (Thomas). You were always their favourite, why did you do this? why did you come here?" Alby doesn't understand why Thomas is in the Maze, because he shouldn't be, and it doesn't make sense to Alby. Right before he's killed, Alby tells Thomas: "Get them out!" Alby knows Thomas created the Maze, ran it and should know how to get out.
Finally, there's Gally, who, after being stung and while pointing a pistol at Thomas in the Lab, intending to kill him, says: "No, we can't leave. Free? You think we're free out there? No, no, there's no escape from this place." When both Alby and Gally say the Gladers can't leave and won't be free, they're remembering they're all part of the Trials, that they're lab rats, and WCKD has absolute control over them.
The WCKD serum was intended only for Thomas and Teresa. Keep in mind, they were the only two who entered the Maze with partial memories. You might ask yourself why?
Again, these films aren't teen romances with love triangles like Hunger Games. Maze Runner is clearly inspired by the ancient Greek myth of "Theseus and the Minotaur," "The Lord of the Flies," and an examination of the criminally inhumane Nazi medical experimentation programme of WW II. The hero of "Maze Runner" is a tragic hero, and the story the trilogy tells is ultimately a tragedy.
Maze Runner explores quite a few themes, but the primary theme of the trilogy examines whether "The ends justify the means." This is a principle often associated with totalitarianism, and the phrase has its origin with Machiavelli, although the idea is much older. The principle is part and parcel of consequentialism, a teleological theory that says whether an action is morally good or bad depends on its outcomes. The more good outcomes outnumber the bad, the better/more moral the action. Under this rubric if WCKD finds a cure, then WCKD is very good, indeed. It's clearly rooted in Utilitarianism.
It's also worth remembering that all heroic stories generally follow the same basic pattern. In his book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949)", Joseph Campbell described this narrative pattern
When Thomas and Minho first opened the #7 gate, they triggered a reconfiguration of the Maze and the END of the Maze Trial. The Maze was then reconfigured to funnel the Gladers to #7 gate/exit. This is what was happening when Thomas and Minho were running back to the Glade. There's a deleted scene that underlines this fact. Subsequently, all four Maze entrances in the Glade were opened. The Grievers were sent in to evict the Gladers from the Glade. Remember what Teresa said to Gally? The Grievers are going to keep coming back until you're all dead. In other words, it's pointless to remain in the Glade. By the way, all those Grievers would have section #7 keys.
The entire experiment has been a variation on "survival of the fittest." Only those Gladers who successfully exit the Maze pass Phase I. Those who stay behind will not survive. Remember when Thomas was appointed Runner, Minho took him to the Runner's Hut. He told Thomas the pattern the Maze's sections follow when they opened. This is the code to the 8 Maze gates. Since only #7 gate is available to the Gladers after the reconfiguration, it's reasonable to assume the code begins with 7, i.e., it's 71526483. If they had opened, say, #2 gate, the code would be 26483715 etc.
After Alby is stung, the other Runners quit, except for Minho, the keeper or leader of the Runners. The ex-Runners were then seen talking to Gally and probably stayed behind with Gally after Thomas and the others left. Gally was also one of the leaders of the Glade. It's reasonable to assume Gally knew the code either from the ex-Runners or because he was a keeper. He certainly knew about the "key" inside the Grievers.
After Thomas and the others left, either Gally and his mates followed them to force them back, or they were driven out of the Glade by a round 2 attack by the Grievers. On the way to gate #7, Gally and his mates either killed a Griever or found a dead one and got a key. Apparently, only Gally made it to the gate, everyone else with Gally was killed along the way. Since Gally had a key and knew the code, if one was still required, he was able to exit the Maze and enter the Lab.
Unfortunately, Gally picked up the pistol from the dead attacker, and you know the rest.
The whole idea behind the Trials (Phase I: The Maze, Phase 2: ?) is to create specific engrams in identified areas of the brains of immunes. These engrams, in turn, alter the brain chemistry of the immunes and results in the production of a specific enzyme which has been found to be useful as a temporary treatment for Flare in the non-immune. This enzyme can be extracted directly from the brain of an immune or isolated in his blood.
WCKD has discovered that subjecting immunes to life-and-death situations stresses the immunes in ways that creates engrams that sometimes result in a more effective enzyme. In its quest for a more efficacious enzyme, or an enzyme that actually cures, WCKD may vary the type of stress inflicted, its severity or lethality and/or its duration. The experiment is an iterative trial-and-error process. Accordingly, it's time-consuming, perhaps too much so. The dangers of the Trials are real, and test subjects can and frequently do die as a consequence.
The ultimate purpose of the Trials is to find the right combination of stresses that produce an actual cure to Flare. Any experiment requires a treatment group (in this case, immunes) and a control group (non-immunes). WCKD treats all test subjects as if they were lab rats, property of WCKD. All test subjects have brain implants which are used to control memory, provide limited tracking capabilities and to provide biometric data for WCKD researchers. With the possible exception of Thomas and Teresa, the test subjects are all involuntary subjects. They did not consent to be part of the Trials.
To underline and bold it: The Griever sting is Flare-like but NOT the Flare. The Griever sting was 100% curable by WCKD, the Flare is not. The point is to find a cure for Flare. As remarked above, any experiment requires a treatment group (immunes) and a control group (non-immunes) for comparison's sake. Some of the Gladers are not immune to the Flare. This needs to be remembered. Moreover, the Griever sting cannot be Flare because the immunes would be immune to it. It has to be something deadly that would affect both immunes and non-immunes because any Glader must be at risk of death from it for the sake of the experimental stresses. Unlike the actual Flare, it also can't be communicable since if one Glader is stung, WCKD would not want all the Gladers to die.
Yeah, the Mazes are a pretty big undertaking, but the entire resources of the planet were devoted to this project. The Mazes had to be very real in order to set up Phase Two.
Why do stung Gladers have so much hostility towards Thomas? Despite his youth, Thomas was a high-ranking WCKD official. In fact, he's a genius. He's also a medical doctor/researcher. Another Doogie Howser, MD, if anyone remembers that tv-series. He created the Maze, and he put the Gladers into it. Most likely he was in charge of the Maze, and was a direct report to Dr. Ava Paige, who runs WCKD.
Of course, Thomas remembers only a tiny bit of this, hardly anything at all. In his memories, we often see Dr. Paige interacting directly with Thomas, she wouldn't be doing so with some minor staffer. She tells Thomas: "Don't be easy on them (the test subjects)." Thomas ran the Trial, and Thomas was important in WCKD.
It's reasonable to assume brain implants are what are interfering with the Gladers' memory. Evidently the Flare-like virus by affecting the Gladers' brain, like the actual Flare, disables to some degree the implant's ability to affect memory. So those affected, to greater or lesser degree, have partial memory restoration.
After Ben is stung, he tries to kill Thomas. What does Ben say to Thomas? He tells him: "I saw you." In other words, Ben remembers Thomas putting him in the Maze. Naturally, Ben feels anger towards Thomas which the Flare-like WCKD virus amplifies into murderous rage.
When Thomas tries to administer the WCKD serum to Alby, Alby yells: "You shouldn't be here!" Alby knows Thomas was WCKD, he put them all in the Maze, and he ran the show. Later, Alby tells Thomas: "We can't leave, they won't let us. I remember ... you (Thomas). You were always their favourite, why did you do this? why did you come here?" Alby doesn't understand why Thomas is in the Maze, because he shouldn't be, and it doesn't make sense to Alby. Right before he's killed, Alby tells Thomas: "Get them out!" Alby knows Thomas created the Maze, ran it and should know how to get out.
Finally, there's Gally, who, after being stung and while pointing a pistol at Thomas in the Lab, intending to kill him, says: "No, we can't leave. Free? You think we're free out there? No, no, there's no escape from this place." When both Alby and Gally say the Gladers can't leave and won't be free, they're remembering they're all part of the Trials, that they're lab rats, and WCKD has absolute control over them.
The WCKD serum was intended only for Thomas and Teresa. Keep in mind, they were the only two who entered the Maze with partial memories. You might ask yourself why?
Again, these films aren't teen romances with love triangles like Hunger Games. Maze Runner is clearly inspired by the ancient Greek myth of "Theseus and the Minotaur," "The Lord of the Flies," and an examination of the criminally inhumane Nazi medical experimentation programme of WW II. The hero of "Maze Runner" is a tragic hero, and the story the trilogy tells is ultimately a tragedy.
Maze Runner explores quite a few themes, but the primary theme of the trilogy examines whether "The ends justify the means." This is a principle often associated with totalitarianism, and the phrase has its origin with Machiavelli, although the idea is much older. The principle is part and parcel of consequentialism, a teleological theory that says whether an action is morally good or bad depends on its outcomes. The more good outcomes outnumber the bad, the better/more moral the action. Under this rubric if WCKD finds a cure, then WCKD is very good, indeed. It's clearly rooted in Utilitarianism.
It's also worth remembering that all heroic stories generally follow the same basic pattern. In his book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949)", Joseph Campbell described this narrative pattern
@evafegolfina1603 1 year ago
In the books Newt was the only British boy in that glade so Thomas Brodie Sangster got to keep his accent.
@GoodTimeForARoll 1 year ago
I desperately needed something to watch, thanks for pulling through lol. I'm always happy to see a video from you guys
@steve6valdez 1 year ago
Jack could not let the hedges go. I should have taken a shot every time he mentioned "hedges". 😂
@sable192005 1 year ago
Watching the love grow for Chuck as the movie went on really made my heart go out to them. I absolutely loved Chuck and was/am still so upset at his death. Also this movie cemented the love I have for Dylan O'Brien's acting abilities. I love watching you two react to stuff!
@multifandom_comfort_charac6894 10 months ago (edited)
Why is no one talking about 36:31 when they tilted their heads in near perfect unison 😭
@aghostswhisper 1 year ago (edited)
this series had weirdly large gaps between them coming out in theatres so sadly i remember almost nothing from them 😔 rewatching with yall works for me!
@eddietucker7005 1 year ago
Here is some helpful trivia for the boys… They really can’t remember their names. Their names were given to them by WCKD. There names mean
Tommy - Thomas Edison
Alby - Albert Einstein
Gally - Galileo
Chuck - Charles Darwin
Ben - Ben Franklin
Newt - Sir Issac Newton
Minho - Ho Chi Minh
Teresa - Mother Teresa
The only one whose name doesn’t mean anything is the cook, Fry Pan.
Need other of the names? Let me know.
Tommy - Thomas Edison
Alby - Albert Einstein
Gally - Galileo
Chuck - Charles Darwin
Ben - Ben Franklin
Newt - Sir Issac Newton
Minho - Ho Chi Minh
Teresa - Mother Teresa
The only one whose name doesn’t mean anything is the cook, Fry Pan.
Need other of the names? Let me know.
@ktparadis3204 1 year ago
Great timing! My students just finished reading "The Lord of the Flies" and I paired this movie series with it, so we just finished "The Maze Runner" on Friday--will be plotting the story and have small-group discussions comparing and contrasting "The Lord of the Flies" novel with "The Maze Runner" film, and then move on to the second movie, plot the story, and then discuss characterization between the two films, etc. It's a nice change of pace and mediums after spending 1.5 months reading through the novel.
@lizbiffo 1 year ago (edited)
I'm impressed you picked up on the "Lord of the Flies" vibes Jack, especially as you haven't read it.
The 1963 film adaptation of "Lord of the Flies" is fantastic but the 1990 version is good too. If you don't want to react to it I'd definitely watch it in your spare time
The 1963 film adaptation of "Lord of the Flies" is fantastic but the 1990 version is good too. If you don't want to react to it I'd definitely watch it in your spare time
The Maze Runner (2014) PLEASE NOT CHUCK!? | First Time Watching
Jack & Dan React
223,914 views
The Maze Runner (2014)
Thomas is deposited in a community of boys after his memory is erased, soon learning they're all trapped in a maze that will require him to join forces with fellow "runners" for a shot at escape.
Director: Wes Ball
Writers: Noah Oppenheim, Grant Pierce Myers, T.S. Nowlin
Stars: Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Will Poulter
_________________________________________________________________
🔑 Get betwixt the Inner Circle...
Exclusive content awaits you on Patreon. Are you in? Patreon: jackdanreact
🛍️ Grab some merch!
https://betwixt.store/
(Warning: May cause compliments. 🔥)
✨ More Jack & Dan chaos below ✨
📸 Jack & Dan React Instagram Instagram: jackdanreact
📱 Jack & Dan React Tiktok TikTok: jackdanreact
📸 Jack's Instagram Instagram: jaackgriffiths
📸 Dan's Instagram Instagram: danny.humphreys
🔒 Get NordVPN here: https://nordvpn.com/JackDanReact
🎮 Catch Jack Live on Twitch!
If that tickles your fancy, hop in and say hi: Twitch: its_gryff
_________________________________________________________________
Chapters
0:00 - Intro
05:13 - Movie Reaction
01:15:15 - Thoughts
#movie #reaction #review
FAIR USE
Images used in this video are under fair use and are copyright material of their respective owners.
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.