Primer
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Movie Reviews of Primer
Movie Review: Brilliant, Clever, and Entertaining
Summary: 5 Stars
It's very brilliant in it's attention to details, and poses many questions and theories in regards to paradox, existence, physics, and relativity. The filmmakers went all out with their attention to the subject matter.
The story itself is amazing. Filled with clever,unexpected but sensible twists. You're left thinking and questioning through the majority of the fairly perplexing film, but all-the-while thoroughly entertained and interested.
The acting is superb, and it also lends itself to the movie that the actors are relatively unknown, creating some very believable and comprehensible characters.
Movie Review: What if real engineers made a real time machine?
Summary: 4 Stars
Yes, this is a sci-fi film, but out of ever sci-fi film I've ever seen, this one has to be the most realistic. Engineers, crazy creatures that they are, actually act like these guys. Brilliant, albeit rather dull creatures that make crazy wicked awesome things.
The movie isn't for everyone, but for those that want to see a sci-fi film that actually has a shot of really occuring in real life, this is pretty much it.
Movie Review: What can I say about this film??
Summary: 3 Stars
I was excited to see this movie...I had heard about it and wanted to see if it lived up to the hype...I mean, people compared this movie to Kubrick's 2001...
I watched it, it had some interesting concepts, but I hesitate to call this a sci fi masterpiece. To me, the film was OK...but had some problems. Out of respect for such a well done debut film, on such a low budget, I'll seek to be as polite as I can in this review-
Here's what I thought was done well...
LIGHTING- the green lighting was cool and done well
SOUND EFFECTS- the sound effects of the machine were very cool, that was something that did stand out
THE DESIGN OF THE MACHINE- that was cool, especially once they made the machine at the storage facility...it was cool looking, and, the whole weeble toy put in to the machine was an original touch...
BUT....some cons
ACTING- I hope the next film this director/writer creates a film, he'll have some actors with experience being in front of the camera...The way some of the lines were delivered, sorry, but I wasnt sure if these characters were engineers, or football jocks in high school who were forced to make a movie to get extra credit to graduate.
I admire the DIY mode that this filmmaker used, but I'd say that one thing I learned in school (yes, I am a film student myself) is that the way people talk in MOVIES has to be DIFFERENT than the way people talk in real life. We know that movie-speak should be believable, but somehow better, than the way we would sound if a conversation with friends was secretly taped...this is because when we watch a movie, we're sitting there with these characters and we HAVE to pay attention to them (the camera gives us no choice). Dialog has to be something we can follow. I understand these characters are engineers, but at least SOME of what they are saying has to be clear and easy to understand.
I can understand that indie filmmakers strive for realism, or to be different than Hollywood, and dont want summer blockbuster-oriented "Will Smith one-liners"....
BUT, in a movie, when there are basic talking scenes amongst 2 characters-what they say needs to be understandable, audible, and interesting. In this film, I literally DID have the English subtitles on just to get what was being said. I think that the writer/director of this film DOES need, next time, to get actual actors to PLAY engineers, if he makes another film with a similar storyline. Sure, have them learn as much as they can about engineering, and use that in the playing of the characters. But, bottom line, people with acting experience will help the film. Casting is important..
If you only have a cast of actual engineers, you'll get unintelligible lines ("looks like a dog digested it", etc) I just think actors would have helped this film, because the idea was pretty cool...
MORE EMOTIONAL RESONANCE TO MATCH THE STORYLINE-I guess I just wanted the personalities of these 2 to reflect the story...I mean, this is a time machine!...there are copies of themselves (!) running around town...the emotional state of these characters needs to go up a few notches to be realistic...at least have them show some sense of wonderment/fear at what they are doing- Im not saying Spielberg-level, but have the characters a little more excited/freaked out about the fact they are going BACK IN TIME. For all the scientific reality seen in the film, the characters themselves were not as believeable. As stated, some actual actors would have helped get that across.
WARDROBE- This is one part that needed to be revamped---doesnt matter how much of an engineer someone is, they will not wear green striped ties and white dress shirts 24 hours a day, to the club, to the bar, to sleep, inside their apartment just hanging out, etc...these characters did that, and it did become humorous, but later almost annoying...- the green striped ties got to be pretty overdone to where it was laughable...I know that was not the intention of the filmmaker...BUT... No one, not even Dilbert, wears the same clothes 24 / 7 / 365...have the characters show up in t-shirts once in a while...that would help the realism
FEMALE CHARACTERS- The females in this movie did seem like afterthoughts. They sort of appeared in the film, but were negligible. It's not as much that the female characters needed to have more time on screen, I understand the movie is about the time travellers...it's just that the time the females WERE on screen they should have done something more than blandly talk about the refrigerator. Real women dont just blithely walk around while mysterious things are going on in their house. If this character has an actual girlfriend/wife (wasnt even clear which one she was), she needed to at least be somewhat more prominent in the film for the scenes she was in- otherwise, make the characters single...
Sorry to go off on this movie-- I was very interested to watch it. But, to me, it needed some improvements before it gets called "one of the best sci fi films since 2001".
One thing this film does prove is that people DO WANT to see something NEW AND DIFFERNT in filmmaking. People want to see Sci-Fi films that are intelligent. But, people cant want that SO MUCH that they give out Sundance awards and extended hyperbole to a debut film like this. An admirable first round attempt, but one nonetheless.
I feel that this film was cool in it's own way, but I am, sad to say, also thankful I got the DVD at a discounted price of $4.21. I now own the movie, but may not watch it again.
With a bigger budget, better actors, a refined script, and more realism-this movie could be remade and be a better film.
Movie Review: Too many details - and still no clue what really happened
Summary: 2 Stars
The engineering jargon relays much too much about how the guys go about their experimentation. Lay people do not need to hear all the details but do need to get the concept early on.
The mood of the story is intriguing and that's what kept me watching. I realized after the first half that it may never make sense to me so just played it through to the end and then of course the credits rolled and I was left with very little.
This movie really had potential, but failed to deliver because it did not communicate effectively to the viewer and did not seem to care if anyone could follow what was going on.
Movie Review: Primer - a Thought Experiment
Summary: 5 Stars
Primer is a must-see: it is by far the most complex, thought-provoking treatment of the ethics and mechanics of time travel in the breadth of the science fiction genre. Rather than concentrating on the predicatble content of cultural and technological change in future and past societies, this film engages directly with those intractable problems other SF narratives don't dare to touch - the possibility that in returning to the past you encounter another already-exiting version of yourself. The infamously inexpensive production cost (US$6,000) in no way diminishes the suspenseful rendering of suburban mediocrity in which the two lead characters work together and later disown each others' company over the increasing complications and disturbing consequences of their discovery. The hand-held shots and everyday dialogue help to make the plot seem both plausible and entertainingly paranoiac. One of my top-ten all-time favourites, this film needs to be watched at least twice.