The Quiet Earth
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Movie Reviews of The Quiet Earth
Movie Review: Good sci fi
Summary: 4 Stars
The 1985 sci fi film from New Zealand, The Quiet Earth, is one of the best of the `Last Man/Woman On Earth' apocalyptic films. That said, since that is a sub-subgenre of film (subgenre being Apocalyptic films in the genre sci fi), it's merely a good film overall, for it progressively gets weaker as it goes on, as do all films in that vein. Like most films in this sub-subgenre, it falls prey to tropes that undermine it- the first being the predictability of sexual or racial conflict (two for two), and the second being following the Dumbest Possible Action, wherein characters do really dumb things no one would do in real life, just so the film can move along.
Of course, some slack must be given to films like this re: their scientific explanations for the depopulation of the world. In this film, it is ascribed to a Project Flashlight that the New Zealand government was working on in concert with the United States of America. It seems that a worldwide power grid was to be established via airplanes or satellites (it's never made clear- as it should be, lest the science bog down in irreality) and something goes wrong at 6:12 am, New Zealand time. The universe changes to the point that only those people who were near death at `the effect' survive. The rest all vanish- save a few corpses who were likewise near death, then died slowly afterwards. Perhaps it was a quantum shift in reality, but it's clearly a stand-in for nuclear power- something that New Zealand banned around the time of the film. A thin vein of Anti-American Big Brotherism thus hangs over the film.
The film owes much to prior Last Man films- such as the obligatory scenes of a shopping spree at a shopping mall (Dawn Of The Dead), the scenes in the church (The Last Man On Earth), sexual tensions between two men over the last woman (The Last Woman On Earth), racial tensions (The World, The Flesh, And The Devil), political brinksmanship backfiring (On The Beach), the Earth changed, but still the Earth (Planet Of The Apes), and there are also some great scenes unique to it- such as an airplane that seemingly fell from the sky and crashed into a building. But, the Dumbest Possible Action tropes- such as Api almost killing Zac in a car chase, or Zac simply not telling Api of Project Flashlight, and their shared assumptions that they alone are the survivors, is simply untenable- even if one suspends much disbelief. After all, if there are at least three survivors in Auckland alone, there would likely be dozens in New Zealand, and several thousand around the world- more than enough to repopulate the world; and worth seeking out. This is yet another unredeemed cliché of the Last Man genre.
Yet, despite all its flaws, I like this film more than I should, in relation to its artistic quality; possibly because in its flaws are the possibilities of what might have been a great sci fi film, in the hands of a better director with a better screenplay. As it is, though, The Quiet Earth is merely a satisfactory entry in the Last Man On Earth sub-subgenre. But, in a medium where even mere satisfaction is so rare, why complain too much?
Movie Review: Trapped in a ghost world (This review is for the Anchor Bay U.S. DVD release)
Summary: 4 Stars
"The Quiet Earth" came out of nowhere in 1985 to stun audiences with the story of a military project gone wrong and and a man condemned to a ghost world. Zack Hobson (the late Bruno Lawrence in a stunning performance)wakes up on July 2nd at 6:12 in the morning to a world radically changed. He dresses for work heads out only to discover there's no one else around. He sees dump trucks in the middle of dumping trash, cars left running, tea kettles whistling for owners that will never come. He discovers due to a malfunction in Project Flashlight a defense project he was working on that with the exception of him everyone everywhere has vanished.
To tell more would spoil some of the surprises in the film. The exact mechanism that makes a populated world into a ghost world is never really explained in depth but what we do see is the most important part--the human drama as Zak begins to lose his mind alone on a planet designed to comfortably support billions.
While the second half of the film doesn't hold up quite as well as the spooky firt half, it's still a memorable science fiction mystery thriller. In fact I suspect that movies such as "28 Days Later" borrowed from this thoughtful thriller as much as from "Dawn of the Dead" and "Night of the Living Dead". In many respects everybody just vanishing is much creepier than having zombies running around.
Made in New Zealand for a paltry sum and based on a science fiction novel by Craig Harrison Anchor Bay gives us a great looking transfer of the film in a collectable tin box (similar to the one used for "Dune" and "King Kong"). We also get a thoughtful commentary by producer/co-writer Sam Pillsbury ("Eerie Indiana", "Where the Red Fern Grows"). Anchor Bay also includes the original theatrical trailer and a 8 page booklet with an intelligent essay on other films with similar themes and how "The Quiet Earth" compares. Although I would have liked to have a featurette on the marvelous late Bruno Lawrence ("Smash Palace") with clips from some of his other films not available in the United States, Anchor Bay has done a terrific job here. This is a marked improvement over some of the import copies which are bare bones. The most important part of "The Quiet Earth" is the film itself and the stunning performances.
Movie Review: The Last Man on Earth is Never Alone
Summary: 4 Stars
THE QUIET EARTH begins in a low key with Zac Hobson (Bruno Larence) waking up on what seems a typical day. Trouble begins when he soon realizes that he may well be the last human being on earth. This concept of the Last Man has been done many times (THE WORLD THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL and FIVE) come to mind and the genre demands that the sole survivor must grapple more with retaining sanity than in finding a flush toilet. Director Geoff Murphy makes it clear that the hold that Zac has on his mental equilibrium is a tenuous one. He takes to wearing a lady's sleeping gown as he walks the deserted streets. He puts up props of famous politicians like Hitler, Nixon, and Mao so that he can lecture them as the new President of Earth. We think that his descent into madness is the inevitable result of enforced loneliness, but we soon learn otherwise. Zac is a scientist who performed a minor role in the Flashlight Effect, an experiment co-conducted with America whose purpose it was to create an airplane that could fly for extended periods of time without refueling. Something terribly wrong happened and every human being on earth "blinked" out of existence. Since the film shows no animals or birds, presumably all mammals followed suit. His guilt drives him to near suicide. Amazingly enough he meets two other survivors, whose respective tales of surviving are equally smudgy on details. One is an attractive woman Joanne (Allison Routledge) with whom he soon begins an affair and the other is a Maori named Api (Peter Smith). Although THE QUIET EARTH spends some minutes on the techno-babble of how the universal constant of the uni-directional movement of an electron has altered, the film instead zeroes in on how the survivors meet in fear, coalesce in unison, fall apart in bickering, then attempt to patch up differences in ways that are eminently believable. The ending, which I shall not here reveal, is one that can easily be interpreted in various ways, not the least of which may be due to sloppy scripting or brilliant imagining. Regardless of how you accept the ending, THE QUIET EARTH serves to remind the viewer that even in desolation, there are eternal values that still persist that still mark us as human.Movie Review: The best of the "last man on earth movies"
Summary: 4 Stars
I remember seeing this film when it first aired on television during the '80s and was anxiously waiting for its release on DVD. Essentially a period piece, I agree with one review which labeled it "the best Scifi picture of the 80s". If you remember, the '80s was a period of high budget special effects ridden shoot 'em up monster scifi flicks. This was a thinking person's film. I won't go into detail, as that's done elsewhere. The ending scene is worth the purchase of the movie alone (did he die or was he transported at the moment of death into another universe?). All three (count 'em) actors do a good, if slightly workman like job. The main actor, I understand, unfortunately died shortly after making this film. The picture quality on my DVD was good. However, there were some problems with the sound (my copy?). The voices were low and the music blaring. Had to keep adjusting the remote. A small complaint, but enough to lower it to 4 stars. The bottom line - should you buy it? Definitely. It is a classic of the scifi genre, bereft of distracting Hollywood actors and an intelligent story line. It proves the axiom that IN GREAT SCIFI MOVIES, CREATIVE IDEAS TRUMP FLASHY SPECIAL EFFECTS EVERY TIME! It has a special place in my collection and will in yours too.Movie Review: Understated but good
Summary: 4 Stars
The quiet earth is not a remarkable film (I give it a 3.5), but it does manage to capture both mood and feelings only present in a handful of other films. The plot isn't much more than sci-fi mumbo-jumbo; just enough scaffolding to get to where the film is really trying to go: namely, what happens to the human psyche in total isolation, or in the company of only one or two other human beings.
With two males and one female, there is a thread of jealously, but it isn't over-explored; much is left for you to contemplate after the film has run its course. Gender relations are brought up (though not so convincingly) as are race issues. There is even a bit of paranoia (as you might expect being an 80's production), but like everything else, you're just given enough to want more.
The film ends in a way that may be to abrupt for some and dissatisfying, but to run longer may have been an artistic mistake. Ultimately, the film succeeds at making you think about this situation, but as a movie there isn't enough action, conflict or even dialogue to sustain it for much more than its running length or to make multiple viewings rewarding.