I really wanted to like this movie, but it is TERRIBLE!
Added 9/28/2009
After seeing the recent movie "Moon," I read that writer/director Duncan Jones (a.k.a. David Bowie's kid) mentioned this movie as one of the sci-fi movies that inspired the "retro" look of Moon. Since I loved Moon, I ordered this.
I knew it probably wouldn't be up to the standards of 2001, but thought it would be in the ballpark.
WRONG!
The effects are terrible. The lighting is terrible. All the models of spaceships look like models. The script is terrible, childish, amateurish. The "acting" is terrible. The Joan Baez songs are totally hokey. The warehouse in space looks like a warehouse. Most of the instrumentation in the space ship is made of off the shelf oscilloscopes and other electronic test equipment. One magical device is simply a commercial light bulb.
Kubrick's genius is even more apparent after seeing this. The effects of 2001 hold up even 40 years later, while this movie, made several years later by some of the same people, looks like a joke.
1 out of 3 people found this helpful.
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Seems so 'dated'
Added 8/30/2009
At this point, this film seems so outdated and the production quality and 'technology' feels more like a made-for-TV episode than a feature film.
I failed to remember any of this when I first saw the movie years ago, and purchasing to watch again was a big letdown.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Good Movies Do Not Have To Be Expensive
Added 7/9/2009
Douglas Trumbull was given, along with a few other 'new talents,' a million dollars and no strings to make a movie in the early 1970s. This was an 'experiment' by the studios to see if an indie movie could produce big revenue. Easy Rider (35th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) was what got this going. Trumbull had been the special effects supervisor on 2001 - A Space Odyssey [Blu-ray], Candy, and The Andromeda Strain.
Trumbull hired a decommissioned Air Craft Carrier from the Navy, a small group of actors, his father, and some friends and made this mini-classic. It is often called a 'cult' film, but it is much more than that. This was a 'message' movie that still resonates. Bruce Dern was given the opportunity to break out of his 'bad guy' persona here and really excels.
This is not the best SciFi movie ever made, but it is head and shoulders above the average. Interestingly enough despite the critical success of this film, Trumbull was rarely given an opportunity to direct again. He did do 'Brainstorm' in the early 1980s, but is mostly known for interactive 'rides' for which he has received little credit.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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silent running
Added 5/25/2009
great old movie long before computer animation/one or bruce derns best. in its time this was real special effects.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Classic Sci-fi
Added 5/6/2009
This is one of the better science-fiction films out there. Long before modern-day Greeneer-than-green tree-huggers came along, Bruce Dern's character said it all with just a couple of robots. Definitely a keeper.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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I really wanted to like this movie, but it is TERRIBLE!
Added 9/28/2009
After seeing the recent movie "Moon," I read that writer/director Duncan Jones (a.k.a. David Bowie's kid) mentioned this movie as one of the sci-fi movies that inspired the "retro" look of Moon. Since I loved Moon, I ordered this.
I knew it probably wouldn't be up to the standards of 2001, but thought it would be in the ballpark.
WRONG!
The effects are terrible. The lighting is terrible. All the models of spaceships look like models. The script is terrible, childish, amateurish. The "acting" is terrible. The Joan Baez songs are totally hokey. The warehouse in space looks like a warehouse. Most of the instrumentation in the space ship is made of off the shelf oscilloscopes and other electronic test equipment. One magical device is simply a commercial light bulb.
Kubrick's genius is even more apparent after seeing this. The effects of 2001 hold up even 40 years later, while this movie, made several years later by some of the same people, looks like a joke.
1 out of 3 people found this helpful.
|
Seems so 'dated'
Added 8/30/2009
At this point, this film seems so outdated and the production quality and 'technology' feels more like a made-for-TV episode than a feature film.
I failed to remember any of this when I first saw the movie years ago, and purchasing to watch again was a big letdown.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
|
Good Movies Do Not Have To Be Expensive
Added 7/9/2009
Douglas Trumbull was given, along with a few other 'new talents,' a million dollars and no strings to make a movie in the early 1970s. This was an 'experiment' by the studios to see if an indie movie could produce big revenue. Easy Rider (35th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) was what got this going. Trumbull had been the special effects supervisor on 2001 - A Space Odyssey [Blu-ray], Candy, and The Andromeda Strain.
Trumbull hired a decommissioned Air Craft Carrier from the Navy, a small group of actors, his father, and some friends and made this mini-classic. It is often called a 'cult' film, but it is much more than that. This was a 'message' movie that still resonates. Bruce Dern was given the opportunity to break out of his 'bad guy' persona here and really excels.
This is not the best SciFi movie ever made, but it is head and shoulders above the average. Interestingly enough despite the critical success of this film, Trumbull was rarely given an opportunity to direct again. He did do 'Brainstorm' in the early 1980s, but is mostly known for interactive 'rides' for which he has received little credit.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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