I was sitting down with my fiance dave yesterday and he was taking a look through my DVD collection as we are moving into our new house soon and he was trying to tell me that not all my DVD's could be bought. Of course I told him they were all coming and then he pointed out eXistenZ that he ... Read review
Director David Cronenberg'seXistenZis a stew of corporate espionage, virtual reality ... more
gaming, and thriller elements, marinated in Cronenberg's favourite Crock-Pot juices of technology, physiology and sexual metaphor. Jennifer Jason Leigh is game designe...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Director David Cronenberg'seXistenZis a stew of corporate espionage, virtual reality ... more
gaming, and thriller elements, marinated in Cronenberg's favourite Crock-Pot juices of technology, physiology and sexual metaphor. Jennifer Jason Leigh is game designe...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
During the first closed-door demonstration of an amazing new virtual reality game – ... more
called Existenz – the system’s brilliant designer Allegra Geller (Leigh) is violently attacked by a crazed assassin intent on killing her and destro...
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The near future: eXistenZ is the ultimate game, brainchild of the hip, hyper and sexually ... more
alluring Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Once downloaded via a bioport implanted into the players' spine, eXistenZ promises an experience that will shatter...
Director David Cronenberg'seXistenZis a stew of corporate espionage, virtual reality ... more
gaming, and thriller elements, marinated in Cronenberg's favourite Crock-Pot juices of technology, physiology and sexual metaphor. Jennifer Jason Leigh is game designer Allegra Geller, responsible for the new state-of-the-arteXistenZgame system; along with PR newbie Ted Pikul (Jude Law), they take the beta version of the game for a test drive and are immersed in a dangerous alternate reality. The game isn't quite like PlayStation, though; it's a latexy pod made from the guts of mutant amphibians and plugs via an umbilical cord directly into the user's spinal column (through a BioPort). It powers up through the player's own nervous system and taps into the subconscious; with several players it networks their brains together.Geller and Pikul's adventures in the game reality uncover more espionage and an antigaming, proreality insurrection. The game world makes it increasingly difficult to discern between reality and the game, either through the game's perspective or the human's. More accessible than Crash,eXistenZis a complicated sci-fi opus, often confusing, and with an ending that leaves itself wide open for a sequel. Fans of Cronenberg's work will recognize his recurring themes and will eat this up. Others will find its shallow characterisations and near-incomprehensible plot twists a little tedious. --Jerry Renshaw, Amazon.com
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Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Production Year: 1979 - Science Fiction - Director: Ridley Scott - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Veronica Cartwright
Advantages: Entertaining. Disadvantages: A Bit Sick.
...and then he pointed out eXistenZ that he thought looked rubbish. I told him to give it a go so we sat down and watched it and I for about the fifth time watching this film loved it again and here is why.
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The Film:
Some point in the future and people gather in a hall eager with excitement and anticipation. They are all there to test the newest and most real game that is not even on the market yet. ... ...demonstration of her new game eXistenZ which promises to be an extremely wild ride.
As it soon becomes apparent that Allegra's life may be in danger she and a "PR nerd" as she calls him go on the run together to save Allegra. Ted Pikul who has never even played one of Allegra's games is scared and does not particurarly want to go on the run and would rather go back to Antenna research which is who Allegra works for and keep ... more
I was sitting down with my fiance dave yesterday and he was taking a look through my DVD collection as we are moving into our new house soon and he was trying to tell me that not all my DVD's could be bought. Of course I told him they were all coming and then he pointed out eXistenZ that he thought looked rubbish. I told him to give it a go so we sat down and watched it and I for about the fifth time watching this film loved it again and here is why.
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The Film:
Some point in the future and people gather in a hall eager with excitement and anticipation. They are all there to test the newest and most real game that is not even on the market yet. They will also meet their hero, the world famous game designer Allegra Geller who is there to give them a demonstration of her new game eXistenZ which promises to be an extremely wild ride.
As it soon becomes apparent that Allegra's life may be in danger she and a "PR nerd" as she calls him go on the run together to save Allegra. Ted Pikul who has never even played one of Allegra's games is scared and does not particurarly want to go on the run and would rather go back to Antenna research which is who Allegra works for and keep her safe there.
However when Allegra finds out that Pikul wants to get into the gaming industry but has never actually played one of her games she is determined to let him have a go. Getting an illegal bioport fitted (an opening into the spine where the game pod is fed and powers off a humans body) Allegra shows Pikul what he has been missing while he hasn't been playing her games and she was not wrong when she said it was a wild ride.
Verdict on the Story:
Well the concept of this film is excellent and to be honest one of great interest to me and most of my family as we are all quite keen gamers. With the gaming industry making steps all of the time in making them realistic I think people who like games would like the idea of this story about a game you can physically step into. The prospect is scary but it is one of those things that you just know the gaming industry would love to have the technology to do.
The story plays out very well indeed with each scene and moment giving you some sort of interesting thing to watch but to be honest I do have to say it gets a little confusing at times. The thing with the story though is that it is full of twists and turns so it is impossible to say what happens next so I love it because it is just not predictable at all.
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Cast and Characters:
Jude Law - Ted Pikul Jennifer Jason Leigh - Allegra Geller Willem Dafoe - Gas Don McKellar - Yevgeny Nourish Ian Holm - Kiri Vinokur
Verdict on the Cast and Characters:
I thin the cast in this film is fantastic and while I was watching it yesterday I could not believe all of the famous faces that do actually pop up as I recognised loads of them even one of my new faves Christopher Eccleston had a role. The main cast though are all well established actors so expect great acting and people who really do their best to get into their characters. Even Jude Law is good in this film as we know he is making some rubbish movies now.
The characters in this film are good because they are so weird and unusual. Throughout the film you meet so many people which is why I have just listed the main ones as there are so many. I would not say that any are memorable but I think with this film they are interesting to watch because they go through some pretty mad things so in that way they are great.
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Things to Know:
Runtime - 97 minutes Certificate - 15 Price - £6.97 on Amazon 1 Disc DVD
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Special Features:
There is the usual trailer on this DVD but if you have already bought the film then I am guessing that you already know what it is about. I found it useful to show to Dave though so he could see if he fancied it.
Now this DVD has quite a few commentaries which is good and I have watched two of them over the years I have had this DVD. The first is with the director which I remember being very interesting indeed as it was good to know what gave him the inspiration to create such a strange film with such mad themes. The second is with the special effects guys which I really liked as I a, always interested in learning how they do things so I loved this one. The third is with a photography guy which I haven't looked at but I can imagine being wuite interesting as trust me he had some weird things to get.
Then on the DVD you have your usual scene selections and the menu is quite simple with the background being brown, with quite creepy music and pictures of the two leads.
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Verdict:
Now I am pretty sure that I don't need to tell you that I love this film because it is in my DVD collection. It is one of those films that every now and again I like to watch as it completely takes you away from reality and gives you a wild ride. I would call this film an action with a science fiction edge and I do not think it will appeal to everybody as it is that strange. I actually lent it to a couple of friends and they only got to about half way through and hated it but I think if you are willing to let your mind wonder and believe what you are seeing then you should enjoy it.
I will warn you with this film though that there are some pretty disgusting scenes and I still cannot watch one of them as it makes me feel like I am going to be sick. Therefore I think it deserves its 15 certificate definitely as there are some disturbing scenes so be careful who you show it to.
In conclusion I am going to give this film five stars because I thin kit is an original idea and it all plays out extremely well. The story is great and the cast is fantastic and the fact that it is not predictable and you have no idea what is going to happen next, for me makes a great film. I would give it a go if you like weird films that push the limits of reality.
Advantages: Great piece of sci-fi. Disadvantages: Hard to follow the plot at times.
Existenz is one of those under-rated science fiction films. It is quite hard to actually describe the film. Existenz is a film for people who enjoyed the Matrix. Starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law, the pair are playing an organic gaming device which Leigh's character has created. The pair find it hard after a while to distinguish the gaming world from reality, and so does the viewer. The film makes you ask lots of questions and so because ...
sy_girl15 22.04.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Existenz (DVD)
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Advantages: Excellent quality sound; inclusion of an interesting and relevant documentary; not one but three audio commentaries. Disadvantages: The print is not anamorphic (!); slight faults in reproduction of black space are occasionally noticeable, especially during credit sequences.
David Cronenberg has long been acknowledged a master of the macabre, with a plethora of excellent films to his name, from classic horror films from the seventies and early-to-mid eighties (‘Scanners’, ‘The Brood’) to his later excursions into science fiction (‘The Fly’), the fantastic (‘Naked Lunch’) and less generic but no less unconventional work (‘Dead Ringers’, ‘Crash’). With ‘eXistenZ’, Cronenberg revisits science fiction again with a script penned by himself. Cruelly under-distributed theatrically, we now have the opportunity to view this excellent film on the similarly excellent medium of DVD; as one of the characters in the film says, it’s going to be a wild ride.
THE FILM
Starting with the unveiling of a new game system (this is ...
B.Bligh 03.07.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of eXistenZ - DVD
Advantages: cool and fast Disadvantages: very strange
Jude Law has not had the most successful of careers, after he starred in Enemy at the Gates with Joseph Fiennes he then made AI and after hearing American reviews I would say that he didn’t do too well there either. Enemy at the Gates is an appalling film depicting a fictional retelling of the battle for Stalingrad, in which Law has the worst ever Russian accent, mainly because he spoke cockney. The language is stilted and the emotion cheesy whilst the only thing more wooden than Law was the set. Before these performances though Law starred in a film called eXistenZ with Jennifer Jason Leigh and thankfully its pretty good.
There are a lot of futuristic movies, some good (Matrix) some bad(Gattaca), but until eXistenZ came along they had all been pretty mediocre with the scripts always being risible and the direction laughable ...
willgould 11.09.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of eXistenZ - DVD
"We're stumbling around in the unformed world, not knowing what the rules are, or if there are any rules. We're under attack from forces that want to destroy us but we don't understand."
eXistenZ is more of a chase, suspense movie than it is an interior, horror or whatever it is that, Canadian director, Cronenberg does uniquely well. His films are renowned for their ickiness but his trick was to make you feel that the ickiness was the sprit of his real subject that he was holding up a mirror to you and the nastiness and decay you saw was really a part of yourself.
Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hitcher, Dolores Claiborne, Single White Female) plays Allegra Geller, a famous game-designer in the near future. She's especially a celebrity among the fanatic gaming world. We initially realize that it's the near future because of science ...
kimy 08.01.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of eXistenZ - DVD
A game which is downloaded into a players spine promises the experience of a lifetime. During its launch celebrations a group of fanatics bursts in.Their mission is to destroy the game at all costs....
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
MOMENTUM PICTURES; TECHNICOLOR DISTRIBUTION SERVICES
Documentary, Theatrical Trailer, Directors Audio Commentary, Visual and Special Effects Supervisors Commentary, Exclusive Console, Interactive Menu Including Internet Hyperlink
Aspect Ratio
1.85 Wide Screen, 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Professional reviews
Review
"...Unusually witty....The psychological depths Cronenberg reaches are tingling to fathom..." -- Rating: B+ (Entertainment Weekly, p.94, 22/10/1999)
"...EXISTENZ has the oozing, throbbing, ghoulish hallmarks of other Cronenberg fever dreams..." (New York Times, p.E21, 23/04/1999)
"...A twisty story line that keeps you guessing and thinking..." -- 4 out of 5 stars (Premiere, p.136, 01/11/1999)
DVD Description
A renowned international virtual reality game designer (Leigh), creator of a new interactive game called eXistenZ, becomes the target of an assassination plot by a group of religious fanatics. She is forced to go into hiding with a novice security guard (Law) sworn to protect her. However, during the chase the two of them experience a world where the boundaries of fantasy and reality are blurred and nothing is as it seems. A psychosexual mindbender from director Cronenberg.
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