Advantages: Original, Well Directed, Disadvantages: Confusing
I recently watched this film for the second time, having watched it at the cinema when it was released. Since then I have wanted to watch it again, as I remembered being particularly confused by it.
My hope for clarity was realised by my second viewing, at least to the extent that I understand the plot and could identify exactly what was going on most of the time, but it is still undeniably a fairly confusing film.
I would say that this is a good ... ...many people for whom this film will not be enjoyable. It is confusing, fairly high-tech, and not for someone wanting to sit down with a film they dont have to think about.
The film begins in a time a few years in advance of us, with Christopher Eccleston introducing the latest game produced by the 'Game Design Goddess' Allegra Geller, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh. It 'is not just a new game, but a new games system.' Twelve volunteers are selected ...
DavidBell2000 22.10.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of eXistenZ - DVD
Advantages: An intriguing plot effectively and intelligently executed; valid and relevant discussion of current ethical issues related to technology; visually striking and with good cast performances. Disadvantages: Will not reward a viewer who is impatient or in need of a very linear narrative; open to charges of repetition of ‘Videodrome’; are the faults a deliberate part of the simulation or just the result of bad filming?
...game system (this is the eXistenZ of the title, with the audience’s attention being deliberately drawn to the distinctive “capital X, capital Zee” properties of the title) at a market testing session, games designer extraordinaire Allegra Gellar is attacked with a bizarre firearm by a fanatical representative of the ‘Realist’ movement, who are fiercely anti-Game (i.e., anti-VR). Gellar is carried from the melee by Pikul, ... ...installed, and hence cannot play eXistenZ (or any other of the modern VR games). A trip to the local Gas Station is thus executed in order to get an unregistered bioport installed in the middle of the night, but unfortunately the proprietor, aware of a reward on the head of both Gellar and her new device, deliberately faulty port. Escaping this further attempted assassination, the pair arrive at the countryside retreat of one of Gellar’s game-development ...
B.Bligh 08.07.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of eXistenZ - DVD
Advantages: Nice ride to the insides of a computer game! Disadvantages: The weird version of existence may "terrorize" some watchers!
Known for his great capacity on the development of crazy cinema works, David Cronenberg is responsible for titles such as “The Fly”, “Videodrome” and many others. This time, from his weird and darkly prolific mind, comes a totally allucinated version of a computed reality.
Allegra Galler is a professional computer game designer, working for a huge company named Antenna Research. Her latest advanced software was named Existenz, probably because it ... ...So it is time to release it, and nothing better to make it sell than a real demonstration of it in front of the public, and so it is done!
However, to play Existenz, a Bioport is required. And you ask me – “What the hell is a Bioport anyway?”. Well, have you ever heard of a hole in the base of your spine? No? Me neither, until I knew this wicked game! Only Antenna is legally authorized to implant a Bioport in every player who wants to be “upgraded” ...
GameStager 18.04.2001 (24.04.2001)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of eXistenZ - DVD
Advantages: cool and fast Disadvantages: very strange
...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. Other than Law and Leigh the cast also boasts Ian Holm and Willem Dafoe who bump up the status of the film and ensure that we wont lose track of the plot ... ...plot is hard enough as, from the outset the plot twists and rollercoasters, almost losing us time and time again. For those not accustomed to fast paced action then the film will only baffle, you need some movie knowledge and a strong stomach as the film is brutal and bloody. The plot, if I can call it that sees Law rescuing the inventor of a new game(Leigh) from an assassin at one of her conventions, she introduces him to her new game and then things ...
willgould 11.09.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of eXistenZ - DVD
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.
...a corporate rival and take eXistenZ with them. And, as time goes on, they become less and less sure where reality ends and the game begins, and the difference between what is real, and what is virtual…
THE DISC
· Distributor: Alliance Atlantis / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment [AA019DVD].
Alliance Atlantis, who are now better known for sci-fi TV series such as ‘Earth: Final Conflict’ and ‘Andromeda’, were the ... ...however, chronicles her work on eXistenZ and is entirely relevant to this DVD. This is a very engaging documentary, well created and with a good range of footage, including interviews with both Cronenberg and Spier herself. It is presented in 4:3 standard and has a duration of just under 54 minutes.
The US theatrical trailer is presented in 1.85:1 letterbox widescreen approx. As always, this is a welcome disc inclusion and the recent nature of the ...
B.Bligh 03.07.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of eXistenZ - DVD
...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 ... ...solving anything. In this regard, eXistenZ fits the bill. Questions of consciousness form the centre of this film. Naturally we're made to ask, If VR is so real, how can we be sure we're not living in VR right now? The issue gets complicated when virtual VR (yes, VR within VR) is introduced. We get a good dose of strangeness along the way, and I think this gives us a certain degree of freshness. For instance, the VR interface units are organic in ...
kimy 08.01.2002
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of eXistenZ - DVD
...so good at playing.
eXistenZ is the most unusual Cronenberg film to date, and that is saying something when comparing to his earlier movies like Shivers, Scanners, and Videodrome. It has a great script, great direction, and the idea behind the film is pure gold. Cronenberg is definitely one of the most daring and original directors of our time. ...
ros145 16.07.2000
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of eXistenZ - DVD
Advantages: Great graphics, stunning visual effects Disadvantages: Some untalented actors
If you're not fooled by Keanu Reeves' bad acting and the altogether pointless storyline of the Matrix then you should get this DVD. It is just a superb film, and despite popular views - IT IS BETTER THAN THE MATRIX. The graphics and visual effects are mind-blowing and put some films like Toy Story 2 to shame. This disk is packed full to the brim with the most in depth narration films I have seen on a DVD. There's also a Dreamcast feature which is ...
sasr007 23.07.2000
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of eXistenZ - DVD
Advantages: Cronenbergs vision Disadvantages: A bit confusing.
If you liek being baffled, you'll love this! Its a very difficult to describe but basically, Jennifer Jason Leigh plays a software engineer who is being hunted for designing the ultimate game which is played by being attached to a semi biological gamepod machine. Its typically David Coronenberg in that theres a lot of things left unsaid that you can mull over in your mind. It has a disturbing background. If you like feeling uneasy while you watch ...
Advantages: Thrilling, confusing and clever Disadvantages: Leaves yhou wanting more of the same, but few films around like this
...latest of these games is eXistenZ and a small grouop of people have been invited to test the beta version. After an assasination attempt on the game's designer Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh), she and security guard Ted Pikul(Jude Law) are on the run and need to enter the game to make sure that it still works and this results in many plot twists and leaves you wondering which level reality is actually on.
The concept of humanity leaving reality ... ...is an action film while eXistenZ is much more thought provoking.
One of the highlights of the film for me was the futuristic gadgets (for example an organic gun that shoots human teath), which were a mixture of technology and organic matter. This is similar to a previous Cronenberg film Naked Lunch (if you think eXistenX is confusing wait 'til you see this!).
This is a thrilling story with amazing plot twists, sexual metaphor, and a clever twist ...
kingsanj 14.04.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of eXistenZ - DVD
Phew! Some films are really hard work to follow and understand...and this would be one of them! But despite its 'strangeness' I really rather enjoyed it. The story goes that Jennifer Jason Leigh plays the role of the best game designer in the world but the game is virtual inside your actual body. You connect a Bio-pod to a nasty looking port in your lower back and it sort of 'taps in' to your nervous system, creating a game inside your head. Everyones ...
honey350 11.08.2000
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of eXistenZ - DVD
Although this film has been looked over by many people and film critics i personally think that it's a good original film. And, although quite confusing on times it's the first real film that tries to deal with computer games in an innovative way. Combining new technologies while keeping good human characters.
The film takes place in the future where the new fashion is that of living organism matter producing a virtual reality type computer game. ... ...spines for the leads to connect to and a new game causes trouble and confusion between reality and fantasy.
Allegra, the person who made the new game(Jennifer Jason Leigh)narrowly escapes an assasin and that's really where the story starts. She, and the formidable Jude Law travel through the computer game to try and escape and at the end there are many twists, turns and confusion that no matter how many times i watch it i still don't know exactly ...
siany 02.05.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of eXistenZ - DVD
Advantages: bizzare story Disadvantages: gets complicated
Bizzare wierd and differnt from any film I have ever seen before. The story line is great and you are taken into this other world to experience something thats not real or is it. The film is like one of those matrix style films where they confuse you and wonder if you are who you think you are. Are we all here is it just abig game or is this as real as it will ever be. I found the story line a little confusing and got lost near the end. I had to ... ...second time you watch it the picture is alot clearer and you pick up on things staight away. The clever plot is one of the main features of the film it just puzzles and amazes you throughout. Dont let this put you off buying though because it is still an exellant film I advise you watch it more than once so you can make the full picture of whats happening. ...
Leeming 09.02.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of eXistenZ - DVD
Advantages: Extras, storyline, commentary Disadvantages: Too short!
Lost in the depths of a bizarre computer game generated world, or is this reality?
In my opinion Cronenberg’s finest work. Blending his penchant for unusual psychological drama with genetically mutated physical aberrations this film keeps you questioning reality right to the last minute and even then it may still have all been the game.
The film is based in a world, probably in the not too distant future, where games technology has evolved (quite ... ...systems that connect directly into biomechanical ports in your spine via umbilical chord like connectors. In this world top games designer Allegra Geller is about to launch an incredible new game – eXistenZ. The film opens at a pre-launch beta test group run-through of the game – then it all starts to go wrong…
With Jude Law at his best and Jennifer Jason Leigh as the ultra cool Allegra the cast are exceptional. Oh and Willem Dafoe and Ian Holm, ...
FatAndy 18.08.2003
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of eXistenZ - DVD
Advantages: good special effects Disadvantages: a bit confusing in places
anyone following jude laws career would be forgiven gfor thinking that he had turned into a sci fi nut, miles away from gattaca, and playing more up to the need for gross out special effects, at first this film appears a jumble of mish mash sci fi horror hokum and its not til the very end of the film that it all makes sense, the film in itself is ok and there are some gruesome moments, check out the gun at the dinner table, but it does require your ...
mcpoeman 03.11.2000
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of eXistenZ - DVD
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
|
