jlthornb51
Directed by Geoff Russell, this is one of the most visionary and imaginative science fiction films ever produced. Years ago on a Saturday night, this movie served as my introduction to the SciFi Channel. That was back before SyFy and when great science fiction films were shown instead of schlock and reality junk. This was a terrific introduction and one I've never forgotten. Featuring an outstanding and memorable performance by Bruno Lawrence, it is that rare combination of an intelligent script and superb direction fulfilling the true potential of science fiction to tell a meaningful story. The existential power of this film is realized in a stunning closing sequence of incredibly haunting imagery, beautifully scored by composer John Charles, with special effects that are simple yet breathtaking. It may be one of the most moving, breathtaking, and thought provoking motion picture climaxes ever filmed. It is certainly one you will never forget. This is science fiction at its finest and deserves to be recognized as nothing less than a classic.
admatha-767-524200
Honestly the beginning of this movie is great. I really liked Bruno Lawrence, and his travel through dubious sanity was hysterical and yet relatable. I know I'd wander around on a deserted earth finding better houses to live in and deciding how to live off the land and, yes, probably going slightly mad in the process. He did that very well. His balcony speech is delicious. But the instant other people begin to show up the whole movie stalls and never starts again. There are only two other people. They are uninteresting. The love triangle is uninteresting. The finale is ... sudden, and quiet honestly I haven't got the slightest freaking clue what that final scene is about. I read the summary of the book and I feel like it did a much better job of an ending. For the movie, it felt like they started with a great script about one man waking up alone in an empty world, then ran out of creative juices as soon as they had to focus on more than one character and just kept writing anything, *anything at all* for the remainder of the film. Then they hit the hour and thirty minute mark and went "thank god, I can end this!" and just slapped an ending on to what had been happening for the last 90 minutes. A highly disappointing end to a promising beginning.
Theo Robertson
This is one of those movies that after seeing you'll be thinking hey what a great movie . It's a film that lingers long in the memory then when you see it again you're left thinking , oh I wonder why I liked it so much ? There's little dispute as to why I thought it so good first time I saw it and that's because of the very memorable ending which overwhelmed all the other elements of the film that came before itTQE has a very old fashioned attitude to science as in " These nasty scientists have just gone and destroyed the human race again " which was common in 1950s sci-fi where nearly every alien menace was a metaphor for the atomic bomb . Yes science might have given humanity the power to destroy itself but it's also given us medicine , electricity and the internet so the good outweighs the bad It's a film that has three distinct acts with one being Zac waking up to find himself alone and flirting with madness caused by his loneliness , the second act featuring Zac finding a fellow survivor Joanne and the third act dealing with sexual rivalries caused by a third protagonist Api joining the duo . It's not often you see all the men in the world fighting over a ginger and this is probably the first and last film you'll see this as a premise In this type of film which concentrates on character instead of action and spectacle it's important that the casting is perfect but unfortunately I wasn't compelled by the acting . Bruno Lawrence is merely okay , Alison Routledge is bland and Pete Smith lacks the dangerous edge his character cries out for . I read online that Jack Nicolson was asked to play Zac but wanted too much money and perhaps the producers would have been better getting a well known bad boy actor to play Api The film ends with a great image which makes the film . Of course when you're left to ask what it means in both he context of the film and a possible future for Zac you'll be be left scratching your chin . In effect this is one of these movies that is remembered for its imagery or rather one final image at the end . Everything leading up to it isn't all that good except perhaps for the deserted streets sequences
nomoons11
If you've ever seen "On the Beach" then you'll immediately know that this film is about the end of the world. Of course both have different story lines. With this you'll get some kind of Global US run Science experiment has gone wrong. With "On the Beach" you get a Nuclear explosion has happened and they're waiting for it to reach Australia.Oddly enough both of these films are based in Australia but this one needed a lot of script work. To make it interesting. It didn't happen. My guess is that this was suppose to be similar to the aforementioned film but they disguised the premise as a Global Science experiment gone wrong instead of Nuclear War. This film didn't have the star power to carry it off. You'll sit and watch the only 3 people left in Australia sitting around talking about life and wondering what happened. The one lead is a scientist on the Science project and knows what needs to be done to reverse the effect. During all this we get the 3 people left on earth looking back on how they got there or what they were doing before this happened.I wished I would have come across another title to fill my time but this was what was around. If your looking for a Nuclear End of the World scenario type of film then try Threads or On the Beach or the Miracle Mile. All of these are way more effective and have a far superior cast than this low budget Australian flick.
AD
