Very entertaining, although I think they took a bit of liberty license with the actual facts for "dramatic effect." This story is a bit different from other versions I've read about over the years. I had no idea Westinghouse made his fortune on brakes for trains. In the movie, Tesla seems to have been thrown in as an afterthought instead of him actually being a bigger influence from what I've read. Regardless, it's still better than 99.9% of all the other films out there at the moment (or any time, based on the last 10 years). If you don't watch this in Dolby Surround sound you're missing 1/2 the movie btw. The music is very good too. Solid 9/10 for entertainment value.
I love Cumberbatch and Shannon. Their acting is spot on. Plus Scorsese? What could go wrong? Historically inaccurate. It makes Tesla a bit player, while he worked for Edison for years not as insinuated for days or weeks. His anger at Edison for intellectual contracts a cornerstone of why he left Edison. We now know Edison was a thief with half his patents proven stolen in court after court. This makes him out as some super genius and plays the fanfare, false fanfare, that we were taught as kids. It also portrayed both Westinghouse and Edison as supposed men of principle. Westinghouse conned Tesla out of his multi million dollar agreement with him, leaving Tesla penniless. It also insinuated over and over that Tesla never built anything, which way incorrect also.
Basically, it's the old sham, fake history we were taught to believe about Edison. Westinghouse and Edison's rivalry was notorious, and while the former didn't take to the papers until the electric chair thing, Westinghouse was instrumental in keeping Edison from getting funding on a regular basis. Both men were predators, just who and how they preyed on others and each other was different.
Really, still loved the acting and actors. But the only truth in the storyline was the race to provide electricity across the country and to the world's fair. After that, mostly just the made up crap we learned as kids.
There are a lot of lies in this movie
Doctor Strange and Spider-man vs General Zod and Beast
A decent movie with an interesting story. There was some cool editing but this is nothing special.
"Can't generate even the slightest bit of interest in what happens to any of its characters".
This movie, along with Polaroid, and a few others which were involved with The Weinstein Company have been delayed for obvious reasons. Polaroid has been given its adjusted release date in December 2018 already. Has anyone come across anything definitive regarding The Current War?
This movie deserved more recognition than it actually got.
This is a likable movie, but I'm sad it does Tesla a great disservice. I know it's about the current wars"" and not per sé the origin of current. If I remember correct Edison met with Tesla in France (correct me if I'm wrong) and he strong-armed Tesla as the better salesman convincing Tesla to sell his knowledge to him. This movie portrays Edison as a passionate researcher and Tesla as a person that tries to come by and consider throwing away his life's work to not have a miserable poor life anymore. I also don't get the political integration. Isn't the original history that this was purely business-related? Again I didn't check up back on the history that I can remember, but this kind of feels off. It was still enjoyable tho! The performances and mood is very well done. Would say about a 7.4 :)
It is an average level film that deals with the electric wars and in which benedict cumberbatch plays thomas edison, michael shannon plays george westinghouse, nicholas hoult plays nikola tesla; it is realistic and remains neutral but does not go into details, however, it is an average level film that shows the real face of edison to the audience instead of praising him as we have seen before.
It is a good film but it does not go into details, while the fight between direct current and alternating current is the main source of the story, the audience is not informed about them. The audience is thrown into the middle of a subject he does not understand.
It's one of those films that you won't miss anything if you don't watch it.
Personally, it would be better to turn to documentaries.
Well acted and reasonably engaging, although there's a significant disconnect between form and content
It's certainly not as bad as a lot of critics have made out, but there's no denying that Alfonso Gomez-Rejon over-directs the whole thing. If you listen to Paul Haggis's commentary track on Crash (2004), he tells a story about a scene which was filmed to begin with an elaborate camera move via a crane transitioning into a dolly shot. In the final film, however, all of that is gone, and Haggis explains that he realised during the edit that the camera moves were unjustified, doing little but drawing attention to themselves. A lot of The Current War's aesthetic draws attention to itself, primarily because Gomez-Rejon's elaborate direction is so out of sync with Michael Mitnick's by-the-numbers script – like a screenplay intended for Michael Bay ended up being directed by Michael Mann. Although make no mistake, Gomez-Rejon is no Mann.
For my complete review, please visit: https://boxd.it/Mv4Wd
A good film about an interesting historical story, but with too little background information.
This was a great watch. I am kind of ignorant on the subject, albeit I obviously know Tesla, Edison - in terms of names and their connection to electricity. I should read more on the subject and I do agree with some comments that Tesla has been depicted in a very poor and not so important matter, a bit of an afterthought indeed. Anyways, the acting is great, costume design is awesome, sets do feel repetitive and there aren't many outside shots I feel, but as a whole the movie does transmit the feeling of the era. The soundtrack is superb, loved Spring 1 and the scene that plays with it is just magic. Highly recommended movie, I had no idea it existed!
Elevated by its star wattage, and often interesting to watch, but ironically, given its subject matter, it needed a little more energy to really power up this historical tale.
“The value of something isn’t what someone’s willing to pay, but the value of Something is what it contributes.”
- George Westinghouse
Surprising little gem. Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon are great. Story was a little choppy, but was an enjoyable watch.
:candle::bulb::electric_plug:
So Tesla has even an SI unit named after him and such marginal role in this film? BTW, I've never heard about George Westinghouse although I've studied electronics, strange again that his role in this film is larger than Teslas. Its a shame, such a promising material but execution is poor.
A British Edison? Yeah no thanks.
very pedestrian. they could have left it to the closing credits - explained more.
Shout by FinFanBlockedParent2019-12-07T17:44:04Z
This is neither awful nor really spectacular. It's a solid movie with a very good cast. I knew the rough outlines of the historical facts and had hoped to gain more insight which didn't quite happen. My main problem is that it leaps through the story instead of exploring it. Maybe a mini series would have been more suited for the material. Edison is depicted as an unlikable fellow but the real genius in the story anyway is Tesla. One of the best moments in the movie for me was that financier, telling him, he will never have his name attached to anything.
You can watch it if you like period movies, or movies based on fact. But this does not replace a history book by any means. It's too shallow for that.