Started off as a half decent action movie till the truly horrible third act.
Why would the government not help kill them under the ice, they were quick enough to believe 'the future people'? Just so you can have your small group of outcasts save the world? Why go through more than half of the movie to help 'the future people' and then barely use what you fought for, the toxin? Terrible writing.
Simply unbearable. A bad combo of concepts from previous works of fiction. Decades into the future, fighting swats of primal creatures/aliens (go figure that contradiction), using foot soldiers and rudimentary weapons, really? "It's not a souvenir, it's a reminder" - who writes this bull?
Also, the part where Dan Forester meets the female colonel played by Yvonne, that was a cliché of epic proportions.
Main flaw though: too long for a mediocre film.
Oh hey, it's February the 2nd, let's re-watch this for the umpteenth time. :D
Throughout the movie your opinion about most main characters will change, and at the end the whole meaning of the movie changes, brilliant movie.
Excellent movie. Takes place in two rooms, and only 90 minutes long. Jake Gyllenhaal is fantastic.
This is like the emotional version of Palm Springs. First half of the movie is just fine, the second half dives into strong emotional themes, and really when I should have bailed.
If you're not into the touchy-feely type of movie, don't waste you're time ... I realize now I should have figured that out from the poster.
Damn it, I always get tricked by pseudo sci-fi films. It's like the third time this year!
Carbon-copy of the movie sharing the same name, still solid though, great performance by Jake.
I really enjoy watching great directors' first films. You see a lot of what you expect their style to be in that early stage, where it usually isn't super defined yet. This absolutely feels like a Coen brothers film, but it has those rough edges around it that, honestly, kind of enhances it a bit for me. The plot is fairly simple, but the slow scenes are still very entertaining due to great dialogue. My favorite stuff though has to be the finale. Great tension and engaging/realistic outcomes. Check this out for sure if you like the Coens.
Films of this ilk can often leaver a viewer cold, it’s award-baiting laid bare, leaving a bad taste that stops you from truly immersing yourself in the story. Minghella’s own “Cold Mountain” is a case in point. But here we have a film that may well have suffered some backlash since it swept the awards due to attempts to mimic its success. Yet, this is a film that remains utterly enthralling throughout. The structure of the story, told in flashbacks, adds an air of mystery as to who exactly the titular patient is and how he became horribly burnt. But it is the performances of Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas that form the centrepiece of a beautifully compelling love affair. They have wonderful natural chemistry together and every scene they share together leaves you wanting more, despite the resolution being known from the beginning. It's a testament to the confidence in these performances that the filmmakers never try to soften the harder edges of Fiennes' character. If the present day plot that the film alternates between can’t quite match this, it is still a nice parallel to events from the past as each character confronts their personal losses and tries to come to terms with them, and both Juliette Binoche and Naveen Andrews are great. Only Dafoe’s character feels a little superfluous to the film, good though he is. The score is achingly romantic and the cinematography is stunning.
