Final Cut: A little Sci Fi gem on DVD

[exile]

Here's a movie that noone is talking about. I heard about it on HTT but I saw it this morning proceeded to get the word out. I think this is a must see film for Sci Fi people. It's really an intelligent film so don't go into it expecting stuff to blow up and such. The story is somewhat like Strange Days and I actually found this to be better.

 

W/O giving up too much I can say the story revolves around a chip installed in some peoples' heads. It's not in every persons head as its a choice by the parents to install it. Once installed prior to birth it records your experiences seen thru your eyes(sorta like Strange Days but different). When you croak, your chip is removed and a cutter pieces back together your life and makes a little movie with all the good stuff only shown at your funeral.

 

Needless to say this movie will provoke a response because it deals with some moral issues while also being interesting.

 

As far as the movie goes, the acting which consists of Robin Williams, Mia Sorvino and Jim Caviezal(Passion of the Christ fame and also Frequency) is all good if not great. The score is wonderfully sublime. The story is pretty quick at 1 hr 45 min and doesn't overstay its welcome.

 

The ending is a bit ho hum or perhaps I didn't get it. I'm not sure.

 

The Dvd is from Lions Gate and was not shown theatrically in Europe(so I read) so it might have too much exposure. You could almost call it an independent film. The PQ is stellar but soft at times while the audio is good if not great at times. It reminded me of Frequency in some respects(audio wise).

 

I'll be curious if anyone else has seen this movie. I rented it from a local Hollywood video place.

[Romier S]

I've been wanting to see it since I saw the trailer on Apple.com Exile. You've pushed me to finally get my butt up and rent it tonight. Off to blockbuster I go.

[EnemaEms]

I have this sitting in my "To Watch" pile. I am going to try and get to it this weekend, along with Finding Neverland.

 

-Dean-

[Romier S]

The ending is a bit ho hum or perhaps I didn't get it. I'm not sure.

 

No, it's just ho hum. Great ideas presented. I loved the questions the film is trying to answer. I like the acting from Williams and Sorvino (not so much Caviezel), but the third act really left me wanting. Not so much in how the story was finalized but moreso with the extremely lackluster editing. The movie was just all over the damn place. What was a tightly nit character piece that dealt with the invasion of privacy and the morality behind stealing memories and rewriting history, turned into a set of chaotic images and set pieces that felt out of place. (the Cemetary scene being the most obvious) The whole movie just kind of started to falling to pieces for me once we had Williams

mind hacking himself to work out a suppressed memory he considers the pivotal turning point in his life.

. Everything from that point on just felt terribly disjointed.

 

Regardless, I do feel it's a movie worth watching at least once. The ideas it explores will keep you interested, even if the execution is somewhat flawed.

[General Zot]

I'll throw this title in the queue, thanks for the tip gents. I'm a movie whore, I'll watch almost anything once.

[Jon W H]

The ending didn't do much for me, personally. It felt too much of an individual rights movement agenda.