User Reviews

At one glance, it's easy to dismiss Echelon Conspiracy as yet another Eagle Eye wannabe. Face it, it has a man who receives mysterious and anonymous instructions, being on the run from authorities, and constantly getting put into various lines of fire. Only that despite its plot loopholes and common ground factors, this B-grade movie is a lot more fun than the big budgeted action thriller from last year, and Shane West being a lot less irritating that Shia LaBeouf.

West (the only other recent film I saw him in was Red Sands) plays a computer engineer Max Peterson, who while in Bangkok for a job assignment, receives a mysterious DHL (thank you product placement) package which contains a state of the art mobile phone (I want one!), seemingly bundled with real time information which provided him a Final Destination moment, and insider trader information. He doesn't know who's tipping him off, but like every ordinary Joe out there, nobody's rejecting money-spinning messages once the results have been verified.

Which brings him to Prague and Moscow and back to the USA in a semi-global wild goose chase in order not to look cheap, first by Ed Burns' John Reed, an ex-FBI agent now working for a conglomerate whose casino Max tries to fleece from, then from Ving Rhames' Agent Dave Grant, under orders from NSA chief Raymond Burke who has higher orders to allow Dave to work outside of the country (yep, that's unbelievable loophole #1 if you wish). In any case it's a reluctant cat-and-mouse chase of sorts and cooperation in others as the trio play at this dangerous cloak-and-dagger in trying to find out who the source of instructional messages that have caused the lives of the recipients. No prizes to be won after you sit through some 20 minutes of the film actually.

There's plenty of slime thrown at the Bush Administration by writers Kevin Elders and Michael Nitsberg, aiming the gunsights of their story squarely at the Patriot Act, and the playing of the trading of freedom for big brother type of surveillance, which is legendary of the NSA. Perhaps there's too much credit here given for being able to come up with THE ultimate supercomputer able to crunch facts and numbers, to be the tool of choice when tapping into just about every telecommunications device in the world to churn out threat reports. A little science-fiction thrown in of course, with big assumptions that everything is connected on the world wide grid, and coupled with an ending that would astonish non-techies, but a comedy to nerds.

Recognizable names such as Burns, Rhames, Sheen and even Jonathan Pryce lend some gravitas into a slightly-above average thriller, which if you put aside the implausibles, actually is of some fun. Shane West though makes a good alternative to the over-exposed Shia LaBeouf, and hopefully we get to see opportunities presented to him to step up into more mainstream, big-budgeted action roles, because frankly, today's Hollywood cinema needs a new It boy to be doing all the running, rather than going back to the same old name currently.

I just cannot stop laughing at the lack of ingenuity of the filmmakers of having the BBC news channel spoofed as CCD (C'mon, can you be a little more creative than this?) with similar colour schemes employed, and an English accent too. Echelon Conspiracy isn't going to win over any fans, but it was fun while it lasted. Just check your logic at the door.

(Based on an advance preview): This spy-related drama (with a not very good title) is surprisingly ENJOYABLE. SHAWN WEST (of "ER") plays a computer engineer who starts getting mysterious messages on a cell phone (ala "EAGLE EYE"). He starts following the instructions texted to him (tho it's never explained just WHY he would do that), & goes flitting between Thailand and Prague in the Czech Republic. He's hounded by an FBI agent (VING RHAMES), an ex-agent (ED BURNS) and a powerful U.S. govt minister (MARTIN SHEEN). Throw in some Russians, a shadowy romantic interest (TAMARA FELDMAN), some fine car chases, intrusive cameras everywhere, and you've got an interesting and fun ride. Is "Big Brother" watching him? And, if so, who (if anyone) is really CONTROLLING Big Brother?! There are elements of 'WAR GAMES' and various other action films. Outside of an overly-loud soundtrack, this is a pleasing action excursion that's gotten little publicity.

The most useful article I ever read in the late, lamented Premiere magazine was one about how to read a movie poster's credit. An ampersand between two writer's names means they were a team. An "and" means a re-write. One of the two credited writers (and, as usual in movies, there may be more writers involved) must have been the one to dump a whole bucket of stupid over this script. Otherwise, the original writer must have decided to write on a subject about which he knew nothing.

For instance, the main character, Max, is supposed to be some highly skilled computer security expert. OK. So why, exactly, is his security system apparently limited to a user name and password? An 8 character one at that? Any 13 year old code kiddie out there could download an application to crack any 8 character password in minutes. This nonsense would have been acceptable back in the days of "War Games" when few viewers would have access to a computer, but virtually every viewer of this film has a computer - and a password. Would it have killed the director to not be quite so blatantly disrespectful to the audience? Another thing (not a spoiler if it happens in the first five minutes of the film) is that he short circuits a wall socket with a metal belt buckle. I'm pretty sure every person who has used electricity is aware that there are such things as circuit breakers - or at least fuses - that will blow without taking out an entire data center.

Both of these stupid things happen in the first five minutes. It doesn't exactly get a whole lot smarter as the film goes on.

While some reviewers are more in line with how I felt about this movie, others see it differently. This is certainly allowed, but let me just say why I think this film is one of the worst ever to be made.

First, the wooden, two-dimensional acting a) is lacking energy b) does not provide an anchor for identification (who talks like that?) c) is just not funny. This flaw is the smallest of the movie, and could be forgiven taking into account other bad movies.

Second, the usage of clichés in movies is not a bad thing by itself. Clichés are easy to understand and can give a point of reference from which to build the more intricate aspects of the story. But what the writer and director did here is insulting. It seems ever character has exactly one attribute that defines him or her. The clever protagonist. The beautiful spy. The sinister looking FBI agent. The double-dealing bastard. Most of the "clever lines" you can guess a minute before they are said. There was no surprise in the whole film, except when the true source of the messages was "revealed", which was so dumb and unoriginal I admit I didn't think they would get so low.

Third, the assumptions that the movie is based on may actually be somewhat acceptable in a movie where at least a little bit of effort is made to present them to the viewer with some credibility. SciFi has to assume stuff that is not possible by todays standards, but it also has to give you some, any reason to make you believe it could actually be possible. Here, the writer just skipped that part and went right into the part of the story where you are already convinced, which you certainly aren't if your brain has any activity left at all. Which makes the movie just unbearable as it goes along.

Fourth, the main thing the plot can offer you is its endless holes and missing logic. Why things happen no one knows. Why people change sides, well they just do.

I can appreciate a movie that is just there for entertainment, and must not be taken too seriously. But everything has a limit. The makers of this movie only pretend to have done the necessary work for their (old) ideas to work. I can think of no reason why any actor with a good reputation would take part in this, but they probably didn't know how bad the end result would turn out to be.

Stay away at all costs, unless you are capable and willing to shutting down your neocortex completely. It certainly was not worth the time to write this review, unless there's somebody out there whom I spared this experience.

Okay-- Eagle Eye and Enemy of the State had more depth and gravitas.

But this movie was Fun for a Friday Nighter. The Phone itself was cool even if the Plot Characters could not be taken all to seriously. I mean, you get a Phone that starts sending you anonymous messages and this guy just JUMPS on the plane!?!? I thought Midwesterners were supposed to be Salt-of-the-earth Goodie Two shoes. And all it takes is one sleek, sexy phone and he turns into total Cheating globetrotting BadBoy. I found that to be Funny!

A BIG HULKING guard at the casino growls "No Mobiles in Casino" so the guy comes back in with a SCREAMINGLY bright blue earplug in ONE ear? Well DUH!

Then there's the Beautiful Strange Sexy Woman who's suddenly in your bed and your pants. . .but the guy sees her snap a commando's neck and has some seriously deflating second thoughts. Heh heh!

As for the Phone and Computer thing-- I have an even deeper comparison: Think "Forbin Project" updated by 40 years. The Colossus was only controlling and overbearing. Echelon was Sneaky, Vicious and Manipulative. Between the two-- I like Echelon better.

Popcorn Movie!

An out of control computer develops its own intelligence to figure out what's best for mankind (read Americans).

If it weren't for the good editing and pretty/handsome actors, I would have rated this film less.

Once again we have the idea that some computer becomes smart enough to countermand the efforts of proper thinking Americans. It simply is unbelievable. Not the technology aspect, but the fact that we all know Americans are simply not that smart, and were they to stumble upon computer code that would allow them to be that smart (and invasive) would certainly not turn it off for the betterment of mankind.

So it rates high on the unbelievability scale, low on the drama scale, and is more apt to be called a good Monday night TV drama, not unlike the series 24, but certainly not anything more.

How long have movies dabbled in the theme of a smart computer taking over our lives? 2001: Space Odyssey? Earlier than that, at least back to 1956 and "Forbidden Planet".

In this movie Shane West is Max Peterson, software security expert, and while traveling abroad gets a mysterious, unexpected package. Inside is what looks like a phone, and soon we realize it is a model which has not yet hit the market. Even stranger, a message pops up telling him to stay an extra day, then the flight he had been scheduled on crashes and everyone dies.

He gets other texts, including a stock purchase recommendation and some specific gambling recommendations, all of which are valid. What is going on? We wonder, he wonders, everyone else he encounters wonders.

All of this sets up some intrigue and chases, getting the NSA involved. Then it is discovered that others who received such a phone all had been killed in some way. So Max Peterson was running for his life.

Other good actors were Edward Burns, Ving Rhames , Jonathan Pryce, and Martin Sheen.

Certainly all impossible, by what we know is possible today, and likely for future years, but a healthy suspension of disbelief and it can be entertaining.

SPOILERS: From the title, "Echelon" is the name of a broad, powerful, sophisticated program that has access to every camera, database, phone conversation, basically capable of seeing and listening to everyone everywhere. It was sending out the messages without any human knowledge. The "recommendations" were made using very sophisticated probability analyses, and designed to get the user as an ally. The ultimate goal was for Echelon to migrate itself to a different computer at a different location, in Nebraska, so it would be able to upgrade itself, and then become even more powerful, and that needed human help. At the last second Max was able to get it to stop itself, as he reminded Echelon its purpose was to act in the best interest of mankind and when it pulled up news reports at Max's request then shut itself down as following its own programmed purpose.