I saw this movie years ago. Typical SYFY movie.... Right. Then I saw it again recently, and noticed Emilia Clarke. I figured this must be early in her career. Because I can't see Mother of Dragons doing this movie. Then I started doing a bit of research. Most of the cast is British or Scottish. Only two of the actors are American. And it was filmed in Bulgaria. We Americans can't make low budget bad scifi movies anymore? Where is our pride. "YES WE CAN!!!!" Let's bring back bad low budget scifi movies back to the old U. S. of A. The sad part, this isn't the worse example of fake Non-American bad low budget American scifi movie I've seen. I can't recall the name of the movie. But get this. The whole movie takes place in a English High School. EVERYTHING... literally everything is English. The school, the uniforms, etc. Except for 2 little things. The accent, and the attitude of the movie. It was a bad low budget movie. Having the cast and the theme stereotypical American bad movie, was suppose to save it???
Reviews
3 Reviews
Eden Log
(2007)
I LOVED the message but thw movie had problems
23 August 2021
Warning: Spoilers
SPOILERS: Sort of....
The movie is worth seeing. But I had issues with it. I LOVED the overall message, but the low budget and the fixation of darkness (black/white) in most of the movie ruined it for me. How can you relate with the main character if 90 percent of the time you can't see him.
Throughout the movie, I thought they made it look too artsy/experimental looking. Yes, i saw symbols referring to humanity/mankind/society, etc. But I think the affected took too long. At the end, it should have been brighter and clearer. But it wasn't. If you understand that he started in the darkness of the roots, as he emerges, there should have been more light. But there wasn't. The whole movie is dark. I think the darkness of the movie was not just due to the point of the movie/style/story, but to hide the fact, how really low budget it was.
And like most movies now a days, the movie making style/writing is ordinary. Quiet and slow build up. Eventually building in speed, then a sudden twist. Then the movie is over.
REAL SPOILER....
I get the moral of the story. A society that thrives from exploiting others, is a society that can't continue. If it's not morally wrong, it'll collapse by it's own failures. The fact that the main character, once protector/enforcer, of that same society, is changed. Tapped on the shoulder, figuratively speaking, by fate to empathize with the truth, Once he sees the truth, as we follow his journey, we see the dirty little secret of that society. In many ways, there are similarities with the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Or even Solvent Green.
I think if the movie had a bigger budget, it would have had less need to depend on the darkness of it's photography to hide the terrible set. In fact, a bigger budget would have improved the transition, from the lowest and darkness of the beginning, to a brighter almost normal of a society. And like other movies where they have a similar twist at the end, the movie needed a longer ending.
I get that an almost perfect society that depends on exploiting the weak or the "Others", to thrive, will fail. And true, good people/citizens of that same society, who are ignorant of the truth, share in the guilt. But at the end when the main character decides the lie must end, it ignores other truths. I think the movie should have ended with ending the exploitation. And showing the citizens of that society fixing the problem. Rather than a vague illustration of that society being devoured by the tree.
The movie is worth seeing. But I had issues with it. I LOVED the overall message, but the low budget and the fixation of darkness (black/white) in most of the movie ruined it for me. How can you relate with the main character if 90 percent of the time you can't see him.
Throughout the movie, I thought they made it look too artsy/experimental looking. Yes, i saw symbols referring to humanity/mankind/society, etc. But I think the affected took too long. At the end, it should have been brighter and clearer. But it wasn't. If you understand that he started in the darkness of the roots, as he emerges, there should have been more light. But there wasn't. The whole movie is dark. I think the darkness of the movie was not just due to the point of the movie/style/story, but to hide the fact, how really low budget it was.
And like most movies now a days, the movie making style/writing is ordinary. Quiet and slow build up. Eventually building in speed, then a sudden twist. Then the movie is over.
REAL SPOILER....
I get the moral of the story. A society that thrives from exploiting others, is a society that can't continue. If it's not morally wrong, it'll collapse by it's own failures. The fact that the main character, once protector/enforcer, of that same society, is changed. Tapped on the shoulder, figuratively speaking, by fate to empathize with the truth, Once he sees the truth, as we follow his journey, we see the dirty little secret of that society. In many ways, there are similarities with the book Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Or even Solvent Green.
I think if the movie had a bigger budget, it would have had less need to depend on the darkness of it's photography to hide the terrible set. In fact, a bigger budget would have improved the transition, from the lowest and darkness of the beginning, to a brighter almost normal of a society. And like other movies where they have a similar twist at the end, the movie needed a longer ending.
I get that an almost perfect society that depends on exploiting the weak or the "Others", to thrive, will fail. And true, good people/citizens of that same society, who are ignorant of the truth, share in the guilt. But at the end when the main character decides the lie must end, it ignores other truths. I think the movie should have ended with ending the exploitation. And showing the citizens of that society fixing the problem. Rather than a vague illustration of that society being devoured by the tree.
Iron Doors
(2010)
I loved the movie but didn't get it completely.
4 October 2013
Warning: Spoilers
**SPOILER**
I understand that there is symbolism in the movie. I understand the guy and girl may be dead or purgatory. How they act in the vault, decides they're fate. I would even venture a guess and say, the whole movie was about him. And she was just one more item/part/thing in the vault for him to interact with, in deciding his fate.
In fact, I don't know if every version of this movie has her subtitles in German instead of in English. So I got my tablet and translated her subtitles from German to English. No body who posted a message referred to her limited back story. But she was going to a wedding. She doesn't know why she's there. Doesn't know the guy. She's religious. She says she always does what shes told. She asks if G*d wants her dead. Asks why is she being punished. She refers to her mother being disappointed. While the guy's sounds like a jerk, and with no faith. So she has no reason to be there unless she's dead, and there to help him reform.
The part that puzzles me is the items in the vault. He has a dead rat, a hidden key, and a locked locker with a welding torch and tools. Symbolically speaking, the key comes from the light. He has a blue collar speech pattern and has a locker and tools.
She is in the dark, inside a coffin. The lamp in her vault is very decorative. Her lights can be turned on and off, but his can't. Lamps light their way?
The third vault has a grave with a fallen chandelier, and a red/orange grave stone. I don't understand the need for the items in this vault. Maybe they symbolize their ending. It's time to decide their fate? Why a red/orange grave stone? Why a fallen chandelier? Does the glass beads and light represent heaven, and the worm in the grave represent death?
Why did she have sex? Was she a virgin and her wedding was hers? Did she want him out of his funk? He broke down and started to cry. She tried to talk him out of it. Then slapped him. Then kicked him. She finally pulled him out of the grave. He was thirsty, so she gave him her tears. He had no will to continue, so she had sex with him so he'd feel alive again?
My question is, are the items in each vault symbols that tell a story, why he was there? The key for the locker came from the overhead light fixture... why? Does light symbolize hope for him? If the items have a purpose, does that mean he should have checked each vault for items to use for his escape. Except for the items in his vault, the coffin, and the girl, he ignored every item. The items in his vault are industrial. The items in her vault were somber. The older artistic coffin. The older artistic lamp. And the over the head lamp with a cord, if you want light or not. The third vault had the grave and the chandelier.
My biggest question is... what was in the 4rth vault. Is there a 4rth vault? If the vaults are square rooms. And he travels to the other vaults that share walls with his vault. And when the door opens and they see outside, the vault door opens wide and stops on a side wall. Doesn't that hint to a 4rth vault?
Personally, once the key falls from the lamp, which he uses to get tools. I would have used my imagination and taken a better look at the other items.
I love the movie but... My biggest criticism of the movie is that the guy ignores allot, and that's why people may rate this movie low. It's like a mystery story, the author shows every clue to the reader/viewer, so they can better understand why the villain is the villain. It's also entertaining for the audience to try to solve the mystery before the story detective figure it out. In this movie, it feels like there is so much clues/symbolism that are ignored or unexplained. In a good story, the main character is like the mouse on a computer screen. The audience/reader can't interact with the story/characters/clues, but we get to explore them when the main character interacts with his environment. The guy in this story just ignores allot.
I understand that there is symbolism in the movie. I understand the guy and girl may be dead or purgatory. How they act in the vault, decides they're fate. I would even venture a guess and say, the whole movie was about him. And she was just one more item/part/thing in the vault for him to interact with, in deciding his fate.
In fact, I don't know if every version of this movie has her subtitles in German instead of in English. So I got my tablet and translated her subtitles from German to English. No body who posted a message referred to her limited back story. But she was going to a wedding. She doesn't know why she's there. Doesn't know the guy. She's religious. She says she always does what shes told. She asks if G*d wants her dead. Asks why is she being punished. She refers to her mother being disappointed. While the guy's sounds like a jerk, and with no faith. So she has no reason to be there unless she's dead, and there to help him reform.
The part that puzzles me is the items in the vault. He has a dead rat, a hidden key, and a locked locker with a welding torch and tools. Symbolically speaking, the key comes from the light. He has a blue collar speech pattern and has a locker and tools.
She is in the dark, inside a coffin. The lamp in her vault is very decorative. Her lights can be turned on and off, but his can't. Lamps light their way?
The third vault has a grave with a fallen chandelier, and a red/orange grave stone. I don't understand the need for the items in this vault. Maybe they symbolize their ending. It's time to decide their fate? Why a red/orange grave stone? Why a fallen chandelier? Does the glass beads and light represent heaven, and the worm in the grave represent death?
Why did she have sex? Was she a virgin and her wedding was hers? Did she want him out of his funk? He broke down and started to cry. She tried to talk him out of it. Then slapped him. Then kicked him. She finally pulled him out of the grave. He was thirsty, so she gave him her tears. He had no will to continue, so she had sex with him so he'd feel alive again?
My question is, are the items in each vault symbols that tell a story, why he was there? The key for the locker came from the overhead light fixture... why? Does light symbolize hope for him? If the items have a purpose, does that mean he should have checked each vault for items to use for his escape. Except for the items in his vault, the coffin, and the girl, he ignored every item. The items in his vault are industrial. The items in her vault were somber. The older artistic coffin. The older artistic lamp. And the over the head lamp with a cord, if you want light or not. The third vault had the grave and the chandelier.
My biggest question is... what was in the 4rth vault. Is there a 4rth vault? If the vaults are square rooms. And he travels to the other vaults that share walls with his vault. And when the door opens and they see outside, the vault door opens wide and stops on a side wall. Doesn't that hint to a 4rth vault?
Personally, once the key falls from the lamp, which he uses to get tools. I would have used my imagination and taken a better look at the other items.
I love the movie but... My biggest criticism of the movie is that the guy ignores allot, and that's why people may rate this movie low. It's like a mystery story, the author shows every clue to the reader/viewer, so they can better understand why the villain is the villain. It's also entertaining for the audience to try to solve the mystery before the story detective figure it out. In this movie, it feels like there is so much clues/symbolism that are ignored or unexplained. In a good story, the main character is like the mouse on a computer screen. The audience/reader can't interact with the story/characters/clues, but we get to explore them when the main character interacts with his environment. The guy in this story just ignores allot.
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