Reviews

-A silly, horrible concept. -Bad script. -Inane dialogue. -Absurd acting. This is a movie concept that should have been killed before it ever made it to final script and casting. -So bad. I couldn't even finish it. I just kept skipping ahead to see if it got any better, but it didn't. Netflix has made a ton of money with digital streaming, but as a quality tv/movie production studio, they still have a really long way to go.

"Don't Valerian my movie, bro!" All the expensive and pretty effects in this movie just could not save it. This movie should forever become the iconic example to anyone who is (or ever will be) involved in filmaking of why production and special effects must ALWAYS take a distant backseat to solid writing, storytelling and acting.

The world is sick. Everyone knows it. As we have become more separated from and disrespectful to Nature, it has responded in ways that we are just beginning to feel. The perfect storm of organized religion aiding capitalistic industries to feed Western- style urbanization was all initially conceived and supervised by my ancestors, exploiting the labor of indigenous peoples who had lived in harmony with nature for thousands of years. I am a white American of Christian-European ancestry. The core of our white insanity was our total belief in a "God-granted" right to subdue the natural world for our own misguided purposes. Now, almost all peoples of the world have taken on this same insanity and the exploitation of natural resources has intensified exponentially. It's all wrong. It's all bad. It's all going to end horribly. Our only hope is for all of us -- or at least, most of us -- to turn away from mindless consumerism and return to simpler lifestyles where less is more and a healthy planet is seen as our only real asset. This extraordinary movie is a masterpiece that makes all of these points. In the future, if humans have to leave a decimated Earth for some gamble on interstellar colonization, I hope they get to watch this movie before they begin again.

Wow, I was expecting so much, based on the concept and cast. But, that's about all this movie has going for it ... a good concept and a good cast. Everything else -- story, characters, cinematography, effects -- are all so "made-for-tv."

Usually, I'm not moved by a mediocre movie to the point of actually writing a review, but this one made me think of other people (especially sci-fi fans, like myself) who may be considering it and take charity on them. My advice: Don't waste your time.

There are so many problems: huge logic gaps in the pop-science; non-existent character development; stupid special effects. Canned drama. No humor. No grace. The script even betrays its own main premise.

This is Pfister's directorial debut. He has been such a great cinematographer in the past. I imagine the results of Transcendence may be cause for some soul searching as to which path he continues upon.

• Bottomline: A very disappointing waste of time :(

Like you, I've seen a lot of movies in my time ... studios, independents and foreign flicks. The problem is, right now I can't remember any of them except the one I just saw: "Castaway on the Moon." What a strange, funny, beautiful, moving story and film.

America is not the only place that's hard on misfits. As the rest of the world seems hell-bent to morph into capitalistic clones of the pre-bust USA, along with all of that economic boom comes significant human costs, particularly to the weak, fragile and sensitive. This movie delves into the humor and tragedy of two such affected souls.

If you've ever thought to yourself that practically everything is all wrong with modern life, you owe it to yourself to watch this Korean masterpiece.