I, Robot (Two-Disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D/ Blu-ray + DVD)
Superstar Will Smith rages against the machines in this futuristic action thrill-ride – now in eye-popping 3D for the ultimate I, Robot experience! In the year 2035, technology and robots are a trusted part of everyday life. But that trust is broken when a scientist (James Cromwell) is found dead and a cynical detective (Smith) believes that an advanced robot may be responsible.As paranoid cop Del Spooner, Will Smith (Independence Day, Men in Black) displays both his trademark quips and some imp
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Upside Down (3D + 2D Blu-ray & DVD Combo)
In an alternate universe where twinned worlds have opposite gravities, a young man battles interplanetary prejudice and the laws of physics in his quest to reunite with the long-lost girl of his dreams in this visually stunning romantic adventure that poses the question: what if love was stronger than gravity?
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3D review,
This is a pretty good movie, and I was excited to see it in 3D as I have been amazed by some other 3D blurays (Thor, Captain America, Avatar).
Despite the fact that this wasn’t “made for 3D”, I was hopeful that the 3D reworking would yield some pretty cool results. Unfortunately, I didn’t really see much 3D that enhanced the film or made it really worth it to buy a new bluray since I had the dvd (and it isn’t a “gotta have” film for me – I was interested in it for the 3D feature.
If you don’t have the film yet, it is a good addition to your collection. If you love this movie and have the dvd, then sure buy it, but if you just like the film and have the dvd, and are looking to expand your 3D film collection for some cool 3D films, you might wanna spend your money on other 3D discs.
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|“Perhaps this is my purpose”,
My first reaction as this film began was “Wait! This isn’t Asimov.” The Asimov I grew up reading was a weaver of ideas, more mind candy than adventure story. But here I found myself in Will Smith’s bedroom, and then suddenly catapulted into a wild chase after a purse grabbing robot. A far cry from the delicacy used by Asimov. It took a while for the shock to wear off but eventually the conflict between Smith’s gritty performance as Del Spooner and his original inspiration in the reminiscences of Dr. Susan Calvin (played by Bridget Moynahan) wears off and the view settles into a film that is inspired by Asimov, but does not imitate him.
The sooner that happens, the better, because this is an exceptional film in its own right, even if it does proceed with the speed of a video game. Smith creates a wisecracking character with a deep mistrust of robots. He is called in to to investigate what appears to be an impossible killing – robots can’t kill humans, it’s the first law of robotics. But Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell) lies dead and the only suspect is ‘Sonny’ a Series 5 robot with some surprising circuitry (played by Alan Tudyk).
The death is declared a suicide, but Spooner refuses to give in. suddenly the automated world turns on the detective, whose unlikely ally is Dr. Calvin, a robopsychologist responsible for the psyches of masses of robots about to be distributed around the planet. One hair-raising escape after another propels the story along until viewers find themselves at a surprisingly reflective conclusion. Not exactly classical Asimov, but a great story nonetheless.
Will does a good job as Spooner, but he is upstaged by Moynihan’s performance. And both are blown away by Tudyk and the animators performance as Sonny. As you watch Sonny develop from being slightly more simpatico than the scenery into a full-blown personality there are countless moments of surprise. Moynihan and Smith do their best, but from the moment Sonny turns to Spooner and says “Thank you… you said someone not something.” The film belongs to the robots.
Excellent animation and CGI create a world that is a retro version of the future – perhaps exactly what Asimov imagined rather than what we would now. The result is a compelling mix of the outré and the mundane that sticks in the mind just as Sonny’s wink does.
This is not just an action film. Threaded through it are the same questions that Asimov raised about the nature of self and intelligence. Robots may never be human, but there are far more than furniture. And if their thought processes are alien, they are more than the sum of their programming. The result is one of the more carefully thought out science fiction films in recent times.
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|Entertaining and imaginative, but the same old Will Smith.,
I watched this one with my family over the weekend and, quite frankly, had a ball. Yeah, to some extent it’s a movie with a message, but mainly it’s just plain entertaining. If you try to read too much into it, you’ll miss the opportunity for a good old-fashioned sci fi romp.
Fast forward to the year 2035. The monolithic company “U.S. Robotics” has put NS-4 domestic assistant robots into mass production, so much so that they are commonplace “members” of American society. Their artificial intelligence is designed to be as much like humans as possible, but is regulated by the “3 laws” programming that is hardwired into every robot. These laws are: 1. To protect human life above all; 2. To obey human commands except if it would violate law 1; and 3. To protect its own existence unless doing so would violate laws 1 or 2. The laws seem a foolproof way to ensure that the robots would never pose a threat to humanity. But all that changed when the man billed as the father of robotic technology and the 3 laws turns up dead in a very public, and very suspicous, manner, just as the new and improved NS-5 model is about to flood the market. The death is quickly written off by all concerned as a suicide. All except detective Dale Spooner, this is.
Being a good cop and a sharp detective, Spooner (played by Will Smith) in not content that the professor’s death was a suicide, and begins investigating with the lead suspect, an NS-5 robot named “Sonny”. Sonny’s intelligence is so advanced, and his “emotions” so well simulated, that he appears to have something resembling a human soul. Spooner believes that Sonny killed the professor, and sets out to prove it. His (over)zealous approach to the task, coupled with his deep distrust of robots and their manufacturer, quickly lands him in hot water with some powerful people. Some difficult and destructive encounters with the metallic menaces leave him looking like an obsessive paranoiac, and ultimately result in his suspension from the police force.
Spooner continues his chase nonetheless, following a series of clues left by the dead professor, as step by step the mystery begins the unwind. All along the way are some great action sequences, plot twists and one-liners. However, except for Will Smith’s character (which is the same as it has been in every film he has done since “Men in Black”), nothing about the story is predictable. When the final shoe drops, most viewers will be pleasantly surprised by the unexpected ending.
All in all, I really enjoyed this movie. It was a wild ride with lots of great sci fi treats and effects. The only downsides were the lack of character development on any signficant level — this is a purely plot-driven movie — and the fact that Will Smith essentially played himself, much as he always does. Still, it’s worth seeing. I certainly don’t regret the investment of two hours.
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|Escher-esque Romance,
Eschewing the physics of reality, this film weaves a wonderfully fascinating tale of two young people in love. An astrophysics tale of Romeo and Juliet as the star-crossed lovers separated by a complex Escher-esque world of haves and have-nots.
Jim Sturgess and Kirsten Dunst portray Adam and Eden respectively.
Adam lives in the frigid, dirty, and dank oily world of Downbelow. While Eden’s home is Uptop, a dreamlike existence of warm bright air and glittering palaces of light. Two planets who share every basic elemental aspect, but are divided by an unspoken social and fiscal chasm. But there are special places, natural features of great height, where the two worlds almost touch one another. A place like the Sage Mountains.
A chance encounter between a thoughtful young boy and a young girl searching for her lost dog, accidentally bumping into one another at their respective peaks, begins a desperate dance as two halves of the same soul find, then lose one another.
Like all children, they’re born without hate in their hearts. Eden and Adam become friends. And as the years pass, become more than friends. Despite the monstrous illegality of their relationship, love blossoms in secret. Until one fateful day as the teen couple encounters a group of angry Downbelowers who attack the pair for their illicit romance. While helping Eden make her escape, Adam is shot. Losing his grip while attempting to lower her “up”, the freefall drop ends with a sickening crunch. Striking solid stone as she crashes back onto her world, a widening pool of blood is the last image he has of her.
Ten years pass.
Now working as an electronics repairman with asides as an inventor, Adam unknowingly stands at the brink of a discovery that will revolutionize both worlds. Believing that his soulmate died on that fateful day, he goes through the motions of an infinitely empty existence. Until a pirated television program from Uptop catches his eye. It’s her – she’s alive. And he will do anything to again be with his one true love. Anything. Even prostitute his incredible creation to the corporate slave masters of Uptop’s largest corporation, Transworld, for that single solitary chance.
Finagling his way into and through Transworld – he’s stunned and horrified to discover Eden doesn’t know him.
Nearly beyond words, he learns that the fall all those years ago caused blunt force amnesia; she has no memory of her childhood and teen years except when she sleeps and dreams.
Undaunted, Adam undertakes the ultimate risk.
The twin worlds’ equivalent of a terrorist attack is to cross over without permission. A strictly forbidden act, permission is never ever granted. But he’s going to cross over – repeatedly. His only hope is to encourage her memories to return by consistent re-association. But a Downbelower noticeably, and literally, stands out (up) from the crowd. As Uptop’s gravity slowly burns through his illicit Up-gravity weights, Adam has to manage and mask his increasingly uncomfortable state while his custom bodysuit tips at the verge of combustion. And in a world full of Up citizenry, desperately has to avoid drawing public scrutiny to the fact that he’s threatening immolation with every passing moment.
Authorities from both sides are in hot pursuit, no pun intended, and closing in on the repetitious violator.
A very entertaining romance for a 21st century audience. And, uncommonly, a good fit for both men and women, as this film captures the emotional aspects of a chick flick while carefully balancing the taut scifi and adventure aspects of a guy movie.
There were a couple of very small weakness that prevents a full five stars, but this incredible visual feast is as strong a four as I can imagine.
Movie Note:
- Despite the fact the two planets share an equal orbit, I thought it cleverly profound that Director Juan Solanas never shows Downbelow as “up” when viewing the two worlds in the context of right and wrong, or even good and evil.
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Visual eye-candy from start to finish neves ceases to amaze,
Imagine my surprise when this movie showed up this weekend out of nowhere, without any advance advertizing, on a single screen for all of Greater Cincinnati. I figured this wasn’t going to play very long here so I went to see it right away.
“Upside Down” has a very intruiging premise: there are two worlds very close together but each with their own gravity. As the movie opens, we are informed of the basic three rules: 1. All matter is pulled by the gravity of the world that it comes from, and not the other. 2. An object’s weight can be offset by matter from the opposite world (inverse matter). 3. After some time in contact, matter in contact with inverse matter burns. Wow, get your head around that! As the movie opens, we see young/eventual teenagers Adam (played by Jim Sturgess) and Eden (played by Kirsten Dunst) find each other in striking distance from opposing sides of a high mountain. Adam pulls in Eden with a rope, and as Eden is hanging/resting upside down in a rock, they kiss (hello, Spiderman upside-down kiss replay, anyone?). Eventually they are found out and as Eden is trying to get back to her “Up” world, the rope is shot and she takes a bad tumble, causing amnesia. Fast forward 10 years, and by complete chance Adam (from the “Down” world) see that Eden is now working at TransWorld, the ‘evil’ company that controls everything. Adam is developing an “anti-gravity” matter that also serves as an “anti-aging” creme. That appeals to TransWorld and he gets hired. Adam is bent on finding Eden and reconnecting with her, even though she has no memory of him and her teenage romance with him. At this point we are not even half-way into the movie, but to tell you more would ruin your viewing experience, you’ll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Several commments: first and foremost, this movie is the most visual original movie that I have seen in a long, long time. It is slightly reminiscent of “Inception” in its visuals, but then does it one or two times better than that, just outstanding. I just couldn’t stop marveling at how the images of the two “upside down” worlds were presented to us. That said, I thought that Sturgess was badly miscast as Adam. Even though he is in reality older than Dunst, he just looked like a boy next to her. On the other hand, Dunst just shines in this movie, continuing her strong streak in recent movies like Melancholia and Bachelorette. Kudos also for the nice soundtrack, scored by Mark Isham, a favorite of mine. The screening that I saw this at today here in Cincinnati was poorly attended (only 2 people besides myself), so if you get a chance to see this in the theatre, do not wait, or otherwise catch it on DVD. The plot lacks some emotional pull but the visuals will win you over.
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Outstanding Visuals and more – Must see pic.,
Just wanted to say that if you are a sci-fi fan and enjoy outstanding visuals, like me, you must see this.
They probably got the visuals concept from “Inception” but actually used them in the plot instead of just for show (not that I didn’t like Inception – I did).
For me – and I guess I can say I’ve probably seen it all – this is the most artistic outstandng visual movie I’ve seen in, say, the last 2 years or so.
It has got an interesting uplifting love story with a rather uncommon arc that might keep you guessing until the very end.
Get ready for something… different.
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