Review: Impostor 113
Before I get started, it should be pointed out that managing expectations is very important when going to see a movie. If you go into this movie expecting a "Blade Runner" or an "Alien" you probably won't be so happy. If you go into this expecting a "Screamers" or "Pitch Black" however, then you'll probably enjoy the hell out of it.
"Imposter" stars Gary Sinise as an Oppenheimer-like weapons researcher named Spencer Olham. He's working on creating a superweapon to unleash upon an alien menace originating from Alpha Centauri. Frankly, watching the movie, we're getting our asses kicked, with human society devolving into a fascist state huddled under energy domes for protection.
The aliens, however, really aren't the focus of the film, which is neither good nor bad, as they aren't really central to the plot. Sinise's character Olham is picked up by the government as he is suspected of being an alien replicant instead of the real Olham, with the additional feature of a bomb in his chest designed to go off when he meets with the Chancellor of Earth. After being picked up and taken to an ominous interrogation center to be killed, he manages to escape to the dead zone between city-domes, a dystopic scene of poverty and the overlooked. Within the zone, Spencer convinces the streetwise Cale to sneak him back into the city to meet up with his wife, Maya.
I don't want to go much further into the actual plot of the film, as it doesn't really matter that much. It's fairly predictable but enjoyable. The IMDB entry for "Impostor" notes that this was originally one part of a three-part movie that was expanded to fill the full length of this film. There does seem to be a bit of padding going on, like the exploration of Cale's motivation for helping Olham sneak back into the city where Olham's wife Maya (played by Madeline Stowe) works. In the end you don't mind because the padding is well done and entertaining.
The effects are enjoyable in a "look it's a cool city with ships flying around all over it" way and the cast is much stronger than you'd expect in this kind of movie, but not too much. I did feel that Vincent D'Onofrio was probably not very well cast in his role as Major Hathaway. Mr. D'Onofrio is the kind of actor that when he has the right role really shines (his work on Law and Order, for instance). But still, even ill-placed, he's enjoyable to watch.
To wrap up, "Impostor" is a decent flick worth your $5.75 matinee price while elongating your lunch hour and definitely worth taking the time to watch on cable, although the effects would not be as enjoyable.
An imposter! (Score:1, Funny)
Re:New foe system does NOT work (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:New foe system does NOT work (Score:1, Offtopic)
Pitch Black (Score:2, Interesting)
Don't knock pitch black, that's really up there as far as SCI FI goes. Like Supernova and Event Horizon.
It's a sad world indeed if we expect everything to be high caliber, like LOTR and Star Wars. (hah!)
As for imposter, I swear I saw a trailer for this on some VHS movie I rented for $0.99 two years ago.
Re:Pitch Black (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Pitch Black (Score:1)
Re:Pitch Black (Score:1)
Re:Pitch Black (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Pitch Black (Score:1)
was that supposed to be funny? (Score:2)
Re:was that supposed to be funny? (Score:1)
Re:was that supposed to be funny? (Score:1)
I must say: This was the scariest movie I have ever seen.
Maybe the fact tat I was quite drunk played it's part too... but great memories about that night...
Re:was that supposed to be funny? (Score:1)
But I must! (Score:2, Insightful)
Why shouldn't we expect what we pay for to be high-calibre?
Re:Pitch Black (Score:2, Interesting)
Take your average scifi movie and take out the scifi and the effects. It sucks rocks! Ditto for Supernova and Event Horizon. I haven't seen Imposter, but I suspect that if were translated into a non-scifi fugitive movie it would be average.
Some of the best scifi movies delved deep into motivations, character development, basic human themes, etc., but did so in a way that only true scifi can do. Prime examples are Forbidden Planet and Blade Runner.
Event Horizon?! (Score:1)
TWW
Re:Pitch Black (Score:2)
IMDB (Score:1)
Finally Released? (Score:3, Interesting)
The next trailer I saw was just last month, and it said the movie was "Coming Christmas Day".
Christmas Day came and past, and I never saw any theaters with it. Then I saw the trailer on Tuesday that said it was "Coming January 4th".
Well, after pushing back the release date 3 times it is good to see they finally got it in theaters. I can't wait to watch it.
A good short story... (Score:1)
Expectations (Score:4, Insightful)
The Curse, and Python notwithstanding, obviously.
Re:Expectations (Score:1)
No, no, a thousand times no. If you go watch Platform [imdb.com], even after I tell you it's the most worthless film I've ever seen in my life, and that I can't imagine how they could make such a crappy film even if they tried, that when it was over I wanted to scream "WHY?!?!" so loudly that the theater lights all exploded and plunged the audience back into darkness (but thankfully a darkness without that movie playing), and that whatever judges awarded it "multiple awards" and whoever decided to mention that fact in the print ads I saw should be strapped down and forced to watch the movie non-stop for a month and then see if they can remember who all of the characters in the movie are (much less have any idea about the motivations for anything that any of those characters do)... where was I? Oh yeah, go see Platform with low expectations and tell me if you enjoy it. And you have to tell me you enjoyed it without tears of pain streaming down your face from the pure psychological torture of uttering the name of that movie, together with the word "enjoyed", within the same 1-week period.
My girlfriend will never forgive me for bring her to see this movie.
(And after reading the short review on imdb.com and the overall rating, my only conclusion is that I was somehow sucked into a bizarro universe after seeing the movie... good lord, 5.9 out of 10? What does a movie have to do to earn a -5000 out of 10, if this one didn't?)
Phew, I guess I needed to get that off my chest, no matter how many karma points it costs...
I kinda liked it - but Dick's been done better (Score:2, Interesting)
That being said I liked the ending. It twisted more than normal and it wasn't the usual ending. It was padded and no secondary characters were developed. I did enjoy Sinise's performance as well as D'Onofrio's. Sinise was unrelenting in his desparation and D'Onofrio was unforgiving in his tracking.
Unfortunately, I just saw Beautiful Mind last night and it just blew me away. As a result I can't say this was a good movie.
I hafta say that I just finished watching Strange Brew and I enjoyed just as much if not more. It's held up well.:)
IMHO, as per
J:)
Re:I kinda liked it - but Dick's been done better (Score:1)
I beg to differ... (Score:3, Insightful)
I beg to differ... I beg to differ back. (Score:5, Informative)
> with me (unfortunately, I didn't read them
> before going to see it.)
I went to see this movie about three weeks ago with a friend who had advance tickets. It was probably the first movie i had seen in years without knowing ANYTHING about it(i didn't know it was a sci-fi movie until i saw the space ships). I had absolutely no expectations of the movie and was surprised by how much i liked it. A couple of the characters are a bit cliched(okay, all of the characters are a bit cliched), but still, it's a good story. I really liked the way the protagonist had done nothing wrong so you sympathize with him, but still the audience is left totally in the dark as to his status and doesn't know whether or not to secretly root for the bad guys.
i don't really have anything bad to say about this movie.
Hey, I *liked* They Live! (Score:5, Funny)
Okay, I'm done now.
Re:Hey, I *liked* They Live! (Score:1)
Re:Hey, I *liked* They Live! (Score:2)
RRR: Put these Sunglasses on.
TTL: No
RRR: Yes
TTL: No
RRR: Let's wrestle.
TTL: Okay.
(hilarity ensues; apparently the 'Cripple Fight' in South Park was inspired by this, as it was drawn out and painful to watch)
[TTL Wins]
TTL: I win, therefore I will put the sunglasses on.
Hey, gotta love it when the savior of the world is wrestling the future president of the galaxy [imdb.com]. Makes it seem more... real, somehow.
*snicker*
Re:Hey, I *liked* They Live! (Score:1)
Heh...Fun gedankenexperiment every now and then is to pretend that an actor is always playing the same character, and diff. movies are just about different times in their lives. Ignore the name changes, and it's fun to think about. Example: John Cusack in Better Off Dead, then Say Anything..., then High Fidelity; cf. Ione Skye in Say Anything, then The Size of Watermelons. (Sorry no IMDB links; too lazy right now.)
Re:Kids, don't learn English from reading this rev (Score:5, Funny)
--jeff
Re:Kids, don't learn English from reading this rev (Score:2, Funny)
{
public static final void main(String argv, int argc)
{
new Impostor();
}
Imposter(){
super();
while(playing) sleep();
};
}
Re:Kids, don't learn English from reading this rev (Score:1)
The call to the no-arg super constructor is implicit, you know. I never see why people put those in...
Re:Kids, don't learn English from reading this rev (Score:1)
Re:Kids, don't learn English from reading this rev (Score:1)
Coming soon: a review of the software used to create the special-effects for the movie "Imposter"...
Re:Kids, don't learn English from reading this rev (Score:2, Insightful)
another phil dick movie (Score:4, Informative)
Re:another phil dick movie (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm not too chuffed about Spielberg's involvement with the upcoming *Minority Report* either, given the letdown of the PKD-flavoured *AI* (yes I know it was based on an B Aldiss story, but it definitely had a lot of Dickian themes -- the robot boy who wants to be real, the broken 'bots that struggle on hopelessly even when they know it's futile, etc.). Still, there's hope. At least you know there's going to be decent money available for CGI effects.
As far as Phil Dick films go, I'd rate them in order of viewing enjoyment as follows (most enjoyed at top):
1. Blade Runner - what great set design!
2. Total Recall - i remember thinking, hey, was that the same actress from Action Jackson?
3. Screamers - a 'go in with low expectations, and it'll be acceptable' affair
4. *existenZ* - cheesy CanCon fluff; Cronenberg has the talent and history to do this sort of thing a LOT better (if I'm not mistaken Cronenberg actually wrote one of the first, rejected drafts for Total Recall)
5. Confessions of a Crap Artist - hey, I live in Canada, there's nowt much tae do some winter evenings...
I haven't seen *Put It In Gere*, and probably won't. (imagine that, an adult film inspired by PKD -- how's *that* for a dick joke?)
Other movies I'd claim were thematically PKD influenced include:
*Truman Show* - is it just me, or did they completely rip off the plot for this flick from *Time Out of Joint*? Truman = Ragle Gumm!),
*the Matrix* - obviously lots of fun, looking forward to the sequel.
Any other candidates?
OT : AI and other stuff (Score:1)
"Supertoys last all summer long" is a fine story, and it really has little to do with android boy trying to be human. It is about his confusion about his mother, why doesn't she love her, why isn't she happy when he is around? The remaining supertoys stories were written with a movie script in mind, and they sucked. Aldiss himself states that "supertoys last all sumer long" was a story that could not be expanded, and he tried very hard to write sequels for it as there were not enough full length movie material in it. Kubrick was a genius but he misjudged story's potential. And after 30 years, two sequels and a director change AI is what we got.
BTW an adult film inspired by PKD sounds OK to me; although not graphical, PKD novels include a lot of sex. Someone, please shoot movies of "the man in the high castle" or "a scanner darkly"; I asssure you that they would make fine movies.
An "Ubik" would be a perfect geek movie, what do you think?
Re:OT : AI and other stuff (Score:1)
Re:OT : AI and other stuff (Score:1)
Never the less, i still get excited when a PKD event comes along...woohooo.
Re:OT : AI and other stuff (Score:2)
Re:OT : AI and other stuff (Score:1)
PKD Movies I'd like to see (Score:1)
The Unteleported Man: There are two ways to get to the stars, the long way and a teleporting device. The 'porters are all owned by a corporation who may be lying about what actually happens. One man decides to go the long way and, well, stuff happens.
The Variable Man: a handyman from the 20th century gets shifted into the future and messes up the predictions of how events should unfold. Sort of an anti-Foundation.
I would also like to see anyone make something out of Maze of Death, Ubik, and, especially, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. These would be challenging.
Re:another phil dick movie (Score:1, Troll)
Dick.
SealBeater
Re:another phil dick movie (Score:2)
Re:another phil dick movie (Score:2)
SealBeater
try watching channels besides SciFi network (Score:3, Informative)
Re:try watching channels besides SciFi network (Score:1)
Re:try watching channels besides SciFi network (Score:2, Interesting)
I would have thought comedy central, sci-fi, and dimension (film distributor) was all owned by the same company, but that is not the case, so actual money did change in promoting this movie.
Sci-Fi [scifi.com] is owned by USA Networks [usanetworks.com] (which was just bought [yahoo.com] by Universal/Vivendi [vivendiuniversal.com], the same company that owns mp3.com [mp3.com])
Comedy Central [comedycentral.com] is owned by Viacom [viacom.com], says this [nowfoundation.org] site.
Dimension [dimensionfilms.com] is owned by Miramax [miramax.com], which is owned by Disney [go.com] -- says this [primushost.com] site and this [upcomingmovies.com] site.
I don't watch too much tv, but you would think that Disney would plug the movie on ABC [abc.com] and ESPN [espn.com], which it also owns, especially since they are hurting for cash [marketwatch.com] right now. Why not promote in house?
How is this related to Impostor? Only tangentially. But be aware of the Big Six [skynet.com.au] media companies. Three are involved in this film. It's more than six, but the other companies are AOL/TimeWarner, Sony, NewsCorp, and Bertelsmann (of Napster fame [cnet.com]).
Others would add GE to the list, because they own NBC.
In any case, the entirety of our information and entertainment world comes nearly exclusively through those 8 companies.
Reused footage (aka Starship Troopers prequel ;) ) (Score:2, Offtopic)
Visual FX wise, I was disapointed with the recycled starship troopers FEDNET footage during the begining half of the movie and that most of the government troopers were using starship troopers uniforms. LAMEO... I guess they had to cut corners on the budget seeing its released under the Dimension Films banner instead of New Line
The other effects ranged from piss poor to above average.I'm guessing Netter Digital did alot of the space sequences which looks a bit cheesy.
Some of the city shots/buildings looked good.. but the space/airship design and animation was odd except for mayable one or two scenes.
I'm still trying to figure out ILM's contribution to the film.
The editing was poor. The sequence with the implant removal was jaring timing wise. Alot of action sequences were not clear.. as the action was heavy post processed with lots of moving camera work with shots that were often out of focus or where the action was slightly off camera.
And Plot holes...
Well, if the government agents simply just did the "operation" while Olham was sedated there wouldn't be a movie
Also the idea that the government told Olham that they knew the Centauri ship landed in the forest. Why didn't they search the ship?
These guys had technology to allow their troops to see through whole buildings but yet they couldn't find what Mr. And Mrs. Olham found by running through the woods in pitch darkness.
Oh boy.
Oh well it could have been worse.. I guess.
The short story is good but it looked like it didn't provide enough material for a feature.. so basically most of the moive is a chase sequence which really added nothing to the overall story.
But overall I'm glad... good or bad I'm glad theres more sci fi stuff out there. With a bit more work this movie would have been better.
Starship Troopers helmets and uniforms... (Score:1)
Man, htose things are seeing a lot of action around Hollywood. Every time I turn a corner, there is someone running down a long hallway with those helmets on... I was flipping through and saw them in a kids show (I think it was some Power Rangers Thingee) and thought, man, the costume company is cleaning up.
Anyway, we need to start an internet list on all of the costumes and props (especially Scifi) that have been waaaaaay overused.
My first vote is for the neo-futuristic bank of lights (it is used to make a place look cool, hah!) that appear randomly in houses of action movies and last-season scifi shows. Usually seen in the background when some thug lieutenant says, "Sir! He's still alive!"
Big Bad Guy with scars:
"Still alive? Impossible!!! Find him and kill him!!!" (Note to viewers, that shiny Christmas lights box in the background is a computer, or somehting, anyway, its winking behind the badguy)
Second vote is for the "V" costumes and helmets. Man, if that ain't overused.
this movie (Score:1)
If the aliens were able to get through the shields, then why bother implanting bombs in clones and just drop bombs into the city. The whole explination of why tests weren't done on the guy to check if he was an imposter was stupid. Their check was to drill his heart out. They could of done the test he was trying to do in the first place. Not only that, but the stupidity of some people in the movie is astounding. The major could just be will farrel doing a skit the whole time as a retard.
That being said, the idea of not expecting much from a movie is... what? Paying 8.75$ to see a movie and the cost goes to... where? Not even just the cost to see a movie but i agree that this is a movie i'm going to see a lot 10 years down the road on the sci-fi channel because of it's sci-fi cheese plot.
Worked on it (Score:3, Informative)
The set was huge, and pretty amazing. They built the entire subway inside two sound stages, along with some sci-fi buildings (the hospital).
Apparently they had distribution problems which prevented its release. We also worked on Evolution, which started filming several months AFTER Impostor finished, but obviously was released a while ago.
Bad Movie (Score:2, Informative)
Scissors now on desk (Score:2)
No the special effects aren't cool, I was more impressed watching the Babylon 5 pilot in terms of CG shots. Fancy fly overs of a city to give a sense of scale only work if the city is believable. Now why would a society protecting itself with dome shields build skyscrapers, and fancy ass ones at that? It was sort of sad some effects shots looked good (the medical print outs) while the news broadcasts and interface for the scanner thingie were just sad.
The outdoor shots were sort of cool to watch because I've been to alot of those buildings. A good number of exterior shots were filmed at CS Pomona in or on the CompSci building. The building with the weird looking triangular points is said building, the stairs they first walk up I broke my ankle on. You'll notice this is the same building in Gattaca. Same with the "walls of the city" which you'll notice is the same place Ethan Hawke's character in Gattaca watched rockets launching.
The acting was pretty decent but the screenwriters sure did add alot of stuff from the like four page short story originally written.
*SPOILER*
I guess I missed in the movie where the mention the passphrase for the bomb. I was waiting for somebody to bring it up considering it is a major plot device in the story. Am I the only one who missed it or did anybody else sort of fail to catch the single line in the whole movie making reference to it?
*END SPOILER*
With Gary Sinise I you don't know what to expect. He does such a damn good job in some good movies and then pulls of a stinker like Reindeer Games and the Imposter. Overall I rate it pretty low and I'm glad I didn't pay to see it. Like the original review says, people ecpecting Blade Runner will be disappointed. Maybe next time I'll go see A Beautiful Mind: Romper Stomper 2.
Outer Limits episode... (Score:4, Informative)
It was thoroughly enjoyable and was extremely well done. Quite frankly, I was rather skeptical about the chances of it making it as a full-on in-theatre movie.
Re:Outer Limits episode... (Score:1)
Re:Outer Limits episode... (Score:1)
Dont blame Dick (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Dont blame Dick (Score:1)
Much like how Starship Troopers movies and book are similar. (Obviously ST the movie sucks compared to the book.)
Dick was a consultant. (Score:1)
Re:Dont blame Dick (Score:1)
Re:Dont blame Dick (Score:1)
Apples and oranges, man. IMO, Blade Runner wasn't praised because it remained true to PKD; if it had, it probably would have ended up as a well-respected cult film on a par (popularity-wise) with just about any David Cronenberg film except for The Fly and, just maybe, Scanners(and that mostly for the head exploding scene). Blade Runner was, and still is, so popular because it remains one of the best visualizations of the future that has ever been put on screen. How many SF films that are set on earth are either post-apocalyptic (filmed in some Nevada ghost town) or utopian/dystopian (filmed at a community college built in the late 50s/early 60s)? (And, yes, before you start, I do like films to have features in them such as plots, which Blade Runner is a little short on, to put it mildly.)
Point is, it was and is a good SF movie. I've learned, from other novel-to-movie adaptations, that the process rarely improves the product (with rare exceptions, such as Stephen King's Christine). If you must go to see the movie, especially if you loved the book, just about the best that you can hope for is that they spell the author's name right.
Dammit (Score:1)
Erm... wait a miute......