YuK bUt GoOd. (Existenz (DVD))

Member Name: katygriff

Product:	Existenz (DVD)
Date:	29/08/06 (111 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Entertaining.

Disadvantages: A Bit Sick

I was sitting down with my fiance dave yesterday and he was taking a look through my DVD collection as we are moving into our new house soon and he was trying to tell me that not all my DVD’s could be bought. Of course I told him they were all coming and then he pointed out eXistenZ that he thought looked rubbish. I told him to give it a go so we sat down and watched it and I for about the fifth time watching this film loved it again and here is why.

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The Film:

Some point in the future and people gather in a hall eager with excitement and anticipation. They are all there to test the newest and most real game that is not even on the market yet. They will also meet their hero, the world famous game designer Allegra Geller who is there to give them a demonstration of her new game eXistenZ which promises to be an extremely wild ride.

As it soon becomes apparent that Allegra’s life may be in danger she and a “PR nerd” as she calls him go on the run together to save Allegra. Ted Pikul who has never even played one of Allegra’s games is scared and does not particurarly want to go on the run and would rather go back to Antenna research which is who Allegra works for and keep her safe there.

However when Allegra finds out that Pikul wants to get into the gaming industry but has never actually played one of her games she is determined to let him have a go. Getting an illegal bioport fitted (an opening into the spine where the game pod is fed and powers off a humans body) Allegra shows Pikul what he has been missing while he hasn’t been playing her games and she was not wrong when she said it was a wild ride.


Verdict on the Story:

Well the concept of this film is excellent and to be honest one of great interest to me and most of my family as we are all quite keen gamers. With the gaming industry making steps all of the time in making them realistic I think people who like games would like the idea of this story about a game you can physically step into. The prospect is scary but it is one of those things that you just know the gaming industry would love to have the technology to do.

The story plays out very well indeed with each scene and moment giving you some sort of interesting thing to watch but to be honest I do have to say it gets a little confusing at times. The thing with the story though is that it is full of twists and turns so it is impossible to say what happens next so I love it because it is just not predictable at all.

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Cast and Characters:

Jude Law – Ted Pikul
Jennifer Jason Leigh – Allegra Geller
Willem Dafoe – Gas
Don McKellar – Yevgeny Nourish
Ian Holm – Kiri Vinokur


Verdict on the Cast and Characters:

I thin the cast in this film is fantastic and while I was watching it yesterday I could not believe all of the famous faces that do actually pop up as I recognised loads of them even one of my new faves Christopher Eccleston had a role. The main cast though are all well established actors so expect great acting and people who really do their best to get into their characters. Even Jude Law is good in this film as we know he is making some rubbish movies now.

The characters in this film are good because they are so weird and unusual. Throughout the film you meet so many people which is why I have just listed the main ones as there are so many. I would not say that any are memorable but I think with this film they are interesting to watch because they go through some pretty mad things so in that way they are great.

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Things to Know:

Runtime – 97 minutes
Certificate – 15
Price – £6.97 on Amazon
1 Disc DVD

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Special Features:

There is the usual trailer on this DVD but if you have already bought the film then I am guessing that you already know what it is about. I found it useful to show to Dave though so he could see if he fancied it.

Now this DVD has quite a few commentaries which is good and I have watched two of them over the years I have had this DVD. The first is with the director which I remember being very interesting indeed as it was good to know what gave him the inspiration to create such a strange film with such mad themes. The second is with the special effects guys which I really liked as I a, always interested in learning how they do things so I loved this one. The third is with a photography guy which I haven’t looked at but I can imagine being wuite interesting as trust me he had some weird things to get.

Then on the DVD you have your usual scene selections and the menu is quite simple with the background being brown, with quite creepy music and pictures of the two leads.

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Verdict:

Now I am pretty sure that I don’t need to tell you that I love this film because it is in my DVD collection. It is one of those films that every now and again I like to watch as it completely takes you away from reality and gives you a wild ride. I would call this film an action with a science fiction edge and I do not think it will appeal to everybody as it is that strange. I actually lent it to a couple of friends and they only got to about half way through and hated it but I think if you are willing to let your mind wonder and believe what you are seeing then you should enjoy it.

I will warn you with this film though that there are some pretty disgusting scenes and I still cannot watch one of them as it makes me feel like I am going to be sick. Therefore I think it deserves its 15 certificate definitely as there are some disturbing scenes so be careful who you show it to.

In conclusion I am going to give this film five stars because I thin kit is an original idea and it all plays out extremely well. The story is great and the cast is fantastic and the fact that it is not predictable and you have no idea what is going to happen next, for me makes a great film. I would give it a go if you like weird films that push the limits of reality.

Thanks for reading.

xxx

Summary: I Love it.