Rating: 
Summary: Yuk! Waste of time
Review: We unfortunately rented this movie. Don't do it! I'm sorry we wasted the time and money. I only gave it a star because it's required. No star was earned. I'm sure for those that like this type of movie it's worthwhile, but I'd guess that's a small audience. Proceed w/caution.
Rating: 
Summary: only half a movie
Review: This movie ends too soon- it could have gone another hour or so- or at least I wouldve watched it for another hour because I personally found it engrossing (no pun intended). I think its potential exceeded its budget. For those of you who dont like dark movies, avoid Cronenberg.
Rating: 
Summary: Cronenberg: still squishy after all these years
Review: Another slice of unreality from Cronenberg that drops you into another odd existence from which you have to figure out the rules. It's got the usual Cronenberg trademarks we know and love (weird organic creations, odd surgical instruments, extreme feminist symbolism dealing with gaping holes in men's bodies into which women stick things, organic guns, etc.), a higher level of starpower than most Cronenberg flicks, and mutant Chinese food. How can you go wrong? People either love Cronenberg or they hate him. I fall completely on the love side and have ever since I first saw Scanners all those years ago. The only thing missing here? The everpresent Stephen Lack. Whither, David? Bring him back!
Rating: 
Summary: eXistenZ worth it?
Review: Normally, i would not go to a movie like this, but by accident we were confronted with it. While technically there is some beauty, even probably new visual content to it, the story was not understandable to me. The mood in it was like a bad dream, fear and desperation reigned. By the end of the movie, i wanted to immediately forget about this experience. Depression is not a particularly creative expression. By flashing back, i only could feel sorry for the wasted talent of the persons involved with production and execution, and the finances withhold for more significant and enlightening projects.
Rating: 
Summary: eXistenZ is enGrosSing and sUrreAl
Review: I am actually pretty unfamiliar with the works of David Cronenberg, and so knew none of his "trademarks"...but from the very beginning, the movie caught my interest. He throws you into this strange world, in which games are incredibly popular, and strange biological "pods" are used to play them. I did not find the movie slow-paced at all. Okay, well it wasn't "fast-paced", per se, but the movie keeps your interest, because you're just as confused as to what's going on as the characters are, at times.I've heard comparisons to *The Matrix* but when I saw the movie, I disagreed slightly. This isn't *The Matrix*...this approaches reality at a different angle, the game/virtual reality angle...if games do become more and more realistic, how will someone be able to distinguish the game world from the real world (well, yeah, like Morpheus' dream world/real world speech). But this isn't *The Matrix*, I assure you. There's more gore, for one thing. And less effects and action. The movie relies on its intriguing storyline and thr confusion of what is real and what is not. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Try to aviod this title at all costs
Review: I cannot believe how they can release films like that on DVD. I thought DVD should have quality movies released and not quantity. I try to built my own DVD collection and i must say that i would like to get rid of this film as soon as possible. This has nothing to do about taste. This is a total waste of money. The script is something to be an example for other films to avoid. The dialogs are in the range of 0. If there was a no star rating i would use that one.
Rating:
Summary: Blooper!
Review: No, no, no! I'm so sorry for all the FuzZ about this title! It is too Short and too Shallow for a film of the kind. Before one even fully realises the atmosphere it's all over... Miles away from Matrix, there is simply no comparison. Not worth the bucks!
Rating:
Summary: I'm sorry... Was that a movie I just saw?
Review: So, where did eXistenZ go wrong? I like Jude Law. I like Jennifer Jason Leigh. David Cronenberg, though I don't know that he's one of my favorites, has directed quite a few good films. eXistenZ is slow-paced and surreal, which (though this may be anathema to some movie-goers) you'll see in spades in my movie collection. So why did I walk away from this film feeling ultimately empty? Though I can't fully answer that question (How can you name something you've not encountered?), I can say that despite all the talent connected with eXistenZ, it comes off like something written by a Jr. High School student. This movie seemed to try say to me "Hey, Bozo! Watch me try to be profound!" It then failed miserably at this task. The end product is pretentious and excrutiatingly boring (this coming from a David Lynch fan!). When it ended, I found myself saying "That's it?" Not in the possitive "that was so good I want more" way, but just when the movie started to get interesting, just as I started to say "okay, we've got something going on now," the credits started to roll. On top of that, the acting (from a fairly reliable cast including Leigh, Law, Ian Holm, and Willem Dafoe) was less than stellar. Sure, you could say that since the character was being controlled by a video game, that was part of the role, but that's just a tidy little explanation for a disappointing performance. It wasn't all bad, though. There were a few cool little plot devices and such. I thought building the gun from the Chinese-restaurant entree was kind of cute, and I thought the idea of the video game (at least the video game WITHIN the video game) being biologically designed rather than technologically was genuinely novel... But all in all, hasn't the layer-beneath-layer-beneath-layer thing, to say nothing of the virtual reality thing, been done before? And much better? Would I recommend that you not see eXistenZ? If you're most people, yes. If you're like me, though, you'll go see it anyway. That's you're perogative. Just don't come crying to me when you get disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: No Exit
Review: This is a wonderful flick and it shows how you can cover virtually the same thematic terrain as a mega-expensive blockbuster (i.e. The Matrix) and do it with a sensible budget, almost no special effects, a contemplative script and still provoke and entertain. While it is deliberately paced (read SLOW for some impatient viewers not familiar with Cronenberg's style)it is nonetheless a worthwhile investment of time and thought. I liked it much better than Matrix, and I'm not exactly a Cronenberg fan. It should be seen a few times to really take in the complex layering of realities. If you like your sci-fi with a strong dose of intelligence, give ExistenZ a shot.
Rating:
Summary: Quite a ride
Review: This great flick is of the same general theme as "Dark City", or "The Matrix". It's really creepy. You almost feel like you are watching a play here, there is a very minimalist approach to settings, generally speaking, and very few real special effects. (I pause here to note that what special effects are featured, are done in classic, characteristic Cronenbergian fashion, i.e., they're usually really gross.) Also, there is relatively little background music, which makes you focus on what the actors are saying, more than on the general background mood that the music is usually there to enhance, if you see what I'm saying. But beyond that, the actors generally really respect each others' space in this movie. It is a little like the isolating effect produced in "The Shining". A character speaks, there is an almost imperceptible pause, and then the next person speaks. This is sort of what I mean by comparing it to a play -- they aren't usually caught up in some physically wild situation which forces them to be yelling in each others faces, etc. The background theme that this is all about social games that go on every day, is quite intriguing. Sarah Polley has an interesting, albeit small, role at the end, in which she seems to really play up the whole theme of small social games having a perhaps overriding importance in our whole sense of who we are. The whole thing of having games within games is quite mesmerizing, and in a horrible way, Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leighh's very last lines are really something to mull over, calling into question the whole idea of Art. Three thumbs up -- whoops, blew my cover, I'm a mutant. My mutantship notwithstanding, however, definitely see this one, it is very unusual and thought-provoking.
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