Cube

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful idea
Review: The plot has a group of people who are trapped in a cube with no idea of how they got there or why they were chosen to be in the cube. They know they need to escape, but how they escape is the big question. The cube has thousands of rooms, with most of the rooms being boobytrapped. Pick the wrong room and well, that's the end for you. This movie is an ingenious movie as it uses mathematical strategies in order for the characters to survive. The terror in the movie is felt in the idea of being trapped and knowing the choices you make can kill you. There are some good tense moments in this flick. Definately rent this one as it is an original movie.

Rating:
Summary: Very Dark Little Thriller
Review: 'Cube' is an interesting, low budget fantasy that obviously evokes strong emotions in many people. Reviews here both celebrate and attack virtually every aspect of the film, from its premise, to its acting, to its meaning.
I found the film to be gripping. disturbing and somewhat unsatisfying.
But the most unusual, and shocking, aspect of the movie isn't mentioned in any of the reviews I've seen.
'Cube' can best be viewed as an allegorical thriller, with the nature of the huge cube in which the protagonists are trapped left open to interpretation.
But if the character's final idea of what the cube is and why they are inside it is to be taken seriously, then 'Cube' is one of the most nihilistic movies ever made for a popular audience. Whether you want to look at the story as symbolic of the individual's struggle in society, or if you just want to accept it at face value as an gory horror yarn, 'Cube's view of the human condition is so bleak as to be positively subversive. I don't believe this is a great movie, but any film with a vision as unique and dark as this should not be dismissed.

Rating:
Summary: I've seen better...
Review: Based on all the other reviews here, I had high hopes for this title. I'm a big fan of Twilight Zone style science fiction, and the idea of this movie sounded as creative as they come. After watching the movie in it's entirety though, I must say I'm feeling a little empty on the inside.

The setting of movie is suppose to take place within an enormous 26 by 26 room cube. The directors do a good job of conveying this idea the best they can shooting on only a single set. The result left me the viewer with a very claustrophobic and uncomfortable feeling throughout the majority of the film. I would of have loved this had the movie given a great sense of closure at the end. I for one didn't like the ending unfortunately. Again, I didn't feel any sense of closure. Instead of escaping to the outside world, the survivor(s) escape towards a "white light". Made the movie feel very tacky and low budget.

As for the cast themselves, I found the actors portrayals of their characters to be very believable and realistic. Nicole de Boer is a wonderful and beautiful actress. I enjoyed watching her very much.

Watch this movie, but be warned it not for everybody. I say it's a rental at best (especially with the lack of any really special DVD features as well). The producers did as good a job as they could have on a low budget.

Rating:
Summary: No Way Out
Review: This creative independent movie has an intriguing idea and knows how to develop it in an interesting, tense and unpredictable way. Six strangers suddently wake up in a room and have no idea how they got there. This cube has six doors that lead to other rooms, so they have to figure out a way to escape and put and end to the rising insecurity and madness. Director Vincenzo Natali knows how to create a claustrophobic feel and a gloomy atmosphere, offering some intense moments and good suspense. The acting is uneven, but the idea and its execution are stong enough to make up for it. It ends up being a picture about life and the choices people make when they face obstacles and turning points. Interesting cult movie.

Rating:
Summary: It's not about where you are, it's why you're there...
Review: Ah, but the above question has no correct answer as most good questions in this life don't. The Cube offers the situation with all its detail and intrigue, it offers the questions, the dillemas, the pondering and the eerie suspicions.
But its real thrill is that it offers no answers. The answers are all up to you to come with (if you wish), but even if you do you'll never be confirmed plus you'll find that mostly everyone else might disagree with you.

The five humans that (basically) wake up to find out they've been transported unknowingly to a strange and evil-feeling mechanic environment (the "cube") do what anyone would try to do:
they try to come out. To escape.

But as they realise that the cube is not only a massively compartmentalised prison but also one laced with lethal traps mostly everywhere they decide to put their brains a little bit more to use. But this doesnt seem to help much either. Because figuring out how to come out of the cube while simoultaneously not dying in the process is difficult and offsetting enough.

But the real torturing part for the protagonists is not all that. It's the questions themselves. If you know why you're in a prison, what the purpose of that prison is, who's set it up and what the overall scheme is, you might go about your efforts with a more collected mind.

Yes, but you see, the prisoners of the cube know nothing.Not only the know zilch about the cube but also nothing about each other, and, as they eventually are forced to admit, not much about themselves either.

The Cube is undoubtedly one of the best sci-fi films of all time. Some have criticized the acting level in it but in my opinion it is the acting that actually makes it all the more convincing. The fact that none of these actors is a "name" is an added plus. It emphasizes that this could be you, or, that indeed this might you at this very moment. The fact that you feel sure you "know" where you are and what you're doing there is the same thing these people thought too. Usually all it takes is a more careful look and the Cube starts appearing in all types of shapes and forms all around you. Spooky? Nah, reality isnt spooky, it's what's beyond it that is.

Filmed on a somewhat low budget but with brilliantly fitting and believable settings as well as pretty good effects for the money available this movie has "classic" written all over it.

Besides, even if the technical part wasn't (or isn't) totally up to par this would hardly take anything away from this masterpiece. It's not about how flashy the cube is or how "cool" the victims inside it are, is it? Nobody with enough suspicion in him cares about that. It's, as i said, the questions that matter.

Go on and discover those questions too if you've somehow managed not to ask yourself about them till now. And good luck coming up with anything close to an answer...

Rating:
Summary: ALEXS CAPSULE MOVIE REVIEWS
Review: Highlights: Good usage of limited space; building tension; effectively disturbing
Lowpoints: Acting falters at times; several unintentionally funny moments

Conclusion: Several people of different age and sex find themselves trapped within a cube. It consists of endless cubic rooms, some of which are lethal. Goal: find the way out before going completely nuts and killing each other. Is there a way out? Is this hell? Or some government project, designed for...what?
The idea is certainly compelling, and the director manages to pull it off well. The camerawork is intriguing, never distracting, yet varied enough to sustain interest during dialogue scenes. The suspence keeps building up, and the film does get under your skin. If only the acting wasn't so borderline-cheesy, this could have been one of the most fascinating visualized ideas of the year.

Rating:
Summary: Entranced by the CUBE
Review: I was very impressed by this film in the same way that I was impressed by Lord of the Flies. I love movies that deal with human existance in a very metaphorical way. In many ways I found it more compelling and thought provoking than The Matrix, and I was particularly impressed with the stark set design. It even prompted me to attempt Kafka's The Trial. It also reminded me of movies like 12 Angry Men or Lifeboat with its claustrophobia and psychological archetypes.

I discussed this film many times with friends and I repeatedly made points about the machine being a symbol of our consumption driven post-industrial society. (I have also just finished reading "The Subliminal Man" by J.G. Ballard which deals with some of the same themes.)

I feel that it is important that one view the movie this way and based on the ending I feel like I "got" the message of the film.
...

The characters inside the cube have been called cliches, but that is because they represent types, not individuals. Cube is a study of how human types respond to their world, a world that is unfair, chaotic, dangerous, and ultimately without meaning.

This is definitely a thinking person's movie, it is more about ideas and metaphors. The production values are low and the acting is kind of stilted. Although it sort of reminds me of Survivor, the TV show. That being said, CUBE 2, Hypercube, was IMHO a much Inferior movie, even tho the special effects were much better. They lost the meaning and it proved to be a typical Twilight Zone-esque horror movie without much intellectual content.

Rating:
Summary: Please Don't Become a Victim of "Cube"
Review: This is my first time ever writing an Amazon Review. I felt obligated to inform all my fellow movie-lovers out there about this movie, which I view as a complete waste of precious film. Please don't waste your time on this movie! The acting in this low low low budget film was just beyond awful and the story line will make you want to use this DVD as a coaster. I can't believe that 2 hours of my life was wasted on watching such crap! SO SAD! Please don't become a poor victim of "Cube" like me.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Idea - Poor Execution
Review: This is an interesting movie in many ways. The basic theme is fantastic. A number of individuals are somehow abducted and placed in a giant Rubiks cube in essence. Supposedly there are thousands of rooms in the structure, each room with six exits and may containing lethal traps. The idea is to figure out which rooms have traps and which rooms lead to the exit. Another twist is that the rooms also move on a regular basis. I am not sure if the movie concept is original to this film or has been taken from somewhere else but it was enough to make me want to see it without any reviews from elsewhere. Where the movie fails terribly is in the story. Instead on being able to follow this group as they heroically try to escape this fiendish trap the film shows the characters fighting and killing each other. I understand that being trapped in this situation would be stressful for anybody but I think that most people would want to escape rather than assaulting and murdering their fellow prisoners. The movie focuses on this conflict rather than their environment or the attempt to escape. One of the character essentially goes "postal"; this almost makes the movie just another typical violent gorefest. The brilliant premise of the movie and the environment are not exploited to anywhere near their potential. I would much rather have had a plot line where there was of course stress amongst the characters but they were still able to work together. Thus I give the movie 3 stars for a novel and outstanding concept but zero for the actual film.

Rating:
Summary: who's gonna clean all those rooms?
Review: What do a cynical nihilist, a pugilistic cop, a conspiracy theorist/free clinic physician, an escape artist, a number crunching adolescent, and a guy with Asperger's Syndrome (vs. autism) have in common-they're stuck in a huge Rubik's cube and they all had better fates than the poor schmuck who done got himself ...uh.. "gridded" in the opening scene-I counted 78 human parts, how 'bout you.

I was pleasantly surprised by this film, especially having previously seen "Cube II." The characters themselves are not unique and neither is the idea of bringing them all together in a stressful situation-happens everyday, it's called public transportation. However, throwing them into different cells of the biggest darn puzzle box from hell-now that's a spicy movie.

The Cube was suspenseful with pinches of humor and a side of mystery. There was just enough character development that the audience grew to like and dislike particular players...and as the situation became increasingly dire and the actors revealed more of themselves and underlying values/gifts/psychoses...the audience could then re-evaluate their hero (or lack thereof). At times, I did notice extreme over-acting particularly with the many hidden angry side-glances followed by mischievous grinning-an attempt to allow the viewer an inside glimpse of a character's personality. Uh, guys, the movie's about a giant death box...I think I can figure it out on my own...

As for the ending and the mystery of the cube...It makes for a great sequel...I saw Cube II...that 'aint it