Cube

Rating:
Summary: you're in a box, now what?
Review: This movie strikes me on so many levels I don't think I can clearly say what I think in the space allotted. It hits the paranoid, it amuses me in parts, it's intriguing because you don't know what happens after Kazan exits, it impresses me with the fact that every room is actually the same set. The acting isn't the best all the time and some aspects don't follow reality or even common sense but I'm still left feeling that this movie is my new favorite low budget film. With any film this good I wish there could be more but know that sequels in this genre usually do nothing but mock the original. For that reason I notice rumors of Kazan's return with a mixture of hope and apprehension. In the movie business a preceding film's box office success is needed to justify a sequel though and considering the fact that most people have never even heard of this movie let alone seen it, I don't think I have to worry. I'll let my imagination decide where that last door goes.

Rating:
Summary: Endless Human Stupidity...
Review: Ok. I saw this movie a while back, and have always put off writing a review on it, even though it happens to be my favorite movie of all time. But tonight, I feel I should express the reasoning behind my maddness. Not that there is a reason exactly. I would say, either people love this movie or they hate it. I admit, the acting quality is poor, but it doesn't take away from the movie much because the characters the actors portray come across as being very believable and real. I mean, how would YOU act if you woke up in a CUBE and didn't know how you got there, or why you were there?? Hmm??? Yeah thats what I thought. You'd be a little disoriented too. :) I liked this movie mainly because of its originality and the fact that the entire movie was filmed in one room (cube). That's just incredible. It reminds me a lot of dreams I have. I have it on DVD and I have probably seen it, oh, maybe 100 times in the past year. You'd think that since I know what happens in the end that it would be pointless to keep watching it, but I just love the movie so much. It's got intelligence, mystery, humor (Is that your 2-cents worth, Worth? For what it's worth...) Hehe. It's just an all around interesting and intriguing movie that will definitely have an impact on you. It's a movie you will not soon forget... ;) It's ASTRONOMICAL!! (gumdrop)

Rating:
Summary: it makes you think
Review: The first time I saw this movie I had to keep myself from backing up a section to watch the special effects again. I've always been an f/x nut and this movie delivers. The second time I had the comments on and I'm glad I did. The more I learn about this movie the more I like it. I've read other reviews that say the movie is no good but I think what these people are mad about is that they were given cause to think. You can't watch this film without imagining yourself in the same situation. It's definitely thought provoking, if not a little paranoia inducing. Love it and can't wait for part two.

Rating:
Summary: thought provoking and entertaining
Review: Okay gang, if you've seen the movie you either love it or hate it. There's probably no changing that. However in my nearly thirty years of watching horror and sci-fi movies I have not seen one that grabbed me and kept me the way this one did. From the opening scene to the end shot it moved and kept me on my feet. I watched it straight through once then again backing up to watch the special effects and discussion scenes. The third viewing was of the extras, of which this dvd is replete. To know the secrets of the set and the filming makes this an even more enjoyable film. Five stars is not enough. The only downside I can possibly see is if you don't like to think about the films you watch. In that case, watch Friday The Thirteenth Part I and continue to vegetate.

Rating:
Summary: Misunderstood masterpiece
Review: This is as an understatement would have it "the most misunderstood movie of our time." The first time I saw it, I must say I wasn't as intrigued with it, as I was the second time I watched it.

This movie takes sci-fi back to its roots: Why explain every detail of the plot, and every little gadget that appears in the movie? This is sci-fi for crying out loud, and should remain just that. They don't need to fill in the blanks, because that is the whole movie! That is what makes me come back, again, again, and again to solve the riddle myself. The acting is not bad! Ok, so it's not A acting, but it works well in the setting the creators of this movie wants to achieve. In the end, you sit with more questions than when you began. It's just like Blair Witch Project: They don't give out the whole story. This movie is maybe just 10% story, and 90% content. If you don't know what I mean by this, you should watch this movie for yourself. Great movie, great atmosphere, great direction, and yes, great acting! (Said again: "In this setting.") Movie may be directed more to the cunning, and intelligent audiences. But hey, you are cunning, and intelligent. Aren't you? ?

With more extras, this would have been a 5 star. But since the extras are somewhat lacking, it gets a 4 with me.

Rating:
Summary: Why bother! Worst ever!
Review: If you found the film, on the very least interesting after viewing it and even bother recommending this film to other film buffs, you may need professional help.

It is the worst American film I saw. Peewee Herman's film with the pig as the pet was at least funny.

The director made a big mistake and should re-think his career path.

Rating:
Summary: Visually interesting; lacks suspense or credible acting.
Review: In the world of independent horror, "Cube" ranks as a success and a failure. The production value of the film is much more sophisticated and expensive, but with the banal characterization, lugubrious dialogue and a complete absence of tension or suspense, it becomes morose and draggy, a time-waster that fails to deliver much of anything.

The film opens with a disturbing scene in which a man, trapped in a square room with a single door on each wall, enters into another room and becomes divided into identical pieces. As we leave this grotesque scene, we enter another room, where a group of people are waking up to find themselves trapped in a maze, with time running against them as they must find their way to the outer shell of the superstructure and escape before dying from malnourishment.

The individuals among them are not that intriguing: there's edgy cop Quentin (Maurice Dean Wint), who takes charge of their quest; Worth (David Hewlett), who knows more about the structure than he's willing to tell; Leaven (Nicole de Boer), whose skills in mathematics serve to help them find which rooms are safe; Holloway (Nicky Guadagni), part humanitarian, part feminist; and a retard who causes more trouble than he prevents.

Throughout the course of this bland story, the dialogue serves little other purpose than to give us the illusion that something interesting is at hand. From a convoluted explanation for the cube's existence to the various stages of schizophrenia that begin to warp their minds as they find one another unbearable, there is nothing that ever really grabs our attention.

The so-called action itself is never quite action, either, composed primarily of our group making their way through the rooms, solving different puzzles only to be perplexed by new ones, and a few incidental and purposeful deaths that aren't shocking, only ludicrous due to the fact that the story sets each one character up to live or die before the end comes. There are no surprises to be had, and even the few plot twists concerning the numerical meanings connected to the rooms are as bland as baby food.

There is one memorable scene, as our group comes across a sound-activated room that, when disturbed, becomes a living pincushion. Each person must exercise extreme silence when going through to the next room, and the scene has the prominence of being the sole scene charged with any amount of energy or suspense. This scene gives off the impression that "Cube" has the makings of a better movie, but fails to capitalize on it.

Rating:
Summary: A surprise of an excellent film
Review: I had no expectations for this film. It was a great surprise.

Excellent science fiction, excellent "mystery" with lots of clues to keep you thinking. The characters were interesting...

Rating:
Summary: Hmmmm
Review: Weaknesses:

1. Beyond (...) cheesy acting

2. The ending is TERRIBLE!! (lots of emphasis on "terrible")

Strengthes

1. Very cool idea/story

2. Encredibley unique and bizarre

3. The traps are awesome

Over all i would say that this movie is worth renting to see just once. but thats all. the ending just sucked too much

Rating:
Summary: Go and rent it.
Review: *** Warning! Contains spoilers! Don't read this if you haven't seen it yet! ***

After watching the movie twice on DVD (once with the director commentary) I would like to add a little bit to the prior reviews.

1. The stereotype characters.
Well, they were stereotype at the beginning, but they changed quite a bit over the length of the movie.

2. The overdone cop type.
I personally didn't feel it was overdone. His problem was that he had the muscle and willpower, but not the necessary brains. Unable to cooperate and accept the talents of the others to reach the goal of getting out, he suffered from the fact that the math-girl was superior to the group survival than him. His macho ego couldn't cope with that and he overreacted in a way which probably helped him during his day job: by pushing people around, yelling at them and beating them up. Once the line was crossed by letting the doctor fall (a scene I liked. Wouldn't you be tempted to get rid of annoying, nagging people that easily if you could...?) he didn't care for the lives of others anymore and just followed his instincts.

3. The shocking beginning.
I found it a great start! It gets your attention and shows you what horrible ending the people can take if they choose the wrong cube. After that beginning each opening of a door sends tingles down your spine and you can barely watch it when the prisoners jump into the next cube not sure if it's a trap or not.

4. The ending
Several things: The biggest one first. It DOESN'T matter what's outside. The thrill and difficulty is to find the exit. Outside can be a desert, a swamp, a forest, a city, whatever. It wouldn't add to the thrill of the prior experience. All the movie wanted to show is how people react in a stressful environment and if they are able to use their talents and to cooperate to reach there goal. Showing the outside would have been some sort of anticlimax. Nothing could have topped the feeling of finding and opening the door.

The murder of the two character by the cop. Here is a thing which really didn't make sense and the director pointed it out. How could the cop enter the room without making a noise and being noticed? In usual thriller manner, he came from an off-camera position. The problem is in a room that small the characters would have noticed him immediately after he opened a door. That he murdered them didn't surprise me. He was left behind and had to evade/survive traps all by himself. From the blood on his body with several injuries. In the state his was already in, he would have been in a furious rage ready to kill anybody who had done that to him. Very believable in my book.

Overall I found it an excellent movie. The atmosphere is nothing short of claustrophobic and the characters act believable. The math girl was not too convincing, especially how she figured out that the coordinates also indicate the cube movements. For me amazing is with how little technical gadgetry this film succeeds. A very welcomed change from hollow but overdone Hollywood explosion movies like "Swordfish" for example.

The only problem is that if you've watched it once or twice, you won't watch it again so soon. Once you know who's gonna make it and who doesn't, the thrill is mainly gone.