Cloud Atlas: Best Science-Fiction Film Ever?
Obviously, there arediffering opinions about what makes a sci-fi movie great-- groundbreaking special effects, like The Wolfman, Star Wars or Jurassic Park; adaptations of famous novels, like Dracula, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; social/political commentary works, like Metropolis, On the Beach or Fahrenheit 451; and philosophical themes like 2001, Contact or The Matrix. (You probably have your own criteria and classic flicks to mention, so please feel free)
Once in a while, a film appears that manages to combine a range of these concepts into a single package, with stunning results and a lasting reputation & popularity. 2001: Space Odyssey packed what were (for the time) eye-wrenching SFX with Arthur C Clarkes epic story of human social & spiritual evolution into superhuman capabilities, which made 2001 a classic in science fiction filmdom. Movies like The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Time Machine and Source Code (an underappreciated little gem) are also notable not for the effects work, but for plotlines that spoke about the nature of human consciousness, social evolution/stagnation, and the persistence of awareness after physical death.
And very, very rarely, a movie weaves together several of these elements into a film that is complex, challenging and touches on social, emotional and spiritual themes in one impressive package. Cloud Atlas is one of those one of the best sci-fi films of the past 20 years or more, and possibly the best ever made. If you havent seen this movie, you owe it to yourself, and youre definitely in for a real treat
Cloud Atlas is a brain-bending interweaving of six separate stories, stretching over about a 500-year timeline, from the mid-1800s to sometime beyond about 2400 CE. Each separate narrative is a tale unto itself, touching on themes of the nature of freedom and coercion, creativity & exploitation, corruption, love, sacrifice, fear, hope and transcendence. The film is challenging & confusing from the outset, with stories introduced one after another (without apparent connection) and only slowly interwoven as each individual narrative progresses. Watching, we gradually begin to realize that each separate story overlaps into others, events & decisions in one tale affecting characters in other times. Further, there are hints or intimations that characters, personalities or souls recur across time, being influenced by not only their own past decisions, but also the actions of other characters they may (or may not) have known before.
The film is wonderfully acted by world-class stars including Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, JimSturgess. Ben Whitlawand a host of excellent supporting actors. Astonishingly, each major actor appears in different roles in every separate storyportraying not simply different characters in different times, but even different gender roles. Hugo Weaving is cast in both major & supporting male roles and a significant female character; Halle Berry portrays major & minor female characters and has a male role cameo.
If this sounds confusingit is, deliberately so... The re-appearance of familiar faces in different characters/roles gives a unmistakable feeling that we are watching personalities or souls recurring over time, carrying both their intrinsic or essential nature and the result of choices/action in other lives, evolving (or devolving) in a kind of karmic waltz across the background of past history into the indeterminate future.
(Im determined not to give any spoilers in this articlethere wont be any wrapup or explanation about the conclusion or resolution of the movie. While Cloud Atlas does provide a prologue and epilogue that suggests a finale, Im not going there my goal is to entice you to watch the flick--- and draw your own conclusion.)
PS-- Watch the credits...
Tags
Who is online
36 visitors
If you've seen this flick, please comment.
If you haven't---WATCH IT NOW!!!
Your description has me intrigued ...
If you're a science-fiction fan, PC-- you gotta see this!
If you're not, this might turn your head around...
I saw Cloud Atlas. It was interesting... and well worth seeing. But not a favorite of mine. I did love the credits. Hard to talk about it, without losing some of the flavor, if you know what I mean.
One of my favorites is a real oldie with little in the way of special effects, but just wonderful story telling and characters and that was Soylant Green. I own a copy and watch it every now and then. After that, I would say Blade Runner. Another one I own.
To me, what makes Sci-fi great, is ethical dilemma and if I see how it is applicable through time. Both those films have that for me.
BTW I am a huge Sci Fi buff... so keep these coming.
Hi, PH-- tnx for dropping in...
Definitely, Perrie... I wracked my brain trying to figure out how to write about this flick w/out going 'spoilers' or reducing the complexity too much--- a tough job.
Yes, Soylent Green & Blade Runner (fab!!)--'ethical dilemma' is a key for me as well...
Do you know 'Brainstorm'? Around 1983 or so if I recall aright... came & went in a flash, too advanced for the time, but totally apropos for today. Computer/brain interface, w/ ramifications that are really both topical & over-the-top.
Total Recall : too much of a good thing ?
I'd love to watch Cloud Atlas, but I have no way unless the Chinese make a pirated copy of it, so I'll look for it.
However, notwithstanding all the criticism it has received, and even being disowned by its director, my favourite SF film is still the original Dune movie (not the TV one).
Perhaps she's planning on giving birth to triplets? LOL
OK Swamijim, you got me hooked. I'll have to give it a go.
BTW, myfavorite SF movieis ''Blade Runner''...
No such thing as 'too much' of a good thing...
The Arnold version of 'Total Recall' was a bust for me (I thought AS's high point was Terminator & T II)... and while the re-make went way beyond Phil Dick's short story, I really liked the extrapolation of the original idea to give it an extended concept.
Here is A teaser.....
There's bound to be a pirate copy available Buzz... isn't there a pirate copy of everything??? No Netflix for you? Hell, send me a mailing address & I'll send you a copy...
My only crit of Dune is that they had to cut out so much detail from the novel, which I loved. No way around it, of course... who (besides hard-core SF fans) would sit thru a move that would have had to be 4-5 hours long to do it justice?
Swamijim foresees-- you're gonna love it, K. There are idea in this flick that will resonate w/ you seriously--- loyalty to kin, overcoming fear in the face of overwhelming odds... never giving in to overbearing 'authority'... it's right up your alley, brother.
Blade Runner-- yeah, a total knockout. I have the original theatrical release on VHS and a couple different 'directors cut' versions on DVD. Definitely one of the most beautifully-made SF flicks of all, and a brilliant adaptation of Phillip Dick's original story. (If you haven't read it, check "Valis", one of Dick's last novels-- it'll twist your mind into a pretzel!)
Yes, some great FX in this flick, Broliver. Beyond that, I really liked the 'dialect' created for the 'After the Fall' sequences... best language creation since 'nadsat' in Clockwork Orange.
I have to check and see if it's on Netflix. Sounds right up my alley.
I've seen Blade Runner a dozen times, and love it each and every time.
Thanks for the info on ''Valis''. My mind is already a pretzel, so this could really be interesting.
BTW, does ''Little Shop of Horrors'' qualify as a SF movie. I love that movie.Feed me!!!!
I've not seen this, but based on your recommendation, I'll have to see if it is available on my Kindle... It sounds marvelous! I remember the trailer for it, and thought it looked very interesting!
Thanks for the great article!
I loved Soylent Green! Anytime we have weird food, we name it Soylent Green...
That was a great movie! Funny, it was about the results of climate change and over-population...
Swamijim, wasn't that the last movie that Natalie Wood made? Also starred Christopher Walken? Or is my memory playing tricks on me again...
Young Jack Nicholson... what a hoot!!! (I sometimes think he's basically played the same character over & over again--- like Jimmie Stewart ending up playing the part of Jimmie Stewart.)
I think you'll really enjoy it, D.
When I got this from Netflix, I was about halfway thru and said 'I'm gonna have to watch this again, there's so much going on I know I'm missing stuff...' At the end, I immediately started it again (a 3 hour flick, mind you), and watched it about 2-3 more times in the next couple days. There are layers of stuff going on, even into the music score... 'Cloud Atlas' is a piece of music that recurs in several different stories, if you listen for it.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
Sure do and I really loved the movie. Getting into someone's head... very cool. That's all I will say, because again, it will give too much away....
Yes it was! In fact, it was the movie involved in her mysterious death. BTW I love Chris Walken! He was also in another really good Sci-fi/real life movie, "Communion" about authorWhitley Strieber's alien abductions.
Natalie Wood, Cliff Robertson, and young Christopher Walken, yes. Good memory, babe...
It was based on a book called "Make room, make room" by Harry Harrison in 1966. Kind of saw where we were going.
Remember it when you watch Cloud Atlas.
OMG!!!
I haven't heard anybody mention Harry Harrison in years.-- I think I'm in love...
I watched the trailer. Hmm..........looks good. I ordered it from Netflix. I'm a big fan of SF. Thanks for the head's up.
Tnx for dropping in, Grump...
Trust me, the trailers don't begin to do it justice... I'm not sure what would, the flick is just too complex. I know this writeup is kind of vague & weird, but a) I didn't want to spoil the movie by going into detail abou it, and b) it would take a 3-page write-up to talk about what's going on in there.
I got hooked on science fiction in gradeschool (the old 'Tom Swift' stories out of the 1930s, and stuff like 'Danny Dunn and The Antigravity Paint), so I've got like 55+ years of reading & watching SF stuck in my brain... it's no wonder I'm a whack-job. I sometimes think I'm totally ready for the aliens-- it's dealing with the natives of Terra that mystifies me...
I'll look for a pirated copy, but if I can't find one I'll take you up on your offer. Here pirated DVD's sell for the equivalent of about US$1.
As for Dune, I read the whole series and thought it was about the best sci-fi I had ever read. It was impossible to include all the nuances and sub-plots in the movie, but I felt it included enough to get the main theme of the novel. It still included some of the politics and intrigue, religion and emotion. As was indicated earlier in these comments it would have taken a much longer movie to have done a better job, and I think the director's dissatisfaction was because he was unable to make the movie more inclusive which would have made it considerably longer.
The original 'Time Machine' came out when I was a kid & I loved it... gotta say I think the recent remake is better. PoTA is very good, though I thought they ran it into the ground with all the sequel/spinoffs...
If you haven't seen 'Source Code' flamer, give it a shot. Nicely done little sci-fi concept with some fine character-acting by Jake Gyllenhall (Donnie Darko), with a very interesting twist at the end...
Howdy JR, tnx for checking in...
Mainstream reviews of science fiction films are usually useless, unless the reviewer happens to have an interest/background in sci-fi...otherwise they just don't have the knowledge-base toform a quality opinion (an issue I know is important to you-lol). I think Cloud got somepoor reviews partly because it IS confusing in theearly sequences-- things don't'make sense' in a narrative way until the movie is fairly well along. That's a turn-off for some folks... we're used to being spoon-fed with simple plotlines or coaxed along by action/FX sequences.As I mentioned earlier, Cloud Atlas is a flick that really wants to be watched 2 or 3 times-- there are subtle interconnectionsbetween story lines thatit's easy to miss in one viewing, and then pop out at youin a second go-around.
Give it a try-- I'd be interested in your evaluation of it.
I've always felt that life needed background music. I look forward to seeing it! Maybe over the long weekend!
Dune was a massive novel in itself, and the series made for a complex, richly-developed piece of socio-political SF. It's a shame that Hollywood hadn't really grasped the concept of 'series' films at the time... Dune would have been fantastic if it had been done as a trilogy like Matrix or LOTR. Maybe there's hope for a remake that would do it justice...
"Ghidra-- the Three-Headed Monster"??
I'm justold-fashioned I guess... difficult to accept Godzilla as a Good Guy. I'm not in a rush to see the new movie, just because of that.
Morning LH-- tnx for dropping in... by all means, treat yourself to a good flick, I think you'll dig it.
Morning D-- good of you to stop back in.
Long weekend would be a good time for it... I don't think I'd mentioned that Cloud Atlas is 3 hours long--and I'm betting you'll watch it at least twice!
Interestingly, I heard an interview w/ the author of the original novel, who mentioned that the title 'Cloud Atlas' was borrowed from a piece of music, put out by (of all people) Yoko Ono's 1st husband... serendipity in art.
There is rarely a movie that I have watched at least twice and not seen something I missed the first time around.
I liked the Amber series by Zelazny better than I did Dune. Herbert seemed to run out of steam after the second book.
I would absolutely love seeing some of Clifford D Simak's books brought to the screen. "City" is still one of my favorites of all time and could be an epic and huge movie!
Absolutely, LH-- City is an absolute classic!
I have long list of novels I'd love to see adapted to the screen-- starting with Bester's 'The Stars My Destination', Pohl's 'Brain Wave', and on to 'The Foundation Trilogy' 'Stranger In a Strange Land', 'Triton', and most definitely 'Dahlgren'. Course, I waited my adult life for 'Lord of The Rings'...
Ah yes, we're on the same wavelength Swami, there are so many good ones like some of Herbert's (not just Dune)older ones like the Godmakers and such. Otoh, I really enjoyed the book Ender's Game but the movie was horrid.
I'd agree w/ you about the later Dune novels, GN... seemed to be stretching the point to me. The Amber novels (at least the first series) were really fine.
I meant to mention another series to Buzz earlier-- have you gotten into Anne McAffrey's 'Dragonrider' novels? That collection is one of my personal faves... a nice blend of hard science in the background, with really good character-driven cultural depiction to carry it along.
Another personal pick is CJ Cherryh's 'Chanur' series... oops, better shut up now, I'm starting to run off at the keyboard!!
Tnx for checking in, Grumpy.
I havent seen the Markie Mark version... was it any better?
I heard that it wasnt well done... but you're making me want to give it a try at least.
My husband wants to go see the new Godzilla movie this weekend... I was never a huge fan, but willing to give it a shot. He loves Japanese Mech and monster movies.
Yes young Christopher Walken... he was very adorable.. now.. not so much. But still love him as an actor and he's a great dancer, which is little known fact. He had music video of the year, with Fat Boy Slim's "Weapons of Choice".
OMG we are all nuts. I have the box set of Blade Runner only Shawhank Redemption, Dances with Wolves and Gran Torino have I watched an equal amount.. and of course I own those, too.
And what do you play your fuzzy wobbles on?
He also donates his time for "actors' studio" lessons for young actors - I once watched a documentary that showed it.
Gattaca was a really great film, as was Planet of the Apes. I must confess that I do love Charlton Heston's trilogy, which of course would include The Omega Man.It is actually the second version of the book "I am Legend", byRichard Matheson, the first version being "Last Man on Earth", withVincent Price and of course"I am Legend", with Will Smith. Still, I love the datedversionof CharltonHeston, since it was very relevant given what was going on geo-politically at the time.
I really loved Minority Report. The original story was written by Philip K. Dick, who also wrote "Do Androids Dream Electric Sheep", which was then turned into "Blade Runner".
But I didn't like Dune. I know people will hate me for that.
OMG someone stop me...I can't stop writing!!
This is true Buzz. Especially true of two films I know of; The "Sixth Sense" (yeah me and everyone else) and The Crying Game. I never even noticed that she was a he (yeah me and everyone else who wasn't gay).
BF,
Did you know that the firstGodzilla was a serious movie with Raymond Burr, and it was Japan's response to our bombing of Japan in WWII and their fears of radiationpoisoningleft behind. I wonder what they are thinking of their own Godzilla,the Fukushima Daini nuclear plant?
I've heard that Fukushima plays into the new Godzilla movie... maybe it has a little undertone to it as well.
All great movies.
Really Miss? Hummm.. then I might go. I was on the fence about it. It looked too much like "Cloverfield" which made me dizzy and I found kind of silly.
It is clear from watching other Godzilla movies [in which the monster becomes a hero saving people from other monsters] that Godzilla is a symbol of the US ...
All this talk about great classic films. If there is such an enjoyment of them, check into the Classic Cinema group once in a while.
I just checked out your links, John, and don't recall if in my earlier days I read any of his works, but now that I have learned more about him I must start to read his novels. Thanks for the info.
I watched some of the trailers and can understand the reason they appear confusing. Obviously it's necessary to watch the film itself to get the picture.
I think you are confusing Godzilla with Captain America.
Yeah, so does mine. So I guess with your explanation, I'll join him.
Captain America has no penchant for saving Japan from Mothra .
You did say 'wobbles', not 'yarbles', right???
I heard that part of the plot isthe nuke tests in the pacific were to kill 'something' and that fukishima has some part in it as well. I think Godzilla plays on the semi-good side this time... he switches from movie to movie/director to director.
Plus it has Walter White in it as the dad... I do like Bryan Cranston... so I'm willing to go see it... could be a bomb.
Hopefully it's better than the Godzilla with Mathew Broderick...that was a steaming pile of shit.
I think Mothra is almost always depicted as good. She only battles Godzilla when he is depicted as bad... Godzilla switches both ways throughout.
I would have enjoyed Omega Man or I Am Legend more if they's stuck w/ the book's conclusion, depressing as it was.
I sometimes wonder if the rash (pun) of zombie flicks doesn't owe a lot to Omega Man/I Am Legend (book)...
I got the feeling in Omega man and in The Last Man on Earth that the creatures were more vampire like than zombies. Mostly because they were capable of speech and only burned when the light hit them..
The ones in I Am Legend were less zombie and more angry genetic mutations... they didn't rot...
I love George A Romero Zombie movies... way back when... the newer ones are okay.
Actually, in the Omega Man, they were not mutants or zombies. They had a virus that was making them a tad nutty. Mathias didn't believe that his group was actually dying. In fact, he view Nebel as the infection... the infection being he was part of the war machine that made the virus. Oh, and then there was a nice bit of religion thrown in, since Nebel was killed and died as if he was on the cross, as he gave the life saving vaccine to those still not yet in the secondary stages of the disease, thus saving mankind.
On the other hand, inI Am Legend, they were no longer human. You are lead tobelievethatthey were just monsters for the whole movie, until the very end, when you realize that they cared about each other.
The book is depressing...
If you like these kinds of stories, wait till this summer when The Strain comes out on FX. Just come equipt with a strong stomach. I read the book and wanted to barf.
Just shoot me an email and I'll come Buzz!
Excellent author, JR-- tnx for that note. This thread is actually running a lot longer than I'd anticipated... and without degenerating intomajor mud-wrestlling, which is little short of a miracle!
Who knew that Godzilla was bi? Not that there is anything wrong with that
I remember nothing since I have teen monsters who sucked my brain dry.
Oh yeah... that just sucked.
I actually met him and he is a very nice guy. He even gave me a kiss. Not that I am star struck or anything.
The original Japanese release "Gojiru", was partly triggered by one of their fishing boats getting saturated w/ fallout from an American A-bomb test and partly a strange attempt to express and somehow come to terms with the horros of Hiroshima & Nagasaki (only 9 years in Nipponese history at the time.
The Japanese release actually didn't have Raymond Burr at all-- when the pic rights were bought for US release, the studio decided that in addition to dubbing in English, they'd insert some stuff to help sell it to US audiences. Raymond Burr was hired for about 2 days, all his stuff was shot in studio in Hollywoodand then those scenes were'sandwiched' into the Japanese original...
OK , you're right . Mothra was a beneficial insect . Here are the bad guyz that Godzilla has been pitted against :
Godzilla is a freak like that
Getting the freak on partying with the guys!
Buzz--
Your comment causes me to realize that I'm actually uncertain about what would be apropos for 'Classic Cinema' inclusion. Maybe it's the pic or Orson Welles, but I guess I've had the feeling that classic stuff should be along the lines of 'The Third Man' or Citizen Kane, or at least a universally 'accepted' classic like High Noon or Casablanca. Hell, I'm lowbrow enough to consider Creature From The Black Lagoon or Earth Vs The Flying Saucers as 'classics', but they're hardly in the same ballpark w/ The Maltese Falcon or Shane... I guess it's my own hangup.
I'd actually intended to post this piece in 'Science Fiction Fanatics' and somehow screwed up. Wonder if it would have had the same participation?
In the original novel, the critters are definitely vampires, but caused by a highly contagious virus that sweeps the planet-- scenes very much like Resident Evil or World War Z. Also, the vamps in the novel were mainly sort of brain-damaged and dumb-- never occurs to any of them, for example, to get a chain-saw and hack their way in thru Neville's roof-- kind of halfway betweenDracule and Walking Dead... Apparently only a small percentage who get some med treatment that arrests the full 'virus process' are able to survive in daylight & maintain some sort of social order.
Yeah, the original Romero zombie flicks were choice. I still haven't read or seen World War Z, but it's on my list...
World war Z was fun, but not serious. Worth seeing though.
That was the way I remembered them in the book. The vamps were kind of a bit dull in the head, but a society. Nebel was the boogie man. But I hated the ending. Actually, the Omega man's only upside is that mankind continues.. otherwise it would have been the same ending.
OK thanks for the 411 BF. I still thought the movie was fun.. but when you read a book that is good and the movie isn't... it's awful.
Oh.. yeah like "What Dreams May Come"... visually interesting... blah on story line.
I really liked Amber. I got to meet Zelazny a few years ago at the Bubonicon here in Albuquerque. He lived in Santa Fe so it was a short drive for him. He was a really nice, unassuming guy.
Anne McAffrey's 'Dragonrider' novels were fun. I enjoyed them.