Genres

Visitors Review

Timothy J. Curtiss 2012-05-25 00:41:31

People who liked this move, get a life!

This movie would have been worth watching if we had been given anexplanation of what the cube was, why it was there, why its inhabitants wereput there, etc. Without closure this film has no value, and only a closetsadist would be satisfied with the end.

zmaturin 2012-05-24 18:05:30

S'wonderful, S'marvelous

This movie is an example of a GOOD low budget movie- they make awonderful,cheap set that looks fantastic & is versatile. The actors are marvelous,andthe writing isn't stupid or padded. I wish I was a movie executive so Icould give these film-makers tons of money.Also, Maurice Dean Wint deserves an award- his portrayal of Quentin. Hestarts off as a hero in the vein of Ken Foree in "Dawn of the Dead", buthischaracter changes and evolves amazingly, while being believable andconvincing.Nicole deBoer is also stunning as Leaven, the beautiful mathwiz.All in all, a wonderful experiment, although I would've liked a more, uh,sensical ending.

2012-05-22 20:53:17

low-budget effort worth a look

This movie has been described as a Twilight Zone episode written by Clive Barker, and that's as close a description as any. The whole set-up of the film is rather imaginative, and one of the joys of the film is watching the characters figure out how to navigate this shifting maze without getting killed in gruesome fashion. One of the other pleasures of the film is the visuals and special effects-- for a low-budget film, the sets look damn good (especially considering the difficulties they had making this-- the commentary on the making of it is almost as interesting as the film itself).On the negative side, the script succumbs to the cliche of having the characters fight amonst themselves for no other reason than to generate conflict. Others have faulted the acting and dialogue, but I don't think those aspects were that detrimental. More importantly, however, the film lacks the existential weight that would have given a real Kafkaesque tone to the situation, so that the ending-- evocative though it is-- leaves one feeling slightly cheated. Still, this is a lot more intelligent than what passes for fantasy/SF/horror these days.

2012-05-22 08:19:31

My two cents worth...

Amazing movie. Very creative. If I could give it 10 stars just for originality, I would. It's that good. I've found people either LOVE it or HATE it...I loved it. What's out there? Endless human stupidity. (No doubt)

shrubbery 2012-05-18 17:41:34

one of my favorites

A wonderful independent movie from the Great White North. I've seen thismovie about 3 times and it is still great to watch.I maybe biased since I tend to read a lot of existentialist philosophy. Theacting could be better as could the ending be. But for a small budget, thisis a great effort. For me, the writing of a movie is definitely the mostimportant creative element. What's the point of great acting if the storyis weak?We never know what happened before and after this movie. This is the way itshould be. If you want to see the big, evil Man throw these people into theCube, go watch a Hollywood movie. I see this movie as possibly a metaphorfor life, as pretentious as that sounds. You don't know what was oncebefore and you don't know what's after. As one character proclaimed, wedon't know why or how it came about except that he was part of it. Theykept building and architecting it but it never seemed to have a purpose. Itwas self-perpetuating to no true end at all.The acting was solid if not spectacular. Yes, the characters were a bit onedimensional but then again what exactly can you development in such asituation?I could go on and on but I won't. Rent this movie.

anonymous 2012-05-18 13:38:57

Interesting Premise - But Leaden Dialogue Weights It Down

If you're going to a movie like this one, kind of a sci-fi/horror versionofWaiting for Godot, then the characters and the dialogue are crucial. Thisiswhere this film falls down. The characters are essentially onedimensional,and while some show growth and development over the course of the film,mostremain undeveloped. The dialogue is at times leaden, with endless andheateddiscourses on the "military-industrial complex" and other such "political"issues. Like other reviewers, I can see why it was a hit in France. I keptexpecting a character to announce something like "OK, lets escape fromhereand all go to Starbucks to discuss the philosophical implications on thedestruction of individualism and it's impact on society". This is the sortof leaden discussions one continues to read in European intellectualcircles, and seems particularly popular amongst some of the intelligentsiain France. Alas, class issues and the nefarious doings of the militaryindustrial complex have little resonance in 1999 USA.In the story itself the characters actions often seem illogical and forcedat times. I know that they're supposed to be under stress, but they alsoseem pretty slow to catch on for a group of hyper bright people. Theportrayal of the autistic savant came perilously close to being insulting,saved only by the actors skill. The other actors (mainly no-names) alsogiveit a good shot, particularily give the material they had to work with. Theending seemed contrived, and some plot resolution in terms of the why andhow would have improved the film.The best role I see for this film is as a discussion piece forundergraduatePoli Sci and Philosophy classes. Professors and TA's takenote.5 out of 10, mainly for acting and the innovative use of cheapsets.

2012-05-17 14:51:52

Surprisingly intense, great fun flick!

I was completely unprepared for the intenseness of this film! It featuresabunch of horrible actors, and the premise is totally dumb (several peoplewake up and find themselves in this cube maze place, who/why is neverexplained) but in spite of all that it's a suspensful little gem! Each"prisoner" had apparently been chosen for a specific talent, and it's thejob of them all to get out of the cube, while dodging booby traps and lotsof attitude from some of the captives. It's a fun and exciting film withTERRIFIC production values. It will shake you up, for sure. Don't misstheopening scenes, I re-wound a couple times to check that out - it's crazy!Enjoy this one, it's a treat!

tijgertje 2012-05-17 04:44:26

A true masterwork

How many times you've seen a movie with a big budget, pushed on TV and inthe cinema's with slick looking trailers only to discover when seeing themovie that it sucked,.. sucked bigtime.Here is a movie with a budget so small in fits in a shoebox, it's filmed onone set with five actors in 20 days and it's great! I am not giving anythingaway from the plot but it's simple, it's stuff that will make you think longafter the movie and it's a very good study of human nature. Everybody wholikes films in general and do not want to see just mindless pulp this is amust see. Only backdraft are the questions that will rise after you've seenthis and just refuse to go away for some time,... Rumors are there will be apart 2...

2012-05-16 17:54:57

How can so many 'critics' seem to miss the point?

This film was by no means perfect, but I felt it held some strong symbolism, the stuff that no one EVER pays ANY attention to! I'm a film student and when I create a film I always look at the many different levels of communication that can be associated with my film. When I read someone else's review saying a film like 'Cube' is "completely shallow", I have to wonder at what level that person was watching that film. If you're the kind of person that can only be entertained by Hollywood movies where the one protagonist always succeeds over all odds, then movies like this aren't for you. Although I'm not saying those movies are by any means bad, they just cater for a different mood.I've only just finished watching this film for the first time, so of course I'm not going to do justice to the obvious amount of thought that the writer put into this, but simple things such as colours stand out to me, especially when made so apparent like in this film where every room colour represented a different feeling for what psychological and emotional development the writer was hinting towards. Without spoiling the film, the ending for me was completely unforseen, of course everyone's interpretation will be different as with any work of art, but what it means to me personally, is a representation of the western world. That it's always the smart, and the strong that suffer in the western world, and the helpless reap the benefits. For example, a team of intelligent people work hard together to make a low budget film that holds many messages, and the average people of the world watch half of it and throw it away like some used tissue, saying it's shallow and stupid simply because they cannot grasp at least an ounce of what the film is trying to convey. It seems the very existence of this film, is not without a hint of irony.There was only that one review of this movie that really irritated me, even though the others didn't hint towards the metaphorical side to the movie, they were still reasonable.

Quicksand 2012-05-16 12:32:51

Clever, but not clever enough

Hardly an original concept (look up "House of Stairs" by William Sleator),this is a tense and suspenseful movie, where the set is more of a star thanthe actors, all of whom play underwritten and stupid characters. I'm nomath genius, but I'm fully aware that an even number is never going to beprime.I got a kick out of it, once, but the ending soured me. It worked well as ametaphor for the human condition, I suppose, but on its own terms, the onlything I could get out of it was, How Pointless. What a Canadian thing tothink. I think I'll go read the book again.

DirtyEpic129 2012-05-14 13:03:59

Great story, B-Actors == pretty good film.

This was a beautiful movie. The story was great, the directing was great,the acting... was.... *puke*. The only problem I had with this movie istheB-actors that were in it. The filmakers apparently spend too much on thesetdesign and not enough on the acting. If the cast were chosen better, I'dupmy rating. This, however, should not keep you from seeing it -- it's oneofthose interesting flicks that everyone should take a ganderat.

Mr. B-6 2012-05-14 01:18:03

Once isn't enough

I saw this film for the first time less than a week ago. It is a shamethatit eluded me for so long. Once I turned it on I became completelyengrossed. Unfortunately, I saw an edited version of it on a cablestationso I missed some of the "good stuff." I guess that leaves me with onlyoneoption - go and rent it.From the other comments I have read, most people seem to have a problemwithhow it ends. I think that the ending was quite self-explanatory -- ---I am interested to watch the movie again to see what I get out of it thesecond time around...

2012-05-09 03:19:16

Not existentialism, more like a study in postmodern ethics

This is one of those movies which does make you think, and I'm not sure if most people really understand why. Perhaps it has a different meaning to a lot of people.Many reviewers of this film...describd this film as a "existentialist breakfast club". It definately is in one sense one of those genre films where different archetypes are put together to interract in an artificial environment. But in this case, what kind of environment and why?Why would someone build this sinister cube? Is it just a plot device as many reviewers seem to assume? The dialogue in the movie gives a clue. The characters debate the purpose and origin of the cube. The "liberal nurse" speculates it is some kind of military or military-corporate weapon. The "aggro cop" assumes it's the plaything of a wealthy villian out of some James Bond movie. But it's the "cynical guy" who seems to have the answers, and in my opinion really the most interesting thing to say in the movie.He angrily confronts the arguing cop and nurse, and bitterly contends, that while yes, there is a conspiracy of sorts, a conspiracy which all present participate in by playing their social roles with tunnel vision and not caring about "the big picture"... but it's not a conspiracy that any one person or group is in charge of. "Big brother is NOT watching you" he yells. It is, he seems to be saying, rather a conspiracy where the system itself has gained total control, and none of the people who have surrendered thier individuality and personal responsibility to this system, including the designers, are safe from it. This echoes sentiments some very perspecacious social critics have voiced about the US and it's "military-industrial complex" including Gore Vidal and William S. Burroughs.I believe the cube is an allegory to modern life in a world increasingly controlled by large institutions, and increasingly dangerous and predatory toward individual humans. Many people increasingly view the large institutions which we serve or obey in one manner or many, are up to dangerous, unethical, irresponsible activities, but we depend on them nevertheless as our shelter, our source of income, to provide our safety. The cube - maze the characters are trapped in is a kind of allegory for this system, mindless, mechanical, intermittently lethal. Even more creepy, the architect, the cynic, goes on to describe the cube specifically as being a project which took on a life of it's own, he completes the image described by the nurse, of atomized workers, firms, bureaus, working on something ... with the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing... and with no brain guiding either of them. Something just building itself. THis is reminiscent of the subtly creepy Stanislaw Lem book "Eden".I'm not certain what the ultimate conclusion is meant to be, especially the significance of the ending, but I believe the movie was made to examine these ideas. As a Canadian film it's especially relevant. Canadians often feel themselves to be living in the shadow of a not always so benign United States.Of course I could be wrong. One reviewer described the nurse as a paranoid who 'brought everyone down' and felt that the cop...provided leadership and encouragement. Perhaps this film is a Rosarch test of sorts, and you can derive many meanings from it. I'm sticking with mine.

2012-05-08 14:23:40

Watch it once and forget about it.

This is one of the sad movies that is so promising, but in the end fallsapart. The tension the movie has is amazing. The first half of it is donewell, that is until the story falls apart, characters (and actors not justbecause of their dialoge but their ability as well) become ridiculous, andwe get one of the most anticlimatic endings of all time. **spoiler** Towardthe end I looked at my girlfriend and said "I bet you this movie just endswhen they get out" and guess what.....IT DOES!! I am all for movies beingambiguous and making you come up with your own asumptions as to what isgoing on or what happened afterward, but with all the build up and all theagony the film makes you go through to get there, I have to say that I wasmore than disapointed. I will never watch that movie again. If I want tobe tortured, like i feel this movie did to me, I would rather watch a 5thgrade choir belt out tunes at the top of thier little lungs. When a movie isso promising and just turns to mud, it makes me feel worse than if it hadsucked from the beginning. I would recommend watching it once if you areinterested and make your own asumptions, but I feel it was a wasted attemptin the end.

2012-05-03 18:51:44

Newer edition from Lion's Gate, first was from Trimark

IMPORTANT NOTICE to those buying the Cube DVD: there are two editions out there, the first was Trimark's edition, and now there's Lion's Gate's "signature series" edition (Lion's Gate now owns Trimark). Apparently the original Trimark edition is being phased out. This new LG edition is still excellent, but collectors will definitely want both editions as the commentary on Trimark's is much better since it includes cast member David Hewlett (they go more in-depth to some of the aspects of the film). Why LG decided to replace that commentary with a new one with only director Vincenzo Natali is a mystery. The only other difference is the new LG edition has a brief interview with Nicole deBoer, and a more interactive menu.Now, on to the film itself: Cube is one of the most original sci-fi films of the last decade. If you were to think about what situation would terrify you the most, Cube would be the ultimate challenge. In a way, it is a predecessor to TV's "Survivor" in which the people each have a skill that can help them survive and possibly get them out...here, being that seven people wake up and find themselves in an endless maze of cubed rooms, some of which are booby trapped.It all comes down to human emotions and confrontations that get in the way of the characters' progress and survival. It's a talky film, but that's the point -- figuring situations and dealing with different personalities is inevitable to any group. The solving of problems becomes very complex, but the viewer doesn't have to worry...let the characters figure it out as we go along for the ride! While so many sci-fi films want to wow you with effects, Cube does something more daring -- it makes you think! With its limited budget working FOR its advantage and some digital effects that preceded even the film Titanic, Cube still proves itself as one of the most original and intelligent thrillers of the last decade. It is truly a nail-biter.Those who need more visual thrills and less "thinking" should just then stick with Cube 2: Hypercube. However, this first and superior Cube is a masterpiece! Gumdrops, anyone?

2012-05-03 10:34:48

pretty good

Cube has an interesting premise. It is also suspenseful and does a decent job of keeping the plot moving. The set design and effects are very good for its budget. The negatives are: one scene of strong, unnecessary gore; the dialog wanders into the ridiculous at times; the acting is quite overwraught, which is the main distraction; since you don't really care too much about any of the characters, it is hard to care whether they escape the cube. Lastly, some of the character development doesn't make any sense, logically or in service of the plot. Despite those negatives, the concept and suspense keep things generally interesting - I'd give it a half-hearted thumbs up. With a stronger script, this could have been a classic. If you want smart sci-fi, though, start with PI or Dark City.

2012-04-29 18:39:09

Gleaming the Cube

Imagine this: you went to sleep, soundly, in your own bed. Hard day, harder night: drinking, carousing, maybe; maybe you curled up after a stressful day and an even more stressful commute with a good book, and sleep came crashing down. Whatever; past is prologue, and prologue here doesn't mean much.You wake up in a cubic room. It's about 20 feet by 20 feet. In the center of each cubic face---even on the ceiling---is a hatch. You're clad in a prison-style grey smock, with your name stenciled gulag-style above the right nipple, and when you have slightly recovered from the initial shock (where am I? Is this a dream? What do I have to do to get back to the real world? Where do I poop?), you amble dazedly over to the hatch on the left and give the submarine-style airlock door a turn. It comes open, and gazing through the aperture, you spy---another Cubic room, that looks just like yours.That's "Cube", a vicious little puzzlebox of horror and delight from Vincenzo Natali. It's brilliantly simple, conceptually engaging, brutally compelling. The opening sequence, for instance: a man opening up a hatch, shinnying through it, setting foot in the new Cube Room---and then a noise that sounds like a butterfly farting, and the man---Alderson---goes rigid, his body frozen in place in a living rictus, eyes wide, a true Kodak moment for just a split second. And then, an instant later---Nah, I won't ruin it for you. Suffice it to say that the Cubes contain death traps---well, some of them. We meet the heroes, chiefly, as they meet each other: somebody opens up a hatch and peers through, only to find one, or two other prisoners, clad in grey smocks, equally bewildered by their twisted predicament: Math student Leaven (Nicole de Boer), architect David Worth (David Hewlett), rugged cop Quentin (Maurice Dean Wint), Dr. Helen Holloway (Nicky Guadagni), Autistic Kazan (Andrew Miller),escape-artist Rennes (Wayne Robson). In whole or part, the names of our players are prisons: Leaven and Worth, Kazan (a notorious Russian labor camp), Holloway, even (San) Quentin. None of them have anything obvious in common, apart from their mysterious confinement. Oh yeah, and those prison names. Spooky.Frankly, when I first saw Cube I hadn't heard anything about it; I knew what the idea was, roughly, and I had seen the first five minutes on HBO. That five minutes alone sold me. But aside from techno-bloodletting, I wasn't expecting much from Cube.As a result, Cube snuck up behind me, banged me in the skull with a blackjack, locked me in a cube full of cubes, and made off with my socks (leaving me my shoes so I could check the rooms for traps). Director Vincenzo Natali (who did not direct the second installment---and it shows) keeps the storyline a taut tripwire of paranoia, makes the most of his spare set, pumps up the tension with solid acting all around, and ices the cake with some deranged little engines of destruction (all fitted nattily into those deceptively harmless looking little cubes) that would make a Hellraiser Cenobite giggle with delight.Natali dumps his ingredients into this deadly steel cauldron, stirs the brew up, and brings it to a boil by milking the tension between the characters as they struggle to understand their plight and---more importantly---to get out of the Cube. Best of all, he punctuates the internal struggle between a group of people who don't know and don't trust each other, but need to work together nonetheless, with shrieks of wanton, and totally unpredictable, carnage. I'm a pretty adventurous guy, and I've never been one to put my horror movie cannon fodder through something I wouldn't do myself---that's no way to treat the Troops! But this time, watching these frail, highly perishable, lightly clad, completely defenseless men and women carefully testing out an unknown cube, checking with shoes for hidden pressure plates, ever alert for shifts in the atmosphere---perhaps an acid spray, perhaps a serrated spinning whirly-blade of death, maybe a floor to ceiling Mach-8 speed cheese grater---you truly appreciate how puny human flesh really is, how easily it can be mangled. You get tense yourself just watching; too many times I thought "better them than me". Brrr. Natali succeeds by keeping Cube simple: without much exposition and with absolutely no clue as to what lies outside the interlocking cubes---if anything---we have to know the characters from what they tell each other, and the environment from what the characters see. Getting out is not only vital, but seemingly impossible: the gang can't simply cross horizontally from Cube to Cube until they reach the "outer Cube Wall", because death trap rooms bar their way---as a number of hapless---and unwitting---human mine detectors prove.Who would do something as vile as this?, they wonder. Why us? And to what purpose? And do the series of numbers---what appear to be serial numbers, actually---hold any clue to working out how to get out of here? As it turns out, the Cube isn't the only thing in this flick with secrets. In the end, Cube provides a little something for the whole family: the bloodthirsty gorehound will spend a giddy 90 minutes punctuated by constant bursts of "Oh Hell yes!", while those more intrigued by the colossal mystery of the fiendish cubic puzzlebox will walk away sated. And for those who dread more than anything else having to wake up Monday morning hung over, alarm clock blaring, a tedious commute yielding up only another agonizing week of work---rejoice! Cube proves it could always be much worse.JSG

2012-04-29 06:02:22

CHILLING METAPHAORE FOR MODERN SOCIETY

The cubic form has been used for some years now by visual artists to symbolize all that is man-made, standardized and artificial. Here we have six individuals trapped inside the very symbol of their own society. A movie for all those who are sensitive to the possibility of outside manipulation. One of the best.

2012-04-25 00:57:51

True Sci-Fi fans should stay away!

I watched this movie with a few friends a while back. The DVD is fine, but let's get to the movie itself:The premise is intriguing, and it has the promise of a Twilight Zone-like story. Unfortunately, the movie quickly becomes laughable. Maurice Dean Wit, playing Quentin, seems like he took acting lessons in the William Shatner school. Indeed, the other actors don't do much better.For all of the film's production values, I couldn't help but think that I was watching a television Movie of the Week.I'm not going to talk about the plot. I wouldn't want to give away anything to someone who will actually buy this garbage. But if what you're looking for is good science fiction, buy 'Gattaca' instead. If what you're looking for is a sophmoric romp that would like to be challenging, buy this DVD.

kgilmore-1 2012-04-24 18:28:14

completely unexpected

flipping through the channels one evening, i ran across this movie in itsopening moments. riveting. six people and a cube that tests every part ofthe mind. sounds like being trapped inside a rubik's cube. breathes newlife into a simple plot (get out alive). don't blink.