The Quiet Earth
Added 11/19/2009
Waking up and finding himself alone, with no explanation then, finding out it was his own research companies fault, then finding and falling for the only ...fortunatley YOUNG girl in New Zealand, then finding another bloke, a big young Maori, she changes horses. Being the only 3 alive they sort of stay friends. All very odd, Anyway, the original bloke works out the Apoclypse is going to happen again, But finding out they were alive because they all were in the process of dying, the previous time, they decide to try and kill themselves again, but how, when, where (yawn: why ?) so very drawn out about nothing much.
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The Last Man on Earth is Never Alone
Added 8/14/2009
THE QUIET EARTH begins in a low key with Zac Hobson (Bruno Larence) waking up on what seems a typical day. Trouble begins when he soon realizes that he may well be the last human being on earth. This concept of the Last Man has been done many times (THE WORLD THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL and FIVE) come to mind and the genre demands that the sole survivor must grapple more with retaining sanity than in finding a flush toilet. Director Geoff Murphy makes it clear that the hold that Zac has on his mental equilibrium is a tenuous one. He takes to wearing a lady's sleeping gown as he walks the deserted streets. He puts up props of famous politicians like Hitler, Nixon, and Mao so that he can lecture them as the new President of Earth. We think that his descent into madness is the inevitable result of enforced loneliness, but we soon learn otherwise. Zac is a scientist who performed a minor role in the Flashlight Effect, an experiment co-conducted with America whose purpose it was to create an airplane that could fly for extended periods of time without refueling. Something terribly wrong happened and every human being on earth "blinked" out of existence. Since the film shows no animals or birds, presumably all mammals followed suit. His guilt drives him to near suicide. Amazingly enough he meets two other survivors, whose respective tales of surviving are equally smudgy on details. One is an attractive woman Joanne (Allison Routledge) with whom he soon begins an affair and the other is a Maori named Api (Peter Smith). Although THE QUIET EARTH spends some minutes on the techno-babble of how the universal constant of the uni-directional movement of an electron has altered, the film instead zeroes in on how the survivors meet in fear, coalesce in unison, fall apart in bickering, then attempt to patch up differences in ways that are eminently believable. The ending, which I shall not here reveal, is one that can easily be interpreted in various ways, not the least of which may be due to sloppy scripting or brilliant imagining. Regardless of how you accept the ending, THE QUIET EARTH serves to remind the viewer that even in desolation, there are eternal values that still persist that still mark us as human.
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Still a fascinating film
Added 7/1/2009
I loved this film in the 80's when it was first released and I was happy to find the DVD available on Amazon. The topic of what may happen if some technological disaster wiped out the entire (except for one) population of the planet is still as timely as ever, and the production quality seems to have stood the test of time. It's a very well-made (acting, direction, cinematography), especially for an independent film that certainly had a restricted budget ... especially for a sci-fi film! The concept of the story has stuck with me over the years and reminds me a lot of the Andromeda Strain. This is another in a long line of outstanding New Zealand films. Loved the ending ... hoping for a sequel!
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A Great Thinkpiece.
Added 6/30/2009
Although sharing a lot of themes with "The World, the Flesh and the Devil" (With Harry Bellafonte) The Quiet Earth stands alone as a great end of the world flick.
The music is incredible and the cinematography is exceptional especially with a budget of $1 million.
The ending was awesome and NOT your typical "Hollywood" ending.
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Good Sci-Fi flick!
Added 6/25/2009
Although I might not go into great detail, I just want to say- I rented this movie, but wish I had it on dvd (my own collection) I thought the storyline was decent and had a surprise or two in it. I like the last person on Earth subject (scary-to say the least) I would say, if you arent sure you want to buy it---its as simple to just rent it. I am glad I took the time to watch it!
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The Quiet Earth
Added 11/19/2009
Waking up and finding himself alone, with no explanation then, finding out it was his own research companies fault, then finding and falling for the only ...fortunatley YOUNG girl in New Zealand, then finding another bloke, a big young Maori, she changes horses. Being the only 3 alive they sort of stay friends. All very odd, Anyway, the original bloke works out the Apoclypse is going to happen again, But finding out they were alive because they all were in the process of dying, the previous time, they decide to try and kill themselves again, but how, when, where (yawn: why ?) so very drawn out about nothing much.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
The Last Man on Earth is Never Alone
Added 8/14/2009
THE QUIET EARTH begins in a low key with Zac Hobson (Bruno Larence) waking up on what seems a typical day. Trouble begins when he soon realizes that he may well be the last human being on earth. This concept of the Last Man has been done many times (THE WORLD THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL and FIVE) come to mind and the genre demands that the sole survivor must grapple more with retaining sanity than in finding a flush toilet. Director Geoff Murphy makes it clear that the hold that Zac has on his mental equilibrium is a tenuous one. He takes to wearing a lady's sleeping gown as he walks the deserted streets. He puts up props of famous politicians like Hitler, Nixon, and Mao so that he can lecture them as the new President of Earth. We think that his descent into madness is the inevitable result of enforced loneliness, but we soon learn otherwise. Zac is a scientist who performed a minor role in the Flashlight Effect, an experiment co-conducted with America whose purpose it was to create an airplane that could fly for extended periods of time without refueling. Something terribly wrong happened and every human being on earth "blinked" out of existence. Since the film shows no animals or birds, presumably all mammals followed suit. His guilt drives him to near suicide. Amazingly enough he meets two other survivors, whose respective tales of surviving are equally smudgy on details. One is an attractive woman Joanne (Allison Routledge) with whom he soon begins an affair and the other is a Maori named Api (Peter Smith). Although THE QUIET EARTH spends some minutes on the techno-babble of how the universal constant of the uni-directional movement of an electron has altered, the film instead zeroes in on how the survivors meet in fear, coalesce in unison, fall apart in bickering, then attempt to patch up differences in ways that are eminently believable. The ending, which I shall not here reveal, is one that can easily be interpreted in various ways, not the least of which may be due to sloppy scripting or brilliant imagining. Regardless of how you accept the ending, THE QUIET EARTH serves to remind the viewer that even in desolation, there are eternal values that still persist that still mark us as human.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Still a fascinating film
Added 7/1/2009
I loved this film in the 80's when it was first released and I was happy to find the DVD available on Amazon. The topic of what may happen if some technological disaster wiped out the entire (except for one) population of the planet is still as timely as ever, and the production quality seems to have stood the test of time. It's a very well-made (acting, direction, cinematography), especially for an independent film that certainly had a restricted budget ... especially for a sci-fi film! The concept of the story has stuck with me over the years and reminds me a lot of the Andromeda Strain. This is another in a long line of outstanding New Zealand films. Loved the ending ... hoping for a sequel!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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