[dissimulo]

I've resisted saying this, since it is so cliche, but... read the book. The book is much, much better than the movie. The plot is so different that the movie is like a different story set in the same world.

Less ridiculous action, less dogma, less good guys and bad guys. It makes the movie look childish in its perception of the world.

I ended up liking the movie as a separate work of art, but I was in the process of hating it until I accepted that the story had been simplified to the extent that it lost all its subtlety.

[Laughs_Last]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Daculling', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('topcat', 'I')f it ranks up there with "Bladerunner" and "12 Monkeys," I gotta see it.

Anyone remember "A Boy and His Dog" with none other than Don Johnson? That is a good TSHTF flick.

[I_Like_Plants]

Dissimulo thanks for your post. I didn't know there was a book, now I'll try to find that.

It was playing in Santa Cruz last night and I considered seeing it, but a movie's at least $10 and I had $9 on me for the rest of the weekend.

And the movie industry wonders why times aren't so good for them anymore!

The book is always better, I saw 12 Monkeys and it was a good movie, but if it was made from a book I'd sure like to read the book!

Blade Runner was brilliant, but I can't imagine getting much from it without reading the book first - the book is haunting. Just the religion of Mercerism is a haunting subject in of itself.

[blukatzen]

Hubby and I happened to come across this movie last night and went to see this at the local 3.00 cheapie cinema in Chicago near our neighborhood. (we didn't even know it was there, we saw it on the marquee the night before..we'd figured we'd see it on DVD.)

We were both thinking on the movie today, and speaking about it, and ratcheting up our plans to get out of the city pronto. (and I leave behind a very good garden and small orchard...sigh..)

There were a few things that I didn't "follow" in the movie that I think may be addressed in the book, and due to dialog, we couldn't make out slang, and some accents..etc.
Parts of the movie moved *very* fast, and went even faster as it moved along. It seemed that you'd better pay attention to every bit or else you'd miss something.

I frankly could care less about the premise of the story..childlessness in the future..which I find HIGHLY implausible..there were things that also did follow continuity like where did all the cigarettes, booze, keep coming from? (from 20 years ago?? Cigarettes get kinda stale..there were some things that did not "fit" the continuity of the storyline. If there was a pandemic in '08, where did all these factory-made goods come from, coffee bars, etc, if "Britain soldiers on ALONE!" We know with less people, resource depletion will make all those factory items dry up within one week, let alone 20 some odd years later. There were certain things that didn't make sense..but the scenery was good. THAT was what was realistic..the grime, the hopelessness, the acceptance OF that hopelessness in most city-dwellers.


If this was a film about resource depletion, and all the topics covered here, I'd understand it, but no more babies? They should be dancing in the streets for a reprieve for a bit. Yet they took every chance to blow each other to bits at every turn.
(However, after 5 minutes of that carping about "Baby" Diego, I wanted him dead too.)

Another thing..I wish they'd explored the Human "Project" and the ship "Tomorrow"..didn't quite get what the end result of all of that "get the woman/baby to the ship" thing was supposed to be, but I could have missed that in the accents, etc. I suppose that is covered a bit more extensively in the book.

What was interesting to see was the scenery and levels of depravation society had fallen to. Just amazing, and if you could film "PeakOilSociety".."after the fall"...this would be it. This was just haunting, and it will remain in my memory for a long time. It is not too long away either, although I believe we'll be at this long before 2027, the year the film's storyline takes place. I would say within the next 5 to 10 years, easy.

I asked my hubby where "we'll" fit into society..countryside dwellers, outer-ring city, (we've not enough $$ for inner core city dwellers)..and he is determined to be countryside after watching this. If anyone is sitting on the fence in preperation, watching this movie because you've understood all the implications of what's been written here in the last few years should make the move that much more imperative. Get moving NOW...

[TheDude]

Years ago local TV had an interview with director John Frankenheimer (Manchurian Canidate, The Train, Grand Prix, etc.) where he complained about the modern trend of using a second-unit director for the "action" or "chase" scenes in movies. I think I caught a wiff of that in this otherwise excellent show. The battle scenes in the building are sometimes thought to be done in one long take but it was actually spliced together digitially.
I quite enjoyed the screaming rap music Caine cues up...the cousin's art collection was as hilarious as the son (?) was disturbing.
12 Monkeys was based on a French short film, La Jetee, which is fabulous - catch it if you can. There are excerpts at You Tube.

A Boy and His Dog at Badmovies.org. Read the Harlan Ellison short story that's based on while you're at it. Overpopulation and eco disaster were popular themes in 70's SF, lots of titles to recommend there.

[blukatzen]

Does anyone remember the book and author this movie was based on? I saw during the credit roll, but I had forgotten. I'd like to see if I could flesh things out..

Thanks.

[I_Like_Plants]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheDude', ' ')Overpopulation and eco disaster were popular themes in 70's SF, lots of titles to recommend there.

[dissimulo]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('blukatzen', 'D')oes anyone remember the book and author this movie was based on? I saw during the credit roll, but I had forgotten. I'd like to see if I could flesh things out..

[I_Like_Plants]

Cool, I'll have to look for it.

Books rule.

[Revi]

We just went to see a movie entitled Children of Men. Wow. In 2027 most places have experienced war and pestilence. England is a mess too, but holding on. Due to all the horror no children have been born in over 18 years. This metaphor for loss of hope is powerful. People get around on bicycles, on foot or in moped taxis. Life pretty much sucks for everyone but the very well connected.

The movie is a non stop thrill, but I reccomend it for a view of a future that is not so very different from today. The grubby city scenes can be found in a lot of urban places right now. I won't ruin the plot for you. Suffice it to say that it's a must see for any Peak Oiler who wants to be entertained and informed.

[americandream]

Present day Baghdad from America/UK with Love....welcome to your future... .makes Children of Men look rather....pastoral... ho ho ho.

[grink1tt3n]

It's a great movie. The movie doesn't go into great detail about the world, but it hints that the lack of birth precipitated war, famine, and death... not the other way around.

[Mechler]

I agree, this movie is very powerful. V for Vendetta meets Saving Private Ryan.

I'm not sure PO was consideration in the screenplay, but I think someone was smart enough to realize that in such a bleak future as this movie is set in, tanker shipments of oil would be a thing of the past. There are several shots of, presumably, dirty coal/trash/wood-fired power plants belching out pollution. With all the social commentary in the movie, I was surprised that sea-level rise due to global warming wasn't worked into the movie. There is a strange Pink Floyd reference, though. Anyone know the significance of that?

Regardless, I think this movie gives a glimpse of what first-world countries may be like in the not-too-distant future.

[TreebeardsUncle]

Well.
In about 100 years, 82 more than in the movie, of people not having children, the problem, nay, the scourge of humanity inflicting its vile odious destructive presence on the earth would be nearly a thing of the past. In 130 years of people not having children it definitely would be.

Geoff

[americandream]

Britain...home of the industrial revolution and the Thatcher/Reagan coalition.....the first world?

Well..if it goes belly up along with that other fine first world country, the US, why, you've a whole cosmos of other worlds to choose from.

How stupid can one be in still clinging to these antiquated first world, third world notions as your planet goes down the drain because of whats occurring over its ENTIRE surface.

As a species, if you persist in such limited thinking, you most certainly are tempting a Darwinian lesson in obsolescence.

[Mechler]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('americandream', 'H')ow stupid can one be in still clinging to these antiquated first world, third world notions as your planet goes down the drain because of whats occurring over its ENTIRE surface.

As a species, if you persist in such limited thinking, you most certainly are tempting a Darwinian lesson in obsolescence.

[Revi]

The whole first world, second world (the former communist block) and third world (non-aligned nations) was the order during the second half of the 20th century. We are in a far stranger world now. Bits of the "third world" are showing up here in what was supposed to be the "first world" and vice versa. I have lived in both the first and third world, and when I go to NYC I see them all mixed up now. We do live in a world where the old names don't apply. The old industrailized world and the new industrialized world work I suppose.

I enjoyed the movie's depiction of a world not that different from today. The scenes of London were very similar to what most people live in now. I don't know what kind of place you live in, but here in Maine a lot of people live in crappy trailers. Huge industrial paper mills dominate the landscape. "The working forest" starts just north of here. People live a hard life, hoping to win the lottery so they can opt out of a lifetime of toil. It's a beautiful place, but it ain't no picnic. I suppose it beats the alternative, living in some crappy apartment in a city.

This movie presents an anti-utopia that is not that different from what we're living now. The chase scenes are really gripping and it makes for an enjoyable show, but with a message. The people in the movie are trying to live a decent life in a world gone mad. Are we that different?

[Kris]

Did you happen to notice where Clive Owen worked in the flick? The Department of Energy!

[ONeil]

I saw Children of Men, I saw V. Both were good and had parrelles with post peak scenarios.

For a much closer look check out the television show Jericho. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jericho_(TV_series)

In the episiode I watched last night a private merc army (Revenwood) claiming to work for FEMA was demanding passage through the town and that they would 'take what they need'. More commonly known around here as a ravaging hord vs eco villiage.

In the series FEMA has setup camps and forced the depopulation of areas contaminated by radiation.

Interesting view.