Most of the others that took the time to comment on this film would seem to agree on a certain point: that this movie sticks in your mind. It is not simply a night spent with a videotape. It is an experience in emotional extremism and moral inquisition. The central motive of this movie is to send a wake up call and point out that the world we live in has been doomed since the dawn of civilization. This movie is a doomsday prophecy.
Harrison Ford heads an enormously talented cast that is the both the perfect model and the antithesis of a working family. Ford plays Allie Fox, an American inventor who moves his family into the jungles of a Carribean Island paradise. His story, the story narrated by his oldest son (River Phoenix), is a gut wrenching, heart pounding tale that is marvellously captured by the actors that he presides over with his token cynicism and quick, sharp wit. Ford's Allie leaves America to begin anew in a world that has not yet been developed or corrupted by a modern society wraught with materialism and blind faith. What he does not understand is that his ambitions will only lead to the creation of a new society that is almost certainly a micro-carbon copy of the archetype that he wishes to escape. Pollution, violence, religous meddling all have their place in Allie's world, but he refuses to aknowledge to himself and to the people that he presides over that he has set off a chain of events that parellel the advancement and decline of every civilization since the beggining of time. When disaster strikes and he is forced to take actions that would've seemed inhuman to him early on in the story, he begins a writhing and painful decension into madness as his world slowly crumbles and the "better life" that he had hoped to sustain turns on him. As skepticism begins to creep into the minds of his family, he forces them into a life of desperation; a day to day routine of survival that ends in tragedy. The movie is shot beatifully. The camera captures moments of frightening irony that simple acting could never touch. The jungle scenes intially offer hope but transform into tragedy. The beach and river scenes capture the actors in full form as the tension grows, swells, and explodes.
In fact, if there's anything that the film did wrong it was to rely almost solely on symbolism to convey the rich and powerful theme of the story. The average movieogoer is so used to blockbusters and movies that are about as deep as a tablespoon will most likely find the movie confusing. Religous watchers will probably find offense in the portrayl of a selfish and ethnocentric missionary that does not neccesarilly put down religon but rather offers a manifestation of evidence: in times of tragedy, society seeks a higher source of wisdom beyond the physical plane of reality. This movie should not be watched only once. It should be carefully scrutinized so that viewers may be fully immersed in the meaning and take the powerful message to heart.
Harrison Ford heads an enormously talented cast that is the both the perfect model and the antithesis of a working family. Ford plays Allie Fox, an American inventor who moves his family into the jungles of a Carribean Island paradise. His story, the story narrated by his oldest son (River Phoenix), is a gut wrenching, heart pounding tale that is marvellously captured by the actors that he presides over with his token cynicism and quick, sharp wit. Ford's Allie leaves America to begin anew in a world that has not yet been developed or corrupted by a modern society wraught with materialism and blind faith. What he does not understand is that his ambitions will only lead to the creation of a new society that is almost certainly a micro-carbon copy of the archetype that he wishes to escape. Pollution, violence, religous meddling all have their place in Allie's world, but he refuses to aknowledge to himself and to the people that he presides over that he has set off a chain of events that parellel the advancement and decline of every civilization since the beggining of time. When disaster strikes and he is forced to take actions that would've seemed inhuman to him early on in the story, he begins a writhing and painful decension into madness as his world slowly crumbles and the "better life" that he had hoped to sustain turns on him. As skepticism begins to creep into the minds of his family, he forces them into a life of desperation; a day to day routine of survival that ends in tragedy. The movie is shot beatifully. The camera captures moments of frightening irony that simple acting could never touch. The jungle scenes intially offer hope but transform into tragedy. The beach and river scenes capture the actors in full form as the tension grows, swells, and explodes.
In fact, if there's anything that the film did wrong it was to rely almost solely on symbolism to convey the rich and powerful theme of the story. The average movieogoer is so used to blockbusters and movies that are about as deep as a tablespoon will most likely find the movie confusing. Religous watchers will probably find offense in the portrayl of a selfish and ethnocentric missionary that does not neccesarilly put down religon but rather offers a manifestation of evidence: in times of tragedy, society seeks a higher source of wisdom beyond the physical plane of reality. This movie should not be watched only once. It should be carefully scrutinized so that viewers may be fully immersed in the meaning and take the powerful message to heart.