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The Road: 2009 (R) -14
USA / Dimension Films
75% (CF)
There was a time during my college years where I sought out post apocalyptic and zombie movies regardless of the quality that they may have had. This lead to encountering some very bad movies like Automaton Transfusion to the strange like The New Barbarians: Warriors of the Wasteland; but I also found some excellent movies as well. Of all the movies I have seen that deal with the post apocalypse; this one is probably my favorite. While The Road Warrior has the most iconic production design for a post apocalyptic world, this movie’s design is probably the most accurate. The heroes are not cruising the high ways in muscle cars, they are moving along on foot. They do not dress in crazy leather outfits or have crazy haircuts; they opt for practical cloths for protection from the elements. Every day is a struggle, the setting is extremely bleak and they even consider ending it all multiple times. Needless to say the setting is extremely depressing, but the end result of the movie is hope. That small unlikely chance of coming through the trial and making it through the day fueled by that hope is in a strange way beautiful. Here is a man who knows the easy way out will bring comfort and sweet relief. But they still drive on, for years in fact. Why is that? Despite their horrible circumstances, they choose to try and live and survive because life and especially the life of his son is precise. Viggo does cannot bring himself to kill his boy, and so they struggle on. Even in the face of almost certain death and untold misery… they struggle on.
It has its own religious symbolism, but in a far less ham fisted way as The Book of Eli. And that hope that shines from even the bleakest of circumstances is really beautiful. And the performances by Kodi Smit-McPhee, Viggo Mortensen, Chalize Theron, and a brief appearance by Robert Duvall really stand out. Making for an outstanding movie.
The Road: 2009 (R) -14
USA / Dimension Films
75% (CF)
There was a time during my college years where I sought out post apocalyptic and zombie movies regardless of the quality that they may have had. This lead to encountering some very bad movies like Automaton Transfusion to the strange like The New Barbarians: Warriors of the Wasteland; but I also found some excellent movies as well. Of all the movies I have seen that deal with the post apocalypse; this one is probably my favorite. While The Road Warrior has the most iconic production design for a post apocalyptic world, this movie’s design is probably the most accurate. The heroes are not cruising the high ways in muscle cars, they are moving along on foot. They do not dress in crazy leather outfits or have crazy haircuts; they opt for practical cloths for protection from the elements. Every day is a struggle, the setting is extremely bleak and they even consider ending it all multiple times. Needless to say the setting is extremely depressing, but the end result of the movie is hope. That small unlikely chance of coming through the trial and making it through the day fueled by that hope is in a strange way beautiful. Here is a man who knows the easy way out will bring comfort and sweet relief. But they still drive on, for years in fact. Why is that? Despite their horrible circumstances, they choose to try and live and survive because life and especially the life of his son is precise. Viggo does cannot bring himself to kill his boy, and so they struggle on. Even in the face of almost certain death and untold misery… they struggle on.
It has its own religious symbolism, but in a far less ham fisted way as The Book of Eli. And that hope that shines from even the bleakest of circumstances is really beautiful. And the performances by Kodi Smit-McPhee, Viggo Mortensen, Chalize Theron, and a brief appearance by Robert Duvall really stand out. Making for an outstanding movie.