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This is a well put together Sci-Fi/Thriller film, and doesn't do to much with the future that it is trying to create. Being that it is a film from the 70's that is guessing at what the future will be like, it does a good job because it doesn't try and make it look to spectacular and end up being full of cheesy effects.
That is probably the biggest thing that I appreciated about it. It was that there weren't any odd things. No flying cars, the buildings basically looked the same, and everything was very drab and under control still. While it is fun to see things like flying cars, when the effects aren't available to see a good flying car they should be avoided being used. There were a few parts, one guy getting squished mainly, that were off in how they looked, but because they didn't try and do too much visually, it became something that was very nice to look at while watching the film. Also, the simplicity of one of the death scenes was very beautifully done as well. It was a good/stark contrast to the rest of the film in what it showed. The color scheme was different and even the quality of the scene was notably different.
The story is also good in this film. It sets itself up nicely, hinting at the fact that there is going to be a twist/revelation at the end, but it does a good job of not giving it away. The unfortunate thing is that everyone already knows the twist at the end, therefore it loses a lot of punch with it, that it likely had when it originally came out. But the fact that it focused on the character aspect of the story and didn't really delve into the science aspect a ton also made it better, because it wasn't a bunch of mumbo-jumbo that they were spitting out, but it seemed like real people and real situations throughout the film, which is something that was needed to make a film like this interesting.
Overall this is a very classic example of how Sci-Fi should be done. It focuses on creating a good story while asking the tougher questions, and while the question doesn't really apply in anything, it is still interesting to debate in the aspect of societial norms and extrapulating the ideas outside of the original context. Heston does a very solid job as well in this film.
Overall Grade: B
Acting: B-
Story: A-
Audio/Visual: B+
This is a well put together Sci-Fi/Thriller film, and doesn't do to much with the future that it is trying to create. Being that it is a film from the 70's that is guessing at what the future will be like, it does a good job because it doesn't try and make it look to spectacular and end up being full of cheesy effects.
That is probably the biggest thing that I appreciated about it. It was that there weren't any odd things. No flying cars, the buildings basically looked the same, and everything was very drab and under control still. While it is fun to see things like flying cars, when the effects aren't available to see a good flying car they should be avoided being used. There were a few parts, one guy getting squished mainly, that were off in how they looked, but because they didn't try and do too much visually, it became something that was very nice to look at while watching the film. Also, the simplicity of one of the death scenes was very beautifully done as well. It was a good/stark contrast to the rest of the film in what it showed. The color scheme was different and even the quality of the scene was notably different.
The story is also good in this film. It sets itself up nicely, hinting at the fact that there is going to be a twist/revelation at the end, but it does a good job of not giving it away. The unfortunate thing is that everyone already knows the twist at the end, therefore it loses a lot of punch with it, that it likely had when it originally came out. But the fact that it focused on the character aspect of the story and didn't really delve into the science aspect a ton also made it better, because it wasn't a bunch of mumbo-jumbo that they were spitting out, but it seemed like real people and real situations throughout the film, which is something that was needed to make a film like this interesting.
Overall this is a very classic example of how Sci-Fi should be done. It focuses on creating a good story while asking the tougher questions, and while the question doesn't really apply in anything, it is still interesting to debate in the aspect of societial norms and extrapulating the ideas outside of the original context. Heston does a very solid job as well in this film.
Overall Grade: B
Acting: B-
Story: A-
Audio/Visual: B+