The sound design of the film is excellent. I'd definitely would like to get this on Blu-ray (Preferably 4K). I'll be recommending this to my sci-fi loving colleagues.
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Annihilation |OT| A Shimmer Out Of Space [Spoilers]
- Thread starter More_Badass
- Start date
i thought it was okay. i expected something deeper or maybe a plot twist. I guess there's two more books so maybe there will be more sequels?
I don't get how the Shimmer's been there for years. and no one knows about it. Why can't they send in drones to record video? or just use a boat to drop drones off the shore? Or give the motorcycles or gyrocopters.
Also this movie has one of my least favorite movie tropes - stupid scientist. Yes not all of them are scientists, and yes the Shimmer is making them add weird. but it's still annoying. Although not annoying as the Cloverfield Paradox.
I don't get how the Shimmer's been there for years. and no one knows about it. Why can't they send in drones to record video? or just use a boat to drop drones off the shore? Or give the motorcycles or gyrocopters.
Also this movie has one of my least favorite movie tropes - stupid scientist. Yes not all of them are scientists, and yes the Shimmer is making them add weird. but it's still annoying. Although not annoying as the Cloverfield Paradox.
They specifically said they sent drones and they specifically said nothing comes out.
And they specifically say that no radio or video gets transmitted out because of the "prism effect".
Watched it last night, really enjoyed it but I think I need to rewatch to absorb it all.
Yea this really bugged me, the shitty compressed sound really was an injustice to the film. I'd have waited for the UHD if there were any guarantees that it would be released any time soon.
Did the bear remind anyone else of Catching Fire with the Mockinjays that are mimicking the contestants loved ones being tortured? Honestly the YA movie might be more fucked up than this.
What are peoples consensus with the ending?
The way I came away with it was that they will both duplicate and duplicate until the 'cancer' that they have become spreads and takes out humanity.
No idea if I've just made shit up but him all of a sudden becoming fine again and her asking if he was the clone, then embraces him gave me the Keymaster and Gatekeeper vibe.
The way I came away with it was that they will both duplicate and duplicate until the 'cancer' that they have become spreads and takes out humanity.
No idea if I've just made shit up but him all of a sudden becoming fine again and her asking if he was the clone, then embraces him gave me the Keymaster and Gatekeeper vibe.
Fantastic movie. Not as good as Ex Machina but still very strong. A great mix between classic Sci-Fi-Horror (Alien, Bodysnatchers, The Thing ...) and avant-garde-cinema.
I like a movie that shows me something that I've never seen before. This one had a lot of that.
I wish I had seen it in theaters. I kind of feel like I missed a lot of the suspense watching it at home.
I wish I had seen it in theaters. I kind of feel like I missed a lot of the suspense watching it at home.
I'm in the same boat as you. I found Ex Machina slicker, more refined, but Annihilation was more ambitious.
i agree, the scene changed the movie from "this is good movie" to "this is amazing movie" for me.
Only thing I didn't like about this, was the scene when Ventress evaporated. Would've been cooler if the effect was her vomiting up a liquid or something that had the shimmering effect, like oil or something. The shooting beams felt a bit too Indiana Jones and Marvel.
Fucking loved it overall though. Made me want a game about it. A roguelite game about getting deeper into the shimmer.
Fucking loved it overall though. Made me want a game about it. A roguelite game about getting deeper into the shimmer.
There is a text adventure, originally made to promote the books.
Seen this last night, cool movie, very trippy, not very realistic to send the team in that they did when like what? 4 black op teams had gone in before?...but I suppose that was ventress not thinking clearly or rationally since she was sick to begin with.
wtf did i just watch?
i dont understand anything about the ending, can someone explain in detail.
Also i prefer Ex Machina over this.
i dont understand anything about the ending, can someone explain in detail.
Also i prefer Ex Machina over this.
this movie really struck with me. I really found Ex Machina slow, unispired and painfully obvious and without any stakes...
But this... my god this is on a whole new level. The themes explored, visual, situations, the tension, the composition of so many glorious shots... Hard to walk out of this one unmoved
But this... my god this is on a whole new level. The themes explored, visual, situations, the tension, the composition of so many glorious shots... Hard to walk out of this one unmoved
The Shimmer was changing the world around it but also being changed by it. When the Mimic copied Lena it also copied her self destructive properties that had been a theme throughout the film.
So when Lena set the mimic on fire, it self destructed much like Lena had.
And at the very end when Kane said he wasn't the same person and we saw the shimmer in Lena's eyes, we can see they're the same people on the outside but we know inside they're forever changed. Much like their trauma (flashbacks of infidelity) and how it had affected and changed them.
And questions: are they still the same person if they're a clone? Are they still the same person if their entire structure has been re-written but their thoughts remain?
So when Lena set the mimic on fire, it self destructed much like Lena had.
And at the very end when Kane said he wasn't the same person and we saw the shimmer in Lena's eyes, we can see they're the same people on the outside but we know inside they're forever changed. Much like their trauma (flashbacks of infidelity) and how it had affected and changed them.
And questions: are they still the same person if they're a clone? Are they still the same person if their entire structure has been re-written but their thoughts remain?
There's more to it, and it's been explained better/in more detail earlier ITT, but that's the gist (at least how I took it).
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Watched it yesterday. Pretty cool I liked it. I didn't understand how Portman ends up being a duplicate of the alien entity. Anyone care to explain?
OP
OP
She doesn't. Remember her looking at her blood in the microscope and seeing her cells starting to be altered by the Shimmer? She was changed, Ship of Theseus-esque.
Watched it on a whim because someone made a thread here about a decent horror film and...wow. Not quite horror, and not what I expected, but thoroughly enjoyable. The ending was a bit mmmmm for impact, but thought provoking enough. I adored the bear and that uber unsettling 'copy' scene with Lena. Can't imagine how Kane's copy and Lena (Key and Lock?) are supposed to get out of quarantine, though (unless the copy and her own blood voodoo perfected outside of the shimmer?). And agree with your interpretation, Twentieth.
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I got more Stalker (movie or game I guess) than TLOU.
People who enjoyed this should definitely watch Stalker.
People who enjoyed this should definitely watch Stalker.
Yikes @ Interstellar being #3.
Wait... Interstellar ABOVE Blade Runner: 2049? Seek help, bro and/or sis.
It should be mentioned that Stalker is far more surreal, obtuse and impenetrable film than Annihilation by a large margin. Annihilation looks like a summer blockbuster movie in comparison to Stalker which is a meditative journey that almost borders on a tone poem. I consider it an absolute masterpiece of cinema and a work of art but people should just beware of what they will be getting into as its not an easy film to digest.
The ending left me wondering a bit. I wasn't sure if I understood what happened, but quickly checking this thread I think I did. But I guess I fail at connecting all the pieces because I don't feel very satisfied by it. I did like the film very much though.
Edit: Oh, there's a "details you missed" video on the previous page. I think I'll check that.
Edit 2: Well that was bunch of nothing.
Yeeep. And this movie could use that kind of free marketing and praise. Or even more it would deserve it. I actually thought about the new Ghostbusters while watching this, with the shot from behind when they are walking to the shimmer with their gear on. And it reminded me of the controversy surrounding that movie.
Edit: Oh, there's a "details you missed" video on the previous page. I think I'll check that.
Edit 2: Well that was bunch of nothing.
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It's been around for awhile, they seem to ran out of doing the military option since no one ever came back out
I fucking loved this... it's weird, it's creepy, it's beautiful, it's diverse with a phenomenal cast.
On a side note on representation: When Lena first meets Anya (side note her hairstyle was amazing) I looked at Anya and said to myself "fuck you know this is a character that could easily be a gay, like come on writer/director make this a supporting character who just happens to be gay, don't dwell on it but she's just the perfect character to just write in some queer representation"... and I am so used to not getting it I was already judging the creative team for failing... and then 3 minutes later she makes a pass at Lena as a means of starting the conversation about them going into the shimmer.... As small as that moment is I knew the movie was in sync with me on some level XD
But seeing like all these women just doing their thing without a major attention being made about it being an all women team was also inspiring.
I think what struck me most was that there was no villain in the picture and yet this movie was quite literally about the potential end of modern life on Earth... Yet it was not about the end of life... just what we'd define through our perspective of human existence and history. There was something zen about the idea that the shimmer was going to just spread and remix all life into something new, not because of some desire or drive, or evil plot but just because that's what that meteorite was going to do. Not different then the ones that potentially jump started Earth's life to begin with. It wasn't the end but a new beginning. We'd call it Annihilation because we define existence around what we know and the end of what all that we categorized is terrifying. At the same time there was no animus in the shimmer, no villainous plot, no attack, no drive or goal or want, it was just simply existing, the same way we are, and any violence came from interacting with our life forms, with the violent instincts of our existing planetary life, be it animal or human. At times I almost found myself feeling ok about the shimmer taking over, it offers the planet and life a fresh start and frankly it's far less of an "Annihilation" than what human beings are likely going to do via nuclear war, man made global warming, the destruction of our ozone layer and the depletion of our natural resources.
Actually to me the dread, came in not with the idea of the shimmer wholesale taking over and remixing life to start anew... but with it being so human by the end, in two bodies, that will likely spread and destroy humanity while maintaining human structure and thought, it will kill us and be us. It is another form of Annihilation but a slow and invisible one. The idea I got from the end is that Lena is dead on some level but her form will continue to live, continue to act and be human, and that this could theoretically spread to everyone else until the shimmer people essentially overtake the human race but continue to be the human race... killing us twice as they take over our world and our destructive direction that is bound to kill us anew and the planet with it. At least with the shimmer the planet would have replenished.
Oh so glad someone else thought this. As you can see above this is definitely my take to... that's Annihilation.... Destroying the shimmer just changed the form and means of it.
On a side note on representation: When Lena first meets Anya (side note her hairstyle was amazing) I looked at Anya and said to myself "fuck you know this is a character that could easily be a gay, like come on writer/director make this a supporting character who just happens to be gay, don't dwell on it but she's just the perfect character to just write in some queer representation"... and I am so used to not getting it I was already judging the creative team for failing... and then 3 minutes later she makes a pass at Lena as a means of starting the conversation about them going into the shimmer.... As small as that moment is I knew the movie was in sync with me on some level XD
But seeing like all these women just doing their thing without a major attention being made about it being an all women team was also inspiring.
I think what struck me most was that there was no villain in the picture and yet this movie was quite literally about the potential end of modern life on Earth... Yet it was not about the end of life... just what we'd define through our perspective of human existence and history. There was something zen about the idea that the shimmer was going to just spread and remix all life into something new, not because of some desire or drive, or evil plot but just because that's what that meteorite was going to do. Not different then the ones that potentially jump started Earth's life to begin with. It wasn't the end but a new beginning. We'd call it Annihilation because we define existence around what we know and the end of what all that we categorized is terrifying. At the same time there was no animus in the shimmer, no villainous plot, no attack, no drive or goal or want, it was just simply existing, the same way we are, and any violence came from interacting with our life forms, with the violent instincts of our existing planetary life, be it animal or human. At times I almost found myself feeling ok about the shimmer taking over, it offers the planet and life a fresh start and frankly it's far less of an "Annihilation" than what human beings are likely going to do via nuclear war, man made global warming, the destruction of our ozone layer and the depletion of our natural resources.
Actually to me the dread, came in not with the idea of the shimmer wholesale taking over and remixing life to start anew... but with it being so human by the end, in two bodies, that will likely spread and destroy humanity while maintaining human structure and thought, it will kill us and be us. It is another form of Annihilation but a slow and invisible one. The idea I got from the end is that Lena is dead on some level but her form will continue to live, continue to act and be human, and that this could theoretically spread to everyone else until the shimmer people essentially overtake the human race but continue to be the human race... killing us twice as they take over our world and our destructive direction that is bound to kill us anew and the planet with it. At least with the shimmer the planet would have replenished.
Oh so glad someone else thought this. As you can see above this is definitely my take to... that's Annihilation.... Destroying the shimmer just changed the form and means of it.
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It changed a LOT from the book (as I'm sure others have pointed out), for the most part I was fine with it but the ending was silly and the lack of the inverted lighthouse and the priest-monster therein was a bummer (since I loved that part of the story). They definitely tried to make it more of a personal story with a nice wrap-it-all-up ending to better fit the usual audience, which is a shame. The constant explanations of what's happening ("alien", "refracting", etc.) were also clearly trying to simplify stuff, whereas the novel left things a LOT more open to interpretation and/or mystery (it's much more "Lovecraftian", there's even a cult involved in the 3rd book).
Some of the art design was beautiful though, it's just really sad we didn't get to see "the crawler" rendered in that style. I feel like I would have probably liked it more if I hadn't read the books, but the changes in tone, plot, and focus all seemed to be for the sake of making it a more standard sci-fi movie. I really loved the book (although 2&3 were mostly terrible, stop after the first if you read them), so I'm pretty let down. But again, very pretty and a competent movie on its own.
Some of the art design was beautiful though, it's just really sad we didn't get to see "the crawler" rendered in that style. I feel like I would have probably liked it more if I hadn't read the books, but the changes in tone, plot, and focus all seemed to be for the sake of making it a more standard sci-fi movie. I really loved the book (although 2&3 were mostly terrible, stop after the first if you read them), so I'm pretty let down. But again, very pretty and a competent movie on its own.
I think what I like about these is that while I disagree entirely I can see why folks would be drawn to interpreting it it that way. It's examining a completely foreign essence (personally I woudn't even call it a being) from a very human construct. As in you're needing a why, a conscious why... so you interpret the being as being an active agent... with conscious goals and desires and motives. Ie: It didn't crash, it landed, and a need to believe it is in itself acting like a scientist of sorts. That you feel drawn to the idea that it must be a conscious being with intentions rather than just say simply a force is fascinating to me, because I was drawn to it from the exact opposite. That this wasn't even necessarily a life form, that it was far me a force of nature but an intergalactic nature, that you can't look at is as having human concepts like: thought, drive, goals, plans, desires... no on its own anyway
I saw it as it could go both ways, I mean we saw very abnormal growths all over with the plans on the walls and stuff so it clearly influenced how plants grow so a human could be given plant properties and plants human properties and the results could sometimes end up identical regardless of their initial state.
Fascinating.... for book lovers I'm sure it's disappointing but for me reading these changes I can't help but be glad some were made. I wouldn't have liked an entity, I liked that here whatever it is feels, like I've said before, more of a force than a being.
even the equipped military people were technically under equipped. So why not send whoever that wants to go in, in. Also would explain why the psychologist was leading it all. Anyone else general wise would have just left to do something more useful
This is one of the best end of the world movies I have seen recently. I took the ending as the alien burning not because phosphorous was actually destructive but rather it mimicked Lena's mind, who herself yearned for self destruction. In the end all the struggle against the alien was all for naught because Lena and her husband have been both reborn into something else.
i'd say the refraction lead to the multiple plants growing from the same branch. The Flower People before could easily be those plants were attacking them at one point like the bear mimicking
I don't think attacking is the right word...
I still think human structure imprinted on some plants and plants imprinted on Josie.
It's funny to me outside the bear and gator (earth creatures, mutated yes but still acting like their original earth forms) I don't think of anything that happened in this film as violence or attacks.
i see it as like the end mirror clone. Maybe the military guys attacked the plants, cutting them to get through the forest or swampy area and it was a response.
Each to their own...
I don't think the shimmer had thoughts or feelings or motives of violence... bits of it that merged with conscious beings perhaps started to (hence the confusion of the bear and Kane)...
The mirror clone for example wasn't trying to stop her it was merely just doing what she was doing so when Lena touched the door, it touched the door causing it close close when Lena pressed up against the door it pressed up against Lena completely oblivious that it was crashing her.
Eh I find this even overly harsh.
It's not a disease, the planet wouldn't die if the shimmer took over it'd just be reshaped.. one some level arguably saved. That's the horror of the finale for me, the shimmer will take over but it will just be us, rather than be something new it'll just continue our march to self annihilation.