Babylon A.D. Movie
| Resolution | Size | Download | ||
|
1920x820 | 7879.04 MiB | 1080p | |
|
1280x544 | 4478.89 MiB | 720p | |
|
640x272 | 699.2 MiB | divx | |
|
320x144 | 363.86 MiB | ipod | |
Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
Veteran-turned-mercenary Thoorop takes the high-risk job of escorting a woman from Russia to America. Little does he know that she is host to an organism that a cult wants to harvest in order to produce a genetically modified Messiah.
| Vin Diesel | Toorop |
| Michelle Yeoh | Sister Rebecca |
| Mélanie Thierry | Aurora |
| Gérard Depardieu | Gorsky |
| Charlotte Rampling | Neolite Priestess |
| Lambert Wilson | Dr. Arthur Darquandier |
| Mark Strong | Finn |
| Jérôme Le Banner | |
| Chris Astoyan | Joseph |
| Abraham Belaga | |
| Radek Bruna | Karl |
| Justin Rodgers Hall | Zeeke |
| Mathieu Kassovitz |
5.30 out of 10 (7550 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Terrible... Wasted time watching it...
posted on 28 Aug 2009I hate to say it... but this movie was terrible. Let me start off with this. You can't squeeze a story line that should be as long as Lord of the Rings into 1 hour and 30 minutes, its impossible to try to explain what the heck is going on. When they made this movie, thats what they did. Half of the time, you have no clue what the heck is going on. When you start to figure out what is happening, the movie is over...The woman he is trying to bring to the USA is a mix between a man and a computer... Then we find out the daughter is pregnant with twins... But she is still a virgin that her mom is trying to use to say she is the next virgin mother...I honestly have no clue what the heck I just watched, but will try to tell everyone I know to avoid this cheap, pathetic, terrible movie...Babylon A.D. = Failure
Great movie!
posted on 28 Aug 2009I thought this movie was pretty good. The story line was pretty good, but it didn't give too good of a look into toorop's life, which would have been better. But overall this movie is worth a watch.I think the movie is an 8/10 but that's just my thought's. In my opinion, it would be worth the 60 bucks or so to purchase it.I thought the ending wasn't the best, because of....well you'll see for yourself :p No spoilers in this :)It seemed a bit like XXX to me. Other then that. The move was superb, and I can see myself watching it maybe a 3rd or 4th time.P.S Does anyone have any clear pictures of the tattoo on his left forearm? like front and back pictures, I'd like to get it :)
muddled story ruins sci-fi adventure
posted on 26 Aug 2009Let's start at the end. Direct discussion of the point of the whole story could hardly be a spoiler, since the final success or failure f this point is left for readers to discover, if they are still interested. If fact, if the film makers had made the point explicit at th very beginning, they would have made a much better movie. But to demonstrate how they have subverted the best interests of the film, here are three comments from three recent reviewers expressing confusion as to the identity of the woman at the core of the story: "The virus they thought the girl might have was never explained. Beyond that it made her some kinda bomb, maybe... But wouldn't they be afraid of catching it?" - dkpedigo."What he does not know, but soon learns is the knowledge the girl may be a sleeper threat to him, his boss and to those who don't want the girl to live after she arrives in America." - thinker1691."According to the film, the Neolites needed Aurora intact so they could establish their religion by showing that one of their own had twin virgin births." - bnvrohm.I actually ran through the end of this film three times before I finally got it: A virus is devastating North America and Aurora is a test-tube baby genetically designed to produce a race of superhumans who can survive the virus (by healing very rapidly) and reproduce without sex (which has left Aurora a side-effect of intense empathy). Consequently, the battle between the two scientists who effectively designed her is one of control, neither of them wants her dead, no matter what else they feel for her or what other use they may have for her. The former point needs explaining which never occurs in the film, and the latter point is senselessly obscured by the intense violence of the last major gun battle. And the decision to make both points mysterious has led to a conclusion that is confusing and unsatisfying, both intellectually and emotionally. I won't tell you exactly what happens, that would spoil it; but I suggest that after you've seen it you'll wonder if you care.That said, the film is not a total loss as cynical sci-fi action film. Diesal actually gives a good performance here. There are some exciting action set-pieces, the dramatic and satiric set-pieces are occasionally intriguing, and the world of Babylon AD may be unpleasant but it is fully realized, which is the first demand for any sci-fi film.But there's no doubt the story needed much more thought and better control than we see here. This journey should be leading somewhere, but when we get there, we wonder why we bothered.
Great movie!
posted on 22 Aug 2009I's really weird to see so many negative responses to this film. I was enjoying every minute of it from beginning to the end. It is usual situation when you're watching the movie which contains 3-4 key moments in which producers put almost all budget and somehow produced other parts just to fill the timeline, but it's not about this! Watching Babylon A.D. you watching the Film, not a mix produced from different scenes. Quality of the picture and sound is very good. Only annoying thing is a lot of classical music, which is absolutely unnecessary. And some things about Russian and Russians, being a native I found funny (like tattoo on wrist), anyway it happens often
Pretty good for a Vin Diesel movie.
posted on 20 Aug 2009Im surprised at all the negative comments on this movie its really not that bad. It's got good acting, a good story, and some good action scenes, though they would have been better if they didn't shake the camera around like they did in The Bourne Identity.This movie follows mercenary Toorop(Vin Diesel) who is hired by some ugly as sin fat Russian dude to take Aurora(Melaine Thierry) to America, Sister Rebeka(Michelle Yeoh) tags along. They Go from Russia all they way to New York and along the way action ensues and we are given glimpses at why Aurora is so special.Thing I liked most about this movie was the director's vision of the world a few decades from now. Russia is like it is today, An overcrowded crap hole that is a haven for gun runners and criminals except even crappier. The western world however enjoys Peace due to customs checking the genetic makeup of all immigrants to weed out the unwanted. New York is like it is today just with a lot more ads, even in the shower.Overall this was a pretty good movie and is definitely worth seeing. Oh and if you've been reading other reviews saying that the ending is horrible, don't worry it's decent at worst and it has a much better ending than most of the movies Hollywood craps out nowadays.
????
posted on 20 Aug 2009I don't even know where to begin.... i've been eagerly anticipating this movie because of the director (kassovitz, who has done some pretty good movies, go see hate if you haven't), and i really like michelle yeoh, charlotte rampling and Depardieu. Vin Diesel is a good action movie star, so i figured he should be OK in this one. The first half of the movie builds up anticipation, and is actually pretty good. I personally thought the fight sequences were good, and the storyline, up to that point, was entertaining. Besides Depardieu's comical appearance (what was he doing in this movie, his English is terrible, it's just not believable), all in all the first half is actually good. Then they get to NYC, and all hell breaks loose. And it really goes downhill from then on....Having not read the book, i'm left a bit speechless because i didn't understand the ending. The last quote by Diesel is just ridiculous. Ain't that a bitch? Ain't it a bitch i paid 10 euros to see a movie which could have been great, which looked great at first, but then left me completely disappointed by the end. I heard there was fighting between the director, the studios, and Vin Diesel. I don't know who won in the end, but i'm pretty sure important pieces of the movie were left in the cutting room. If the movie had tried to explain what was going on a bit better, filled in the blanks, this could have been really great. Melanie Thierry is decent in this movie, so is charlotte rampling, who's an amazing actress. If you've seen Gothika, you can expect something similar. A ridiculous ending. I'm actually upset because it had such great premise, but unfortunately doesn't deliver. If you're looking to be entertained, you can still go check it out, as long as you don't care leaving the cinema without understanding what the hell went on by the time the credits roll. If an uncut version of this movie comes out, then it will be worth watching, perhaps it will finally make sense. I'm giving it a 5 out of 10 because the first half is good. The second just doesn't deliver.
Le sigh...
posted on 20 Aug 2009I'm not much of a Vin Diesel fan, I'll be the first to admit. I will admit, that I enjoyed the first Fast/Furious movie and The Pacifier, as well as Triple X. He's exactly what you ask for in an action hero...but here, in this jumbled mess of a futuristic thriller, Diesel sinks his own vehicle with bland, unlikable, and just flat out detached performance.First off, Babylon begs three questions: 1) what did director Mathieu Kassovitz do to make the studio so mad, 2) what is Gerard Depardeau doing in this movie, and 3) what happened to Vin Diesel's career? I'll answer all of those. Except number 2. I have no idea what he was thinking.Director Kassovitz is certainly talented - there's no denying that. There are some moments where the film shines with beautiful shots, decent visuals, and some daring moves from the director of Gothika, but in the end, the editing process is so obviously influenced by the studio wanting to tone down the movie and keep it 'simple' that it really hurt the movie in the end, and it's very easy to see why the director is mad. If the movie has a director's cut, I'll give it another shot on DVD.Vin, Vin, Vin...what happened, buddy? Five years ago you were the KING of action, and now...ugh. Diesel needs the next Fast and Furious movie to be awesome...for his credibility's sake. Scratch that. He just needs it, okay? I really felt no attachment to his character in this, even though you're supposed to go on this transcontinental adventure with him and feel what he feels, that's totally impossible because Diesel allows no room to feel what he's thinking. Michelle Yeoh, always the bright spot of movies, is a healthy addition to the film, while Melanie Thierry is absolutely gorgeous (so no complaints here). Again, I have no idea what some people were thinking. *slaps Gerard Depardeau and Charlotte Rampling*The film is more of an apocalyptic thriller than an action thriller, and delves in to the realm of science fiction more than a few times. I especially liked Kassovitz's vision of a futuristic New York. Though not as scary as Francis Lawrence's vision in 'I Am Legend', it was still pretty dark, brooding, and intense. What action is in the movie is exciting. Though the snowmobile chase sort of came out of nowhere, it was still well done. It seems as if Vin has to have something like that in all of his films.All in all, Babylon A.D. serves as a great example as to why studios are losing their minds *glares at the people who made Disaster Movie*, and should just let the directors and actors do their jobs correctly. There's a longer cut of this movie, I'm sure of it, and that cut will have better action, more development, and more explanation for the seemingly mind boggling events in the film. If said longer cut comes out, I'll give it a chance, and you should too. My real meaning? Wait for the DVD if you're interested at least a little.
Review of "Babylon A.D."
posted on 18 Aug 2009Tag Line: Seeing movies so you don't have to."Babylon A.D." is a failure, but it's not the actors' fault. The problem is is certainly not Vin Diesel's failure. He gives an outstanding performance as Toorop, an Eastern European mercenary, banned as a terrorist from reentering his homeland of America. And it's not the fault of Melanie Thierry, who gives a touching turn as Aurora, a young woman raised in a convent in Mongolia. Michelle Yeoh plays Sister Rebeka, Aurora's guardian, and she kicks butt in her attempts to prevent the harsh outside world from influencing the young ward.No, the problem lies in the missing seventy minutes of film that were cut by the producers to fit the movie into an hour and a half, leaving the director to disown "Babylon A.D." The cuts aren't readily apparent until near the end of the ninety minutes, when the characters enter America. Then it's obvious that there are vast gaps in continuity, making for a shortened and confusing ending.The basic plot is a pilgrimage. Toorop is hired by a criminal leader to deliver Aurora, along with her bodyguard, from a convent run by the Neolites, a relatively new religious feminist movement. It turns out the Neolites want her for something she carries, but it's not exactly clear how that's going to make them an authentic religious movement. Supposedly, the miracle will legitimate them. Along the way, the trio, and occasional other character, must struggle with the perils of a near-future, somewhat dystopic world.It's a fairly logical projection of what's happening now. Former Soviet Union troops work with criminals, and a nuclear sub is used to ferry refugees across the Bering Street to America. The national boundaries are patrolled by unmanned robot planes, similar to ones we're already using in war zones. Passports are injected into people, presumably with some sort of biological marker, though it's unclear how that works.The world implies an interesting backstory that I'd like to hear more about. For instance, the only surviving tigers are cloned, which is a clue to the mystery of Aurora, I think. Generally the viewer here just has to run with the story and pick up the background details as he or she goes along, which is fine. Not everything needs to be explicit. However, some eventual explanation better than what we're given would have been nice.All the elements of a strong science-fiction movie are here. But once we get to America, things fall apart and the center cannot hold, apologies to Yeats. The criminal who hired Toorop gets into a confrontation with the Neolites. Why, I'm not exactly sure. I'm also not sure how Aurora can plausibly have what she's carrying, but a suspicious doctor might have a role in that.Then Toorup is saved by an amazing process that gets handwaved off. Finally, there is a quick confrontation that boils down to a disappointing car chase. The tempo of the last part of the movie moves much faster than the rest, making it clear that cuts were made. We are also given practically no closure with Aurora and her fate is left uncertain. I can't really recommend this movie in the theater. I would wait until it came out on DVD. Hopefully, it will have the missing elements filled in.
You can skip this movie if you like
posted on 12 Aug 2009The set of the movie has been made with perfection. It has good visual effects. How, the director should have remembered that one cannot make a movie consisting of guns and nothing else. This is one such perfect example of it. Sadly enough, the director has not been able to portray the cast, characters and the story exactly as he wanted it to be.I found it hard to understand the expressions of Vin Diesel in this movie. Melanie Thierry's (Aurora) acting seems artificial all the way. The only exception was Michelle Yeoh. Her acting and expressions are commendable.But then, I must say that you can skip this movie if you like.
SO bad I wanted to vomit
posted on 12 Aug 2009I also thought this movie was TERRIBLE. The acting was terrible, the plot was completely far-fetched as were all the "coincidental" action scenes that kept happening along the way to try and keep viewers entertained - for example when Vin Diesel's character gets to the Russian strip club/fight club to meet up with his "friend" it was SO predictable that he would end up in one of the fight cages for a chance to display his pathetic macho skills. Ugh. Half the movie's length was consumed by long, drawn-out takes of Aurora's pouting and irritating face... I got so sick of it.. that and her exaggerated exotic accent... I was bored and fidgety the whole time, have to agree with other raters that the movie felt A LOT longer than it actually was. If I had been alone I would have walked out within the first half hour... but my boyfriend was entertained by the action so I was stuck there watching it til the end!
there's a storm coming....
posted on 12 Aug 2009In the near future, Toorop is a mercenary who takes the job of escorting a woman named Aurora from Central Asia to New York. While he thinks this is just an ordinary mission, he gradually finds out that his guest is carrying twins that have the potential to become the next Messiahs - and everybody wants to get their hands on them..Babylon A.D, or how 20th Century Fox stole my movie, hacked to bits, and released it to cater for the stupid young demographic who will only watch it for the explosions and effects.this movie is average thanks to the movie studio, otherwise, it's pure fromage of the highest order. Both Diesel and Yeoh have amazingly funny moments of self realisation, when spurting out the ridiculous script and ruining around trying to make this look as serious as Children of men.the rest of the cast are really overacting too. Depardiu looks absolutely ridiculous as the crime lord, who looks more like something out of the hitch hikers guide to the galaxy rather than an intimidating force. Rampling is beyond over acting in her scenes and is really difficult to digest, and Lambert Wilson is just re-hashing his Matrix role, and explains the plot of the film to Diesel.it's visually stunning, with some decent effects and great cinematography, it's just a shame that the studio decided to mess around with the film, because it could have been something. instead it's just another forgettable film from the cannon of Diesel, who once showed so much promise as becoming the next 'action star'
Actually, not all that bad
posted on 12 Aug 2009Considering the problems reported with this production I thought the film wasn't all that bad. Sure, some of the dialogue was hokey, but I'd like to see a director's cut. That way perhaps it might help support the director's claims, or it might suggest otherwise. The location's were great and some of the ideas were interesting. When will studio knobs learn stop meddling. Unless there are really serious and legitimate problems they should stay the hell out of the director's way. The IMDb says the budget for this film was $60 million. Interfering has helped ensure that it's unlikely to break even. Maybe on DVD it might. I'd watch a sequel, provided Vin is in it.
Not very entertaining
posted on 10 Aug 2009Most bad movies can eke out some dignity by at least looking like ambitious failures. Then there are some movies like "Babylon A.D." that are just too much of a mess and destined to be failures.This movie did not have much hope from the get go, what with its director Mathieu Kassovitz publicly distancing and disowning the film, saying the studio interfered too much and made too many changes in the final cut.It would not be foolhardy to expect at least a somewhat entertaining movie if it stars Vin Diesel. Add to that his co-stars the Asian actress Michelle Yeoh, French actor Gerard Depardieu and the veteran British actress Charlotte Rampling, the director actually has some very fine actors to work with. But they are all wasted here and almost nothing seems to be going right for this movie.The script is weak and not clear in explaining the mystery of the all important young woman. The actors don't have enough of a background story or a decent script or some characterisation to work with. The movie starts off strong but towards the conclusion just peters out into a muddle. The ending is one of the most disappointing of any action movie in recent memory and very clearly seems tacked on.Diesel is Toorop, a mercenary who is hired by a Russian mobster Gorsky (Depardieu) to smuggle the young woman Aurura (Melanie Thierry) accompanied by her caretaker Sister Rebecca (Yeoh).The trio is chased by some army guys who seem to be hired by the girl's father. But her mother also wants her and has some people hunting for her too. The movie never clearly explains what makes the girl so special and a bit after the halfway point you don't really care.The role of Gorsky is one of the most wasted and humiliating for an actor of Depardieu's stature. Rampling, who has starred in some classic movies like "The Verdict", plays nothing more than just a caricature here. Yeoh, with her radiance, has the power to light up any drab role given, but here the weight of the inanity seems almost too bleak for even her to shine through.The director, although having made his displeasure with the studios clear, doesn't seem to give us anything to cheer for him in the parts where he might have been given control. This movie suffers from much more than studio interference. It does at places try to take on some grander themes like global warming or the downside of globalisation in the future. But it doesn't dig deeper and uses them only as background detail.The action sequences indicate quite a bit of money spent but they are too few and coupled with the lack of empathy we feel for the characters, they sadly fall short. The movie has supposedly been shortened considerably by the studio. So for those looking for a light, brisk action movie which doesn't make too many demands on the brain, "Babylon A.D" just might be satisfactory.
What's the point ? KASSOVITZ FIND A GOOD SCRIPT NEXT TIME
posted on 10 Aug 2009I've just seen Babylon AD in Paris and i must say this is a terrible and disappointing movie and only because of the screenplay. I must say french director Mathieu Kassovitz has done a very decent job by directing the movie. The actors are good, the production design is good and even the special effects are quite stunning. But how did you miss the most important key element in a movie: The screenplay! The reaction that i had at the end of the film was: What ? That's it ? What's the point ? Where is the deep reflexion that you must find in a good Sci FI movie ?Please give to Kassovitz a very good script because i know he can do a great film. And he is one the few french director who can direct a movie as the American does when they achieve greatness. I know he can do better. He must !
Find the longer cut!
posted on 10 Aug 2009I fortunately watched Babylon A.D. first from the net and it seems it was (unfortunately) the wiser thing to do because it was the longer cut! Babylon A.D. is not a bad movie even with the 90 minute version but it lacks heavily what the longer cut offers. I was mostly disappointed (therefore rating 6 which would've been 8++ something otherwise) about the ending of the shorter version which really sucks if you have seen the other one (i did think that here in Europe they would automatically release the 160 min version but no..). Money wasted on that 'cos I was not expecting this kind of cut.Nevertheless I still enjoyed the plot, the visuals and the very stylized world what this movie brought to the table. The action scenes were also enjoyable. Hopefully Hopefully the better version will be released on DVD! Shame on you studios for not giving this movie the respect it deserves!
Too many questions which will make you enjoy more
posted on 06 Aug 2009Many people complained of bad editing and poor story telling. I agree. Still the movie has some potential. Basically this is a futuristic story is one of Toorop who must send a woman, Aurora from a Convent in Russia to America to help save her, during these Post Apocalyptic times. He's is in essence a "delivery boy" to send this "package" to the High Priestess. However things will not go as planned and this is where the entire story line kills itself. Therefore because of these missing parts I have decided that they added a small narration by Toorop in the end will really help, wrap things out without millions of dollars more being spent on special effects. It's all about good story telling. However, I need to answer some uneasy questions of the movie during the watching, without giving away to the real spoilers. Actually it's hard to know about the ending since this really had no ending at all. Whatever ending is mentioned here is my version of the ending and my own spoiler, just to make sure I enjoy it and just pretend THIS IS the ending. But first the annoying bothering questions the movie raised: Why is the Dad who created her is a "bad man"? Why does the high priestess needs her? What's so important about the necessity of the virgin birth? What is so significant about this woman that the "Bad man" needs to save to give to the high priestess? What's so significant about Aurora of her twin birth anyway? What so significant about Aurora herself? And why does Toorop so obedient to her anyway? What's the benefit? He's a hard man to really allow someone to control him? The story raises too many unanswered questions and I will at least try to answer some of this. Dad who is a "bad man", was initially created as an eugenics program of a woman with such computing powers (whiz kid) that as well as genetic predisposition of a "virgin birth" through genetic modification. A stunt the high priestess hopes to show to her followers with her "fake religion" and fake miracles. It's all about money. What happened is the "bad man" who created her (the real biological dad) and the high priestess, the real biological mom) was something unexpected of this eugenics program that a spiritual soul possessed her (touched by God) this woman has a gift to know the End of Human species as we know it and is only a couple of years away, and she possesses the answer to save humanity from this ultimate destruction. This fact can be re-dubbed in the scenes where Toorop is being revived after his "death", explaining this fine points. The ultimate end of human species or the end of civilization can be that our solar system is in fact a binary system (our solar system is binary, it has two sun with another orbiting sun due to come soon as it makes a pass much like Haley's comet - true story - Nibiru or Planet X) will collide directly the planet earth, a fact the military and the elite kept a secret (but their plans of safe zone is all wrong and only the spiritual can lead to saving the humanity instead) and a key location away from the storm is necessary to guide her own followers of wisdom to the land where people will be saved from this destruction. Military and scientist are completely wrong. Such feat that the twins will have to do to save the human civilization. Meanwhile, the high priestess doesn't care about this revelation (she thinks it's her active imagination) and seek to use her anyway, knowing the ultimate answer Aurora knew she and her twin birth will die, giving human extinction a mathematical certainty. Hopefully these parts can be re-dubbed into a narration, significantly improving the story line. It comes a time that it's people like us that have to re-dubbed the movie to make the movie more enjoyable, otherwise I end up scratching my head and in case I forget, may I refer to myself here to remind me how good the movie is if these missing parts are filled in!
Need nuke, will travel
posted on 31 Jul 2009Most reviewers hated "Babylon A.D.". I think people expect too much from this kind of movie. Vin Diesel is a cool cat if I ever saw one, and as a true actors' director, Matthieu Kassovitz knows how to work him. Diesel's character Toorop has few illusions (and no first name) left when oligarch Gorsky (Gérard Depardieu, hilarious) calls on him to save the world one girl at a time, and perhaps free himself in the process. Bond girl Michelle Yeoh, although under-leveraged, is a smart choice as a naughty nun equally well-versed in divine revelations and martial arts. The setting moves from the wild east to the free west and packs more "wow" moments than most Emmerich or Petersen productions, at perhaps one tenth the budget. The Coke Zero product placement is pretty thick, but if that's what it takes to get this kind of movie made, that's fine with me. The picture is based on a comic book and has the potential for a great-looking computer game (and a sequel or two). Favorite scene: Toorop feasting on home-cooked game and fine wine in his Serbian lair. If only they'd let the man eat his dinner in peace.
a disorganized and depressingly dull film that stops instead of ends and overstays its welcome...and the director, Mathieu Kassovitz, is not to be blamed
posted on 31 Jul 2009Ever since the financial failure of Heaven's Gate in 1980, it has been exceedingly rare in Hollywood for a director to be given complete control over his movie. At least in terms of financial support. Sometimes that can be compromising on how good the film will turn out since the director is not free to expand his creativity and vision as far as he wants to. But he is usually given the free space to use his vision as much as his budget will allow. But when he studio takes absolute control of the film, down to the creative aspects, and pretty much demotes the director simply standing by and watching, then the film is destined to be a travesty. And that is what happened with Mathieu Kassovitz's Babylon A.D.This is a very messy and depressingly dull movie. Vin Diesel plays the stereotypical, pessimistic future man when the world's been reduced to a post-apocalyptic scenario. You know, big muscles, sleeps with a gun in his hand, can kill a dozen armed men single-handed in thirty seconds, we've seen it all before. In this film, he also plays a kind of mercenary/delivery boy who is hired to escort a martial artist nun or something played by Michelle Yeoh and her prominent orphan companion played by Mélanie Thierry to America for special treatment for the latter of the two as Diesel soon begins to understand when she shows signs of supernatural capacities. Along the way, they duke it out with bland, impersonal baddies and keep moving along until ultimately the movie comes to a screeching, unexpected halt which we soon learn is very poor excuse for an ending.Babylon A.D. does not have a satisfying conclusion. It doesn't end, it just stops cold with material beforehand that indicated a further fifteen to twenty minutes of running time. Ironically enough, though, this freeze of an ending is welcome as even the movie's brief one-point-five-hour running time seems mercilessly slow and ponderous.Vin Diesel is great in this film. He is very great in this film. He got his character right, even though the material he was given to work with was flat out dull and uninteresting. He took that material and made an interesting leading character of it, but even he can't save the film. And what's worse, even the action scenes are not particularly great. Oftentimes things are moving by at such a pace and the camera swings around with the same dizziness of Cloverfield (2008) that actions are hard to make out. And this may be a vain attempt to cover up how poorly designed the action scenes are. Aside from Diesel, we have no interesting characters so that in between the action sequences, the movie bogs down even further to the point where it becomes an overly tedious bore. Any worse? Yes. The movie also begins to transform about halfway through into a sappy love story between two characters who are at a two-to-one ratio in terms of their age and it shows.This is a bad film. And oftentimes, because he is given the creative control, it is oftentimes the director's fault on whether a movie is good or bad. But this time, Mathieu Kassovitz is not at fault. He was given so little control over his movie, like I mentioned earlier, that he pretty much just sat in his chair while the studio made the film. He'd filmed over an hour's worth more of footage and that was cut down and called the final product a "bad episode of "24" (2001). So, no, Babylon A.D. is nothing for him to be proud of and he acknowledges that. This is what happens when an artist's vision is compromised completely. You have a disaster on your hands.
This movie was great
posted on 29 Jul 2009I don't see how people give this movie less than 7 stars, or even how someone could give this 3 stars. Simply because you don't understand the movie and you can't figure it out, doesn't mean the actors are bad and things happened for no reason.This has to be one of the best futuristic movies I've ever seen, aside from The Fifth Element. It's a great story, it keeps you interested, nothing is just "thrown in" for no reason, and this movie has a replay value I have yet to encounter with almost any other movie.The fact that this is based in the future, and yet all the technology isn't insanely overdeveloped only to keep attention makes this movie all the better. They don't exaggerate everything to make it interesting, and it stays realistic and keeps you hooked. Definitely worth watching.
Excellent movie in it's genre
posted on 30 Aug 2009I thought this was an excellent movie, be it in it's own genre (action). The scenery is absolutely awesome, there's a lot of attention to detail in everything you see, all visual aspects of the movie are really taken care off. Furthermore, it has everything an action-movie of this kind should have: spectacular explosions, wild chases, tough one-liners and a beautiful girl, even if it's not a glossy magazine model. Vin Diesel plays the part he plays in every one of his movies, the tough but kind guy who's tortured by his past. But he plays this role very well, so its certainly enjoyable. There's also the funny element ("A car will come and pick you up". A chopper drops a car on the ground, Diesel gets in and the chopper flies away with the car) that's not over the top, but not underplayed either. As in every action movie, the story represents nothing, it's merely a thin reason for showing off muscles, toughness and visual effects. It's the 13 in a dozen cliché of tough guy gets hired to deliver a girl to bad guy etc. The only disappointing aspect of the movie was the ending, i thought the ending was really silly. They should 've come up with something funkier.All in all, i really enjoyed it. It's not my genre, but i do appreciate watching one like this every now and then.