Post by Brad Nelson on Oct 3, 2022 6:42:49 GMT -8
I found Voyagers to be a surprisingly passable sci-fi thriller, although its rating is only 5.4 at IMDB.
Here's the synopsis at IMDB which misrepresents the movie:
Thirty yutes (10 years old or so?) are sent out on a multi-generation journey to start a new home. I don't remember if earth was in danger or if this was just a back-up plan for humanity. It really doesn't matter.
Volunteering to leave his own life behind in order to take care of, and be a stabilizing influence for, the yutes, Richard (Colin Farrell) comes along for the ride.
And if you want to pick it up from there and be surprised by the plot, read no further. But I think the problem yutes may be having with this movie is that it doesn't show them in a good light. In fact, this is the type of movie that should be shown to yutes in political science classes so that they understand the idea of laws, of check-and-balances, and of the danger of democracy wherein three wolves vote with two sheep to decide what to have for lunch.
Early in the movie, two yutes figure out that, as part of the program, they are drinking some drug (served as a blue fluid) that is intentionally making them docile. These two yutes stop drinking the blue fluid and soon discover they have all kinds of feelings and appetites that are new to them. There is a definite element of the snake in the Garden of Eden or paradise lost.
One of these yutes (Christopher) is more or less benevolent. The other one (Zac) is Joe Biden or B. Hussein Obama. The latter is a demagogue whose only interest is power and control. He spins lies (and commits other acts) to wrest power away from his former mate, Christopher, who had been voted the new leader. He has no other political platform than grievance and indulgence.
And I wonder if this turned off yutes who watched this, seeing Zac as the villain. Doesn't Zac represent most yutes today? This is sort of Lord of the Flies in space. But perhaps its real downfall is that, as one reviewer describes the movie, it is "highly intelligent and thought provoking."
I wouldn't get carried away with that kind of praise. But it isn't the usual "paranoia and madness in space" that most of these types of sci-fi b-films are. It is more on the intelligent and thoughtful side. The film is PG-13 and might actually have benefited if it had taken it to more of an R rating, given the emerging sexuality of these yutes. But I can't blame the filmmakers for restraint.
But there is one criticism that is completely fair: The build up to the movie was the best part. When it becomes "Lord of the Flies," it becomes cliche-ridden and predictable. Even so, it does manage to finally trudge its way through this to an ending that makes it more than just a mindless horror movie. And one reviewer at IMDB rightly points this out. But then he goes on to say something that I think is quite revealing:
Oh, no. It is not at all ludicrous to believe that a bunch of undisciplined yutes who have no guidance other than their own emotions would lapse into chaos and violence. For yutes who have obviously grown up on the stupid belief that "all people are basically good," this movie would likely be offensive to them. But I found the situation utterly believable.
Here's the synopsis at IMDB which misrepresents the movie:
A crew of astronauts on a multi-generational mission descend into paranoia and madness, not knowing what is real or not.
Thirty yutes (10 years old or so?) are sent out on a multi-generation journey to start a new home. I don't remember if earth was in danger or if this was just a back-up plan for humanity. It really doesn't matter.
Volunteering to leave his own life behind in order to take care of, and be a stabilizing influence for, the yutes, Richard (Colin Farrell) comes along for the ride.
And if you want to pick it up from there and be surprised by the plot, read no further. But I think the problem yutes may be having with this movie is that it doesn't show them in a good light. In fact, this is the type of movie that should be shown to yutes in political science classes so that they understand the idea of laws, of check-and-balances, and of the danger of democracy wherein three wolves vote with two sheep to decide what to have for lunch.
Early in the movie, two yutes figure out that, as part of the program, they are drinking some drug (served as a blue fluid) that is intentionally making them docile. These two yutes stop drinking the blue fluid and soon discover they have all kinds of feelings and appetites that are new to them. There is a definite element of the snake in the Garden of Eden or paradise lost.
One of these yutes (Christopher) is more or less benevolent. The other one (Zac) is Joe Biden or B. Hussein Obama. The latter is a demagogue whose only interest is power and control. He spins lies (and commits other acts) to wrest power away from his former mate, Christopher, who had been voted the new leader. He has no other political platform than grievance and indulgence.
And I wonder if this turned off yutes who watched this, seeing Zac as the villain. Doesn't Zac represent most yutes today? This is sort of Lord of the Flies in space. But perhaps its real downfall is that, as one reviewer describes the movie, it is "highly intelligent and thought provoking."
I wouldn't get carried away with that kind of praise. But it isn't the usual "paranoia and madness in space" that most of these types of sci-fi b-films are. It is more on the intelligent and thoughtful side. The film is PG-13 and might actually have benefited if it had taken it to more of an R rating, given the emerging sexuality of these yutes. But I can't blame the filmmakers for restraint.
But there is one criticism that is completely fair: The build up to the movie was the best part. When it becomes "Lord of the Flies," it becomes cliche-ridden and predictable. Even so, it does manage to finally trudge its way through this to an ending that makes it more than just a mindless horror movie. And one reviewer at IMDB rightly points this out. But then he goes on to say something that I think is quite revealing:
What really ticked me off here was the ignorance and the behavior of the adolescent characters in the movie. Seriously, they're stuck aboard a space vessel with nowhere to go, and they succumb to such behavior. No, it just seemed way to incomprehensible and ludicrous.
Oh, no. It is not at all ludicrous to believe that a bunch of undisciplined yutes who have no guidance other than their own emotions would lapse into chaos and violence. For yutes who have obviously grown up on the stupid belief that "all people are basically good," this movie would likely be offensive to them. But I found the situation utterly believable.