I just like seeing an empty Albert Street and Eden Park. Yes, yes, I’m from that part of the earth. The ‘last man on earth’ motif (without the vampire/zombies/whatever) was done ok, seen from my modern eyes for the first time. There could have been more drama between the three of them. Right now it is a bit meh.
This was very Australian and 1980s.
I’m a sucker for post-apocalyptic flicks, and in particular last-man-on-earth type scenarios, so I dug that part of the movie, although I was regularly going: “Uh…why is there power still going?” Power shuts off. “Oh, okay.” “Uh…why isn’t anything rotting?” All life (except for birds in the opening, apparently) is gone, not just humans. “Oh, okay.” Etc.
It’s definitely an almost ideal last-man-on-earth setup. No corpses. No decay. No radiation (except at the lab), no diseases running rampant, no zombies. Just abandoned civilization to deal with.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t real sold on the acting, and not just because I couldn’t understand Api sometimes. (That accent, man.) And some of the conflicts between the characters seemed ridiculously quick to start and defuse both. And the ending was pretty much bullshit.
Now I remember why I didn’t really remember anything after more than one person shows up.
Yeah. It’s all kinda structured that way:
first 30 minutes – one person, pretty cool “you are all alone” act
second 30 minutes – two people, not quite so cool “we are in love, let’s find others or what happened” act
third 30 minutes – three people, lame jealousy story
Wow. So finally, a couple weeks after I chose it, I finally got the chance to watch it late tonight. I’m so pleased to find that I still love it, after all these years.
Let me say that I was prepped to be disappointed. Tom made it pretty clear that it didn’t work for him, and our tastes are generally going to coincide, so I figured I’d be in for a chore. Thankfully that wasn’t the case.
As I watched it this time, I realized this was probably the first “last man on Earth” type film I had ever seen. I had precious little to go on in the post apocalyptic genre before I saw this film in a theater. Looking back, the only thing I can think of that makes an impression before this film would be Damnation Alley, and really all I can recall from that film is the cool vehicle and the swarm of cockroaches. So while other films have bested this one in the interim…I understand why this one looms large for me.
So many great little moments. I loved the moment when Zac and Joanne met. “It’s not real.” And then they hug. They hug. Like they’re old friends or something. This will happen again when they meet Api, and there’s something lovely about this. Simplistic and perhaps trite, yes, but lovely. Makes me think of Moon.
It has holes. The acting falls apart, and the love triangle gets weak, but overall it really works and it serves its budget well. Also, I love–absolutely love–when Api asks, “How long’s it been?” And Joanne answers, “About twenty minutes.”
Also, all this futzing about the poster being a spoiler is just silly. Really.
I’m so happy right now.
Okay Talisker. Go ahead and fire up the script again.
-xtien
“God. It’s so good to see someone.”
I have to admit that whatever my thoughts on the movie, I enjoyed reading Xtien’s take on it. :)
?
-Tom
P.S. See, she doesn’t have any pants on, so when she turns around, he sees her naked fanny under the apron and he goes to reach for it and spills hot coffee on his johnson!
!
-xtien
I’m just surprised that you of all people would take issue with the poster being a spoiler, much less dismiss it as a silly. And not just silly, but “silly. Really.”.
I guess you’d be okay with a Planet of the Apes poster that has the buried Statue of Liberty on the beach? Or maybe a Return of the Jedi poster that has one of those family photos you get at the mall of Anakin, Amidala, Luke, and Leia?
-Tom
P.S. See, she had served him breakfast in bed and so the coffee on the tray was really hot. And it got spilled when he lunged for her naked caboose. So, ha ha, he got burned. So funny, just like Three’s Company!
No, of course not (BTW…spoiler alert for those two films, heh). It’s just that I don’t see that poster as a spoiler. Really. I guess I can see how you would see it as a spoiler because of the cool image (an image, as I said, that got me into the theater). But it’s hardly analogous to the two films you joke postered.
Oh…and there’s this:
-xtien
“God may have just blinked.”
True, since both of those two films aren’t terrible.
If you see that poster of Quiet Earth before you see the movie, two things are going to happen. The first is that you’re going to expect some trippy Heinlein-esque world-hopping saga. You’re going to be disappointed on that front.
The second thing that will happen is you’re going to go through the movie knowing that at some point, someone goes to some alien world. You’re going to wonder if it’s a major plot point. But by the movie has played out, you’re going to be thinking, ‘What the heck, there’s no time for anyone to get to Venus or Alpha Centauri or whatever! What was with that poster?’ And then when Science-Man McScientist drives the truck into the Doo-Hickey Mysterious Device McGuffin Installation Thingie, you’re pretty sure, ‘Ah, well, I guess it’s going to teleport himself into the poster’. And you’re going to be right. And that fantastic shot is going to be no reveal at all.
And that’s pretty much what a spoiler is.
I can’t believe I’m having to explain this to you. It’s silly. Really. I feel like I don’t know you any more.
-Tom
P.S. See, he was so distracted by his sexual desire that he recklessly burned his own sex. Get it?
Oh. Snap.
-xtien
Oh, and neither of those two things happened to me, so I don’t see it as a spoiler. Certainly not of the order of the films you spoilerjokestered. Not even close. For me, and I recall this quite clearly, once I got into the film (first viewing, theater, seven-hundred years ago) I forgot about the ad art. I recall thinking something along the lines of, “Hmph. That ad art that got me in here, I guess that was just some artist’s concept for the ad, because this film certainly doesn’t exist in that world.” Then I went on getting lost in the film, and when the image showed up at the end I was surprised and reminded of what brought me there in the first place. It was a great little moment.
Now I can see that if you can’t get lost in this film, and you think it is…what was your word…terrible…then the image on the poster would be distracting in the way you mentioned. But you didn’t care for the film anyway so that’s the problem. Not the poster. Actually you might as well complain about the fact that the poster lists other cast members. That might actually be a valid complaint, now that I think of it.
You have such weird ideas about what is and isn’t a reveal anyway. I don’t even know how to talk to you.
-xtien
“You tell lies.”
I’m going to end your little lover’s spat by picking a movie and making SURE that it’s terrible. Like Solar Crisis. Which I paid money to see in a theater on opening night as a college student, on the recommendation of a friend… whose recommendations we never, ever used again.
Just kidding. I really wouldn’t wish that movie on the Movie Club. Seriously, I’m an attention whore… I want to pick something people will (hopefully) actually watch.
I’m going to side with Mr Murawski on this poster score. I certainly felt betrayed when the movie ended on that image, but not because I’d seen it before. My beef was that the image is attractive nonsense, a failure to answer the question of “and then what happens?” without building any reasonable alternatives in the watcher’s mind.
But a spoiler? No. I wasn’t watching the movie expecting a payoff on the poster image. The imagery immediately classified itself to me like those trippy 50s scifi paperbacks I’d buy for 12.5 cents in the Sunshine Used Books store. Often dual-sided, two stories in one! A lot of that stuff was pretty loosely based on the content of the book, and not trustworthy as “representational” art.
Baren, I’m sure you’re right about the callback to sci-fi novel covers. But did a lot of movies do that sort of thing? I don’t really recall. By the way, I wouldn’t wish Gentlemen Broncos on anyone, but it’s got a fantastic opening credit sequence that’s an homage to those old sci-fi novels. Truly magical stuff, followed by an absolutely godawful movie.
So it’s not a spoiler if it doesn’t bother you personally? That’s a weird way to look at it.
Most people would agree that tipping your hand about a major narrative plot point – particularly if it’s the resolution of your story – is a spoiler. I was indeed joking by comparing it to twisty reveals like Return of the Jedi, but not by much.
Now I can see that if you can’t get lost in this film, and you think it is…what was your word…terrible…then the image on the poster would be distracting in the way you mentioned. But you didn’t care for the film anyway so that’s the problem. Not the poster.
Please. I assure you that if your poster contains the last shot of your film, regardless of whether I like the movie or not, you are essentially spoiling the last shot of your film. Whether your film is terrible, good, or something in between is immaterial. You know what else kind of spoils the last shot of your film? Running the credits over it. But that’s another matter and probably an 80s thing or something.
Yeah, but that’s complaining about the way the industry works, so it can’t really be helped. You need to list your cast or the union will get mad. But a Quiet Earth poster could have chosen a different image to sell the movie.
By the way, Matt Berry is in Moon! Is that a spoiler? A guy who used to share my (over)sensitivity to spoilers once thought it was. I wonder what he’d think about the poster of Quiet Earth. It’s silly. Really.
-Tom
P.S. See, the male sex drive can make a guy do things contrary to common sense, like lunging forward when he has a tray of food and hot coffee on his lap. So wacky!
Oh good lord. Rimbo’s already resolved this. Why must you continue?
Given that you have, let’s go…
So it’s a spoiler because it bothers you personally. That’s weird too. But usually I’d agree because I’m pretty aggressive about what is a spoiler. And I’m happy to be weird. But what we’re talking about here is not a spoiler. Why? Hmmm…
I hate to break this to you, but that last shot is not a major narrative plot point. Sorry, but it’s not. What it is is an interesting image we’re supposed to think about. It’s an image we’re supposed to ruminate over. It’s there because the filmmaker likes the idea that we should have to interpret what the film means for ourselves. And it’s there because it looks cool. What it’s not is a major narrative plot point.
Agreed. And I already basically conceded this point in saying that I see that you can see this as a spoiler. Which I’ve conceded a couple of times. Fine. The poster reveals the last shot of the film. I agree. But what I don’t agree with is that this makes the poster a capital-S-“Spoiler”. We both know what that means. And this is not it. The poster spoils a cool image; it didn’t give away some plot twist. That image on the poster worked for me. It didn’t work for you. And the reason for this is that the film overall didn’t work for you, while it did work for me. You can try to poo-poo this point–“regardless of whether I like the movie or not”–but it is the seminal point. The movie didn’t work for you, so you’re perseverating on this point about the poster. It did work for me, even three thousand years ago…so I’m not. You know me. I go apeshit when dvd menu animation shows too much…this poster is not in that league.
For me it’s no different than the 2010 poster with the starchild. As opposed to making a poster that you suggested for Planet of the Apes or a poster of Sixth Sense showing Bruce Willis with a bloody shirt. There’s simply no comparison. You don’t see this. Which is silly. Really.
“Can’t really be helped”? Both of these issues are about economic maximization. So it’s a wash.
Which is why seeing those names listed caught my attention much more than the poster. Because knowing there are other actors in the film is far more of a spoiler than seeing some cool weird clouds. Union rules or not.
-xtien
“I get the feeling we’re either dead…or in a different universe.”
You can call it whatever you want – major plot point, image to ruminate over, or 80s low-budget mindfuck – but it’s how the movie ends. I consider that pretty significant.
Let me ask you, Dingus: Would you mind if I revealed to you how movies end if they’re just “images to ruminate over”? I suspect you would. Is the final image in Vinyan a major plot point? Of course not. Yet you were very careful not to describe it on the podcast. And rightly so.
Look, I’m happy to keep discussing this, but I can’t very well make my case if you’re going to insist I don’t understand my own motives. So let me again explain that me not liking Quiet Earth has nothing to do with how I feel about the poster. I would say the same thing even if – especially if! – I liked the movie.
Frankly, I don’t think it’s that big a deal because I’m not that invested in Quiet Eartn. I’m just astonished that you’re being so dismissive about what does and doesn’t constitute a spoiler. I’d think you of all people would respect that some folks don’t want to see the final shot of a movie before they’ve even seen the movie, just as some folks don’t want to read the last page of a book.
-Tom
P.S. Scalded wang.
Just to be clear, Tom, did it bother you that the last frame of Avatar was from the movie poster?
Come on, that’s just silly. Really.