The genre of science-fiction is perhaps, in my opinion, the hardest to tackle for independent or low-budget films. The reason for this being that this category of film relies the heaviest on special effects and highly detailed art direction to render the desired outcome. Therefore, it is exceedingly remarkable when a low-budget, independent film is able to deliver on the level that 'Primer' does. The story revolves around a group of independent inventors/engineers who stumble upon a formula for time travel while trying to build a more efficient refrigerator. Conflicts arise when the characters are forced to deal with dilemmas involving morality, secrecy and the all-important avoidance of a space/time paradox. One of the film's strengths is its uncompromising complexity of plot and dialogue. There is no attempt here to simplify or dumb-down the ideas put forth here. This helps to strengthen the believability of the amazing events which transpire. Unfortunately, this is also one of the film's main weaknesses. The dialogue is relentless, and seemingly non-stop, making it very hard to keep up. Your mind is never given a chance to take a breather and re-group. The end result is a feeling that you are just barely hanging on as the plot barrels forward. This film would benefit from repeat viewing, but, in my opinion, it's not good enough to merit a second shot. In summation, I tip my hat to the makers of 'Primer' for creating a quality sci-fi movie using limited resources, yet the film is still lacking in many key areas, most importantly accessibility. As a result it falls short of the mark.
This is a small, easy to pass over film, but if you like movies with huge plot twists, this movie is for you. While it's not action packed, or hugely suspensful, it will keep you guessing the whole way through. I had to watch it again as soon as I'd finished to go back and get it all straight. I loved it.
FUCKING GREAT sci fi flick about two men trying to fugure out what they made its just fucking genius but his next true movie in the name of the king is better then it but time trival wise i dont think any film will ever top this you really have to think and if you can and top this...bravo to you....
Two friends build a time machine in there garage and start to use it in this low budget sci-fi film.
This one is definitely for the thinking crowd and once they get so far into the ending of the movie it gets hard to figure out what's going on. I may have to watch it again.
Still, it's a fascinating, thinking man's sci-fi film.
Wow! Fantastic directorial debut by Shane Carruth. This is easily one of the best and favorite sci-fi films i have ever seen. Very intelligent story and direction. Strictly for brilliants only.
*grins* If you like pure puzzles, even if a movie is such a pure puzzle that it may occlude other sorts of enjoyment of the movie, this is for you. P.S. If you were a geek before, now there will be actual epaulets coming in the mail...
As soon as I figure out what was going on at the end of this movie I figure I will bump up the score. I recommend this one for folks who are into time travel and movies that really make you think.
Definitely need to re-watch this film, I'm sure I haven't understood it's many nuances. Very interesting as far as I have been able to grasp it, though!
I didnt get this movie, maybe I didnt pay close enough attention. I know that it was intentionally confusing, and it was well executed, but in the end I didnt know what was going on. As a movie, what is the use in that? Overall though, it was a very interesting movie and kept my strict attention throughout. I just think that like the characters in the film, the filmmakers didnt realize what they had created and failed to capitalize on the potential of what they had in their grasp.
When I first signed up for Flixster, this movie was recommended to me simply because I listed Pi as my favorite movie ever, and I can see how the two compare. They're still quite different, but that is by no means a bad thing. This is a perfect example of great, intelligent, low-budget sci fi, and also the best time travel movie ever.
I must have seen this about 3 times already and still don't fully understand all the permutations, the overlap of "doubles" etc. The depth of the film is brilliant, I love its sci-fi grounding but realistic technology and implications, time travel on a personal basis.
Made with a budget of $6,000 and is one ofthe smartest time travel films that you will ever see. It does a good job in explaining what is going on in the time travel, and how it works, but it doesn't try and dumb it down so that the user can easily understand it. Once they start to travel back and forth in time more and more, it becomes more and more confusing what is actually going on, but it still makes sense, you just have to think a lot while watching this film - and that is by no means a bad thing.
Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum Consider Primer a successful lab experiment with, as they might say in techie chat rooms, significant indie-cred applications, IMHO. Oh, and :-).
this is the best movie ever...period!, you wont find a deepest plot that the one from this movie, thers no comparison with another one, you cant get tired of see this movie, cos' you first gat to understand whats going on in every escene and thats not easy, its the only movie that will really surprise the most demanding adudiences at any time, and the simplicity of their realization and his images makes the plot being the real star of this film
there's something interesting going on here; i just can't quite get to what exactly. appeallingly sparse looking - a decision shaped by budget, £4000, as much as art i'm guessing - but layers of scientififc terminology ensure a frustrating watch.
A slow moving, but entertainment sci-fi drama that is too intelligent for its own good. I'm a very attentive movie-watcher and this thing went WAY over my head in several places and took some very confusing turns. I still enjoyed it even though I didn't understand all of it. Cinema should be challenging sometimes.
La película necesita ser vista dos veces. La primera en sí es obvia; la segunda para entender la relevancia del inicio de la película, pues en el primer visionado parecerá una mera introducción. Eso me hace pensar que la historia no está bien relatada. Sin embargo, a pesar de esto, el film engancha y desconcierta. Al final no es tan confusa como parece, pero atrapará resolver sus enigmas.
A very strange film, no matter how many times I see it I still can't get my head around it. Despite this I still thought it was very well done on such a tiny budget.
I felt stupid while watching this film. It was as though I was the only one who missed out on touching that black monolith in the movie 2001 and didn't evolve in time to comprehend what the fuck these two uber-intelligent white guys were talking about.
Primer is consisted of two talking heads babbling scientific jargon which will make very little sense unless you've seen it more than once (Or maybe you'll get it all the first time, you evolved Starchild). For a moment, I felt like I needed to write things down just to follow the plot.
It deals with time travel, so it has to be confusing in some way, but unlike Donnie Darko, which dealt with a similar concept, Primer doesn't have that same charm the aforementioned film had, so I never felt strongly compelled to embrace the idea of revisiting it numerous times to piece together its puzzle. It lacks emotion, and is seemingly machinelike in its way of thinking. This equaled a movie I cared very little about in the long run.
On the other hand, Primer has a very intriguing and imaginative concept, and it builds a dialogue-driven story around it using a small budget. I could appreciate the film from that angle, but that still doesn't change the fact that it makes me feel like an un-evolved primate.
I really enjoyed this movie and was thoroughly impressed with the quality considering its minuscule budget. It just goes to show that good idea and a well-crafted story outweigh all the CG in the world.
an interesting, low-action very intellectual science fiction independent film. The filmmakers cleverly use audio and pull off some beautiful montages. The acting is raw - these are techs speaking to other techs which can be overwhelming. This film is more than anything, a recognizably *different and unique* piece of art.
Ingenious. For anyone to say that they fully understand this show within first viewing must be a bad ass liar. From a budget of low as 7k, this is truly a remarkable film of time travel. I watched it three times all over again, and yet I know I may not fully comprehend the intricate storyline of this film. Perhaps, that's the beauty of it? It's either you'll love this film or you won't at all. A masterpiece, is what this is.
MCT:October 10, 2008
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MCT:September 7, 2008
