TotalTelly.co.uk

Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV

The Quiet Earth [1984]


RRP: £5.99
Our Price: £2.69 (subject to change)

Editorial
Synopsis

A scientist, Zac, wakes up one morning, finding himself alone in the world. He appears to have wiped out humanity with his top-secret project, Operation Flashlight. A search begins for other survivors of the wipeout, and Zac turns to a more nomadic lifestyle as he realises that wealth and excess have no meaning, and realises that life alone on earth is a nightmare beyond all nightmares. The discovery of two other humans gives Zac hope and he embarks on a critical struggle for survival.


A Well Made Cult Movie
Review date: 2008-07-13 Rating: 8 out of 10

This is a great little movie that deserves a place in anyone's sci-fi collection. It has its highs and lows but finishes leaving the viewer/s to debate what the end was about. I love the reason given for having survived the 'event' very original. Good casting, three ordinary people, reasonably realistic, after all what would you do in their situation? I'll be looking out for other Pillsbury-Reynolds / Murphy productions.

Similar Products

Reviews


The music; oh my...
Review date: 2008-06-19 Rating: 10 out of 10

This is absolutely cheating; I won't mention the movie much, the usual drooling raving comments I would put in would be scarecely better than the excellent comments already here. But I wanted to mention the music alone.

The theme music grabbed me so hard, I never quite got over it. This is so good that you are immediately expecting an epic before anything has even happened - and if you want to know, this incredible and moving tone poem is by a man called JOHN CHARLES.

My admiration of this man would embarass both of us.

He's a New Zealand composer, and he even has a website on sounz.org.nz, and you can see the music in score form, and wonder how anything in print can translate to something to tug so hard at the heartstrings of the soul.

The film? Very, very clever. But it explains very little in the end; something has gone fearfully wrong with the whole world, and Bruno Walters does his best with the intolerable consequences of something that we learn that in fact, he may have actually instigated in some way.

For a film that has almost no dialogue for the first part (well, strictly speaking, none at all), the thing is astonishingly dramatic; Gripping? I should say so..

And the ending explains nothing, obliterates everything, and introduces even more bewilderment. From what I have heard, it's one of the most highly rated ending of any film ever made in this category, and you have to be a bit brave to watch this, in a strange sense, because there really are no answers whatsoever, but hanging there does give you the most marvellous sense of strange and wondeful desolation. I seriously know nothing even remotely close to it.

I think what I am trying to say is this;

It's a masterpiece.

Hell is other people
Review date: 2008-03-02 Rating: 8 out of 10

This is an unusually low-key film covering the possibility of the disappearance of most human life on Earth (or New Zealand) and the reaction of the main character to that. Rather like THE OMEGA MAN (but without the Infected)much of the film's early impact relates to dealing with an empty world. When other people show up there is a layer of love triangle laid on the plot which nicely obscures what finally happens (though it feels pretty tedious at the time). The film does have some very clever explanations for the inconsistencies that one notices (nicely pulling you in, then snapping the trap). But the denouement makes the whole film worthwhile. It recasts the entire film.

But that love triangle really is tedious.

NZ oddity
Review date: 2007-06-11 Rating: 4 out of 10

No need to outline the plot that's done adequately by others: for me, of the actors only Zac, the scientist, was reasonable; the female, an unnervingly androgynous person had the most dreadful lines; the Maori was both a cartoon character and wooden actor; the relationships were never believable.
The plot and development barely maintains the film which overall is slow. The initial ending is cliche but then there is the final ending which while intriguing to SF fans is quite senseless, really inviting the viewer to make sense of it anyway they wish, if at all.

very quirky robinson crusoe tale
Review date: 2007-05-13 Rating: 6 out of 10

This film is very interesting and makes you ask the question 'what would you do?' Unfortunately my answers were a lot more interesting than what happened on the screen which I think was limited by a low budget. That said, and acting aside, this film is almost a must-see for Sci-Fi fans as it explores a theme that is seldom seen on film i.e. 'the last man on earth'. I would suggest that if you like this film you read Stephen Kings 'The Stand' for another take or try and find the book this film is based on.

In a way this film is very similar to the opening section of '28 Days Later' in a deserted London which left me wishing that it hadn't degenerated into a zombie fest. The Quiet Earth is however in comparison too slow moving and ultimately void of any real action to warrant giving it any more than 3 stars.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Anzac Wallace
Norman Fletcher
Pete Smith (III)
Alison Routledge
Bruno Lawrence

Creators:
Bruno Lawrence (Primary Contributor)
Alison Routledge (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Pegasus Entertainment
Manufacturer: Pegasus Entertainment
EAN: 5050232705582
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2003-08-15
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Running time: 87 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1985-10-18
Language: English (Original Language)

Add to Cart

© 2006 Darren Hester, DesignsByDarren.com, Some Rights Reserved.
Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional