Knowing - Digital HD

If you want to go into the movie "fresh", do not read this. Spoilers may be peppered within the following review. I did my best not to give to much away. I was highly anticipating this movie. I did not get the chance to see it in theaters, but the Blu-ray experience is just as good. I was disappointed when I heard mixed reviews about this film. After hearing "it was just ok" again and again, I did not expect such an original story with great directing. Despite the few bad reviews, I was still excited to see this movie. This movie is dark. It is quite morose at times. There are many sequences of terrible tragedies which will burn images into your mind. The special effects are very well done. The directing was perfect for such an eerie movie. Acting was solid. Nick Cage did very well. Finally he picks a great script with a concrete plot. The movie seems longer than it is, but in a good way. So much happens. I didn't want it to end. Just when it started to slow down, a huge twist or action scene popped in and blew me away. Many people complained about the end of this film. I believe the end of this movie completes it in such a way that I never would have thought. I did somewhat see the end coming, but it took it to a completely different level that I was not expecting. That's what I loved about this movie. Just when you think something is about to happen, it happened bigger and better than expected. Then it takes it further and completely pushes the limit. Knowing is one of the more powerful movies I have ever seen. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen and I was almost brought to tears by the powerful depth and intensity of the plot with the characters involved. Some of my favorite movies are Stay, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, The Fountain, Sunshine, and anything by Wes Anderson. You owe it to yourself to at least check out this movie. If you are a Cage fan you will love this movie. He hasn't played such an intense role since 8mm and Face/Off. The better of the many movies I have seen in the past five or so years. Well worth it.

This is the best film I have seen this year! I wish I had known more of what this was about because it is the type of film to be experienced in a theatre. It is very hard to categorize this film. I call it a science fiction-disaster thriller. It starts out like a horror film with a very wierd girl and a time capsule that is perserved in 1959. It contains letters written by children and is opened in 2009. Each of the present day children, including Nicholas Cage's son Caleb (Chandler Canterbury - who gives an awesome performance), gets a letter. Caleb gets the letter from the wierd girl that contains nothing but numbers. But soon we find out the numbers are days and location numbers of all disasters from 1959-2009. Two are shown in the film in spectacular fashion. Caleb and his dad eventually find the relatives of the wierd girl who wrote the letter in '59; a woman and her child. I will not spell out the whole story here but the two disasters we see and all the others mentioned lead to a day in 2009 that earth will never forget. The last scene between Caleb and his dad is simply heart breaking. The last disaster is visually impressive as well. The ending will inspire you. Truly a movie I will not forget and can not recommend highly enough.

Other than Disney's National Treasure 1 & 2, plus Ghost Rider 1 & 2 this is one of Nicolas Cage's best movies.

When I saw this movie advertised I wanted to see it, but somehow missed it in theatres. I've enjoyed films like The Seventh Sign and this seemed in the same vein. I did have some reservations. If these numbers are predicting future events, either the hero manages to stop them or he doesn't - where does that plot go? Surprisingly, it actually went somewhere and there was an unexpected supernatural/scifi element as well. Nicholas Cage is at his best when doing a lighthearted role, as in the National Treasure films, so this was a bit of a stretch. Still, he performed the role fine and had good chemistry with the little boy playing his son. Most are familiar with the synopsis about the son finding the list of numbers that predict disasters, but the filmmakers added more mystery with "whispers" that the son (and the little girl who wrote the numbers) can hear. The subplot added a lot of suspense and outright creepiness to what would have been a simple, been-there-done-that numerology tale. This was more a scifi/disaster flick, and the special effects were top notch. There appears to be a lot of upset regarding the ending - love it or hate it. I thought it suited the movie very well, although I would have ended it about 2 minutes before the creators did. I felt the very last scene was unnecessary, and a bit cheesy, but it didn't ruin the film by any means. It's also possible a lot of dissatisfaction comes from "reading too much into it." The spiritual element, the religious angle, etc...all of these are viewer perception. Give it a chance and make your own judgment. Overall, this movie starts out slow but really builds momentum and suspense with a couple good twists. I agree with other reviewers that if you really don't like Nic Cage, then this movie won't satisfy you. But, if you're looking for an entertaining thriller and don't have unreasonably high expectations this was well worth seeing. I'm glad I bought the DVD as I will rewatch it. The extras on the DVD are actually pretty good, considering it is only a single disc edition (and most seem to be bare bones these days!) There is a commentary track and two extra features: a standard "making of" featurette about 10 minutes long and a featurette on apocalypses across cultures/religions that is about 15 or so minutes. The second was very interesting including interviews with scientists, professors and the filmmakers.

Any time a viewer goes to the movies, he or she brings her own personal experiences, belief system, self-identity--all the things that make us who we are. One set of beliefs this particular film, "Knowing," addresses is spirituality. Another is the age-old debate: Is the Earth determined by randomness or is its course affected by determinism? "Knowing" definitely offers a conclusion. An amazing thing--to me--is the negative reaction that films and books receive if their theme concerns spirituality, particularly established religion, and specifically Christianity. Just what happened in these lives to make religion so untenable and negative? Though not in-your-face blatant, "Knowing" is definitely a movie threaded with Christian theology. Nicholas Cage is a college professor of physics at M.I.T. The important lecture the viewer is privy to is a review of the long-standing, unanswerable debate involving the theories of determinism and randomness. Was the earth deliberately set into motion, or did it just happen? At one point, done through subtle directing, Cage's character is a religious believer--after all, he grew up in a home in which his father is a pastor. But there is a schism between them now caused by the death of Cage's wife in a catastrophic hotel fire. Why? Cage has no answer other than to let his religious beliefs expire. Since then Cage has languished during his private time, relying on alcohol to appease his loss-stricken soul. The premise of this film is to show the reaction and spiritual evolution of one human when faced with a final eschatology. But getting there includes the viewer in this trek to the truth. We watch Lucinda, an important early character, concertedly write a series of numbers, front and back on a blank sheet of drawing paper, in a 1950's classroom. She is responding to the teacher's instruction: Draw what the Earth will look like in fifty years. These drawings will be placed in a time capsule, to be opened in fifty years. Fifty years later Nicholas Cage's son draws the numbered sheet. He too begins to hear the Whispering Ones. Through a determined act? a random one? Cage's character begins an exploration of the shocking meaning of these numbers. Are you seeing the thread being woven before you? Reaching the final scene of the film is much like opening a Chinese puzzle box. The final solution--the final truth--lies inside the last box. This final truth is not included in biblical literature except through suggested possibility. Cage's last scene shows he has definitely returned to the beliefs of his father. Again, the spirituality of the film is definite, but not smashingly presented. I have merely picked up those threads to present in this review. Back in context, they are much less noticeable. As for Nicholas Cage: He is not my favorite actor, although I like most of his work. In my humble opinion this role is his best and one he approaches quietly and thoughtfully. Cage does not overact (as he tends to). His sobbing scene is so genuinely acted, he had me sobbing with him. I like this Nicholas Cage--this subtlety he brings to the role. He "gets" the premise of the film. Because I would have labeled Cage a Hollywood type in political and religious beliefs, his acceptance of this role and his portrayal of it really are surprising and even astonishing. "Knowing" is a film of questions and an answer. Is it the answer you bring to your viewing? That answer probably will determine whether or you like the film.

The premise of the movie really is do happenings have a reason. Are they preordained or are they random in nature. The prospective of the writer is they are preordained and there is a great plot showing this and how Nicholas Cages' character finally comes to grips with his ultimate mortality. It examines briefly where the idea of angels come from and what ancient prophets may have saw thinking it came from God but it isn't dwelled upon. I loved it and recommend it to anyone. It was a thoroughly enjoyable film just as the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still. Some of the special effects were awesome. I think it got some harsh reviews that were unwarranted. Nicholas Cage does a great performance in this movie as he does in all those in which he appears as part of the cast. I plan on buying this movie. Reviewers are just people and it is merely opinion. Watch the movie and see for yourself. Many times they just don't like the genre or storyline but it doesn't mean it is a bad movie because of the reviews.

What a huge disappointment! The first hour of KNOWING is absolutely wonderful, containing some of the most exquisitely beautiful effects work and cinematography I have ever seen. The story is riveting, the characters compelling and at least two - no, three; no four disaster sequences are both gorgeous and shocking in terms of the imagery, editing and dynamic sound effects. The cinematography by Simon Duggan is always stunning. However, early in the film,when the son is hearing "voices," I began to worry and warned my friend that this sequence is apparently related to a subplot "where we probably do not want to go." Boy, was I right: the final forty minutes is garbage. Just awful, the result of an over-written script and dopey ideas that take us nowhere. The point is that the kid rises to Heaven at the end. Heaven is pretty, but the feeling is of total Hell. How could what began as an excellent movie be turned into such crap? I will still buy a used copy of KNOWING in blu ray (the only way to see it) which Amazon.com carries beginning at $2.80. The effects sequences in the first hour demand extra viewing. The problem is the horrible last forty minutes. Even with friends over, I will not show this film in its entirety. If you need a conclusion or what people like to call "closure" - and this film could die of closure - read a book. I rated this film five stars. The disappointment of the last forty minutes is almost lethal, but the preceding hour is so incredible - almost magical -- that I must concede and give it five stars for its beauty and suspense.

I know this film has received a large number of negative reviews but I thought this is one of the best scifi films I have seen in a long time. I won't give away the story but I found it very interesting because it merges biblical eschatological prophecy from the book of Revelation with science, mathematics to be more precise, as it plays with the mysteries of the obvious unity of fractals vs the synchronicity of a Mandelbrot Set. The last two references are hints as to how the film is ideologically structured while bringing in biblical references to justify and bring unity to the two. I don't want to give too much away but if you are somewhat familiar with biblical mythology of end times and what we now know from science then this film may be interesting for you. The script is tight! The visuals awesome though a bit gratuitous in its depictions of destruction. The pacing is perfect and you'll be engrossed from the very beginning.

Der Film ist einfach nur Klasse und macht Spaß dabei zu sein :) Nanu ? Warum denn dabei, man guckt doch aus der Ferne zu ! Richtig :) aber die Inszenierung der Ereignisse brachten mich nah ans Geschehen heran. Die Idee, eine "Zeitkapsel" zu bestücken von Vorstellungen, wie die Zukunft in 50 Jahren aussehen mag aus Sicht derer, die unsere heutige Zeit nicht kennen oder jemals eine Vorstellung davon haben zu können, finde ich sehr interessant. Wenn ich mir überlege, wie die Welt in 50 Jahren aussieht, halte ich auch das in der Realität für interessant. Ich habe einige Interviews von alten Persönlichkeiten gesehen und eine beliebte Frage war immer: "Konnten Sie es sich jemals vorstellen...?". Diese Frage scheint ein begeisterndes Interesse hervorzurufen. Egal, das weicht jetzt etwas ab... zurück zum Film... Ob jetzt Stimmen im Kopf oder Visionen vor Augen. Einig werden wir uns wohl alle darüber sein, daß die Zahlen (Daten) ja irgendwo herkommen müssen. Eigentlich empfinde ich es sogar so, daß die "Stimmen" keine Zahlen "sprechen", sondern das dies als ein "Ruf an die Auserwählten" zu deuten ist. In der Hoffnung, daß sie es verstehen und sich entsprechend vorbereiten können, auf diesen Tag. Quasi Kontaktaufnahme :) aber das ist nur mein Verständnis bei diesem Film. Jeder sieht die Dinge ja nunmal anders. Betrifft übrigens auch den Geschmack einiger Vorredner... Die Darstellungen der Ereignisse sind lebendig. Das Flugzeug ist dabei mein Favorit :) Der Regieseur scheint sich schon viele Gedanken darüber gemacht zu haben, wie die Szenen ablaufen sollen. Somit wird gerade in dieser Szene weniger mit Hartschnitt gearbeitet, sondern vielmehr mit Schwenks. Das schafft ein ganz anderes Feeling während des Zusehens, als permanente Hartschnitte. Gut durchdacht ! Ich habe mir auch auf der Blu-Ray das Making Of angesehen. Dort am Set sind die Flammen natürlich echt. Allerdings (auch verständlich) sind nicht alles echte Feuer wo die Darsteller agieren. Aber die, die echt sind erscheinen für mich im Film computergeneriert. Was ist da nur geschehen ? Eindeutig kann ich es mir nicht erklären. Nur so: Da nicht alle Flammen real sein können (vielleicht zum Schutz der Darsteller, obwohl erfahrene Stuntmen), hat man die realen Flammen, die der Computer-Flammen angepasst, damit man keinen sichtbaren Unterschied erkennen kann. Dies trifft auch eindeutig zu ! Echte Flammen kann man von denen aus dem Computer nicht unterscheiden...nur leider erscheinen dadurch auch die echten Flammen als computergeneriert (wie oben bereits erwähnt). Das fand ich schade... Das Ende des Films habe ich mir anders vorgestellt. Ich werde es an dieser Stelle natürlich nicht preisgeben (wäre ja auch schade !). Ich sehe es allerdings positiv, denn es zeigt doch, daß der Regieseur mich überraschen konnte :) Die Schauspieler haben ihre Rolle gut gespielt ! Ob dies nun schauspielerisch TOP oder FLOPP war, wage ich mir, als einer der sich mit dieser Materie nicht auskennt, nicht zu beurteilen. Das überlasse ich den Regieseuren :) mein subjektiver Eindruck ist durchweg positiv geprägt. Das Bild auf der Blu-Ray ist einfach nur ein Genuss ! Was soll ich mehr dazu sagen ? Kein Grimmeln, das Schwarz ist auch schwarz...Farben sind allesamt kräftig. Das Making Of scheint auch in Blu-Ray Qualität vorzuliegen. Normalerweise kenne ich Making Ofs in wesentlich schlechterer Qualität... Der Ton liegt in 5.1 DTS-HD MASTER AUDIO vor. Ich finde Amazon sollte dies auch genau so kenntlich machen. Ich habe schon lange nicht mehr so einen guten Film gesehen ! 5 Sterne gibs von mir. Nun zum Off-Topic: ------------------ Man sollte auch einmal den Grundgedanken der Macher dieses Films verstehen und wie sie diese Idee umgesetzt haben. Dies wird sehr verständlich im Making Of gezeigt. Darauf eingehen werde ich jetzt allerdings nicht. Manche Kommentare dieser Rezensionen zum Film bezüglich dieser Thematik hacken ständig auf "Sekte" und "Religion" herum. Daran lässt sich für mich nur erkennen, daß sie das Making Of nie gesehen geschweige denn den Film überhaupt verstanden haben. Die Idee des Films oder einiger Szenen haben weder etwas mit Religion noch mit Sekten zu tun. Es geht lediglich darum, daß die Sonne als Gasriese irgendwann einmal aufhört zu brennen. Damit beschäftigen sich die Wissenschaftler heute sowie alte Zivilisationen vor uns, die alle verschiedene Götter hatten. Und der Tag wird kommen...allerdings in vielen Milliarden Jahren.

Un bon film avec des acteurs agréables et une belle intrigue qui tire sur le drame à la fin. Je me suis surtout procuré le Bluray pour la qualité générale et c'est donc le point sur lequel je ferai particulièrement l'emphase ici. Le master HD est incroyable ; l'image délivre un piqué rasoir quelque soit la scène, la colorimétrie est criante de vérité tandis que les noirs sont abyssaux. Quant au son, la plage DTS 5.1 HD délivre un séisme acoustique qui va vous assourdir. C'est dingue. Les graves sont hyper profonds, la dynamique va foutre le feu à votre salon tandis que le réalisme des bruitages va vous filer des frissons. Incroyable franchement et malgré des bonus légers (ayant au mojns le mérite d'être lissés en HD il faut le dire, ce n'est pas toujours le cas), ce bluray est une excellente pioche pour les cinéphiles soucieux de vivre une expériences furibarde devant leur écran.

ミステリー的な物語はわくわく感ですごく楽しぃ、えっ、最後はこんな感じのエンディング？少しづつ想いだすこれはおもしれ〜

Awesome movie.. worth buying :) will buy again :) tyvm

I have so often read reviews of films written by pretentious people who are supposedly looking for some pseudo-intellectual artwork and condemn the entertaining, weird, exciting, mind-blowing. Film is supposed to be entertainment. It's often our dreams come to "life". If someone finds one boring then that's simply because they're on a different wavelength - perhaps they expected something different? These people should go and try to make their own films. I found "Knowing" quite spooky at first... I wasn't sure where it was taking me but I was prepared to go along with it - it's called suspension of disbelief.... something that some pseuds seem to have forgotten that is part of dramatic presentations! It then entered a brilliant mid-section in which a couple of quite stunning accidents occurred. It still wasn't clear where it was all leading and this new, other-worldy dimension was introduced - slightly threatening yet suggesting divine intervention. The final stage was brilliant; an end of the world to match all ends as civilisation collapsed and mankind "prepared" to meet its doom. Cage is reasonable as an actor - yes he is a little over-the-top, sometimes even a little cardboard in his acting but he does a workmanlike job and keeps the suspense and story rolling. And yes, the very final ending is a bit candy-flossed and sugary but what the hell! This was a good bit of entertainment.... for God's sake never forget that that's what it's all about! Entertainment!