Primer [DVD]

it still gives you some food for thought. not great entertainment but a good watch non the less if your interested in this sort of thing.

The media could not be loaded.  Primer is the most demanding, impressive, and intelligent film I have ever seen. There is nothing that even approaches it. Nothing.Shane Carruth directed, wrote, produced, scored, and edited Primer; in addition to starring as one of the two main characters. The film was reportedly made on a budget of $7000.00, and shot on a limited amount of Super 16mm film stock that required meticulous storyboard planning using 35mm still images. Carruth spent two years editing the final film. Being able to undertake any of those tasks is impressive, but just consider the level of commitment it must take to be able to do all those things. And when the end result is one of the most enthralling films that you will ever see, then Shane Carruth deserves to be acknowledged.Primer is often referred to as a science-fiction film about time travel, which, in very simple terms it is, but it's so much deeper than that.The main premise focuses on close friends Abe and Aaron. Two extremely intelligent and ambitious engineers living relatively successful suburban lives while developing inventions in the little spare time they have. When Abe and Aaron discover that one of their projects has the unexpected benefit of disconnecting anything contained in it from the passage of time, they realise that they've stumbled onto something that will effectively allow them to time travel to a limited degree. Despite their intelligence, Abe and Aaron don't fully understand how their device works, and begin using it in an effort to both exploit the potential benefits it offers, while also trying to unravel how it functions. What initially seems to be the answer to all their problems quickly becomes a problem in itself, and their seemingly harmless manipulation soon causes events to escalate beyond their control.What makes Primer so different from other films where time travel is possible, is the fact that the ability to time travel isn't the central issue, it's the effect that the ability to manipulate time has on you and those around you. Although they are close friends, Abe and Aaron have distinct personalities. Abe is more cautious and reserved, while Aaron is more driven and reckless. These personal qualities are evident early on but they don't seem to have impacted their friendship. However, it soon becomes apparent that exploiting their discovery brings these issues to the fore. Early successes, like profiting from lucrative stock market picks as a result of prior knowledge, rapidly become overshadowed by divergent goals and unsolvable paradoxes that they struggle to find solutions to. Diminishing trust further fractures their relationship, and they progress from using their device to gain an advantage over everyone else, to trying to gain an advantage over each other. Repeated use of the machine begins to take its toll on them emotionally, mentally, and physically, and they soon become disconnected from their previous lives in the timeline they were on before they began to interfere with it.If you approach Primer thinking that you can simply sit back and watch the film then you're setting yourself up for disappointment. The film makes no attempt to be easy to understand, and nothing is dumbed-down for the audience's benefit. The responsibility for unraveling the cryptic plot and overlapping timelines lies solely with the viewer. But, this detached approach draws you in, and makes you feel the same uncertainty and sense of powerlessness as Abe and Aaron. You're forced to consider the fact that, like them, you too are out of your depth.There aren't enough superlatives to describe Primer. If you want to experience something unique, then buy or stream this film. And find somewhere to watch it where you won't be interrupted. If you want to really immerse yourself in it and really appreciate how clever and subtle it is, then use a decent pair of headphones. There are many clues to help you untangle the plot that are only apparent if you have an excellent sound system, or you're able to listen to the dialogue and audio without distracting background noise.The first time I finished watching Primer I immediately watched it again from the beginning. I can think of no other film I've seen that has caused me to do that.

Amazon Prime's recommendation engine has learned I like low-budget sci-fi.But with this movie, we're talking no-budget.What you get is a movie that's as good as they could make it, but which has flaws. Some of the flaws make the movie what it is. Others are a little infuriating.You get a movie that's freed from Hollywood cliche, or producer controls. For example, I can't think of any movie that's treated time travel in such a naturalistic way.For this movie the freedom from cliché is a blessing and a curse. The plot for the first half of the movie is clear. In the second half, it becomes unfathomable. It turns into an intelligence test. And if you can work out what's going on then, hey, you're smarter than me. And looking at IMDB, there are indeed several people who treat the movie as a puzzle and are happy to share their explanations.I immediately watched the movie all over again, and it was funny to see from reviews that I wasn't alone in doing so. In fact, if I could spare the time, I'd watch it a third time – this time with a pen and paper. But one has to draw the line somewhere!The big issue with the plot is that the antagonists aren't not just underplayed. They're not even real characters. Literally, the antagonists have non-speaking roles. One of them is shown only from the back for a few seconds during a montage scene. A large plot twist later in the movie is caused by a new character who appears out of nowhere, with at best a tangential relationship to the main characters.But we should stick to the positives. The chemistry between the two leads works very well. In fact, it's what makes the movie compellingly watchable. The film pivots around their sibling-like bond – and how this is tested.Generally speaking, the movie relies too much improvisation, which can mean several characters try and speak at once. There's a lot of "um" and "er" in the dialogue. Switching on subtitles is not a bad idea. But when the action's reduced to just the two main characters in a scene then it flows nicely and feels very natural.In fact, this movie has a documentary vibe to it. Remember those episodes of the Horizon science documentary on the BBC, where they'd dramatise scientific discoveries alongside the expert interviews? There's the same feel to this movie. The science aims to be plausible rather than magical, including from a sociological perspective – this is people creating a scientific breakthrough in their garage, just like the founders of Hewlett Packard and Apple.If any of the above has made your ears twitch then give this movie a go. You've nothing to lose. If you like big feature movies, and expect to be spoon fed plot and character, then you're going to have a bad time. As it is, I'm glad I watched it. There's still that feeling of frustration that they could've done it slightly differently, for greater effect. But hindsight is always 20/20 and, hey, I've never created a movie so what do I know. It is what it is, and is brave enough to stand by its uncompromising approach. I respect that.

This movie looks like found footage, but isn't.It's about a few guys working on some kind of theoretical machine that can teleport stuff, I think. But it becomes much more by accident. They then embark on a get rich quick tactic using the machine, but they have to be very careful not to cause an anomaly ... which doesn't quite work the way they want.What I like about it, is it plays slow with a lot of technical jargon at the beginning. Half the stuff I don't understand, but the way brainstorm in the kitchen with the wife doing the dishes in the background, has a very real feel. She's not interested, she just does what she does, just the boys waffling about 'silly' things.The tech jargon sounds real, not overstated or pushed, but advanced stuff and you get the impression that maybe they're really on the cusp of something.This is how many inventions happen; it's usually two guys brainstorming for hours, then they invent something amazing in the shed that has a big impact on the world!The acting is very good, almost understated, and you get the impression these guys have been friends for years. These guys make the film watchable.To be honest, I enjoyed the brainstorming with the men in the first half more than when they actually built the machine and things started happening...