VHS : Existenz [1999]

Rating: - Hits the spot - great movie

15 minutes into this film and I was slightly doubtfull about it being much good. But as the plot unfolded I really enjoyed it. This film will (or should) leave you feeling like youve been put in a spin dryer on high setting. It should also make you ask questions such as "what IS reality" and - "what is the end game?".

A must-see film for sci-fi and alternative reality fans.

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Rating: - If you haven't seen eXistenZ don't read other reviews - just Watch it, Live it and ....
Love it or loathe it, this movie is essentially a one line gag, although it will probably take you 93 minutes to get the joke. Although it's about a new totally immersive virtual reality game [eXistenZ], the plot has nothing in common with films like 'The Matrix' - there's no alien 'war of the worlds' threat or suchlike. In fact this film has more in common with having hot tea and crumpets inside Star Trek's Holodeck with the safety protocols off. Besides eXistenZ is firmly set in our world and time, although it probably does represent a glimpse of the Playstation-8 touchie/feelie gaming future. Like 'Sixth Sense', the films power is totally dependent on not knowing what happens at the end (and the middle for that matter). I don't see how anyone could criticise the final scenes - that's exactly what the film is about. As the films power works best on first viewing, you could rent rather than buy, but with Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ian Holm, Jude Law and Christopher Eccleston involved, and a complex, almost irrelevant, script, repeat viewing is rewarding [plus there's the three voice overs from the production crew]. If Twin Peaks ever came out as a video game, it might well be eXistenZ. And what's the game eXistenZ's tagline? - "Play it. Live it. Kill for it".

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Rating: - Testimony to David Cronenberg's bizarre imagination
I realise that this isn't really the place for this, but does anyone else think that, with his bizarre imagination, David Cronenberg would have made the ideal Alien director? Even better than David Fincher.

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Rating: - A worrying concept
I bought this film and was a bit disappointed at first to see one of my favourite actors (Christopher Ecclestone) with a dodgy American accent.

Thankfully - after experiencing several twists and turns - I saw why this was the case and all was right with the world again!

This is a great Sci-fi film with some deep concepts. Imagine a world where people plug themselves in (via a port in the spine) to a virtual world. This is a film where people use gaming devices which are actually organic rather than machine. People become obsessed.


This is a thought provoking film - with gaming becoming more realistic, and more involved. With people being able to interact with others through game and live second lives there, there is a possibility that the line between one life and the other may become blurred. I'm sure there are people out there who are unhappy in their real life, but comfortable in their second one. What could be the consequences of having people who care more for people in a virtual world than in the real one?

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Rating: - Tosh
I always thought of myself as an SF fan, but I hated this. The story line is quite irrelevant, it's the 'experience' that counts and the experience is childish, prentending to be profound. Prentious rubbish.