The Signal

Taking place over the Bank Holiday weekend, 21st - 25th August 2014
jonbly
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The Signal

Post by jonbly »

8/10 - liked the leg effects, but the arms were a cop-out and the girl is just left out on the powers front. Mystery was nicely engaging.
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Stephen with ph
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Re: The Signal

Post by Stephen with ph »

An enjoyable ride, but for me to consider it great rather than good, I'd need a little more confidence that, by the end, I'd fully understood what was going on...
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Re: The Signal

Post by DJBenz »

Stephen with ph wrote:An enjoyable ride, but for me to consider it great rather than good, I'd need a little more confidence that, by the end, I'd fully understood what was going on...
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Stephen with ph
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Re: The Signal

Post by Stephen with ph »

:lol:
ChrisReynolds
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Re: The Signal

Post by ChrisReynolds »

Not particularly suited for the festival. It started off very well, with a gradual series of reveals building up a good air of mystery, and Laurence Fishburne adding some gravitas to the proceedings. About halfway through things start to go downhill, with an increasing number of reveals that are silly, and some of which don't make sense in the light of future reveals. One example that ticks both boxes was when they addded up the numbers on their tattoos to get 51 and realise they're in Area 51. I wish they'd done a bit more with the concept too: they never really exploit all the potential for the alien augmentation: in particular I was expecting the true nature of the girl's augmentations to be revealed at a crucial moment but they were just ignored. The final reveal was one that I knew was coming and has been done before in too many sci-fi stories. On the plus side it's a highly competent piece of work that looks good and moves along at a brisk pace with some decent characterisation. 4/10
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The Soapmaker
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Re: The Signal

Post by The Soapmaker »

I thought it was nicely done - and I'm a sucker for anything to do with super-powers! - but I never quite understood what was going on and, more importantly, why. Maybe the Blu-ray commentary will make everything clear.
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Re: The Signal

Post by Bearded Avenger »

They may as well have shown The Host. Seriously, this was on at the wrong festival and should have been left to Scf-Fi London.
domdunc
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Re: The Signal

Post by domdunc »

yeah, it didn't really make any sense...

Spoiler:
why did they chase him down so hard and kill his friend if they knew he couldn't escape anyway?
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Re: The Signal

Post by Love Machine »

I think they were pushing the lad to reach his full potential and become Wally West.
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Re: The Signal

Post by domdunc »

Love Machine wrote:I think they were pushing the lad to reach his full potential and become Wally West.
yeah, 'it was a test' seems to be the only explanation. I guess that covers the fake man-hunt.

But then, what was going on with the cow earlier in the film?
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Re: The Signal

Post by Biohazard »

domdunc wrote:But then, what was going on with the cow earlier in the film?
More tests, presumably - maybe the cow had been augmented too.
jonbly
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Re: The Signal

Post by jonbly »

ChrisReynolds wrote:One example that ticks both boxes was when they addded up the numbers on their tattoos to get 51 and realise they're in Area 51.
I'd assumed they'd be IP addresses, which seemed a no-brainer in context of the characters. (Hmm... 2.3.5.41 is owned by Orange, and is in Lyon. Marketing seriously missed a trick there).
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Re: The Signal

Post by DJBenz »

jonbly wrote:
ChrisReynolds wrote:One example that ticks both boxes was when they addded up the numbers on their tattoos to get 51 and realise they're in Area 51.
I'd assumed they'd be IP addresses, which seemed a no-brainer in context of the characters. (Hmm... 2.3.5.41 is owned by Orange, and is in Lyon. Marketing seriously missed a trick there).
2 + 3 + 5 + 41 = 51

5 + 1 = 6

6/2 = 3

Half Life 3 Confirmed.
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Re: The Signal

Post by Alex J »

Enjoyed this one - and a twist ending I really didn't see coming. A few loose ends have been left, but perhaps that is to set the story up for a sequel. Entertaining, ticks along nicely and has an element of intelligence combined with spectacle, making an impact not far off that of The Matrix, albeit on a smaller scale. 8.5 / 10
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Re: The Signal

Post by TheDukeAbides »

I chuckled at the very last scene.

Bit of a non-starter for me after the Blair Witch-like house scene.

Prefered District Nine.

Meh - more fun with everyone quoting along with the trailers before hand.

"Why is this happening?"
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