400 Jours

I must be a masochist because I almost wanted to watch it again to figure out what was going on and if I missed some vital clues to figure out the ending of this low budget fiasco. I like what one reviewer said: Watch Moon it was a lot more interesting . My criteria for a decent movie is that I'll add it to my library and watch it again in the future, I almost felt guilty passing it along in a yard-sale for .50 cents . It really did steal from many other movies: Moon, 2001 Space Odyssey and OMG I even saw a "morlock" from the old Time Machine movie .Really as my son would say : It was just silly. Final analysis: Avoid Like The Plague!!!

It is impossible to know where to start when describing this utterly idiotic movie. The writer obviously has no clue whatsoever about how things work. (A drunk who freaks out over a girlfriend is fit for a simulated Mars mission? A simulated near-fatal issue during launch, as if this were a training exercise rather than a simulated flight? Being told to go to bed ten minutes into the flight? Wandering around the ship as if they had never seen it before? The head of the program threatening the careers of the astronauts a minute before they board?)

Honestly, if millennials get a bad rap it if because of films like this. The writer has no knowledge about the subject matter, no understanding of adulthood, and did no homework whatsoever. How someone could ever secure a budget for this or pay for the actors, three of whom are recognizable - including the star of a hollywood blockbuster - is beyond understanding.

What we have here is Ed Wood with a budget and no monsters.

OK. So it's about a science experiment to investigate the effects of prolonged time of isolation of a group in tight space as preparation for space travel, where long periods of no contact with the outside world are expected. Exactly 400 days of said isolation.

They pretty much cast a whole lot of actors from the hit TV series Arrow and The Flash, namely Brandon Routh, Carly Loitz (which I lovingly call 'The Chin'), and Tom Cavanagh.

These actors as well as the endearing premise caused me to watch that movie. And....my hopes pretty much fell apart.

The movie follows a long the typical low budget mystery and 'horror' plots of the 'isolated people' genre. Nothing, and I mean nothing original here with regards to script and direction.

The whole movie gives off the vibes of a Outer Limits episode. The sets feel very cheap. The story leads to nothing. No pay off at all. And at a runtime of 90 minutes it still felt very boring at long periods. Flashbacks try to establish some deeper characterization. But again, no relevance at all for the non-existent character development.

There is only two positive things I can say about the movie. First, the actors try at least a little bit (Brandon Routh and Tom Cavanagh are most often likable, even if they have absolutely nothing to work with from the script). Second, the premise remains interesting. But executed in such a way, it just is a giant case of wasted potential.

As a TV episode or short movie, OK, but with these 90 minutes, you should do something else...watch like 2 Outer Limits episodes.

The best part of this crap was going "oh, I remember him from that movie" and "wasn't he in that Dylan dog movie" calling this pile of trash a b- flic would take some of the quality away from actual b-flics. 70% boring, 20% tired cliché and 10% credits. The writers/directors/producers were like " lets take the idea of the movie Moon, crap all over it, regurgitate some failed movies of the past, eat it, then crap out 400 days." When I had the unfortunate experience of wasting 1.3 gig of bandwidth on this travesty, I did not know I was going to be investing 100 minutes on what turned out to be horrible 80's "c" style movie. Money will be lost, people will be fired. It seems like Brandon Routh is doing everything in his power to ruin his career. Do yourself a favor, go watch "Moon" instead.

400 Days: 2.5/10

When I say the ending is lazy, I mean that they didn't even bother making an ending. The movie cuts off before the ending. It could have been good, or even great. But with the amount of set-up and build-up, it feels even worse to have no ending than if the ending were 'bad' or unsatisfying. The entire movie was only intriguing (and it was intriguing) because you're guessing what's real and what isn't; you're trying to predict what the twists could be; you're trying to sort misleads and hints the entire way through... and you're given NOTHING in return. There are no misleads or hints. There are no twists. There are no answers given. There is literally no ending. There is nothing valuable given to you as a viewer.

I rate it 2.5 instead of zero because at least most of the suspense and intrigue was compelling. But with literally no payoff for anything, it's unforgettable in the worst way. If even one question was answered partway through, it would have felt slightly better, but I just feel betrayed. This is one of the worst movies ever in my opinion.