Vortex

This is not a real review, it should be taken more as a collection of impressions on the film.

Quite a nice and entertaining film but it fails to deliver its full potential. The film would like to be something similar to the Matrix but it has tremendous difficulty in expressing its plot well and the ending is also very drawn out and in my opinion extremely stupid, that is, it would like to be something that makes the viewer say wow but instead it leaves one very frustrated because it makes one feel the viewer is slightly too fooled by the film. What is also negative is the quality of the effects and the film which is quite poor and seems to have been made long before its actual release date.

well, its clear to see whats going on here. someone was very fond of movies like matrix, escape from new york and minority report and just did his "version" of it, but unfortunately this one is very bad. every scene in this movie is basically a remake of a scene from some other science fiction movie, the title "vortex" is a slight change of "the matrix" and the similarities go so far that even the actors say the same things as in other science fiction movies.

for example, the scene at the end when the warden of this new-age prison says "lets play some music", its so much a ripoff of the scene from "minority report", it was hard for me not to smash my TV in anger.

on the other hand, the design and everything is very nice, so it could have some potential, but they blew it by not coming up with *anything* original, its all a rip-off.

This is a really cool German sci-fi movie. I loved it. The only disappointing thing for me was the length! It is only 50 minutes long, but i enjoyed every minute of it. It had some cool effects and a great ending. I was surprised, seeing as i had never heard of the director!My favourite character was, of course Vincent (the hero) Hardy Kruger did a great job!, but the roll of Carl was also brilliant (Harald Leipnitz).Sadly it was his last ever role. It was, though in my opinion his best!I will be looking out for anything else by Michael Pohl! VERY WELL recommended, especially to anyone who has ever enjoyed a sci-fi movie!! I would also like to say, because of some comments i have read, that this film came out before the matrix, and therefore is not a rip-off of anything!

Vortex is about the ultimate prison in a time where crime has taken over and the government is forced to use drastic measures. When Vincent shoots a thief in self defense, he is sent to the Vortex after an seemingly unfair trial. Once inside, he learns the principle of the Vortex: Each week, he has to repeart his crime - in his case murder - to stay alive. Otherwise he himself will become a target.

Michael Pohl's movie is quite promising. He may himself be a potential Vortex inhabitant as he steals from SciFi movie history in each scene, but manages to make it his own work.

The story focusses on Vincent's dilemma of having to repeat a murder in self defense, now minus the self defense part. The moralities of this situation are in fact a part of the surprise ending, which isn't really a surprise as there are many hints throughout the movie as to what the Vortex is really about.

The acting is okay, nothing special here. Hardy Krüger Jr. tries his best to add some depth to his character, but as in most of his other roles it is appearant that his abilities are limited. On the other hand, Vortex grants us a final look at the talents of the late Harald Leipnitz, who often didn't have the chance to shine as brightly as in this movie.

If you're a Blade Runner fan, or a fan of dark SciFi in general, you should give Vortex a try. It's far from perfect, but it's basic idea is strong enough to entertain. In fact, Vortex might act as a blueprint for an American remake, as the story could be quite intruiging if done properly and a surefire hit if a couple of big names are added to the project.