400 Days

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.

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.

Well, it wasn't terrible, and considering that the budget was obviously limited I was inclined to be slightly more lenient. I did find the plot somewhat entertaining, it reminded me of an episode of the outer limits or the twilight zone. The acting was fairly decent and the scripting was adequate. But there isn't enough here in the way of originality or ingenuity to make it shine.

The director does a pretty good job of pointing the camera. However, I generally think it's a bad idea to directly reference classic films made by genius directors unless your own film is at or near the same quality, because it seems like compensation. So the references to Kubrick through the use of slow tracking shots, deep focusing and a direct dialogue reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey, were unjustified and annoying.

The film develops a story that has no logical explanation, interspersed with continuity errors. But these weren't severe. What was more irritating was that the ending seems intended to create suspense but it's actually just a cliché. Much like the night-vision POV shots towards the end, there was no real reason for it.

The film isn't terrible and it's entertaining enough for casual viewing. But it's far too much an example of someone trying on purpose to create a film thats supposed to be 'mind-boggling' and creepy just for the sake of it, throwing in too many stereotypes in a kind of aping manner.

The psychological break-down of the crew was little more than a lower quality imitation of films such as Solaris and it pretends at subtext, but produces none.

Like I said, I've seen far worse, the director seems fairly competent and the story was bizarre enough to be somewhat interesting. But it's certainly nothing to get excited about.

A perfectly terribly movie with little, if anything, in the way of redeeming value. From a script that portrays characters acting in completely unbelievable ways to the tired old cliché of "let's all split up"this movie is a complete waste of one's time. Four prospective astronauts who in real life couldn't qualify for Walmart greeters get buried in the ground for a year and when they come out the world has changed. Apparently it has all changed into one giant D- grade horror movie cliché. Poorly written dialog, clichéd characters, and a plot written by Dunning Kruger Inc all add up to a completely wasted portion of your life that you will never... never get back.

There is zero resolution to the movie and every single "horror" moment is telegraphed like a 1900's Western Union operator working overtime. A good chunk of the non-action takes place in a post-apocalyptic dive bar which is where I imagine the director and screen writer likely spent much of their misspent cinematic education.

The only real horror here is how a group of people can spend months (days??) of their time producing such a completely worthless pile of steaming celluloid and still have the temerity to put their names upon the completed work.

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.