New World

New World is a good low-budget science fiction flick. It tells the story of a future were aliens invaded earth and have killed off most of humanity. The movie focuses on a group of rebels who decide that they aren't going to take it anymore and are going to fight the aliens even if it means death. New World features some great ultra low budget special effects but does have the look of a low budget picture. It also has some pretty good acting, although I thought that there were too many characters to develop each individual character enough. Overall though it was a good movie and I hope that there is more to come. It is worth checking out if you get a chance.

I've noticed a lot of technical attributes can be missing from movies and they can still be viewable, even entertaining in one merit or another. As long as there are one or two key elements that are done well.

Unfortnately this movie fails on every level, most importantly in direction, editing, and acting. To a lesser degree in special effects, and cinematography.

The pacing is absolutely stagnant. There were many scenes where abominable exchanges in dialog that had nothing to do with the main plot would weigh the picture down, and left me squirming uncomfortably as I waited for something worthwhile to happen.

One can overact in a movie, and make it entertaining. William Shatner is a prime example of how much fun watching a ham can be. Underacting however, will kill a movie. Once again this movie excels in the stagnant. The cast seems to at most recite their lines, lacking any conviction or even personality for that matter. Emotional responses required by the script came off as shy and subdued. I think directional ineptitude is largely to blame for this.

Anyway, I think New World is a shining example of the spread of affordable film-making tools to the masses. Just because one has the tools by no means suggests one has the talent.

I saw this at the Ohio State Fair in 2002; I wasn't sure what to expect, but being a fan of both SF and B-movies, I figured it should be interesting at least.

Sadly, I was wrong. 'New World' limped and staggered from incomprehensible scene to incomprehensible scene, plodding slowly without doing much in the way of exposition.

The alien ship designs were interesting, but poorly integrated: they looked like special effects, not alien ships. The acting was uninspired, but no worse than I've seen in a host of other B-movies.

The real problems with 'New World' are pacing--somewhere between glacial and geologic--and attitude about itself. 'New World' takes itself *far* too seriously, becoming pompous in very short order. This was what made sitting through it difficult. With a lighter touch--or at least without the self-importance--this could have been a very fun movie. I went into it because I'm a genre fan. I came out of it wishing MST3K were still on the air, because it was right up their alley. 2/10