Cube

[Kokoro]

Cube is a 1997 psychological thriller that I saw yesterday. It is definitely my favorite movie for the genre and close to all time.

If you like movies where everything is spelled out or finally explained then skip it. Otherwise, I recommend it for a neat outlook on society in a character/setting driven movie with a great atmosphere of suspense/unknown. A few people are trapped in a cube of cubes with traps in random rooms (the traps are not the focus though).

It is small budget and it's biggest criticism is the acting. That did not bother me because I saw each character as a representation of different groups of people with different ideas/ways of doing things. So I was thinking of the underlining meaning instead of the outward acting. Bottom line, it just really drew me in.

I would love to discuss ideas, questions, comments, criticisms with anyone that has seen the movie.

By the way, here is the movie online. The quality is not too good, but it is definitely watchable. I tested it and the audio went out of sync about halfway, however simply taking it back a couple seconds put it back on track.

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-1564013415398777842

 

[Vegard Pompey]

Oh, this movie is wonderful. I totally fell in love with Leaven.

 

[Shatokan]

god i loved this movie the first time i saw it, my mom introduced it to me, i find that cube 2 is ok, cube 3 is intriguing.

 

[Adymus]

Cube is one of my all time favorite movies, it's packed with so much meaning and metaphor.

My ESTP friend recommended it to me because how cool he thought the traps and stuff were, it turns out it was a philosophical gem.


PS: Do yourself a favor and don't see cube 2, it is a complete piece of shit, that only taints the name of the first.

PPS: If you liked Cube, I'd recommend an Anime called "Gantz", it does not have as much philosophical meaning, but the overall feeling and sense of not know what is going on is very similar.

 

[Darby]

I loved that movie, I watched the others, bleh, but the first was good, been awhile though so I'll check out the link

 

[Kuu]

This movie was goood, I saw it not so long ago...

it has a lot of flaws but making an entire film with only ONE set and using characterization as the main drive, and not failing at it is quite something.

Leaving it all open ended definitely was crucial to allow interpretation. I haven't seen the others but I've been told that they kinda ruined the whole philosophical issues and went to some half-assed explanations n' shit.

 

[Kokoro]

I am pleased to see that y'all are able to enjoy this movie as the gem that it is. Others I have talked to just want to know who, what, where, why and how or to see more traps. I suppose that is why we have films like the sequels.

it has a lot of flaws but making an entire film with only ONE set and using characterization as the main drive, and not failing at it is quite something.

Totally agree. That is a large part of why I think "12 Angry Men" (1957) is so great, basically one set/room and totally character driven. For me, the cube, in addition to being a metaphor, was another character in the movie (and an unpredictable one at that).

Did anyone notice the symbolism in the character's names?

All the characters are named after prisons. Quentin is named after San Quentin State Prison in California, Holloway after the Holloway Prison in London, Kazan after the prison in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia. Rennes is named after a prison in Rennes, Brittany, France, Alderson after the prison in Alderson, West Virginia, and Leaven and Worth after the prison in Leavenworth, Kansas.

The characters themselves reflect the prisons in their traits. Kazan (the autistic man) is a disorganized prison. Rennes (the "mentor") pioneered many of today's prison policies. Quentin (the policeman) is known for its brutality. Holloway is a women's prison. Alderson is a prison where isolation is a common punishment. Leavenworth runs on a rigid set of rules (Leaven's mathematics), and the new prison is corporately owned and built (Worth, hired as an architect).

Oh, and I couldn't help but laugh at this brilliant math student trying to figure out if three digit, even numbers are prime or not.

 

[Mike72]

I watched cube2 when I was around 9, at midnight, when my mom was working the night shift. Didn't manage to watch it all and I was kinda freaked afterwards, but from any wiev, I absolutely loved it!

 

[Vegard Pompey]

Cube 2 is an absolute joke. It's so bad, so bad it's actually good. I'd even recommend it, since it doesn't have enough to do with the first movie to 'taint' it. The real atrocity is Cube Zero, the prequel. It's a mediocre movie, much more similar in tone to the first movie than Cube 2, but it tries to add backstory to the cube and does a really poor job at it. It was entertaining enough to keep my interest, but I still feel it's a movie that should never have been made.

PPS: If you liked Cube, I'd recommend an Anime called "Gantz", it does not have as much philosophical meaning, but the overall feeling and sense of not know what is going on is very similar.

I would not recommend Gantz. I sort-of like it myself because I'm a sucker for exploitation (read: tits & gore) but it's just not a very good animé. It really captures the nihilistic feel of the manga, all the way down to the soulless art, but the pacing is horrible and it ends with a bullshit Gainax Ending before getting to the best part of the plot. It is vastly inferior to the manga, which I would actually recommend.

 

[Geminii]

The effects were good, but when the onscreen math genius struggles to figure out if 645 is prime or not, it tends to break the suspension of disbelief.

 

[Cognisant]

I liked Worth,

Spoiler

even before he started acting noble.

Figures it would be a nihilist to posses such clarity, but the film's point struck me deeply, the nihilist's flaw was his despair... but who can see the world without glamour and not despair?

Heh, the mental patient, of course, lol.

Although that hardly seems fair, I’d have preferred the nihilistic Worth to have undergone some more character development before escaping, after all the genius/idiot was born with his virtue, the nihilist suffered for it, seems a shame for all that suffering to have been in vain. Then again having played his role in the madness that created that place no author could allow him to live and preserve the story’s catharsis, unless perhaps he undertook some manner of redemption, i.e. yet more suffering.

But I suppose every character deserved to escape, each taking their own path to enlightenment, each path valid, if only circumstances were different each and every one of them encountered the right stimuli to prompt the right character development, they all could have escaped, alas life isn’t fair, is it?

I'd say this is all the proof anyone should ever need that there isn't a god, because if there was wouldn't making the universe fair be its job? But if I did somebody's going to retort that it's insufficient faith that's the problem, that all the darker aspects of existence are a result of our turning away from god, away from divinity & enlightenment... *sigh* if only it were true, if only prayer could save us, if only it was that easy.

To wish the world's problems away.
...
Shit, I'm despairing again aren’t I?
(with a massive chip on my shoulder it seems)

Hmm, maybe I should have faith, perhaps not in a dead god, but in life... perhaps this ironic hell is really a twisted sort of heaven, one where we all get exactly what we want, angst is so much fun after all and pain is like wine, disgusting to a child, a delicacy to an adult.
To anyone who has read this far, I ask you, what do you really want?

 

[Dormouse]

Well, I was gonna write something about liking Worth best from the beginning, but Oreo beat me to the punch.

That said, to prevent spoilers I'll offer naught but a shallow synopsis of my first impressions of the characters.

Leaven got on my nerves.

I wanted to hug Kazan. I don't like red rooms, either.

Quentin, meh. He was neither of interest nor disinterest to me.

I was meh on Holloway but she grew on me as soon as Kazan was introduced.

Actually, Rennes might have been my favourite, if it weren't for Worth's winning personality. 'Merde.'

And I felt sorry for that other dude.

Spoiler

Sorry, guys, I'm not in that philosophical of a mood, and y'all have already said nigh everything I could. Worth was awesome from the beginning because he was the only one with his head on his shoulders, any sort of realistic expectations.
It's actually rather poetic that the purest soul escaped. He's lucky, he'll live a life devoid of worry, perpetually remaining an inner child. With gumdrops.
Perhaps it's only out of mercy that the others were killed. Being confined to a life of emptyness punctuated by despair...

And to respond to Oreo's question.

Out of the fishbowl. Obviously there will always be some form of confinement, but I'll try to escape it when I can. Go places nobody else has been. Take risks. I suppose what I really want is the bravery required to do that.
Also, space travel. Get me off of this planet. If that's non-negotiable, I'd like to explore the depths of the ocean, or maybe some jungle. Infinite experience.

 

[Toon Scheur]

The Cube is a very good movie. And most people I know that doesn't watch movies or like movies, like this one.
And I like having the discussion who the true hero was.