One of the best science fiction films I have seen, and certainly as one of the genre's best in recent years.
Primer (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:113
Fresh:81
Rotten:32
Average Rating:6.5/10
Consensus: Dense, obtuse, but stimulating, Primer is a film for viewers ready for a cerebral challenge.
Runtime: 80 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Former engineer Shane Carruth announces himself as a force to watch with PRIMER, his first film. Carruth wrote, directed, edited, produced, photographed, scored, and stars in the film, which won... Former engineer Shane Carruth announces himself as a force to watch with PRIMER, his first film. Carruth wrote, directed, edited, produced, photographed, scored, and stars in the film, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. He plays Aaron, who, with his business partner and best friend, Abe (David Sullivan), experiments with a device that seems to have more power than they could ever have imagined. Playing with batteries, refrigeration, and other techniques and materials in Aaron's garage, they discover that their machine just might have the ability to move back in time. Originally dealing with Weebles figures and wristwatches, Aaron and Abe are soon considering making a box large enough to transport a human being--with remarkable results. An indie hit, PRIMER was made for about $7,000. Carruth shot the film with a purposefully grainy look, as if it were made in the 1970s. The retro feel works well with the futuristic elements of the story, which lead Abe and Aaron to question reality, truth, and their own physical and mental being. Because he learned about film on his own without going to film school or making any previous shorts, Carruth brings a freshness to the genre that is invigorating, with unexpected plot twists and complex narratives that invite multiple viewings. PRIMER is an unusual, unique, challenging, and thoroughly entertaining movie. [More]
Starring: Shane Carruth, David Sullivan, Anand Upadbyaya, Casey Gooden
Starring: Shane Carruth, David Sullivan, Anand Upadbyaya, Casey Gooden, Carrie Crawford, Jay Butler, John Carruth, Samantha Thomson
Director: Shane Carruth
Director: Shane Carruth
Screenwriter: Shane Carruth
Producer: Shane Carruth
Composer: Shane Carruth
Studio: ThinkFilm
Reviews for Primer
Only after watching this film did I realize the even more amazing story.
While Primer was not widely distributed and never found an audience, it is among the best speculative films of last year.
You can choose to be fascinated (like I was), or just give up all together. Either way, you gotta admit, these guys have guts.
If you've seen Memento, you've some idea of the ingenuity on display here. For $7,000 dollars, could you make a better big screen film?
To enjoy the film you have to be willing to let your brain work overtime during every second of its 77-minute run, and even then you’ll miss things.
Packs more ideas than a hundred big-budget studio films made for a thousand times more money.
May very well be one of the best American movies of the year, and I'll be damned if I understood more than 40 percent of it.
It's one thing to admire what writer/director/composer/actor Shane Carruth wrought on his $1.98 digicam budget; it's quite another to have to sit through the mind-numbing results.
The ingenious debut of writer-director Shane Carruth, who assembled the film on his home computer and also plays one of the two leads, is purposely designed to be a little bewildering.
It's a tiny-budget indie film with an interesting sci-fi story premise. Too bad the mystery overwhelms the humanity, so it doesn't quite work.
Even as Primer's plot ends up seeming contrived, that is, arguably, the thematic point: stories are always unstable and untrustworthy.
I don’t need to be spoon fed, but unlock the kitchen for me, would you? And get a new sound guy.
It takes a lot for a movie to surprise today's jaded, seen-it, bought-the- PlayStation-version sci-fi fan. Primer can. Let it.
A jigsaw puzzle made of pieces that may or may not fit together, it assumes the intelligence and interest of its audience, a brave move that pays off big.
Carruth challenges us to imagine the impossible, then asks us to consider the moral, ethical and spiritual implications of what we have witnessed, and put those considerations on equal footing with man's desire to go where no man has gone before.
Latest News for Primer
March 16, 2005:
Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival 2005
A 70-mm French comedy by Jacques Tati will open my 7th annual Overlooked Film Festival this April, and a Bollywood musical starring "the most beautiful woman in the... More...
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