Re: Review of "Open Your Eyes" (SPOILER)

From: Edwin Evans (ektimo@pacbell.net)
Date: Sat Sep 22 2001 - 13:50:57 MDT


SPOILER REPLY:

I liked the movie OK, but it didn't live up to my expectations (after
reading Eliezer's nonspoiler and semispoiler review). I suppose if I had
watched it having no idea it would involve sci-fi element, I would have
been pleasantly surprised. Kind of like when uploading was mentioned on
"Friends" (even though just to show Ross's nerdiness).

> If Alcor doesn't know about "Open Your Eyes" and the
> forthcoming US version,
> **someone really ought to** tell them NOW
Hey now... :)

I thought the movie would make more sense. Would anyone really sign up
for the splicing option? Do they delete the whole chunk of memory
between before you signed up and when you died which would normally be
years? Didn't the guy in the bar give him enough of a clue, or at least
enough of a temptation to try controlling things with his mind again?
And of course, why, oh why did he have to jump from a building to wake up?

The only reason you care about the "hero" is to the extent he gets
tormented. You have to be a pretty unsympathetic character to be able to
commit suicide *twice* and still not have the audience care that much.
Hopefully, in the time he wakes up in, they'll be able to teach him that
pumping bullets into some random person isn't a good way to act out your
frustrations.

I wonder, how he could have been a good guy and still have some of the
same plot elements. How about he has a painful actual disease? Loving
wife is tormented and financially burdened. One day he wakes up and they
have found a miraculous cure and everything is great ... for a while.
Then the nightmare begins. People are acting weird and eventually cruel
and dangerous. Flashback reveals his wife signed him up for LE after
finding out he would die soon. Unfortunately, she didn't have enough
money to sign up for herself before she died (the sad version). People
are turning nightmarish since they are in his imagination and have no
mind of their own. LE can provide realistic virtual reality surroundings
but the people are not conscious. He began to realize how people are not
acting interesting and was subconsciously trying to force them to act
interesting. Eventually, he is told what is going on and that the date
is far in the future. He has to make tearful goodbye to all the other
characters since none of them signed up. Hugs wife and then steps back.
Lets go of her finger. Fade to white.

Was there another movie where the character had to jump to death to go
to another world? I have a very foggy memory of this. Construction
worker falls off structure. Ends up in another world. Falls in love with
a woman there, but then gets hit by a truck when riding on a bike. After
that, he ends up back in original world and he jumps off building.
Anyone know if I didn't dream this one?

Now, "The sixth sense", *that* was a GREAT "character has big
realization about splice in their existence" movie!

-Edwin



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