Starring: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Ian Holm, Willem Dafoe, Don McKellar Directed By: David Cronenberg Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Dimension Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Region Code: 1 Release Date: October 19, 1999 Running Time: 97 minutes Theatrical Release Date: April 23, 1999
Amazon.com: Director David Cronenberg's eXistenZ is a stew of corporate espionage, virtual reality gaming, and thriller elements, marinated in Cronenberg's favorite Crock-Pot juices of technology, physiology, and sexual metaphor. Jennifer Jason Leigh is game designer Allegra Geller, responsible for the new state-of-the-art eXistenZ game system; along with PR newbie Ted Pikul (Jude Law), they take the beta version of the game for a test drive and are immersed in a dangerous alternate reality. The game isn't quite like PlayStation, though; it's a latexy pod made from the guts of mutant amphibians and plugs via an umbilical cord directly into the user's spinal column (through a BioPort). It powers up through the player's own nervous system and taps into the subconscious; with several players it networks their brains together. Geller and Pikul's adventures in the game reality uncover more espionage and an antigaming, proreality insurrection. The game world makes it increasingly difficult to discern between reality and the game, either through the game's perspective or the human's. More accessible than Crash, eXistenZ is a complicated sci-fi opus, often confusing, and with an ending that leaves itself wide open for a sequel. Fans of Cronenberg's work will recognize his recurring themes and will eat this up. Others will find its shallow characterizations and near-incomprehensible plot twists a little tedious. --Jerry Renshaw
Description: Exciting stars Jennifer Jason Leigh (DOLORES CLAIBORNE), Jude Law (GATTACA), and Willem Dafoe (SPEED 2, AFFLICTION) challenge the boundaries of reality in this futuristic, critically acclaimed adventure thriller! During the first closed-door demonstration of an amazing new virtual reality game called eXistenZ, the system's brilliant designer, Allegra Geller (Leigh), is violently attacked by a crazed assassin intent on killing her and destroying her creation! Forced to flee into hiding, Allegra enlists a young assistant (Law) to help her in testing the damaged system ... by convincing him to join her inside eXistenZ! The action then explodes as their world's real-life dangers begin to merge with the fantasy of the game! If you're ready to play, it's now your turn to plug into this powerfully entertaining hit!
Confusing title Please note that this movie has nothing to do with those pills you see advertised on late night TV. :(
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How did you know my name?? What a weird, creepy, bit of fun this is! It is reminiscent of "Naked Lunch" (and why not? Cronenberg did THAT one, too!). The game within a game within a game was Excellent! I find it odd that it was a flop at the Box-Office. I first saw "ExistenZ" the year it first came out on VHS, and enjoyed it immensely. Of course, I'm biased, because I'm a HUGE fan of David Cronenberg's works. Where David Lynch uses a feather floating on air, David Cronenberg uses a sledgehammer (of course, AFTER he has given it his trademark "biomechanical" look)!
Some would say it has a passing resemblance to films such as "The Matrix", but I see it as totally unique. As in "Naked Lunch", we are treated to a trip through Cronenberg's twisted mind, where nothing is as it seems to be. Seeing it through the eyes of Ted Pikul (Jude Law), is this live? Or is it Memorex? Cronenberg leaves you to decide, but for just a little while, when you are treated to another "reality"! Good ol' Ted is being led around by Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh), the creator of "ExistenZ", the newest VR game to hit the streets. There are others who take exception to this, however, and try to kill allegra. Ted is forced to do things he would not normally do, but he is pressed into protecting Allegra.
This film is just a lot of fun! Oddities abound. The Uh...weapons, are....unique? Ted's rush to build one, at a restaurant is alternately cool and disgusting. "ExistenZ" is a must-see for Cronenberg fans, as well as anyone who would like an intriguing thriller/horror film!
worth every penny I'm a big fan of Jude Law, so I might just be saying this because he is in the movie, but eXistenZ is worth watching over and over. There are things I notice every time I watch it. If you love gaming, and you want something that is a little more edgy, and will keep you thinking about it long after the movie is over, this film is for you. If you like psychological thrillers, cute guys, and games, you can't go wrong with eXistenZ
Fantasy Sci-Fi with a twist This movie is out there but it is a classic Sci-Fi fantasy title with an eerie setting. Best watched in the dark after the sun has set. One of its tag lines; "... makes The Matrix seem like child's play"; may be a stretch, but it is definitely worth picking up if you love Sci-Fi and have not seen it yet.
I'm going to kill the Chinese Waiter Videodrone for the next generation. I loved this movie! Virtual Unreality. This is the kind of movie you'll have to watch again and again...each time you'll pick something else up!
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