World Famous Comics: Aeon Flux (Special Collector's Edition)
Aeon Flux (Special Collector's Edition)
Starring: David Gale (II), Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi, Peter Chung, Robin Richesson Directed By: Karyn Kusama Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Binding: DVD Format: Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Paramount Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: April 25, 2006 Running Time: 93 minutes Theatrical Release Date: December 02, 2005
Product Description: 400 years in the future after a virus decimates the world population only one city on Earth remains. Ruled by the Goodchild dynasty it is a perfect society of peace and prosperity - except that its citizens keep mysteriously disappearing. Charlize Theron stars as Aeon Flux a secret agent/assassin/warrior whose mission is to bring down the regime. But as she goes deeper into her mission Aeon uncovers some shocking secrets that put the mission -- and her life -- in danger.System Requirements:Runtime: 92 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 097363337348 Manufacturer No: 333734
Amazon.com: Like the animated series it’s based on, Aeon Flux is the kind of sci-fi that’s best appreciated by the MTV generation. It’s a serious attempt at stylized, futuristic action/adventure (the title character, played by Charlize Theron, is essentially a female James Bond for the cyberpunk era) and taken for what it is, it’s not all that bad. The action takes place in the year 2415, four centuries after a virus nearly decimated the human race, leaving only five million survivors in a utopian city called Bregna. Aeon belongs to the Monicans, a secret rebel resistance force that is struggling to destroy the Goodchild regime led by its namesake, Trevor Goodchild (Martin Csokas), the ruler of Bregna and a descendant of the man who found a cure for the deadly virus. As instructed by the Handler (Frances McDormand, gamely playing along in ridiculous sci-fi regalia), Aeon is assigned to assassinate Goodchild, but there are deeper secrets to be discovered, and conspiracies to be foiled. This leads director Karyn Kusama (who fared much better with her debut feature Girlfight) to indulge in all sorts of routine action and fast-paced gunplay, but the elusive pleasures of Aeon Flux are mostly found in the sleek athleticism of Theron and costar Sophie Okonedo (as a fellow Monican), who commit themselves 100% to roles that are dramatically flat yet physically dynamic. Other highlights include Aeon’s high-tech gadgetry (including an eyeball that doubles as a microsocope) and the amusing sight of Pete Postlethwaite in a costume resembling a construction-site disposal tube, but Flux fans may wonder what happened to the surreal, chromium sheen future that gave the MTV series its visionary appeal. As a live-action feature, Aeon Flux is a miscalculated exercise in cheesy style and dour tone, but it’s entertaining enough to earn a small cadre of admirers. --Jeff Shannon
the film version As one esteemed critic so aptly put it, "Fux fux sux fux sux sux sux".
The animated series that appeared on Liquid Television was cool, especially for it's time. Liquid Television was a good show bringing viewers highly original and entertaining animation. As for the movie, in my opinion they completely blew it. Charlize Theron is talented but wasn't at all right for the part. I thought Carrie-Anne Moss would have been better. The movie wasn't at all like the TV show. The creator of Aeon Flux said upon seeing the movie he "felt helpless, humiliated and sad". They should have stayed true to the TV series and Peter Chung should have had creative input.
Aeon Flux is amazing! Superb special effects with Charlize Theron! An action packed futuristic thriller not to be missed. By the way, Charlize looks good in her outfits which earns this movie an extra star! This is a five star movie!
Action Thriller with Depth--Biological Science Fiction When I was first tantalized by the high-speed trailor for the 2005 Paramount motion picture, Aeon Flux, directed by Karyn Kusama (Girlfight), I was blissfully unaware of its history: that it was based on the darkly irreverant and raunchy 1995 MTV Liquid Television animated SF series created by Korean American animator, Peter Chung. The series achieved cult status among a select audience of imsoniacs (it played at midnight on MTV, if that tells you anything). This may have worked in my favour. I had no expectations or preconceptions, except for a hair-flying ride. As a result, when the content (written by Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay) had merit as social commentary, I counted it as a bonus.
In typical dystopian fashion, we join the Aeon Flux story roughly four hundred years after an industrial-related virus has killed 99% of the world's population. Scientist, Trevor Goodchild (Marton Csokas) has developed a cure and the Goodchild dynasty secures a home for the five million survivors in the last city on Earth, Bregna, a paradise walled off from the unrestrained wilderness that ever-threatens them. Dystopias, like Bregna, often appear utopian on the surface, exhibiting a world free of poverty, hardship and conflict, but with some fatal flaw at their core. Built from scientific premise and intended only as a temporary measure, the technocratic society of Bregna continues long after its intended span as the Goodchilds attempt to deal with an internal and enduring glitch (infertility) of the "cure". Like most imposed provisional governments, this one's solution to a problem (cloning) has created yet another problem (fugitive memories from the previous clone's life).
It is now 2415 and the walled society of Bregna appears utopian--clean and organized, beautiful, rich and spatious; but beneath the laughter and contentment, stirs an uneasy disquiet. Bregnans are losing sleep, having bad dreams, and are plagued by memories that don't belong to them. Rebels challenge the Goodchild regime, run by Trevor and his brother Oren, and among the rebels is a highly competent and ruthless assassin, Aeon Flux (Charlize Theron), whose tools include whistle-controlled ball-bearing bombs, drugs that allow her to meet people on higher planes of existence, and interchangeable eyeballs. She is aptly named, as she serves a true agent of discord to Goodchild, the guardian of order and all that he naïvely believes is good.
"Some call Bregna the perfect society," Aeon tells us in the opening scenes of the motion picture, "Some call it the height of human civilization...but others know better...We are haunted by sorrows we cannot name. People disappear and our government denies these crimes...But there are rebels who...fight for the disappeared. They call themselves the Monicans. I am one of them." Several critics disliked the narrative introduction. I found that it particularly worked, by adding a reflective literary quality to the motion picture. It is noteworthy that in the original animated series, Trevor Goodchild often frames each episode with his reflections; only fitting that Aeon gets her chance in the film version. The reflective narrative of the motion picture is meant to enlighten its audience that this is not your ordinary action thriller. What follows is a fast-paced yet thoughtful story, with elements of romance, that explores notions of longevity, social structure and connection, faith and greed to a satisfying end.
Twitchfilm.net aptly called the motion picture "biological science fiction". Says Oren, Trevor's treacherous brother who betrays him: "We've beaten death. We've beaten nature." The film's clean organic high-tech look faithfully captures the "sense of biotech gone wild" of the TV series by exploring several paradigms inherent in a society that lives deliberately in the absense of nature's chaos. Indeed, the lack of connectivity resonates throughout the motion picture in its exploration of friendship, family, loyalty, and purpose. When her sister is murdered in the beginning of the film supposedly by Trevor's men (but in actuality by his scheming brother, Oren), Aeon's mission becomes personal: "I had a family once. I had a life; now all I have is a mission."
The film truly launches into stylish action and intrigue when Aeon gladly accepts a mission to assassinate Trevor, thinking that this violent act will make it all better. Instead, it unravels her, beginning with when she confronts him; finding him uncomfortably familiar and alluring, she hesitates and decides not to kill him. "What do you want?" Trevor asks her. "I want my sister back. I want to remember what it's like to be a person." It is indeed he--or rather what he knows--that holds the key to who she is. The key is that she, like he and all those in Bregna, is a 400 year-old copy of someone before the virus. Four hundred years ago she was the original Trevor's wife.
Filmed in Berlin, the movie is visually stunning, from the opening shot on the steps of Sans Souci to the labrinthine wind canal used by the Nazis. Displaying an eclectic mixture of spareness and mid-century design the film is acted out in a fluid dance to Graeme Revell's (Sin City) haunting score. The action is rivetting and seamless with both plot and underlying theme of bio-tech gone awry. Early on we are treated to a thrilling sequence of Aeon and her biotech-altered rebel colleague negotiating the security of Goodchild's sanctuary that consists of a beautiful but deadly garden, guarded by patches of knife-sharp blades of grass and poison dart-spitting fruit trees.
Aeon champions moral ethics and single-handedly destroys the relicor, the supposetory of the clone DNA, pursuing honour at the expense of loyalty (to Goodchild) and heralding in a new age of "mortality". The movie ends as it begins, with Aeon's narrative: "Now we can move forward. To live once for real and then give way to people who might do it better...to live only once but with hope." This is truly what Aeon Flux represents and what her very name embodies.
Surprisingly Good Sci-Fi . . . I went into this film with extremely low expectations. I used to watch the animated Aeon Flux series which was very well done, if not somewhat confusing. Bringing Aeon Flux to the big screen actually IMPROVES upon the original. The film fleshes out the the story/history of Aeon Flux and actually makes the entire premise understandable. This film was an enjoyable ride with some interesting special effects, some were good, some were lacking (I found all the blood in the film very fake). Overall, this film is a good watch for anyone interested in sci-fi (even if not totally original). The film stands on its own without any viewing of the animated series. Four stars = above average. Aeon Flux gets a well deserved four stars.
As a stand-alone piece, quite inspiring . . . Speaking as a viewer who in his past has seriously seen only one episode of the MTV Aeon Flux show, I was hesitant to watch a movie based off the source material. I never understood nor nor appreciated the original content.
Curiosity took ahold of me though when this movie came to DVD and I ended up enjoying it very much. I liked the cool color palette, the sensual nature of organic technology and the innovative methods of weaponry.
The story, though not entirely original, was entertaining and at times thought-pprovoking. I ended up enjoying it. And it's in the truth of this that I discover why many didn't like the movie. As a fan of the show Bewitched, I was devastated by what was done to the movie to follow it. The same I guess for this movie. Fans of the show have a generally disdainful view of this movie. If you have minimal prior knowledge of that which is Aeon Flux, you may be a good candidate for liking the movie, like me.
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