X
- 2014
- R
- Alameda Entertainment
- 1 h 31 m
- 2014
- R
- Alameda Entertainment
- 1 h 31 m
Summary Britain's Ministry of Defense is on the brink of developing a game-changing weapon. Lead scientist Vincent McCarthy (Toby Stephens) provides the answer with his creation, The Machine—an android with unrivaled physical and processing skills. When a programming glitch causes an early prototype to destroy his lab, McCarthy enlists artificia...
Directed By: Caradog W. James
Written By: Caradog W. James
- 2014
- R
- Alameda Entertainment
- 1 h 31 m
- 2014
- R
- Alameda Entertainment
- 1 h 31 m
The Machine
52
6.9
Where to Watch
Summary Britain's Ministry of Defense is on the brink of developing a game-changing weapon. Lead scientist Vincent McCarthy (Toby Stephens) provides the answer with his creation, The Machine—an android with unrivaled physical and processing skills. When a programming glitch causes an early prototype to destroy his lab, McCarthy enlists artificia...
Directed By: Caradog W. James
Written By: Caradog W. James
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
52
13% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
88% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
52
13% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
88% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Even with a cut-and-dried approach to characterization and the issue of man-made consciousness, The Machine percolates with an elegantly palpable sense of wonder and danger.
Despite some striking imagery and sterling FX work, Welsh writer/director Caradog W James’ expert use of limited resources doesn’t stretch as far as the subtlety-averse script.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 49 User Ratings
6.9
67% Positive
33 Ratings
33 Ratings
22% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
10% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 49 User Ratings
6.9
67% Positive
33 Ratings
33 Ratings
22% Mixed
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
10% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
I am not much into sci-fi and so bought this movie cheap on DVD and didn't bother getting the Blu Ray, but now I really regret this as it has become one of my favourite movies. The film kept my attention through out. It deserved a bigger budget, but did very well with what it had.
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This is an interesting movie, both visually and intellectually. It's much better than Transcendence with Johnny Depp, because this one actually follows through with the idea of a human, partially resurrected as a machine. Not in a Cyborg, Six-Million Dollar Man kind of way, but very different. She is a machine, but she evolves through the movie and that's what is important. When you get to the end, the message is clear. Our time is up and it the future belongs to the machines.
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The characters could use more depth – Vincent’s backstory is told too swiftly, and his bonding with Ava is brief. But it’s still a smart, thought-provoking little thriller with strong central performances.
When Lotz is not onscreen, Stephens is miserable company. But James does reveal a deep fascination with the robotics that suggests the threadbare story was a chance for him to explore the very real advances in artificial intelligence.
Closer to “Her” in its musing on human/machine connectivity, while also incorporating the dystopian and action-thriller aspects of “Blade Runner” and its ilk, albeit on a much smaller scale, the pic will divide fantasy fans, some of whom will give it props for breaking somewhat from genre formula, while others will be disappointed by the largely budgetary limits of its imagination.
If the proceedings prove far too familiar, director Caradog W. James delivers a few striking images... as well as a sinister cautionary-tale finale made all the more unsettling by its use of a sterling John Carpenter-style synthesizer score.
The Machine is small science fiction. In a genre that openly invites invention, it barely bothers.
The Machine tries for a hard science fiction story about artificial intelligence more honestly than what a large studio would produce, and it mostly succeeds. Read @EinRand's comment about the visuals if you watch this movie a second time. In comparison, I thought that the audio art was done poorly; the synth music score and baby doll voice were symbolic but ultimately distracting.
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Creating an artificial intelligence, but its intelligence beyond expected's the issue.
Maybe the films about artificial intelligence that were made in the last 5 years might outnumber to those were made before that for centuries. Especially there are lots of B movies on this theme and some of them surpassed the film critics and the film fanatics' expectations. Here is another one, but this is a British film. Though one thing I don't understand is, in all these films they make the same mistakes. I mean the film characters recognising the AI as one of us which leads to a major disaster.
Sets in the future, when the Chinese aggression towards the Taiwan made the west, especially Britain to counteract them in the region, they decide to build a most advanced AI. But when the scientist creates beyond what the military needed, the conflict of interest surface among them. From this, who gains what, and how the story ends comes in the latter part.
Initially I liked it, but not the progression. It led nowhere, but the same crumble and a conflict between the man and the machine. I'm not saying the film was bad, but I blame the overcrowded films on this theme. The filmmakers have to start to think a different kind of storyline. Going advance like what AIs can do in the field than the initiation programmes which is too old for now and onwards. So that's where I disliked it, but not hated it. I hope you enjoyed it better than me or would do if you yet to try.
5/10
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the movie is not that bad but it's very complex and boring, the atmosphere is very dark, you will continue saying to your self "it's a movie" the whole time watching it .
if you like action sci-fi movies it's for you but it have zero humor plus it's very superficial .
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[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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I cannot recommend this move which is sad to say as I am a huge fan of all things cyberpunk. Yes it has good ideas and nice vfx but the director fails to pull it all together (poor acting also). The characters are paper thin and the relationships between the characters feel more like a means to an end for the writer rather than actual relationships with any meaning. If you have not seen Ex Machina, please go watch that masterpiece instead. Please don't waste 2 hours of your life on this movie.
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Production Company
Red & Black Films,
TV4
Release Date Apr 25, 2014
Duration 1 h 31 m
Rating R
Tagline They rise. We fall.
Awards
BAFTA Awards, Wales
• 3 Wins & 4 Nominations
Toronto After Dark Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
British Independent Film Awards
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
