The Quiet Earth

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Coming from Film Movement Classics on 12/6/16.

Product Description
Beautifully restored in HD, this classic film is now released for the first time in North America!

In this sci-fi cult classic, Zac Hobson, a mid-level scientist working on a global energy project, wakes up to a nightmare. After his project malfunctions, Zac discovers that he may be the last man on Earth. As he searches empty cities for other survivors, Zac's mental state begins to deteriorate - culminating in the film's iconic and hotly debated ending.

Bonus Features, include: Commentary by acclaimed astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and film critic, Odie Henderson.

Package includes: Collector's Booklet with film essay by academic/film critic, Teresa Heffernan; cast and crew credits; chapter breaks; stills.

Review
OFFICIAL SELECTION - Toronto International Film Festival ---

The Quiet Earth is a textbook example of how to make an effective science fiction movie without a Hollywood-sized budget. --Horror News

It's difficult to point out highlights in the movie, as every scene works without flaws... --Cult Reviews

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Full press release.

November 17, 2016 (New York, NY) - Film Movement, the New York-based distributor of arthouse and independent films, is pleased to announce the home video release of Geoffrey Murphy's New Zealand sci-fi cult classic THE QUIET EARTH (1985, 91 minutes), which will be available for the first time on Blu-ray, as well as DVD, in the U.S. on December 6th. Film Movement Classics will release this Blu-ray and DVD with a unique bonus feature: a commentary by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, the Director of the Hayden Planetarium of the Natural History Museum in New York, together with rogerebert.com film critic Odie Henderson. THE QUIET EARTH is one of deGrasse Tyson's favorite science fiction films.


In THE QUIET EARTH, Bruno Lawrence stars as scientist Zac Hobson and proved an “electrifying screen force,” observed Sheila Benson of The Los Angeles Times at the time of its release. Zac is a mid-level scientist working on a global energy project who wakes up to a nightmare. After his project malfunctions, he discovers that he may be the last man on Earth. As he searches empty cities for other survivors, Zac's mental state begins to deteriorate - culminating in the film's iconic and hotly debated ending. Alison Routledge and Peter Smith also star.


TheQuietEarth_coverCalled “the best science fiction film of the '80s” by Kirk Honeycutt of the Los Angeles Daily News, THE QUIET EARTH is loosely based on Craig Harrison's novel of the same name. With this award-winning film, Geoff Murphy, who also directed GOODBYE PORK PIE and UTU, ushered in a renaissance of classic New Zealand films in the 1980s. In his review, Honeycutt goes on to say, “the movie churns up more thought-provoking ideas about life on planet Earth than a month's worth of STAR WARS-styled films.” THE QUIET EARTH, which was originally screenwriter and producer Sam Pillsbury's project, was sold to 80 countries, gained a cult following, and won Murphy attention in the United States. During the 1990s Murphy directed a string of Hollywood features, before returning to New Zealand as second-unit director on THE LORD OF THE RINGS film trilogy.


On December 6th, THE QUIET EARTH will be available to own from FilmMovement.com, Amazon.com and other retailers on Blu-ray and DVD under the Film Movement Classics imprint. In addition to the commentary by Neil deGrasse Tyson and film critic Odie Henderson, the release will include a collector's booklet with stills and credit details, as well as a newly-commissioned essay by Teresa Heffernan, Professor of English at Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, whose books include “Post-Apocalyptic Culture: Modernism, Postmodernism, and the Twentieth-Century Novel.”


In addition to THE QUIET EARTH, other Film Movement Classics available for purchase in time for the holiday gift-giving season include “Beat” Takeshi Kitano's first two films, VIOLENT COP and BOILING POINT, and Wolf Gremm's KAMIKAZE '89, starring Rainer Werner Fassbinder. To see and purchase all Film Movement Classics on Blu-ray and DVD, please go to FilmMovement.com.


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THE QUIET EARTH (1985, 91 minutes) A film by Geoff Murphy. Starring Bruno Lawrence, Alison Routledge, Peter Smith. New Zealand. Rated R. A Film Movement Classics Release. Trailer, stills, and synopsis available here.

About Film Movement Classics
Launched in 2002, Film Movement is a North American distributor of award-winning independent and foreign films based in New York City. Film Movement has released more than 250 feature films and shorts culled from prestigious film festivals worldwide, and this year it had its first Academy Award-nominated film, THEEB. Film Movement's theatrical distribution strategy has evolved to include promising American independent films, documentaries, and an even stronger slate of foreign art house titles. In 2015, Film Movement launched its reissue label Film Movement Classics, featuring new restorations released theatrically as well as on Blu-ray and DVD, including films by such noted directors as Eric Rohmer, Peter Greenaway, Bille August, Marleen Gorris, Takeshi Kitano and Ettore Scola. For more information, please visit www.filmmovement.com.

[JLG Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JLG]

got this yesterday. going to watch it tonight.

don't know anything about it outside of what the back cover says

[JLG Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JLG]

this was ok. think my expectations were too high. going to watch it again tho.

some bits of dialogue have some heavy accent.

didn't listen to the whole thing but the commentary goes pretty dead almost immediately. kinda disappointed about that

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

*SPOILERS*

I think the first 40 minutes or so are extraordinary (when he's alone) but it becomes less interesting when he finds the other two people. The ending is spectacular, though.

[Curwen Member Find all posts View Profile Close Curwen]

didn't listen to the whole thing but the commentary goes pretty dead almost immediately. kinda disappointed about that

Indeed, it's a poorly & strangely assembled commentary. Which sucks because what screen-specific comments Neil Degrasse Tyson does have between the dead air are kind of interesting. What's even more odd is the "interaction" between NGT and the moderator, or lack thereof. It sounds like they were recorded separately but it was edited together to make it sound conversational.

Here's a decent summary of the commentary: https://filmschoolrejects.com/commen...n-d97d68cc165e

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Umbrella has announced this for Australian Blu-ray release later this year.

[VinceP yabba man Find all posts View Profile Close VinceP]

Umbrella has announced this for Australian Blu-ray release later this year.

Hmm...wonder if I should wait for that or grab the Arrow version coming out next week. By the looks of it, the blacks seem to be deeper on the Arrow than the Film Movement at least.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Cover art for the Umbrella release.



Some info/pre-order link here:

https://www.umbrellaent.com.au/comin...ollection.html

[Darcy Parker Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Darcy Parker]

I love this movie. Back in my first video store job, a co-worker put on the Thorn-EMI tape while we were doing inventory, and I was hooked.

[JoeS Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JoeS]

I first saw it during it's brief theatrical run - and, told everybody I could about this crazy little Australian sci-fi mind bender.

I've seen it twice more (and again, on the big screen; I've yet to view it at home) -- and, thankfully, it has held up both times.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Sell sheet for the Umbrella Blu-ray.

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