Louisa E
This is one of the most trippy movies I have ever seen! There were some interesting ideas that seem cliche now - flying transport and video calls. But I like their imaginative social concepts, like names being numbers and needing a court order to marry. But why they didn't change hairstyles and clothes had me beat. Mars was also really weird! The songs were lovely, and I liked the old-fashioned girl or boy song. The dance in the Mars idol worship bit was weird as the black costumes kind of looked like pubic hair, which was off-putting. Design-wise, I am a bit disappointed as they could have had so much fun, but instead, it was just deco. There were some interesting costume ideas, but there could have been more. Overall, it was a weird movie.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
05/09/23
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Audience Member
It idea was great, the execution was lousy.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/14/23
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Audience Member
As prohibition wore on, Americans turned more and more to pharmaceutical medication for recreational uses, particularly those in the entertainment industry. In Hollywood, this trend had the side-effect of an increase in films such as this one which frightened and alarmed the general populace, thus largely contributing to the appeal of prohibition. The more you know...
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/19/23
Full Review
kevin w
The thing about sci-fi, predicting how technology will change our lives, hindsight being 20/20, is that it all looks so easy, like not so much of a thing, but its harder than it looks and here is a work in particular that proves that point exactly. A hackneyed convolution of cornball and greasy charm, they've literally thrown in everything and the kitchen sink in this look into the crystal ball. First they go back, 50 years back, before 1930, and are wistful about those halcyon days of yore. "Things were simpler then ..." Then we plunge into the future where all the architecture, interior design, and even the furniture is art deco (yeah, it looks old now, but when they made it, when it was hot, it was supposed to be "THE FUTURE!"). The government controls everything, folks have numbers instead of names and they eat little pills instead of real meals.
Now there's a typical story here as well about boy gets girl, but it's of little importance beside the extravagances of speculation of what life will be like in the future. And its a musical too. Interesting about the film is not what they got wrong (and they do that easily 75% of the time) but what and how our grandparents, our great grandparents, and our great-great grandparents dreamed about what was to come. Some of the fantasies are wild and nutty, but most retain significant parts of the culture of their time, like they knew things were gonna change but kept their dreaming in a way they could still understand so that it didn't get far away from them. In one scene people blithely stand mere feet away from a rocket taking off. One central character is not only Jewish, but Jewish played for laffs no less (Woody Allen's Sleeper was only 43 years away), implying that in the future, in 50 years, racial hatred would be done away with (and this hope for the future only a couple of years away from the Holocaust) I loved this movie for that quality. On its own, its pretty hokey now, but at one time somebody saw this and was amazed at what the future could be like.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Two words to describe this film would be "camp" and "conservative."
The SFX are excellent for 1930, the music is decent and the writing can either be solid or silly. The acting all belongs in a film set in 1930. The wardrobe is just contemporary wares made askew; they hardly tried.
Of course, the film is also outdated. The film's poor view of women was archaic by the time of its release. Even though technology has advanced considerably, scientists have no sense of ethics, e.g. threatening to kill subjects for asking questions. As for stereotypes, Jews control [the aviation] business, the only job an Irishman can get is "street cop", and gays are sissy maries.
A strange entry from early Hollywood.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/25/23
Full Review
Audience Member
If you're into the Orwellian futuristic concepts, you'll dig this movie. If you're into the history of film, you'll also dig this movie, for this is a perfect example of how filmmakers had a bit of a bumpy road transitioning from silent to sound. But aside from that, it's not very good. The acting, script and songs are 100% real corn, the best visuals taken from Fritz Lang and Georges Melies, and the production value mismanaged.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/05/23
Full Review
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