Synchronicity

This "aint" Blade Runner. Sorry Jim Beam but I could not help myself. I hope you don't mind.

Synchronicity tries very, very hard to recapture the music, sets and overall "feel" of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. Sad fact is, the latter film is a masterpiece, in a league of its own and any pretenders, are going to come across as Asian flea market renderings of the Mona Lisa.

That said, to be fair, this film is not awful. Its a modest affair and yes, it does do a reasonable job of recapturing the 80's feel found in Scott's film. I'll even admit I had a few "deja-vu", sentimental moments, that took me back to my teenage years. The music and dusky, smoky sets, in particular, were very emotive.

Its also worth remembering too that this film is not Blade Runner. Indeed, the film it most reminds me of is Videodrome, with James Woods. Not because of the storyline but more its slower pace and "surreal" feel. This film is best suited to a thoughtful, patient viewer, who is willing to spend the time and effort needed to understand its various complex, time travel based, paradoxes.

In summary, a reasonable if not exceptional film that, in one way or other pays homage to 80's sci fi classics. Six out of ten from me.

Reading some of the other reviews, mostly focusing on the fact that the movie seems to be almost Bladerunnerish, they do not actually address what the movie is. So what that it has a musical and emotive reflection in a style that reminds one of a silver screen masterpiece? Many rappers have best-sellers based on the borrowed riff or refrain from an eighties classic. And they pull it off. The question is - did this movie get a fair shake in being rated as average? This simply means that some liked it and some did not. But slashing it for merely what it reflects is like smashing the mirror on a bad hair day. The movie is a love story. It's a simple plot, and when one sits back and reflects on it, it pulls off the simple plot. It is low budget, yes, but in a good way. Bad CGI and silly effects would not have added to the love story, but to the SciFi wrapper. And who eats the wrapper and writes a review on it? Quite a few people, if I read through them. I enjoyed the movie and the story and the way it unfolds. Perhaps it will not be memorable, but at least it was filling. Worth a seven, I say.

I won't rant about this movie being terrible since I was at least able to get through it completely without turning it off, so that's a start! What I meant in my title of it being 20 years late is that the acting and music was all too reminiscent of a 90's movie, or better yet for those who remember the TV series "The Outer Limits" this is exactly how it is structured. The acting is so so, and the special effects are lack luster, especially considering what is available nowadays. The story had so much potential and really is an interesting idea, however i feel it's sort of been done with movies like Momento, or Paycheck, but just wasn't a great delivery to feel original. For scifi peeps like me it is worth a watch on a rainy day when there is nothing else on.

This movie boasts a "sci fi noir" tag and I gotta say, it's a cop out. It's more of a b grade movie than a noir film of any kind.

The soundtrack was repetitive cut and pastes of 80s "sounds" which were super cheesy and just gross. Look back to The Machine for an example of a decent sound track, this sounds like the version done by an inexperienced composer.

The plot it's self is basically what Primer did much better but it had a romance that was essential for the plot to work and unfortunately this writer and the lead actress cannot pull off romance. Don't make a romantic relationship the key to your plot unless you're as good at romance writing as you are science fiction writing. The other aspect of the film, which many unfairly compare to Dark City, is that they use an endless amount of gloss and dark lighting to try to make everything seem dark and gritty. Combined with the music it was just tedious to take in.

Don't get suckered in by the comparisons made to better movies or the "noir" tags.

Synchronicity is an interesting movie that makes you think. I've seen others movies on the subject of time-travel but few that goes that deep into the subject and explaining it that well.

It's by no mean an easy movie to understand as a whole plot-wise because of the whole time-travel paradox , but it actually illustrate the complexity of it in a very elegant and subtle manner without too many shortcuts.

The movie has its flaws however,some of the plot devices related to the time-travel paradox seemed a little bit too convenient in my opinion, and the ending could have been better. But as a whole I liked the story even though I didn't understand all the details involved. There is also a nice little love story which actually fitted quite well in the overall plot.

The cyberpunk setting wasn't a bad idea for the movie, but I wished they had been a bit more subtle about it. Some of the scenes of the movies were almost screaming "We bloody love Blade Runner" at us. I still liked the style and music but I think it was a bit overdone.

Apart from Ironside all the actors are refreshingly unknown, and do a very good job given the complex story they play.I liked the characters which were both human and interesting.

Synchronicity's story is by no mean easy to grasp , but I enjoyed it. It wasn't overly complicated but still gave me something to think about after watching it. I recommend this movie if you're in the mood for a bit more serious scifi.