End of the World

Until End of the World, The Lost Future held that distinction, so there was proof that SyFy could make a good movie. Unfortunately, those good movies are too few, there are a handful of tolerable if not great ones but most of them are just awful to bottom of the barrel. End of the World is not one of the best movies I've ever seen, but I wasn't expecting that. I was hoping that once in a while SyFy would make something that was entertaining instead of being ineptly done in all areas. And I got that. The production values are so much more polished than what we usually see. I have seen one too many of their movies that look as though they were edited on bacon slicers completed with half-finished special effects. That was not the case with End of the World. The scenery fits with the tone of the movie very well and it is competently shot and directed. And of the special effects of any SyFy movie, End of the World's are by far and large the best. Watching the gore is like watching something like Spartacus, and for me it was not excessively used or too in-your-face. And this is one of those rare occurrences where we actually see a real explosion, mostly it is a cheaply rendered computer effect with SyFy, but not here and it is thrilling.

The scoring isn't much of a problem either, it doesn't come across as sluggish or generic. End of the World is one of the better written SyFy films too, whether it said anything telling or new or not doesn't matter when you're having fun rather than rolling your eyes in contempt. Instead of cheesy and awkward, the script was witty with some refreshing inside humour, and delivered strongly. Whereas many SyFy movies had the script as a major weak point, here it was what made End of the World fun to watch. The story admittedly is standard and one that we have seen the basic concept before, there are moments that are unbelievable(like with a video store still existing after all that had happened) and admittedly it did feel at times that it was more an excuse to string its many homages together. But for once it didn't feel predictable, it was zippily paced, didn't take itself too seriously despite the seriousness of the situation and the references/homages to movies- by admission having varying degrees of subtlety- and to Grunberg's Heroes character made for a standard concept made fresh. Subtlety may not have always been a strong suit, but I could not deny that these references were cleverly used and moved the story forward on the most part instead of bogging the film down.

End of the World's characters are not much different from the usual ones we see in a SyFy movie as we do see many of the SyFy disaster movie clichés. The difference is that there is an attempt to make them likable and we do care for their situation. The drama resonates with you without being cloying, there is some decent suspense amid the referencing and the scientific elements are thrilling(I never did worry too much about whether the science was poorly researched or not, there have been far more blatant instances around). End of the World is almost certainly the best acted SyFy movie, which is saying a lot. Not just that the performances are great, but they do make the dialogue believable at least and there is definite chemistry between them. Brad Dourif's screen time is not large, but he makes the most of it and is very enjoyable to watch. Caroline Cave is also good and sympathetic without feeling like a bookend and not much else. Neil Grayston was a pleasure to see on screen again, and he is very endearing and actually looks as though he cares about the situation his character is in. But Greg Grunberg does the best work here, one of few actors in a SyFy that blends comedy and drama perfectly and with a magnetic presence to boot.

All in all, a surprisingly good movie and the best SyFy film- The Lost Future will have to contend with a close second as of now- by a mile. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Pretty average for a sci-fi channel movie, though the humor level is a little higher, and the presence of Brad Dourif, Neil Grayston (Fargo from "Eureka") and Greg Grunberg (from "Heroes", who rises far above the material) makes it much more watchable.

The earth is being bombarded by plasma balls, which fry people and stuff, but that's only the beginning. A far greater threat will destroy the earth unless our intrepid geeky movie line-quoting video store clerks can save the day (oddly, the most unbelievable part of the movie is that there's still an open video store in existence). The special effects are not bad, and the acting, apart from a few really noticeable Canadian accents, isn't bad either.

End of the World (2013)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

SyFy film has a couple video store clerks (and one of their wives) having to put their knowledge of disaster movies to the ultimate test when the end of the world approaches. When some sort of mysterious explosions start dropping from the skies, the three head off to find an expert (Brad Dourif) who is locked up in a mental hospital. I'll give END OF THE WORLD credit for at least trying to do something different but unfortunately it really doesn't add up to much. The biggest problem with this movie is the low-budget, which just doesn't really allow it to be taken that serious. I think with a higher budget and a re-write of the screenplay then we might have had something much better. As is, the film has some interesting moments and a couple good performances but that's it. One good thing is the constant references to other science fiction movies, which was somewhat fun for film buffs. I also enjoyed the performances for the most part. Caroline Cave is good in the role of the wife and we also get nice work from Greg Grunberg and Neil Grayston. I also enjoyed seeing Dourif who goes wildly over-the-top but in a fun way. The special effects are pretty much what you'd expect from a low-budget film like this but they were still much better than what you typical see on SyFy. Back to the problems, the screenplay just isn't strong enough to make us believe the situation these characters are in. Not once did I buy into the "end of the world" and there's really not any drama or suspense anywhere. I know this is mostly a comedy about these two video store clerks but we needed something else.

A Syfy Channel original TV movie starring Greg Grunberg who apparently was in the once-popular TV series Heroes. He's kinda funny, trying to make a joke for everything in this disaster of a disaster movie. He and his buddy reference tons of real movies, particularly disaster flicks which they know backwards and forwards. Everything they know about surviving disasters they've gotten from those movies which has even turned them into end of the world preppers ready for any end of the world scenario. And of course that saves the world here. Oh no, is that a spoiler? Who cares, it's a crap movie that really does nothing but suck.

3.6 / 10 stars

--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

Owen Stokes (Greg Grunberg) owns a video store. Suddenly, the world is bombarded by balls of electromagnetic energy. The boys are prepared for every movie apocalypse contingent. Owen's girlfriend Selena arrives with douche Max. Owen and his employee Steve Palmer go to get Steve's mother. The group tries to find Dr. Walter Brown (Brad Dourif) who is locked up in a mental institution. He just might be the only one who can save the world.

It starts with a functional idea. The special effects are mostly low budget sci-fi TV level. Most of the humor don't work. The jokes are mostly half-hearted movie references. It's Armageddon with no budget and not as funny. It's functional for the first half but it wears out its welcome. It would work better if the movie kept it small but it insists on going full Armageddon.