400 Dias

Maybe I'm just a sucker for terrible movies, I have watched many, but I feel that the 2 other reviews here are from viewers who hold on to a candle of a perfect movie within any given genre, and that anything that goes against that can only be considered a failure and a waste of time for all involved...

This is my first review, I don't have the writing skills that some reviewers have, but I do have an honest opinion...

Do not watch this movie unless you have, like me, exhausted almost all other options. Watch this movie if you have a few hours to kill, and you want to watch a good old fashioned B-movie. Yes the story is contrived and, yes, the characters are flawed, and HECK yes, the time-line and 3rd act make little to no sense. But I for one enjoyed it for what it sets out from the start to be. A poorly written, clichéd, homage to the B-movies of old.

If the previous reviewers really think that this movie was a total waste of everyones time, then I would like to see their fantastically scripted masterpieces.

Watch this film if you have hours to kill, you might find that you enjoy it in the same way that you enjoy a bacon sandwich, fleeting, momentary, and utterly forgettable.

If you can't be bothered to write a movie, then you're not allowed to shoot a movie.

A perfectly terribly movie with little, if anything, in the way of redeeming value. From a script that portrays characters acting in completely unbelievable ways to the tired old cliché of "let's all split up"this movie is a complete waste of one's time. Four prospective astronauts who in real life couldn't qualify for Walmart greeters get buried in the ground for a year and when they come out the world has changed. Apparently it has all changed into one giant D- grade horror movie cliché. Poorly written dialog, clichéd characters, and a plot written by Dunning Kruger Inc all add up to a completely wasted portion of your life that you will never... never get back.

There is zero resolution to the movie and every single "horror" moment is telegraphed like a 1900's Western Union operator working overtime. A good chunk of the non-action takes place in a post-apocalyptic dive bar which is where I imagine the director and screen writer likely spent much of their misspent cinematic education.

The only real horror here is how a group of people can spend months (days??) of their time producing such a completely worthless pile of steaming celluloid and still have the temerity to put their names upon the completed work.

It is impossible to know where to start when describing this utterly idiotic movie. The writer obviously has no clue whatsoever about how things work. (A drunk who freaks out over a girlfriend is fit for a simulated Mars mission? A simulated near-fatal issue during launch, as if this were a training exercise rather than a simulated flight? Being told to go to bed ten minutes into the flight? Wandering around the ship as if they had never seen it before? The head of the program threatening the careers of the astronauts a minute before they board?)

Honestly, if millennials get a bad rap it if because of films like this. The writer has no knowledge about the subject matter, no understanding of adulthood, and did no homework whatsoever. How someone could ever secure a budget for this or pay for the actors, three of whom are recognizable - including the star of a hollywood blockbuster - is beyond understanding.

What we have here is Ed Wood with a budget and no monsters.

Despite it not being particularly well received here, '400 Days' intrigued me with its idea and it looked and sounded like an ambitious film. The cast didn't sound like a bad one on paper either. Was really hoping that it would be better than indicated in the reviews, wanting to go against the grain with being so impressed by the idea, and that it would even be good somewhat instead of another waste of potential (having seen quite enough of those recently). Am not trying to be a snob or anything, it is just my genuine thoughts.

'400 Days' sadly was exactly that, a waste of potential. A shame because when it first started it actually pleasantly surprised me, even if the production values were not exactly great. Did actually consider forgiving that, because there have been instances of production values not being great but the film succeeds in most other areas. Then '400 Days' lost its way badly, becoming the complete opposite of what promise the first part showed and with so many problems already covered very well by others. Very frustrating and borderline insulting at its worst. Am actually feeling really bad about saying this.

Beginning with the good things, as said already '400 Days' started off promising. It was compelling and intriguing with an air of tense mystery about it. Parts were well shot and showed a cinematographer using techniques clearly influenced by films that were genre landmarks and ground-breaking.

Also found the cast not too shabby and thought they really tried, doing what they could with material utterly beneath them.

However, the low budget and rushed production does show in the production values. The film looks very drab, the sets are very simplistic, too much of the editing in the latter parts of the film is choppy and some of it even looks unfinished. The music didn't hinder the atmosphere and didn't sound cheap, but would have made much of an impression with more subtle, better balanced and less predictable sound editing. The direction is not incompetent but a case of someone biting off more than they could chew and running before walking.

This is not an example of a film not trying. If anything, '400 Days' tries too hard and one respects the ambition, over-ambition in this case, more than the execution. It does completely fall apart too early, the suspense and any atmosphere completely goes and replaced by sluggish pacing, no surprises and senseless character behaviours that insult the intelligence and makes endear to the character far less to the point you can't. Parts are too expostion-heavy and the dialogue throughout is ham-handed and clunky, especially in these parts which don't say anything and sound like gibberish, and the final act fails to make sense to the point of incoherence. And yes, the worst asset is the ending, abrupt and ambiguous are understatements, in fact it is a complete non-event and with a big truck-load of questions and no answers. It gave the sense that the film was released incomplete.

Overall, initially intriguing but underwhelming at the end of the day. 3/10 Bethany Cox