The Stratum

I finally got around to seeing this after the new york times reviewed and said it was worth watching and they were right it was a fun time. I appreciate an indie film that has an original idea and runs with it! Usually I don't like scifi stuff but this was good and the lead actress did a good job. I don't really understand the negative reviews, like, the sets weren't star wars but like I'm not really sure what you were expecting? This is an indie film that has personality.

Also I love Ramin Karimloo so that probably influenced my enjoyment of the movie but still it's a good time and doesn't take itself too seriously.

The low 3 stars score the movie currently has is undeserving. First, Cyberpunk movies are a rarity and as fans we'll take what we can get.

Hacking sequences were done well enough. They were not as realistic as Mr. Robot, and Matrix' power plant hack, but not nearly as horrible as Hollywood's usual flying 3D cubes nonsense.

If this had Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt starring in it then the score would be 7 which is incidentally what Passengers has right now even though it's a horrible movie. So that's what I'm rating this.

While unrealistic that the science macguffin would be developed in the location it was, at least the premise was grounded in reality. No alien wormholes or ambiguous "ghosts in the machine" here.

This reminds me of a movie that might make it on SYFY at 2am on a Tuesday because they couldnt get anything else to fit the budget. Acting seemed forced. Writing was basic at best. The only reason it has a rating if 5 (for now) is because one of the stars of the film rated it a 10. (We see you Johnathan Medina) That's like saying you have the most beautiful baby when it looks like a goblin.

Avoid this flick, unless you: 1. Have the time to utterly waste.

2. You need to put something in the the hospital room of a coma patient (and they'll probably wake up to change it) 3. Run a CIA black site that needs to torture someone and you can't waterboard them.

I am a child of the 80s. Was raised on films like The Last Starfighter, Weird Science, Krull, and The Thing. Hitchhiker's Guide and the original Doctor Who were in my backyard, too. The ambience and spirit of those swashbuckling adventures inspired me, entertained me, made me laugh and made me think.

All that atmosphere and character is alive and well in The Stratum. The beauty of those films was their ability to hide a message of hope and courage amidst a sprawling story, and do it on a budget. Special effects were more practical and so the heavy lifting was done with dialogue and acting.

Crash Buist and Lauren Senechal deliver that, and more, with chemistry, ingenuity, and zeal. Stratum is one of those rare independent films that plucks on your heartstrings without telling you it will, and does it with a wink and a smile.

The dystopian future, the rogue hacker with a twinge of innocence, the plucky princess with a plan, and the duplicitous CEO; you'll find them here, but updated and real.

You can feel the joy that went into making the movie in every frame. And, at the end of the day, you might walk away inspired, to not only see the world a little differently, but maybe to try and change it, too.

Not sure what the deal is with the low ratings.

The movie has obviously been produced with a low budget. I saw a CPU cooler strapped on a plastic gun and the futuristic walls are done with package material. The scene with the landing of the rescue pod was highly unrealistic. The pod landed so roughly no one could have ever survived that.

Nevertheless the CGI was done very well and the acting was very reasonable too. The main female character is a hottie. In all, I would support initiatives like these because they reflect a honest body of work with real enthusiastic participants. I'll bet they go one to do greater stuff.