Saturday, March 06, 2010
Michael Allen
Toxic Skies was released on Australian television March 7th of 2009. Now, a year later Image Entertainment is releasing this thriller on DVD March 23rd, in North America. The film, as previously reported here, involves chem' trails, government conspiracies and one medical doctor's (Anne Heche) attempts to find a cure to a mysterious disease (Toxic Skies article). The film definitely has a television movie feel, with pauses at the height of dramatic action. While the film has a somewhat unbelievable premise, Toxic Skies is an interesting ride through a fictional greedy corporate scheme to receive financial rewards by creating a deadly disease.
This disease kills at will and passes from person to person through personal touch. Anne Heche plays Dr. Tess Martin, the central protagonist, who watches her friends suffer from illness, while being petitioned to invest in conspiracies. However, here there is no conspiracy only greed on the part of pharmaceutical retailer Keller. Keller hopes to capitalize on those in need of treatment from a disease that they have caused.
The film is basically escapism and is not meant for careful dissection. Although the premise is serious and dramatic in origin, the characters are well-acted and deliver comfort food via celluloid. Toxic Skies distracts with quick pacing, some action scenes, interesting political intrigue and even pauses for possible commercial breaks. The film is entertainment and there are no real faults in execution.
Toxic Skies gets the three basics of filmmaking right and then some. Thankfully, the lights stay on, the camera is powered up, and there is no dubbing, so basically the film gets a quick pass. As well, the story is intriguing. Who does not like a good conspiracy theory? The layering of characters is peeled back as the writing progresses, with a satisfying conclusion ending out the final act.
This film is important in showing the ease by which corporations could act like snake oil salesmen in order to gain profits. Although, it is a bit of a leap to move from drug advertisers promoting disease on television commercials to spraying innocent civilians with a virus, the film shows the inherent greed of people. Turn on your television for an hour to see how drug companies push treatment on healthy people with tales of nervous conditions to temporary low moods. But not all drug companies are bad and neither is this film.
Image Entertainment will be releasing this title March 23rd and if you like political intrigue, or just want to tune out the world for an hour and a half, this film will do just that. Chem' trails are not happening as far as science knows, but Toxic Skies entertains and educates viewers on the pollution that planes pump into our environment. A nice dramatic entry for 2010.
Plot/story/believability: 6.5.
Social message/director's statement: 7.
Directing/lighting/camera techniques: 6.
Overall: 6.5 coughing fits out of 10.
DVD details:
-presented in widescreen
-Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
-theatrical trailer
Sources:
Toxic Skies at Dread Central
Toxic Skies at Image Entertainment
Stumble It!
Posted in: 2010,conspiracy,drama,movie poster,movie review,plot,thriller,writing
0 comments:
Post a Comment