ThiefHott Too much of everything

Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Dalbert Pringle The way I see it - All that "The Quiet Earth" comes down to being is just a poor man's version of "I Am Legend".Even though the release dates between these 2 films is 22 years apart, with The Quiet Earth coming out way back in 1985, long before I Am Legend, it's still impossible not to compare these 2 films, right down the their very last details.Yes, "Earth" and "Legend" certainly do contain a lot of similarities in their plot-lines, etc., but, just the same, there are definitely some notable differences between these 2 films, as well. For instance, The Quiet Earth's story takes place in New Zealand, while I Am Legend's location is NYC.Note: The remainder of this review may contain spoilers.It's at The Quiet Earth's big, climatic finale where this film loses significant points, all due to a technical problem that was quite visibly evident when it came to the presentation of the particular scene.Whoever it was that set up this final, all-important shot certainly wasn't paying very close attention to what they were doing when it came to keeping all of the imagery as still as possible. And so, as a result of this neglect, the dramatic background matte-images of the planet Saturn as it slowly rises up over Earth's ocean horizon fluctuates rapidly at an alarming rate, which is quite easily noticeable to the naked-eye.This whole faulty technical blooper was not only incredibly annoying, but it completely ruined the otherwise awesome effect of this scene, reducing what was basically a fairly good film to the level of something quite disappointing and extremely amateurish.

SnoopyStyle The world changes at 6:12am. Zac Hobson wakes up to find himself alone. He's a scientist and suspects his work in Project Flashlight is responsible for the disappearance. It's a global energy grid thought up by the Americans. He starts to go mad with loneliness and then Joanne finds him. The flashes continue to happen. Zac is less than enthusiastic about finding survivors as he conducts experiments. Api takes him prisoner.This is not the first man-alone-in-the-world movie. It takes the theme and breathe life into it. The life and death idea is terrific and well thought out. This is very well made especially for a New Zealand indie in the 80s. The low budget is used to maximum effect. Zac is a terribly flawed human being and the others are also very human. This is not a monster movie so they are truly alone on the quiet earth. The last scene evokes a sense of wonder and bewilderment. It's one of my favorite small sci-fi indie.

Ronny Clarke I will start by saying I enjoyed this film very much. While I cannot say it is a great movie, it is certainly entertaining, interesting, and watchable. The cast do quite well in their respective roles, and the section on the effects of isolation on the main character is both funny and quite sad. The introduction of the other characters and the consequent tension is quite believable under the circumstances.However, I did find myself rather frustrated by the plot. I felt it hid behind vagueness and lack of explanation about what was going on. I especially found myself rather flummoxed by the ending. It was interesting, but it left too many questions about what the viewer was supposed to conclude had happened. I don't necessarily dislike ambiguity in a film, but I couldn't help but wonder if the scriptwriter was hiding behind lack of explanation because he didn't quite know how to end it.The effects are cheap, but the movie is older, low budget, and the effects were not particularly vital to the plot. It didn't really affect my enjoyment of the movie.So overall I would say 'The Quiet Earth' is no classic, but is a watchable, entertaining film.

Theo Robertson This is one of those movies that after seeing you'll be thinking hey what a great movie . It's a film that lingers long in the memory then when you see it again you're left thinking , oh I wonder why I liked it so much ? There's little dispute as to why I thought it so good first time I saw it and that's because of the very memorable ending which overwhelmed all the other elements of the film that came before itTQE has a very old fashioned attitude to science as in " These nasty scientists have just gone and destroyed the human race again " which was common in 1950s sci-fi where nearly every alien menace was a metaphor for the atomic bomb . Yes science might have given humanity the power to destroy itself but it's also given us medicine , electricity and the internet so the good outweighs the bad It's a film that has three distinct acts with one being Zac waking up to find himself alone and flirting with madness caused by his loneliness , the second act featuring Zac finding a fellow survivor Joanne and the third act dealing with sexual rivalries caused by a third protagonist Api joining the duo . It's not often you see all the men in the world fighting over a ginger and this is probably the first and last film you'll see this as a premise In this type of film which concentrates on character instead of action and spectacle it's important that the casting is perfect but unfortunately I wasn't compelled by the acting . Bruno Lawrence is merely okay , Alison Routledge is bland and Pete Smith lacks the dangerous edge his character cries out for . I read online that Jack Nicolson was asked to play Zac but wanted too much money and perhaps the producers would have been better getting a well known bad boy actor to play Api The film ends with a great image which makes the film . Of course when you're left to ask what it means in both he context of the film and a possible future for Zac you'll be be left scratching your chin . In effect this is one of these movies that is remembered for its imagery or rather one final image at the end . Everything leading up to it isn't all that good except perhaps for the deserted streets sequences