Customer Reviews

Echelon Conspiracy

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Very similar to last year's "Eagle Eye," but with Shane West instead of Shia LaBeouf. This movie has a bit more intelligent script, but contains a lot less special effects (although there are several pretty good car chases). The theme of the U.S. government creating a machine for "national security" that then turns against them is nothing new and hardly science fiction these days, but the movies about it seem to be abundant. "Echelon Conspiracy" doesn't strike too far from the herd but it's still quite entertaining.

Okay, I know people say this is a copy of Eagle Eye, and if you look at the trailer they are alike, but honestly I believe it when they say Eagle Eye is the one that is like THIS movie. Echelon Conspiracy was done around same time Eagle Eye was, only difference is Eagle Eye was released in theaters first. I vote for this one to be quite honest. Seriously, this movie keeps you on your toes about what happens. ABSOLUTELY recommend this movie!

This whole movie just played SO lame....the actions the lead character takes...following commands from a phone, given to him by a computer with a mind of it's own. Just poorly exectuted from A to Z. Acting, scripting, screenplay, writing....It felt like 'b movie' quality all around. Guess that's why I'd never heard of it, 'til it went into Netflix pool of 'streamed to your tv' flicks, which are mostly clunkers, by and large!

Max Peterson (Shane West) a computer security installer who remembers backdoor passwords in case something goes wrong is just finishing a project. He receives a mysterious FedEx package that he did not order. It contains a new cell phone of the type that is not even on the market yet. Upon turning it on it immediately precedes to save his life and is in the process of making him a millionaire. This looks like fun so he goes with the flow. Little did he know that he is part of some sort of global conspiracy. Will he find out what it is in time to live long enough to spend those millions?

This is very noisy movie with lots of heavy background sounds and whatnot luckily you can hear the dialog through the sound. There is lots of action and it is actually quite fun to watch. There is no real depth to this story yet the twists and turns are fun to watch. There is the obligatory sex scene, which seems out of place and is not that racy. Much of the dialogue and scenarios are lifted from previous films. One that comes to mind is the end of "War Games" were the computer has to play tic-tac-toe with itself to realize that there is no acceptable move but not to play. This could also bring to mind the Star Trek episode where the computer realizes that he is destroying the very people he is supposed to protect. There is also a dash of "Colossus the Forbin project."

In any event, it is fun to watch the interaction twin the fresh new actors and some of the seasoned ones.

Just a note I saw the Blu-ray version and was amazed at the lack of DVD extras. Not even the voice over commentary that tries to justify.

I went in with no expectations and thought I might get lightly entertained. Instead I was subjected to a slew of poor to average performances, DVD quality on a Blu, no special features whatsoever, bad sound, the re-done story mentioned here and everywhere, the best performance not even being credited on the cover art, this constant location/text thing on the screen telling us the coordinates of each sequence (uh - who cares?), this bad freeze frame editing mixed with 1990s MTV music - wow I could keep going.

The performance to watch for is the great little seductress and lethal weapon role filled by the elegant Tamara Feldman. She gets to show her skin in the love scene but it still gets a PG in Canada and a PG13 here - gotta love it. The Blu had no selling point to voice here since it failed on picture quality, sound, lack of features supplemented by a film that would have been cool right after Enemy of the State, not Eagle Eye and ten others.

Normally, I do not go off on a movie this much but each sequence would get steadily worse than the previous. When you find yourself laughing at that 90s music score, bad action scenes, and fluffy writing, things begin to snowball. Maybe it is good for a rental, but do not test your new Blu system with this one; At the most a slow Sunday evening where you might want to see Martin Sheen or Ed Burns fill some roles.

"Echelon Conspiracy" is a fairly good thriller. Director Greg Marcks who won an academy award as a student keeps the pace brisk and the mystery unfolding. Of the actors, Tamara Feldman comes across the best IMHO. She plays Kamila. From the first moments where she bumps into Max in a hotel hallway, we know she is not all she appears to be. Feldman, who has done lots of recent TV from "Gossip Girls," "Royal Pains" & "One Tree Hill," gives the character depth. Her reaction frames as she slouches wounded against the bathroom wall are powerful. Shane West, who I have been enjoying on the series "Nikita," plays the lead Max Peterson. He allows the story to be more interesting than his character's reaction to events. The flat performance doesn't give much of a springboard on which the film can rebound. Edward Burns who I actually did see in "27 Dresses" plays John Reed, the casino security and ex-agent. Martin Sheen's Raymond Burke is the bad guy bureaucrat who raves and twitches in Washington DC. Ving Rhames doesn't have as much to do as he did in "Mission Impossible II," but adequately goes through the paces. Jonathan Pryce who has been in numerous "Pirates of the Caribbean" films plays his usual ruthless tycoon. Sergey Gubanov plays the computer whizz Yuri Melanin in what is a great role for the young actor, allowing him to show several different layers. If you like the espionage genre, this is a good flick to kick back and just let it entertain you. Enjoy!

In "The Echelon Conspiracy," a technological thriller presented by Dark Castle Entertainment, a computer security expert Max Peterson (Shane West) gets strange text messages in his cell phone. The latest model cell phone is in fact an anonymous gift he receives at a Bangkok hotel, and to his great surprise, the text messages really foretell the future events like stock market prices.

The unknown sender of the messages orders Max to fly to a Prague casino, where he is offered a chance to be rich quickly. Of course, he wouldn't let this opportunity go, but some people are not very happy about that. Max is pursued by the casino's security chief John Reed (Ed Burns) and an FBI agent Dave Grant (Ving Rhames). Apparently, Max realizes, he is not the only one who had received these strange messages, and some of those who had followed the phone's suggestions are already dead.

[MILD SPOILER INCLUDED in this paragraph] I believe the similarity is accidental, but "The Echelon Conspiracy" made me feel like watching "Eagle Eye" again. And perhaps "War Game," too. The difference is that D.J. Caruso, director of the surprise hit starring Shia LaBeouf, knew how to handle the action scenes more competently. There are a car chase and a shoot-out in "Echelon Conspiracy," but the badly edited stunts lack thrills and, with all respect to those who got involved, sometimes even look amateurish.

Maybe director Greg Marcks ("11:14") is not ready for action films of this scale. Acting is not bad, but virtually nothing is done to make their characters interesting, and any attempt for adding much-needed humor is weak at best. Not a terrible film at all, but "The Echelon Conspiracy" needs originality and imagination, as well as a better title.

This was not as awful as some folks are saying. Yes it's cliche, and you've probably seen it all before.

That being said, I actually liked it better than Eagle-Eye or Wanted. This is a familiar "big brother" plot - the computer Echelon begins to exert some control, and nobody knows how or to what end.

The movie actually reminded me quite a bit of an X-Files episode several years ago, Kill Switch, in which a government-controlled satellite was tracking people, and ultimately killed them with a laser.

There are some small roles by Ving Rhames, Jonathan Pryce, & Martin Sheen. And though it's not exactly edge-of-your-seat, there are a couple neat car chases, and the soundtrack & music editing is actually pretty decent.

For a smaller-budged movie, by an up-and-comer director, it was certainly above average. So if you like conspiracy movies, if you're an X-Files fan, etc., I suspect you may enjoy it.

Anyone who regularly watches recent films will immediately see "Echelon Conspiracy" as more than a bit similar to the thriller, "Eagle Eye" (which had been released 6 months earlier), as both films involve conspiracies involving the government, with innocents forced to participate in the plot via mysterious messages over cellphones. But if your viewing habits encompass a wider range of films, you will also find "Echelon Conspiracy" owes as much to "Enemy of the State", "Wargames", and a number of other suspense films...and the derivative nature of the plot unfortunately defeats a decent cast, and beautiful location work around the world.

While Shane West, with his blue-collar persona, seems an unlikely casting choice as a brilliant engineer, he hasn't suffered from the over-exposure of Shia LaBeouf, and his performance grows on you, as the film progresses. Edward Burns (as an ex-FBI agent/casino security chief) and Ving Rhames (as his FBI ex-partner), both deserve better roles in better films, but do provide solid support for West (although why the FBI would violate it's mandate, and operate actively in Europe, is one of many plotholes in the script). Sexy Tamara Feldman is the obligatory love interest with a secret agenda, and Jonathan Pryce, in a tiny cameo, has fun as Burns' ruthless boss. Then there is villainous Martin Sheen...well, if this film is any indication, he gave up serious acting when "The West Wing" went off the air!

If you are an armchair traveller, you will enjoy the film; Bangkok is gloriously colorful, Prague, rich in 'Old World' charm, and Moscow figures prominently in a high-voltage night car chase. You may wonder about the mountains in the 'Nebraska' finale, but you do get your money's worth in exotic locales.

Ultimately, "Echelon Conspiracy" isn't terrible, and if you are a casual movie watcher, you may enjoy the film. But if you find yourself experiencing déjà vu, don't worry; you HAVE seen all this before!

That's right, I paid the price and watched it so you don't have to!

This is easily the worst movie of the year whatever the year is. I actually rate -5. I mean it has significant negative redeeming value. But there is no getting back my time or IQ points I lost.

It is nothing but a set of beaten to death cliches. Add to this horrible acting, plot that will insult your intelligence (if you have any), and there you have it.

If your life depended on watching this movie - choose death.