Product Details

• Actors: Clovis Cornillac
• Directors: Franck Vestiel
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Magnolia Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: May 19, 2009
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001QDBX6K
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #65,126 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Eden Log [Blu-ray]" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: Magnolia Pict Hm Ent Release Date: 05/19/2009 Run time: 98 minutes Rating: R

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Allegorical tale of Genesis - Resurrection (spoilers), June 29, 2009

By 

Robert Petkus (New York) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eden Log [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

Ages ago when I was in high school I wrote an extremely abstruse short story for an English class that was riddled with references that no one could decipher except for myself. I thought it was oh-so-clever, a mini Finnegan's Wake. When after reciting it I was presented with a room of blank stares I proudly went about explaining the symbolism. No one cared. I realized then that if one wants to create both a successful and weird/obscure/dissonant story, at least include a layer that is accessible to the casual reader. Eden Log doesn't make such an attempt.

If an interminably long-feeling movie centered around an amnesiac man groping around in near darkness in an environment filled with broken plastic junk, tubes-n-wires, and columns of tree roots whilst pursued by cheesy looking humanoid monsters sounds appealing then this movie is for you!

The movie is about a not-too-distant world where energy is harvested from an enormous tree. The "power plant" (haha - cute) named Eden Log is a secret subterranean facility where columns of tree root are exposed for study, experimentation, and work associated with energy generation. Eden Log is populated by human subjects, mutants, technical staff, and a militaristic guard. Humans are intravenously given sap from this special tree which does (2) things: 1) creates a symbiotic relationship between plant and human wherein both species develop a biological understanding of the other and 2) humans are subsequently infected during sap exposure and mutated into dumb humanoid monsters that are then boxed and suspended in the tree canopy. The tree generates energy while digesting the subjects. Things would be dandy except that there is a revolt among the Eden Log population forcing an intervention by the militaristic guard.

If this makes any sense at all I promise it makes less sense in the movie.

On another level it's a modern retelling of Genesis and the Resurrection. The main character, the amnesiac, is Adam in the Garden of Eden (Eden Log). He awakens (born), almost naked and wanders around trying to make sense of this new place. Ultimately what he's seeking is knowledge (Tree of Knowledge) but once he obtains that knowledge the damage is irreversible. He meets a woman (Eve) who tricks him into having the tree sap injected into his system whereupon he mutates (Fall of Man). He gets a data disk (apple) containing information pertaining to his own identity and the purpose of Eden Log. In order to solve the rest of the puzzle, the viewer has to link the Garden of Eden to the Resurrection. In Christian lore the fall of man (disobeying God by eating the apple) is the first original sin from which mankind is not absolved from until the sacrifice of the crucifixion. So lock and step, the movie closes the loop by having the main character (forgot his name) sacrifice himself while saying something to the effect of I'm doing this for all of humanity while thrusting a tree limb into his stomach with arms outstretched as if on a cross.

If this makes any sense at all I promise it makes less sense in the movie.

I think the movie would have been tolerable if the main protagonist acted in a believable way. Try to put yourself in this position: you, an amnesiac, suddenly wake up in a dark cave, disoriented, freezing cold in the mud, surrounded by dead bodies, and when finally another person is encountered you ask them ... nothing. Our protagonist just isn't curious about his predicament I suppose. What might you wonder in such a situation? Where am I? Why am I here? How do I get out? Are there any weapons? What is your name? What year is this? Who is chasing me? On and on ad infinitum.

The problem is that everything is so incredibly stupid, slow, and nonsensical in this movie. When a character walks into a big dark cavern we have to watch him slowly walk the entire length of the big dark cavern to get to the other side (60-120 seconds). When a character is breathing heavily trying to crawl up a tube we have to watch them heave slowly through 50 feet of tube (another 60-120 seconds). All this wasted time accumulates. I kept fast forwarding the movie.

I gave it 2 1/2 stars because the movie was compelling enough to watch in its entirety but I will never give it a 2nd viewing and the notion of purchasing this movie is laughable. However, I notice that several reviewers really enjoyed this movie and gave it a high star rating. There is merit to that. Maybe you will like it too.

31 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Transcending the Muck of Mediocrity, May 23, 2009

By 

Christopher Thomas Rennirt (Louisville, KY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eden Log (DVD)

After reading reviews of Eden Log, and after seeing the movie myself, I agree that you either love it or hate it. There is little room for a middle of the road reaction to this one. As with so many others, it's all about what you expect and appreciate from movies that break the mold of formula and predictability.

I tend to be more in love with the movie for its uniqueness above all else. In a world where everything has already been done, making the newest of movies a clichéd rehash of something seen before, this movie goes all out to avoid those pitfalls, becoming something refreshingly new. Of course, the inescapable and limited themes (man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. himself, etc.) are there, but that's where the familiarities end.

I must stress, however, that creating something new these days also involves a large amount of courage to create what can largely be disliked. The director and writer of this movie had some serious courage, for sure. Eden Log is incoherent much of the time, defying most attempts to make any sense of the plot through the better part of its running time. However, any astute viewer will quickly realize and appreciate the fact that this movie is confusing by intention rather than by chance or failure. Of course, I'm not suggesting that a movie can be good merely because it is confusing. There is, I think, in this movie, order and meaning to be discovered, with enough patience and thought, within all the chaos and confusion. Yes, from the very beginning, the viewer is offered a most unique puzzle to be solved.

The viewer is introduced to the main character in the pulsing bright light of an otherwise pitch-black cavern. As for where this dark place is, no one can possibly know at this point. Even whether it's on earth or elsewhere is not to be known. As we watch the character emerge sluggishly from the mud and muck, we are, with flashing lights and confusion, about as disoriented as the character himself. From there, the character attempts to learn who he is, just as we do, clumsily and often incorrectly connecting piecemeal clues found here and there. Yes, this movie puts the viewer in the first person position, with virtually no objective views of anything. All we see, hear, and experience are as subjective as that experienced by the main character. He is pursued by mutant creatures of unknown significance, through endless passageways that mostly lead nowhere of importance. Of course, I won't go on with anything more; I wouldn't want to spoil the charm of this movie for all those who may choose to see it. Certainly that is the way this movie is best-watched anyway--without a single clue revealed by another viewer. Even knowing what others think it all means is too much. Again, the not-knowing is what truly makes this movie so unique and effective. Some of the best movies leave much meaning to the mind of the viewer, instead of revealing everything there is to think and know. Eden Log indeed plants many unique ideas in the mind of every individual who sees it.

Eden Log could have been another monument to mediocrity, easily forgotten and lost amongst everything else of its kind. It could have played it safe and been like a million other movies getting, at least consistently, more so-so reviews. Instead, it dares to be different and transcends the muck of mediocrity.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting, April 12, 2011

By 

Jason O'Brien - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eden Log (Amazon Instant Video)

Was refreshing to see a good movie that didn't rely entirely on heavy action scenes. I think alot of these reviews dislike the genre more than the film itself.