Customer Reviews

Knowing [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(102)
4 star:		(86)
3 star:		(61)
2 star:		(61)
1 star:		(71)

 

 

Why read this first? Because hopefully there are no spoilers here. In so many of the reviews for this movie, as well as others on Amazon, people seemed compelled to give a total synopsis of the movie all the way up to the end -- especially if they didn't like the movie. It's like if they didn't care for it, then nobody else needs to see it. Well, I'm glad that I didn't read any of the reviews here before watching KNOWING because I enjoyed not knowing and being able to decide for myself. And my opinion is that KNOWING is a very fine movie.

The previews tell you what you need to know: A time capsule which contains school children's drawings about what they think things will be like in 50 years is opened in the present day. An astrophysicist (Nicholas Cage)gets hold of one submission which is a lengthy series of numbers. He discovers that the numbers predict future disasters, most which have happened, but a few that are still to come. His mission becomes to avert the disasters. There-- that's all you need to know about the story, now sit back and enjoy the movie.

Here's what I am knowing:
1) If you hate Nicholas Cage you will hate the movie.
2) If you are a total science fiction geek you may not like this film as for me it was more spiritual than scifi.
3) If you don't like spiritual things, don't like God or the Bible, or don't want to be thinking about anything like this then you should stay away from the movie.
4) If major disasters are something you don't want to watch a movie about then this one is not for you.
5) If you prefer mindless comedy or romance, Knowing probably won't be at the top of your list.
6) This was my kind of movie-- I was thrilled, entertained, and uplifted in the end. I rented it, but I will probably want to add this to my collection.

"Knowing" achieves a level of greatness so few science fiction films ever achieve. It's not merely an engaging mystery--it's a deeply thought-provoking fable that's just as frightening as it is intelligent, and it ultimately makes a statement so profound that I was left completely awestruck. I don't often have an experience like that at the movies, and for that, I'm indebted to director Alex Proyas and writers Ryne Douglas Pearson, Juliet Snowden, Stiles White, and Stewart Hazeldine. They've successfully crafted one of the year's most stimulating films, taking the audience on a suspenseful, emotional, and ultimately (albeit unconventionally) redemptive journey that poses interesting questions on the nature of things. A movie like this could have easily placed technical achievement over character development, and thankfully, that didn't happen; we care just as much about the people as we do about the spectacular special effects.

The story begins in 1959, when an elementary school class is asked to draw pictures of what the world will look like fifty years later. What they draw will be put into a time capsule, which will be reopened in the year 2009. Rather than draw a picture, the quiet, disturbed Lucinda Embry (Lara Robinson) writes out a series of numbers on both the front and the back of a piece of paper.

Flash forward to the present day. We meet an MIT astrophysics professor named John Koestler (Nicholas Cage), who teaches his students that two theories on the nature of the universe have been proposed. On the one side, we have the determinist view, which states that everything happens as the result of a predetermined--and more importantly, a predictable--sequence of events. How, for example, could the Earth be located at just the correct distance from the sun to sustain life? On the other side, we have the random view, which states that absolutely nothing can be predicted, that life, the universe, and everything happened as the result of cosmic coincidences. What exactly does Koestler believe? Here are some clues: His wife died some years earlier, and he's openly stated that the existence of Heaven can't be proven.

As it so happens, John's young son, Caleb (Chandler Canterbury), goes to the same school that Lucinda Embry attended fifty years earlier. The day comes when the time capsule is unearthed and opened, and lo and behold, Caleb gets the envelope containing the numbers Lucinda wrote. He then takes it home, thinking the numbers might mean something. John initially thinks nothing of it ... until he places his wet glass of hard liquor on it and leaves a ring. Was it a predetermined act or a random act that led to a ring being formed around very specific numbers (the significance of which I won't reveal)? More important, was it a predetermined act or a random act that landed Caleb with the page of numbers in the first place? While I won't say what the numbers refer to (and this is in spite of the many ads that give plenty of hints), I will say that what John discovers changes him forever, forcing to consider ideas he never thought he would be able to consider.

To describe more of the plot would do you and the film a great disservice. Much of the story thrives on an engrossing mystery that only gets more unsettling with every passing scene. Visual motifs, such as shiny black pebbles, burning landscapes, and silhouetted figures emerging from the forest add great psychological weight. The same can be said for a house so old and ramshackle that, under different circumstances, it would be mistaken as being haunted. It ties in wonderfully with the psychological states of the characters inhabiting it. John is a solemn, broken man, estranged from his father, often detached from his son, occasionally dependent on a bottle of alcohol to drown his sorrows. Caleb is expectedly precocious but surprisingly fragile, always yearning for that which has been lost somewhere along the way. For the first time in a great while, we have a story that can actually support such characters; were it not for the awesome nature of the final fifteen minutes, John and Caleb would be nothing more than melodramatic clichés.

There are two more characters of great importance. One is Lucinda Embry's daughter, Diana Wayland (Rose Byrne), who enters John's life in a way that reaffirms the notion that nothing happens randomly. The other is Diana's daughter, Abby (also played by Lara Robinson), who, like Caleb, has been contacted by the creepy silhouetted figures, eventually called the Whispering People. Watch John and Diana as they search through Lucinda's abandoned home in the middle of the woods--the fear they express is disturbingly convincing.

Like last summer's "The X-Files: I Want to Believe," "Knowing" is one of the best cinematic surprises of recent memory, a meaningful and absorbing allegory made with intention of challenging the audience in matters of spirituality. It's difficult to say whether or not this film takes a religious stance; that would depend on your own view of the nature of the universe. There are, however, a number of religious implications, the least subtle of which is revealed in the final shot. This might account for some early reviews, where words like "overwrought" and "preposterous" came up. From my perspective, those who feel that way have failed to look any deeper than what was presented in the ads, which only scratched the surface. Contrary to what trailers and TV spots have been promising, this is not your average science fiction thriller. Serious time, effort, and thought went into "Knowing," one of the best films I've seen so far this year.

I noticed early on that "Knowing" had been receiving scathing reviews from cinephiles who called the movie "cliche," "trite," and "derivative." Most of these criticisms were impassioned and seemed to compare the movie to false estimations of what the film should have been. There is nothing wrong with wanting a movie to subvert or defy your expectations; but there is something unfair about not recognizing a film for what it is, especially when the movie succeeds so brilliantly in achieving its end result. "Knowing" starts off like a typical apocalyptic thriller rooted in numerology. But slowly the momentum of the film builds with each carefully crafted scene, so its suspense dissolves into a profound study on loss and letting go. "Knowing" is about knowing your place and role in the universe, and accepting it; and as hard as it may seem, letting go of your loved ones for their betterment -- even if its at odds with your own private longings. The ending could have played out many different ways -- with us not seeing where the children ultimately arrive so that Cage's character is left only "knowing" in his heart -- or having faith. Proyas is a benevolent director, so he allows us to see that the children indeed go on to a better place (whether this scene is the last thought in Cage's head or a scene that takes place outside of Cage's existence could be a subject of debate) because the story is trying to help us understand when it is necessary for our own peace to let go of our philosophical Materialism. I think it's unfair to label this movie as "cliche" -- Proyas and writers simply used the generic conventions of your standard "end of the world" movie to turn the genre on its head and give you something more lasting than special effects. For those of you who loved this movie -- read Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End," a novel which Proyas alludes to in "The Knowing."

The only problem with this movie is that it sags a bit in the middle. This is not a huge problem though since the bulk of the movie is fascinating. Cage's son opens a document from a time capsule which contains a series of numbers. Cage, an astrophysics professor at MIT, works with the numbers and discovers that they are predictions of disasters by dates and longitude and latitude settings. Cage tries to prevent these disasters from occurring. This is the surface gist of the plot but there is so much more going on, much of it metaphysical and spiritual in addition to being sci-fi. This film has some of the most gorgeous sci-fi effects imaginable. For those into action-adventure special effects, those are great too. Cage is quite good here. He has been in a fair amount of bad movies in recent years but this is not one of them. To say anymore would ruin the plot line, which is very engrossing as it unfolds.

This is an excellent movie but it will not be for everyone. The people who wrote the screenplay seem to have made the mistaken assumption that the average moviegoer is also well-read and educated. This, sadly, is not the case. The plot line of Knowing is rooted in some rather obscure and/or less-than-mainstream ideas. These include Chaos theory, the ideas of Von Daniken, ancient astronaut theory, astrophysics, and certain alternative facets of spirtuality.

If you are the type who likes a movie that makes you think and question then this will be perfect for you. And if you like it then spread the word to your more intelligent friends!

Knowing is perfect for those who appreciate some thought being put into movies. For those who prefer mindless and simple entertainment, then you have your choice of many other movies.

While it may not really be the most credible science fiction film ever made, or even the best of its own sub-genre, the "End Of The World", KNOWING is a long way away from such incredible tripe as BATTLEFIELD EARTH or the recent (and thoroughly unnecessary) remake of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. Its storyline isn't always credible, but it worked for me just the same.

The premise of KNOWING, in that an MIT professor played by Nicolas Cage, has discovered a parchment hidden in a time capsule at his son's school that was buried there fifty years ago with a random set of numbers that foretold of horrors that would befall us between 1959 and 2009, and the ultimate horror that would eliminate the human race, is a brilliant and even frightening one. It's especially so when he learns what the first sequence of numbers means--911012996, meaning of course the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which killed 2,996 people.

Indeed, this is a film that involves both science and religion, which often seem to bump into one another both in the reel world and the real world. Cage gets involved because one of the disasters told in that parchment was an apartment fire in Phoenix that killed his wife and eighty others a few years back; and when he comes into contact with the daughter (Rose Byrne) of the disturbed schoolgirl who wrote the parchment, he desperately tries to protect himself, her, and their two children (Chandler Canterbury; Lara Robinson). In the end, however, knowing what the numbers on the parchment mean can only lead to the tragic conclusion that the film gets to eventually--that The End can't be stopped.

Despite some occasionally lame dialogue in the screenplay, KNOWING elicits a fair number of scares and plenty of suspense as it goes step by step towards The End. Its blend of science fiction and Biblical prophecy was, for me, rather interesting, because it did not totally dismiss the prophecy aspect out of hand (which so many on the far-right lunatic fringe say Hollywood has done for the longest time), and yet it also avoided the ham-fisted soapbox shouting of the "Left Behind" series. The special effects here, not surprisingly, are quite good, verging on operatic; and the music score by Marco Beltrami interestingly appropriates the ominous Allegretto movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 at a couple of points in the film as a musical prelude to the inevitable.

KNOWING probably won't go down as being among the best science fiction films ever, let alone of the End Of The World variety, but it works well enough, and it has provoked a lot of consideration about the impact of science and religion on the future of humanity.

[SPOILERS] By no means was this was movie as sophisticated as "2001: A Space Odyssey," and it had a lot of plot holes, but it was still a good flick. In the tradition of movies like "Stargate," this movie manages to include several mythological elements - specifically Biblical references, without being too preachy or religious: Ezekiel's Vision, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Adam and Eve and the Tree of Life. It does make you think.

Furthermore, "Knowing" maintained a sense of urgency, and the ending was interesting because no one ends up saving the world like they do in just about every other disaster movie ever made.

To D. M. She, the the person who criticised the movie for not foreshadowing important events: There was plenty of foreshadowing, some of it subtle, some of it quite explicit. You just weren't paying attention.
1. John discusses the sun with his students (and later with his colleague) - foreshadows the solar flair.
2. The museum Diana and John visit features a variety of extinct animals, foreshadowing future extinctions.
3. The name of Caleb's school is "William Dawes," a horse rider who warned minutemen of an impending invasion.
4. Diana finds a ceramic angel that she crafted for mother - foreshadows the arrival of the angels.
5. The picture of Ezekiel's Vision hanging in Lucinda's trailer is a direct reference to the alien ship.

In any case, foreshadowing (or the lack of it) is not indicator of how good a movie is.

I don't comment too often about movies, but this movie was absolutely enjoyable from beginning to end. I'm glad I didn't listen to the negative reviews. Watch this film with an open mind and expecting the unexpected. As other reviews have stated; if you don't care for religeous symbolism or Nick Cage, you probably won't like the movie. Otherwise, enjoy the apacolypse!

A troubled young girl in 1959 is asked along with her fellow elementary school students to contribute something to the school's `time capsule'. She scribbles a series of random and perfectly spaced numbers furiously until the teacher snatches it from her hands. Then, of course, she freaks out. Fifty years later, there is a ceremony where the children's contributions are randomly handed out to the modern young students. The paper with the random numbers ends up in the hands of little Caleb (Chandler Canterbury), whose father is widower John Koestler (Nicholas Cage), an astrophysicist teacher at Boston's M.I.T. There he believes all of life is random and there is no heaven, but teaches his son otherwise. Add a house in psychical disarray and you have the start of a movie you've seen before.

By accident, Koestler (Cage, not very smart looking to be a M.I.T. professor) discovers the date of 9/11/2001 and the number of people who died in the paper of numbers. Then in a drunken frenzied evening, he finds more disasters and similarities evenly spaced out in the puzzle of numbers. He places these on a large piece of white board. Very pretty. I guess a professor of his intelligence could figure this out over one night while drunk. However, there are still gaps with mysterious numbers. Koestler shares this info with a comrade who thinks he's nuts, but then begins to believe him after it's discovered that the odd numbers are actually the longitude and latitude of the deadly events that have and will occur.

At this point, the audience is wondering when the action will start. I have to admit that once the disasters start occurring, it's mayhem that is so well filmed (CGI well done) and executed, the look, sound and feel is very real. Koestler witnesses a plane crash with an aftermath of hell that is just about the best filming of a crashing plane ever done. Then Koestler figures that a terrorist's attack will occur in a New York City subway. With some twists and running action, including the police trying to catch a wild man named Koestler, the action picks up. The subway disaster is even more realistic than the place crash, with cars flying down tunnels, through walls and making you swear you'll never ride the subway again. Of course, Koestler survives somehow (he is the star).

Add into this mix four strange mute adults that are `whispering' to the children and trying to get close to Koestler's son as well as the young grand-daughter of the troubled young girl from 1959 who scribbled all those numbers down. It gets weirder. By this time, you're just about worn out, and Koestler realizes with his comrade that the end of the world might be around the corner. Oh, and there is an excellent speeding car scene with the heroine's car getting sideswiped by a huge semi-trailer. This is another great, heart-stopping scene.

The ending is a disappointing Spielberg-esque cliché that is only relieved with a final set of special effects that rival "Armageddon" and "The Day After Tomorrow". After you regain your breath, you're treated to a final saccharin scene that is like something out of "Alice in Wonderland".

"Knowing" is a series of old clichés and middle-of-the-road acting, but the special effects are right up there with the best. Does that make buying this DVD a necessity? I think not, but viewing can be a heart-racing experience, especially with a good home theater system. Turn up the volume!

What a deeply spiritual film about love and trust! Love between parents and children, and the mercy extraterrestrial aliens have for human beings. It's also about trust in a Supreme Being (God). My favorite line in the entire movie is: "This (Life) is not the end! and the reply,"I know!" It's also about the ultimately ridiculous dichotomy between spirituality and science! What a brilliant and cathartic story!

One must be patient while watching Knowing. This is NOT a film for children, the faint of heart or someone looking for a good time! The story does not come together until the very end. There's also a lot of hysterics! How would any us react in such a desperate situation? Knowing, is about making personal sacrifices! It's not a story to make the viewer feel comfortable!

I could have done without the graphic violence of one disaster after another! But Knowing makes a point of not taking this life for granted and that one should live in the present as much as possible! The other obvious message is that loving relationships between people is the most important part of being human!

I was reminded while watching Knowing of my Astronomy professor, who said, "Human beings would be like ants to an advanced extraterrestrial civilization. Why would they care about us?" Maybe they would care about us! Knowing makes its case that it's certainly plausible!

Thank you Hollywood for making a mature Science Fiction film for an adult audience! It took a lot of courage to make a movie so deep in a world so crass and shallow!

SeeCreating Harmonious Relationships: A Practical Guide to the Power of True Empathy and The Empathy Gap: Building Bridges to the Good Life and the Good Society

For other great Science Fiction see:Zardoz and Enemy Mine and Fantastic Planet and A.I. - Artificial Intelligence (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition) and Bicentennial Man and Galaxy Quest (Deluxe Edition)