Customer Reviews

Out of the Blue

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4 star:		(7)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For someone who grew up only a couple of hundred kilometres from the scene of the Aromoana shootings, it is difficult to write an unbiased review. Factually, "Out of the Blue" is as accurate an account as it is possible to bring to the big screen, and the acting, scenery, and atmosphere are flawless. The movie's relevance for a U.S. audience is as a societal lens that focuses on the many equivalent shooting tragedies that beset the United States year after year. That such alienation and hatred can be felt in a small town in a land far, far away amidst backdrops like those seen in "The Lord of the Rings," rather than at a U.S. university campus or a McDonald's is a reflection on the ubiquity of selfishness, sickness, and guns.
No one wants to see a hyper-accurate account of Cho Seung-hui in the days preceding the Virginia Tech massacre, but viewing a similar downward spiral and the resulting tragedy may be easier for many audiences at a distance of 10,000 miles as a small New Zealand town faces down a demon in the form of David Gray. The courage displayed by little old ladies crawling about under fire to help others can only give hope to us all, and the final scene where Gray is roughly shackled and the police smoke cigarettes while he bleeds out is a satisfying glimpse of Kiwi justice. ANZUS is the Australia, New Zealand, United States treaty alliance, a commonality written in ink; "Out of the Blue" is a commonality we share through tragedy. Is this a review of events or a movie- you may well ask- but sometimes the two are inextricable, and the only way to face down the incomprehensible is through the medium of film.

Very few films can tackle the horrors and details of such an event yet still address the sensitivities and desires to get it right. Describing the story in the film is not needed as it can be found in the book and online. The filmmakers painstakingly reproduced the events without much artistic license (like BHD and Bridge/Kwai) so I will review the R1 DVD version.

Karl Urban performed in his best role to date. He was very believable and showed a sense of compassion and fear that made the film revolve around him in a powerful way. Seeing him in the likes of Doom, Bourne and Pathfinder makes this title even more important in taking these kinds of roles. The supporting cast was very respectful in their portrayals even down to the darkness and psychosis of the shooter.

The DVD extras are outstanding in providing a lay person with the details and real footage of what happened that day. The producers and cast all poured their hearts into auditioning and making this movie, both elements of which are shown on the associated docus. The transfer was very clear and the menus easy to navigate. Once you see the footage of the crime scenes you realize they tried to get every detail remade down to the letter, including the way windows had shattered and bodies had come to rest.

I had a couple customers already say they forwarded through the "slow" parts in the beginning, which do last for the first 31 1/2 minutes but it is a necessary monument to what those families went through that afternoon and evening. I highly recommend this film for those that want to see a respectful and well made portrayal of a horrendous event.

Released completely under the radar and only grossing a truly pitiful $728 in its one US engagement, Robert Sarkies' Out of the Blue is one of the most cruelly overlooked films of recent years. The material doesn't sound too promising - a true story about a eccentric loaner in the ramshackle New Zealand coastal town of Aramoana who went on a 22-hour shooting rampage and killed 13 people, including four children, in 1990. The crime was all the more shocking in a country with such a low crime rate: this was the sort of thing that happened in other countries. (Their previous worst mass murderer had been Stan Graham, who murdered seven people in 1942, the subject of 1991's excellent and similarly underseen Bad Blood).

The potential for exploitation or cheap TV movie of the week dramatics was certainly there, yet the film is made with such understated sincerity, putting the focus firmly on the victims and the community - not just Karl Urban's smalltown cop completely out of his depth as he's unable to help people he knows and loves but also unlikely real-life heroine in 72-year old Helen Dickson, who dragged herself back and forth through a ditch to bring help and comfort to one of the victims. It's the sheer ordinariness of how they cope that is so devastating. The performances are all naturalistic and utterly convincing, only adding to the power in a quietly heartbreaking scene in the back of a police car where Karl Urban's cop whispers a bedtime story to a wounded child as his partner blankly holds a dead child in his arms.

As a sidenote, it's interesting how much of the film works as a (presumably unintentional) critique of Paul Greengrass' cheapjack technique. There's an interesting use of sound design that occasionally briefly removes elements from the soundtrack to create a sense that something isn't quite right and an intelligent use of handheld camera from Greig Fraser that doesn't equate slipping in and out of focus and constantly missing the action with veracity Paul Greengrass style but uses it much more subtly. While the townspeople and cops are shot with a handheld camera as if it were mounted on a tripod or a dolly to give an understated slight vitality rather than advertise itself, the killer is mostly shot from a tripod in relatively static takes subtly setting him apart from the community he ultimately turns on. It's not about drawing attention to the technique (and by proxy the director) but putting you into the film, the style all but invisible and in the service of the story and the characters. Nor does Sarkies feel the need to demonise any of the victims (as Greengrass did in United 93 to a German passenger whose family chose not to co-operate with his film) to add some cheap fictional drama and conflict to make the film `play' better: this isn't about producing a quick sugar rush at any cost, it's about ordinary, mundane human beings suddenly finding themselves thrown into a overwhelming situation they have no control over and its very real power comes from it's determination not to oversensationalize.

The DVD comes with an excellent selection of extras on both the real tragedy and the making of the film. Highly recommended.

The first thing to say is that this is more of a docudrama than a film. The second thing is that it is based on real life events that happened in the small town of Aramoana, New Zealand, in November of 1990.

On 13 November 1990 David Gray (Matthew Sunderland) picked up his weapons and, walking around the small costal community shot everyone he could see - men, women and children. For 22 hours he terrorised the local area. Why he did this no one will ever know as he was eventually shot dead by the police. The reason suggested by the film maker is a form of paranoid schizophrenia, with the final breakdown starting with problems at the bank and culminating with him chasing a child of "his land". He first picked up his rifle when the child's father approached the house to find out what the problem was - he was the first to die.

By the end of his rampage he had murdered 13 people (from the age of 5 to 70) and wounded many others. Nine police officers received awards and commendations. Sergeant Stewart Guthrie (William Kircher) received a posthumous George Cross. Mrs Helen Dickson (Lois Lawn), aged 73, received the George Medal for "great bravery". Mrs Dickson (who had undergone hip replacement surgery and walked with sticks) repeatedly crawled back and forth to a wounded neighbour and to the phone to call for help.

Nick Harvey (Karl Urban) was one of the local policemen and most of what happens after the rampage is seen from his point of view, though several incidents which occurred to a number of different officers have been amalgamated into this one persons view for ease of movie making. Nevertheless, it is amazing and horrifying to think that anyone could have lived though a single one of these events. Urban (to his credit) plays Officer Harvey as the ordinary family man who is forced into a situation which he doesn't want be in (just as he was in real life). Thankfully, the actor and film makers were resistant to the usual Hollywood influence to make him larger than life.

The cast and crew interviews are telling: Karl Urban is obviously affected by what had happened and the enactment.

Other extras include audio commentary, two featurettes ("Tragedy" and "Honouring Aramoana"), cast and crew interviews, and original news footage.

I watched the film first and then the commentary which includes Aramoana police officer Billl O'Brien (the writer of the book the film is based on), who had interviews with the survivors) from Aramoana who was involved in the hunt for Gray and the rescue of the injured - and it is this that has more impact than the film itself. It is something I would like to be able to play for my students.

This film was made with a great deal of respect for the people and events it portrays, no big budget flashy scenes, no wise-cracks, no romanticising - just a straight telling of the survivors stories - which may be why this amazing film never received the acknowledgement it should have.

Intelligent viewers can understand and appreciate this film without needing the over-the-top Hollywood hype (explosions and gunfire every 3 seconds). It tells a powerful story, in a very respectful way.

Karl Urban delivers a genuine performance. While he has thrived as an action hero, he shows he has a sensitive side as well. Worth watching for his performance alone.

Out of the Blue: A man just snaps one day and goes on a shooting spree, killing and hurting who comes near him in a small town.
Now, I think just the fact that it really happened, should be something that a person has going through their minds when they watch this movie. think about how you would feel if you were the old lady, the child, or heck even the killer himself....and how the movie was set up and displayed the director wanted you to be in that perspective, to feel what they feel and so on. To me that gives more of a rating than the special effects, the photography, the audio and whatever else that some people degrade a movie and lower its worth just because of those reasons. Yes its a lower budget film but just because it is dont mean its not a good movie. My issue is that at the beginning I was like WTF is going on and when is something going to happen. It seemed to have taken forever to get to that point but than its bam bam and than i was paying attention and into the movie. I giggled when he went into the bedroom and went to bed, hey he had a long day he needed to sleep. I liked the movie and am content of spending the money on getting it heck i think i spent only 3 bucks on it so hey, who knows i may watch it a few more times in my lifetime...

Yes, it started slow like everyone else said, but when it got going, it really took off. I found myself yelling at Karl Urban's character to pull the trigger when he had David Gray in his sights- by not doing that, he cost the lives of countless others, and I'm sure it's something that poor police officer revisits every night in his sleep. Overall, it was good.

'Out of the Blue' is a docu-drama portraying the events of a massacre in New Zealand in 1990. This film starts off very slowly and it reaches a point where I was beginning to question whether it would ever start telling the main story, when the film switched up about ten notches and became the most tense and gripping film i've seen in a while. The portrayal of the main offender is chilling to watch and the various deaths and the shooting are very shocking to see. You really get a feel of the tension in town as the gunman went on the rampage and you flinch at every shot heard, as much as the people in the film do. This DVD has some excellent special features, including actual news footage and a making of documentary. Although this film doesn't have any big name actors in it, it is a hard hitting film to watch. It is well directed, written and acted and although it is a grueling 90 minutes, it is one that will keep you gripped throughout. Well worth a viewing.

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Aside from the fact this is based on True Events which is sad I really enjoyed this film. It is NOT an action film nor is it fast paced but a steady stream of action and interesting plot of survival and fear kept me into it. Good acting and not cheesy by any means it is worth watching and definitely worth the price here on Amazon!

On November 13, 1990, the peace and quiet that once reigned over the picturesque coastal village of Aramoana, New Zealand was forever shattered when one of its residents, a 38-year-old madman, went on an extended shooting spree, indiscriminately massacring more than a dozen of his fellow citizens and neighbors - innocent men, women and children alike.

Artfully directed by Robert Starkies, "Out of the Blue" is most notable for the matter-of-fact way in which it portrays the events of that day. The movie spends the first half hour or so focusing on the townspeople as they go about the business of their daily lives, blissfully unaware of the grim fate that awaits them. It's an unnerving reminder of just how fragile a thing life is, as it can be taken away without warning. Without a hint of sensationalism or phony theatrics, "Out of the Blue" plunges us deep into the heart of a real-life nightmare, staying true to the ordinary folk - both the victims and the survivors - who suffered through the ordeal and to the innate randomness of the event itself.

For obvious reasons, we don't get to know the characters all that well before they fall victim to the killer, but that's in keeping with the near-documentary nature of the film. And once the shooting starts, the focus shifts almost exclusively to the local law enforcement officials who are frankly ill-trained and poorly equipped to handle an emergency of this magnitude. Yet, out of the ugliness and chaos, acts of extraordinary heroism, self-sacrifice and kindness are born.

Beautifully photographed and exquisitely acted, "Out of the Blue" is a thriller in the truest sense of the term, made all the more gripping by its adhering so closely to life as we know it. Hollywood moviemakers could learn a thing or two from this film.