Customer Reviews

Vibrations [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm not going to lie to you, the acting is pretty bad. The 'scene' accuracy is also very very low. For a subculture that had a unique style of dress, Christina Applegate looks as though she just came from a Pearl Jam concert. The music in the film that isn't from any real/legitimate artist of the day sounds the same as the car chase scene music in an old episode of Hunter.

Why should you see this movie? Its so bad that its good. Infact its a personal favourite and thats why I have it 4 stars. Its definately worth checking out to see appearances by classic rave/techno acts FIERCE RULING DIVA and U96.

Sadly, the US edition of the film does not include the performance by the UTAH SAINTS. It was cut from the original VHS release and I expected it to show up on the DVD. I dont know why..probably licensing? ...or maybe the Saint's saw the final cut of the film and didn't want anything to do with it! Here's a tip though, the hong kong region-free release of this dvd includes this cut scene!!

This movie was written and directed by Michael Paseornek who is now the President of Lion's Gate Films. It stars Christina Applegate and James Marshall. Apparently this guy Scott Cohen who plays one of the sidekicks has a following and is often mentioned in relation to this movie. One other actress playing a side part in this is Faye Grant. She is most remembered from the classic 80's sci-fi mini series "V".

I seen this movie on Showtime and it blew me away. Christina Applegate is really underrated as an actress. She gives a phenomenol performance. The story line is fantastic and it's a movie that makes you think about life and your place in it. I highly recommend it and I hope it comes out on VHS again or DVD to buy.

this movie has such a touching plot,that it will grab you.The tragic things this guy has to go through really makes you hope for a happy ending...good music also a bonus

ok first off great acting but the music was banging i would love to get a hold of the soundtrack if its possible the song when he comes out as cyberstorm for the fist time i love that song anyone knows how holla at me

This film can best be summed up with a simple two-word phrase:

Nice try.

Allow me to explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW, DON'T READ!

TJ (James Marshall) is on his way to becoming a well-established and well-known musician, his specialties being the keyboard and the guitar. He and his band have begun to get the recognition they have worked so hard for, and the future looks bright.

Viewers note: when the future starts to look bright or in the smallest bit rosy, you can guarantee something bad is about to happen.

Something bad happens.

Bet you didn't see that coming.

Late for a performance after canoodling with his girlfriend (Paige Turco, later to turn up on `American Gothic' and `NYPD Blue'), he unfortunately gets involved in an incident with a gang of thugs that ends up with TJ losing both his hands.

Needless to say, TJ is incredibly upset, not knowing how to go on without being able to express his `talents'. After his girlfriend freezes up when he touches her with his new artificial hands, he leaves home.

Finding himself in the city he lives on the streets, spending most of his time drunk and trying to clean car windows.

One afternoon he crawls into a building and snoozes, until loud music wakes him. It seems that at night the building turns into the setting for a rave, and TJ has found himself smack bang in the middle of one.

Enter Anamika (Christina Applegate). Her real name is Marie or something, but I guess Anamika is easier to say...

Seeing TJ is clearly not sure of what's going on, she leads him outside to get some air...eventually, through a whole pile of incidents I'm not going to get into (yes, it was boring and tedious and this review will end up the same way), he moves in with her so he can dry out and no longer be dependant on alcohol.

It's here where we meet the people who live in the same building as Anamika:

Zina (Faye Grant): The landlady, who despite - or because of - her defensiveness, seems to have a thing for Simeon. Also has a thing for metal and performance art.

Geek/Leonard (some guy): A geek - computer whiz, technological whiz, glasses, always wears a white shirt. A computing cliché.

Simeon (Scott Cohen, who incidentally also turns up on NYPD Blue before this film as one character, and after it as another, but is best known as Wolf from `The 10th Kingdom'): The ladies man with a heart of gold. A new girl every day but that's why they love him ("He's a tramp, but they love him..."), and he protects and sticks up for his friends.

I describe this at the top as `worth the effort for one thing'; Scott Cohen is the one thing.

For all the films good intentions - the fact that life is worth living after disability, true love can happen anywhere - there's an itty, bitty, little problem.

It sucks.

If James Marshall gets any less expressive, he'll fall into a coma. His hairdo is straight out of the 80's (even after he has it cut). The metal hands made for him are so OBVIOUSLY too big and clumsy for him to play the keyboard with the required accuracy.

Christina Applegate's character believes in karma, in spirituality - that's fine. But I know people who also believe in those things and not a single one of them speaks the way she does - as if her head were stuck up something unpleasant because she's so full of herself.

But it's not all bad news.

The actor who plays Geek is actually quite good, as is TJ's girlfriend, effectively showing her unintentional reaction to his hands. Faye Grant is great as Zina, and then, of course, we come to Mr Scott Cohen.

Ah, thank heavens. I make no secret of my admiration for Mr Cohen's work, and I'll continue to make it no secret right now.

Simeon is...probably best described as an intelligent Joey from `Friends'. Or, a ruder version of Wolf from `The 10th Kingdom'.

In fact, Simeon is startlingly close in characterisation to Wolf. Energetic, enthusiastic, acting on his impulses as often as he can, but also fiercely protective of those he loves.

The big difference? Wolf is saving himself for the right woman. Simeon finds the right woman - or more - every day.

Personally, I think the right woman for Simeon would be Zina. The chemistry and dialogue between them is terrific, and that goodbye kiss was very revealing.

Not that I spend that much time thinking about it.

Really.

Or it could just be that I'm an obsessive compulsive with a Scott Cohen fixation.

Either way, he's the reason the film gets three stars. I do want to give it five, but the bulk of it just drags the score right down.

Piece of advice: just watch Simeon's scenes. Cute, charming, funny, best lines, nice guy. If you do decide to watch the whole thing, watch it with a group of friends and make fun of it. Believe me, it's VERY entertaining.

Rounding up...let's return to the beginning...nice try, but as they say, no cigar.

And I'm convinced that absolutely no one involved with the movie has EVER been to a rave. But what do I know?

Okay- to sum it up, the movie wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The music was good even though I'm not into techno, and the acting could have been worse. I agree wiht Suz's review for the most part (I know her from her site and an e-group) and I think she basiclly said everything I wanted to. Anamika is almost ignorant in the ways of karma, exploration, self-exspression and anything else that has to do with that. I myself am into metapsychics, and think that they should have backed off when it got there. Thankfully though, they didn't focus on it. James Marshall was interestingly good as T.J. BUT the hands he used were obviously fake and you could tell during the rather stupid rave scene it was either not him or he just put metal plates on his hands. Simeon's character was funny;he had the best lines and the most rave-ish attitude, but Scott looked somehow out of place in this movie. (For those of you who don't know, Scott is Scott Cohen, my fave actor who was in 'Gia' '10th Kingdom' and playes Dec. Denby on 'NYPD Blue.' -It's a guest role.-) If anything, Scott is the most likeable character, and is in the best scenes. If you see this movie, do it for Scott or to laugh during the whole thing because even at 2 am, this movie sucked worst then a high school drama club, 2 week rehersal play.

I give this movie 3 out of 5. One for the Utah Saints, one for being accidentally humorous during the more crucial plot points, and one for the exquisitely lovely and multi-talented Scott Cohen (best known at the time of this review from his recent breakout role as Wolf in the NBC miniseries "The Tenth Kingdom" and as hyper-verbal bad penny Detective Harry Denby on ABC's "NYPD Blue"). Although it's obvious that nobody in the movie is particularly comfortable with the techno genre, Mr. Cohen's "young and strong and perverted... and everything that makes a young man a star" performance as the artiste-ic Simeon makes the whole movie worth watching... or at least the parts with him in it. The remainder of the cast, with the exception of Faye Grant (Zena, the landlady) and, to a lesser exception, David Burke (Geek, Simeon's best bud and resident techie) give performances worthy of a "The Producers" style extraplot. It does appear very much as if someone wanted to see Christina Applegate make out with a freak of nature and wrote a movie about her doing just that.

The only reason to even bother with this movie is if you are 1) really *really* into Christina Applegate (although even so, I don't recommend it, because this movie heavily reinforced my desire to see her struck repeatedly in the mouth with a large, solid object). She attempts to play off as an ethereal earth child and ends up spewing every stereotype imaginable about hippies and flower children. ("Utopia is just around the corner." - Puh leeze.),

or 2) you're really *really* into Scott Cohen. This is a seminal work and for that alone, it's interesting. Comparing Simeon (first big thing) to Wolf (latest big thing), it's amazing to see the versatility *within* stability that this man is able to project. There's no "rough around the edges" or "wet behind the ears" to this person. It's absolutely breathtaking to see someone who knew he was a star from the moment his feet hit the ground. In a Hollywood world of stuttering egos, one hit wonders, and faltering pedagoguery, Mr. Cohen truly stands out as an Actor, an Artist, and a Talent (capitalization very much *intended*).

That is, if you can force yourself to sit through the rest of the movie.