Product Details

• Actors: Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn, Ye Liu, Erick Avari
• Directors: Shi-Zheng Chen
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Screen Media
• DVD Release Date: April 14, 2009
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001RTCP24
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,539 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Dark Matter" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 04/14/2009 Run time: 90 minutes Rating: R

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clashes: Cultural, Linguistic, Scientific, Emotional, April 18, 2009

By	Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

DARK MATTER is a film that will polarize audiences: for those who seek understanding of the clashes between science and 'religion' and the matrix from which tragedy grows the film will appeal, and for the audiences who demand tidy stories with happy resolutions the film will not please. Apparently 'based on true events', this story has many layers that invite discussion and reveals some facts about the American Academia that many would rather not know.

Liu Xing (Ye Liu) comes from a poor family in Beijing, but rises to hopeful heights due to his exceptional scientific intelligence and is invited to a prestigious university to study with Cosmology professor Jacob Reiser (Aidan Quinn), the author of the Reiser String Theory - the entire universe is tied into a compact single ball of cosmic wax. Liu Xing encounters initial success not only academically but also as a fresh young student, barely able to speak English, who is taken under the wing of the kind matron of Chinese culture, Johanna Silver (Meryl Streep). Liu Xing develops his own theory that the universe is united by massive amounts of unseen Dark Matter. When the student's theory conflicts with Reiser's theory, the negative results begin to affect each of the characters: Liu Xing sees his dream of earning a PhD in Cosmology and winning the Nobel Prize for his theory destroyed by the powers of academia and as he watches his fellow Chinese students succeed, he is plagued with low self esteem as he attempts to support his family in Beijing with money earned selling cosmetics door to door. The downfall of a simple genius destroyed by the inner workings of academia leads to unimaginable tragedy.

Billy Shebar's screenplay tinkers with the story's credibility with a heavy dose of sentimentality at times, but director Shi-Zheng Chen keeps the story moving by allowing the audience to witness frequent glimpses of Liu Xing's humble Beijing home life. The star of the film is the very talented Ye Liu, but Streep and Quinn carry their rather minor roles with great dignity and understatement. This is a moving story, too frequently repeated in our campuses to overlook. There is much more to this film than first viewings reveal. Grady Harp, April 09

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellant movie on non-western cosmology breakthrough, April 15, 2009

By	Michael A. Scheurich "The Professor" (California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Excellent presentation by Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn and Liu Ye about a young Chinese student in America whose advanced theories on the universe exceeds that of his professors causing a rift between him, the American establishment and traditional western religion as well. This film demonstrates how jealousy and ambition within American Academia and American religious institutes has sent cosmology discoveries back into the dark ages. It's a sad but true tale of how the scientific world has been influenced by the infiltration of Western religious dogma.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The title predicts..., May 7, 2009

By	Mary M - See all my reviews

The overall film could have been a nice, tight little drama with a message except for the ending and without the gratuitous "arty" efforts throughout. Rather than adding anything, they interrupted the mood and the plot progression, IMHO. Otherwise, I thought it rated a 3 but I still wonder why I had never heard of it when it was first released nor at any time since. As far as Meryl playing a cultural air-head, she shouldn't have...the character wasn't terribly believable or sympathetic. Conversely, the mean-spirited Quinn nailed his role.
Unfortunately, in this current era, the ending was all too plausible and was truly a "Dark Matter".