Chrysalis (2008)

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Ran across this in the video store, and picked it up on a whim. Boy am I pleased that I did that. Definitely going to find a copy of my own.If you have a chance to see this on DVD, please watch the film FIRST, then watch the extras (mini-featurettes on various aspects of the making of the film), then go back and listen to the commentary (which I have a gripe about, more later!) Basically, this film is a faithful adaptation of the 1946 short story that originally appeared in Amazing Stories, and finally made it into book form in the 1966 collection "S is for Space." Contrary to modern film-making, in the bulk of the footage of the film, there are NO green screens, NO CGI, just good, authentic looking sets, giving the entire film a gritty, realistic feel. It's obvious the actors were getting "into their roles" just from the atmosphere they had to work in. (FYI, the only green screen filming was used during production of some of those news reports on TV.)Character development is exactly as one would expect from Ray Bradbury, who was, in fact, consulted frequently during the production, and gave his personal endorsement of the film at film festivals. Note: this means that this film is about CHARACTERS, not special effects.The special effects, also (such as they are) are handled old-school as well, and mostly VERY effectively. >>Watch those mini-features to figure out what was a live person, and what wasn't! I failed!<< But this was the intention of the film makers, who wanted this to feel like a 1950's film, not a modern-day computer-generated effectaganza. It even features a couple of 1950's-style cheesy-bits... but even those are done so low key, and you're so absorbed into the interpersonal drama, that you probably won't get distracted by them.Now for the gripe: The audio editing (especially volume) for the commentary track was awful. Period. No contest. At some points, the film volume was so high, you could barely hear the comments. The bits of the conversation with Roger Lay (I think it was... but not sure!) and Ray Bradbury were obviously prerecorded, and spliced in, though content-wise, it was such a pleasure to hear from the inestimable RB himself, you almost don't care -- until the film volume drowns them both out. Also, during that separate recording session, you can tell that RB is talking LOUDLY and CLEARLY (as clear as a 90+ yo gentleman can be, anyway) into the mike, making the conversation a little jarring. The content is good -- mostly -- if you can get past the volume level mismatches.Final note, and no it's not really a spoiler... If you expect this film to go out with a bang (explosions, gaudy spectacles, lots of death-and-dismemberment), you're not much of a Ray Bradbury fan, are you?All in all, this is a keeper, not a renter. Highly recommended!

I was quite surprised with this film. if anyone has read the story it came from, FINALLY someone has been loyal to the Ray Bradbury Story and not moved off into their own self-belief. I suppose if you are a teenager who expects a Scyfy monster of the week, this isn't for you. But real Science Fiction is what this film is, and at it's best. Obviously the film is on a small budget, but it is handled well and succinctly by its producers and director. the actor work well and appear credible.The make-up effects work well and the film manages to purvey a dark/gloomy tone. It is not meant to be a film like 300 with a huge scope and bombastic action. It is an intellectual examination of an alien presence on Earth. Watched it once, will watch it again.More films like this please!

I'm getting the feeling that this was a pretty faithful adaptation of Bradbury's story. I haven't read that story, so I don't know how close, but Bradbury (who amazingly, is still alive) had unprecedented control over his work. (As opposed to Richard Matheson, whose work is pretty much put through a blender.) The thing is, this was a movie made on the cheap, and I'm not sure it really translates well to screen. Okay, I wasn't expecting a CGI shoot-em-up, but an hour and a half of guys arguing about whether a prop in the middle of the room is a danger or not gets boring after a while, too.Worth watching? Maybe to hardcore Bradbury fans looking for faithful adaptations.

Just saw this last night at the Shriekfest film fest in Los Angeles. I'm not a big Bradbury fan myself (more of a Harlan Ellison fan) but I must say this is a really good piece of work. It's sad to see some of the things that are considered Science Fiction films these days, but this is the real deal. The movie is based on a Ray Bradbury short story and pretty much deals with mankind's attempt at survival after the planet has been messed up pretty badly. We see some of that damage early on in the film but then quickly the film introduces us to an isolated group of scientists who are going about trying to figure out a way to undo some of the damage to the environment, specifically to plant life. This is where it gets real interesting since one of them begins to mutate and develops a Chrysalis that covers his body. No one really knows what could come out of that thing. What works so well is how invested you are in the struggle between all the characters, each with their very unique perspective on how to deal with the crisis. The actors are really good at keeping you invested in the proceedings. You can tell the film is truly an homage to those classic science fiction stories to come out of the pulp magazines during the golden age. The FX are really well done, everything looks organic and as far as I could tell no CG. Should be coming out soon. Lets hope this gets more exposure than Bradbury's last effort A SOUND OF THUNDER. This one deserves to be seen. I'm starting to feel real positive about Sci-Fi cinema again with MAN FROM EARTH last year and now CHRYSALIS.