Acquária (2003)

One of my all time favorites.

Great Film overall

Good concept, poorly executed.

A Masterpiece!

I just recently saw Acquaria at a Latin Film Festival and was blown away. It is a very innovative film. The premise is similar to the film Waterworld with Kevin Costner but it goes beyond your typical doomsday story. The director has a vision that I haven't seen in American Cinema in quite some time.First, the desert scenes are filmed like a Salvador Dali painting. It is so surreal and stunning at the same time. It is worth viewing just to look at the beautiful desert scenes.Second, the actors are refreshing. The leading actor is actually a Brazilian pop star in real life. Her name is Sandy. I'm not exactly sure what kind of music she sings in her native country of Brazil but she is hot! This girl is so beautiful you cannot wait for her to be in another scene just to take in her beauty. Plus, she is a natural actor. She seems so comfortable in front of the camera. I can see her crossing over to American Cinema someday. Watch out! This girl can do it all.I have to mention the dog in the movie. He is a Jack Russell Terrier named Mingus. This dog is probably the most talented canine I have ever seen on screen. Benji eat your heart out. The tricks this dog does in front of the camera are amazing.And here's the best thing about this film. It is a family film with an intellectual plot so the adults can watch it with the kiddies and not get bored. This film is entertaining. I hope it finds wider distribution in the US.

'Acquaria' is not as bad as I thought it was going to be. All the stories I heard about it weren't good. Not that it is a perfect movie but it has its big moments. In the future the world is one big desert and there are myths about a place called Acquaria. Living a lonely life Junior and his friends live in an empty destroyed village. They are afraid of the 'bad guys' and there it comes the new Sandy – she surprisingly really plays well the mysterious type! The story goes that they want too find a way to Acquaria. Like I said there are some nice moments in this movie. The sets look pretty impressive, and the landscape they are on looks pretty cool too. Some single action scenes are worth watching and the boy, dog gang get some laughs. Still, the movie is filled with clichés and boring coincidences. For a mindless science fiction movie this is entertaining enough, nothing more.

Let's see… from the DVD I've just watched I regard this movie as the ultimate Brazilian production escape. It's exotic, dry and the 'desertscapes' are simply stunning. I guess it's popular to hate Acquaria. But for what reason? Okay, so it never made as much money as Universal wanted, but it's all up there on thescreen and it DID make a profit, didn't it? It's not the flop everyone thinks it is. I found Sandy and Junior to be actually quite effective as the (desert living) people and all the other casting incredible choose to feel it. The action is very exciting and the effects never fails to entertain. But bizarrely enough, the best scenes of the film are the quieter scenes. Actually I'd seriously recommend hunting down the soundtrack CD to this one – well, for those wholike Sandy and Junior, off course. It's a shame the explanations and reasons wasn't very clear on the script,deeper descriptions on the way/why of living and characters for example would have made this movie much more commercial for its public.There is no point going through this film and trying to make all the science/ desert feature reality fit. I found this a very enjoyable experience. Great national stuff. I can't wait for the producers to make a sequel.

I think this movie was quite remarkable. While it's true that it seems to have drawn inspiration and certain themes from a variety of other films, including Water World, Mad Max, Star Wars, etc., that can be said of any movie. Can you dismiss Cold Mountain as a knock-off of Gone With The Wind? To do so would be a fool's errand, as you'd be ignoring that film for what it is, just as some might do with Acquaria. There are scenes in films as praised as Return of the King that look as if they were lifted directly from Star Wars, and there are certain "stock characters" common to films of this genre. There are also elements and themes that are shared by most any film of this kind, so you cannot fault this movie for employing them when necessary. Read up on myths and legends, or even studies of myths and legends by the likes of Joseph Campbell, and you will see just how common many of these elements are in storytelling across the globe and throughout the ages.Acquaria looks beautiful, the sets, design, and music are first rate, and the actors all show considerable skill and promise, especially the young and charismatic Sandy and Junior. I hope that this movie, a stunning technical and artistic achievement and an unexpected surprise out of Brasil, sees a wider distribution, and I look forward to seeing more from those involved in the future.