Snowpiercer (2013) Reviews

• There is always an alternative

  unbrokenmetal2014-11-17

  I read about 20 from the currently 350 reviews here and as far as I've seen, nobody seems to mention 2 key scenes which seemed very important to me, so I'd like to add my two cents here, a different attempt of interpretation. First key scene: the teacher scene. We witness how completely the children absorbed the doctrine of Wilford. The train manager became a benevolent deity, the system is never questioned, and the train must go on forever. The teacher is a sycophant, very much like Mason. What future do the children have if they are not allowed to think critical? Second key scene: Wilford's monologue when he explains how sacrifices have to be made (only by others, i.e. the lower class). If the system can only continue by murder, then mankind survives by inhuman means, although Wilford sees himself not as the leader who created the train and the system, but as just another cogwheel in the machine. Therefore he expects that a younger man might replace him when he is too old, without any change to the system. He cannot imagine any alternative, but others can. In conclusion, what matters is that the train must be stopped somehow to get out of this treadmill. Other reviewers have asked: is it possible to survive in the cold outside, wouldn't it be safer to keep going with the train. I think they fell right into the trap here that the movie makers prepared. Because just like the train is going in circles, returning every year to the same places, we are living our lives in circles, safe but in a society that loses its social qualities, as you can see quite often in the treatment of children or elderly people, for example. The revolution, as the film makers describe it, wants to break the circle and start a new life that may be less safe, but challenging and more human. I think people who ask: "wouldn't they freeze to death outside?" take the allegory too literal again. The frozen world outside represents the unknown, something you take careful glimpses at from the window, but whether it's 5 degrees below zero or 25 is hardly the point. The train itself was a better allegory than a ship or an airplane, because these do not strictly stay on the same tracks when they sail or fly around the planet. The polar bear at the end shows that life outside is possible, but one must try and face the unknown instead of continuing the same old evil. I liked 'Snowpiercer' a lot as it gives much food for thought, but I wouldn't call it a flawless masterpiece (voted 8 of 10). The killer shooting through the window, the decadent upper class passengers in swimming pools or the traitor among the lower class passengers are too much of movie clichés. The question of how food is produced was answered much more terrifyingly in 'Soylent Green' decades before, in 'Snowpiercer' it was just good enough for a quick shock effect. But don't these little niggles stop you from watching this very interesting movie.

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• Plot holes galore

  mikkepost2014-03-22

  The only reason I am writing a review right now, is because of how stunned I am at most of the user reviews. While its good that you enjoyed the movie, I am surprised at how most people here are overlooking some of the pretty terrible choices. I will be going through what I thought worked, and what kept me from enjoying the movie. Needless to say; MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD. The good: I like the plot, for the most part. Although I find the idea of a train being humanity last home extremely weird, it makes for a nice backdrop. The tone of the movie reminds me a lot of The Hunger Games. Chris Evans does pretty good. The wagons themselves have amazing character. The Art Director should be praised the most out of the entire film crew. The bad: Well, let me sum it up in questions. Questions keeping me from loving this: 1. Why divide the train into classes? This makes no sense. The train ecosystem would function fine with some rules regarding population control. 2. Their great plan is to have a regular uprising to kill off people and keeping the population down? WHAT? See my first point. 3. They used to eat people and babies, but are now disgusted by eating protein bars made by cockroaches? How does that work? And furthermore: 4: WHERE did all those bloody cockroaches come from? 5: If you've invented perpetual motion; why the hell use it in a train? Why not use it to power a generator in a camp, or heat a underground city? The train is death on tracks, with ice regularly blocking the path. 6: Why is everyone on this train ready to kill? Seriously, 90% of EVERYONE is ready to throw down here. 7: People take loosing their limbs SHOCKINGLY well in this movie. Like it's just a flesh wound, really. 8: What the hell happened with that one bad guy who got stabbed through his guts and choked? He just gets up? Why did the korean guy stop his girl from stabbing him? And the korean girl later misses him by 7-8 shots? Furthermore: Tilda Swinton gets a knife through the leg, but walks fine right afterwards. 9: Those weird antics of the characters. The woman in the yellow dress licking her blood off her fingers. Tilda Swinton with her strange comedic performance (although I did like the character, I found it a bit distracting), that incredibly weird Korean couple acting all over the place, things like the masked guy just smiling at Evans when they are sitting down. Sometimes I felt like I was watching Charlie and the chocolate factory. 10: The starved people of the tail takes out an army of axe wielding fighters with night vision? After apparently yelling for help through the entire train, and a kid lighting a torch, and running up to them in no time? Stretching it thin, movie! 11: The soldiers had bullets, but they weren't using them at the ONE PLACE they needed bullets? Are you serious?? 12: The shootout between Chris Evans and what I can only assume was Terminator. On opposite sides of the train, probably 1000ft from each other. Sniping with a submachine gun. Through a blizzard. Nice aim there, fellas. 13: Mr. Terminator shooting his comrades all the time. Seriously. What was to be gained from that? He did it several times. Who is this guy?? 14: The only way the train can function is to stuff small kids down small holes to keep the engine running? Really? Was the train designed to stuff small kids down there, or did it just appear to be the perfect solution? How convenient. 15: The wagon closest to the engine is the RAVE-CLUB where all the freaks go to party? Incidentally, the elementary school is next to the slaughterhouse. 16: There is no policy on drugs on this finely tuned train? Everyone just goes buck wild with this incredibly potent drug next to the engine room? And furthermore... 17: The drug of choice is basically C4? And it just lies around everywhere - again - next to the engine room? 18: Why not pay attention to what the korean guy is doing to open the doors and then open them themselves instead of having him slow them down? 19: The people with axes putting fish blood on their weapons before fighting? That was random. 20: The other wagons are TOTALLY unaffected by the explosion in the first wagons. Wow. They don't really notice until they derail. What a masterfully crafted train. 21: I know it fits with his story, but did Mr. Evans really need to sacrifice his arm to pull that kid out? He could probably stop the machine with something else than a limb and take better care of that child. 22: The people who jumped off the train still haven't been covered up by snow after 15 years in a never-ending blizzard? Those were some of the things that stopped me from loving this movie. It just got too dumb. There was definitely something here, and I feel this could have become an excellent movie with more thought put into it. It came off extremely unrealistic. And in sci-fi, it's all about fooling the audience into thinking it could have happened. That's the "science" part. All in all though - probably an entertaining movie if you'e not a nitpicker like me. Thankfully a lot of you aren't :) EDIT: Someone corrected me in that the couple were korean, and that one of the bad guys never takes a bullet, like I thought he did. Sorry about that, but it still seems far fetched.

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• Lame, ridiculous and illogical

  verminhater2014-03-31

  Very disappointed would be a good summation for this film especially considering it's early rating here. Once the review process has exhausted the fans and people who haven't seen or heard of the comic are reviewing it I expect it'll fall like a stone. The major flaws as I see them (spoiler alert!). The whole concept of a train being the last salvation of mankind on a frozen planet is just beyond belief. Where does the train stop for servicing to it's undercarriage etc. without any stations? Who maintains the track? An engine that runs on magic as much as anything! Why not make it nuclear or at least something believable. If you were to set up a society in a closed environment why wouldn't everyone have a purpose with controlled breeding rather than be lugging around many people with no contribution to the whole. Why would you engineer a rebellion to control population? There are many better ways. Why would you expect some rebel to want your top job doing things your way? The very word rebel suggests that a change of system is wanted. Major flaws aside there are other issues with the film. The characters are not believable. They belong in the comic it's based on. Nobody has made any effort to translate them to film or realised that some adjustments are even necessary. Film requires a different approach and nobody who made this film understands that. A great example of how to do it right is Dredd. This is a great example of how to do it wrong. The film tries to open up great philosophical issues but fails to do so due to the setting they are working in, ie a comic book. You continuously think that none of this is real and so pay no attention to the great moral dilemmas they are trying to foist on you. It's akin to being lectured by a 10 year old. On top of the major flaws there are many minor ones. I'll just give the one example of the hero of the piece stuffing his arm in a moving machine to save one child (didn't bother to look for anything better suited to the task such as a steel bar) whilst then dooming that child to death with everyone-else. The one redeeming quality of the film is it's well made. It's not remotely enough to save it from being a turkey though.

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• Pothole plot!

  lauren_mayer2014-10-02

  I was really looking forward to this film. I love post apocalyptic stories, I didn't think it would be amazing, but I certainly thought it would be better than this. I have never made a review on here before, I have only rated films/TV shows. But I felt compelled to after watching this and noting the major, numerous gaping holes in this film. WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!! 1) If this Wilford guy knew this C4 gas or whatever was going to turn the world into an ice- age why didn't he do more than just build this train? He talks about this engine being eternal - so why didn't he use it to power an underground city, with actual space to move? 2) Who maintains the train and the tracks? In 18 years no repairs have needed to be made? None whatsoever? In this post apocalyptic ice age there is no damage? I don't think so! 3) Why was there no explanation as to how this engine actually works? Literally, no explanation whatsoever. 4) The poor need to be routinely killed by allowing them to uprise so they can be slaughtered? What kind of idea is that. Why not suggest a child policy? 5) Why was a class system needed at all on this train. No explanation as to why they couldn't be put to work to be productive members of this ridiculous train society! 6) Who were the bad guys who dressed up with night vision goggles? Why were they so ready to kill? Which class were they a part of? Do they have a back story? 7) How did the fire reach from the back of the train to the carriage where they were fighting so quickly? 8) Why was Tilda swinton who played mason stabbed with a knife in the leg but could walk fine in the next scenes? And why did she randomly take her teeth out? And what were he weird little speeches about? 9) There are apparently first class, economy and the freeloader sections if the train? But where were the economy passengers? 10) Where were the animals that produced the meat for the refrigerated meat section and why couldn't you see their breath on there - surely it was cold. 11) Where were the chickens that produced the eggs? Where were the cockroaches coming from that made the protein bars? Oh and where did the rice come from that went with the sushi? 12) They have a dentist, a tailor, a hairdressers, jacuzzi, sauna, bar, a nightclub and a crack den but no nice bedrooms for first class? Where do they sleep? Note there are the bedrooms next to where the protein bars are made but there is no explanation as to who stays there and they were a bit grey and small to be first class accommodation. 13) Where did the kids go that were being taught in the school. Curtis didn't pass any of them again while going through the train. 14) Why did he waste all his bullets trying to shoot the bad guy through windows of the train? How dumb was that?! 15) Why did that bad guy live through so much? We literally saw him die. We saw it happen. He was stabbed in the side and died. But all of a sudden he stands up and walks and pulls out the knife no problem and has enough energy to have a full on fight for no apparent reason. 16) Who was the woman in the yellow coat? What was the point of her? 17) Why were all the people from the nightclub suddenly wielding axes and chains? Because the two Koreans stole their drugs? Really? Why is everyone so excited to kill on this train that is the last hope for humankind? Why couldn't the girl kill anyone whilst shooting about 8 times into that crowd? 18) Why did Wilford want to give up his job as engine commander. He says it's was because he was old but he only looked 50/60. What was so demanding about sitting there that meant he couldn't do it anymore? 19) Why did that kid ignore Curtis like he was brainwashed and walk into that weird engine thing that popped out? And what was he doing in the engine thing? And why was he in a cupboard? And why did he come out at that moment? 20) Why did Curtis chop off his arm to save a kid when they were about to blow up the train anyway? Why not use one of the weapons that were around a lot of the film to put in between the gears to take him out? Or not bother at all. 21) Why would they blow up the train? For what reason? What possible good could come from that? Curtis had the power in his hands and he could have made this little bizarre train world a better place, but nope - let's derail the train and kill everyone with an explosion! 22) What the hell are that teenage girl and little boy supposed to do now? She just killed everyone on the train and if the cold doesn't kill her and that boy then the polar bear will probably kill them! And again no breath! It's meant to be freezing cold and they couldn't stretch themselves to make the actors' breath visible! Poor! On the plus side the garden and aquarium sections looked nice... DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM!

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• There are to many; "What?!" moments

  ole-kris-lan2014-03-28

  I actually like this genre of film, but this was a lousy attempt from this studio. In my opinion there simply are to many things we as viewers are expected to go along with. Without any explanation. Don't agree with me? I will give you some examples then (MAJOR SPOILERS); 1. Why did they need to eat each other at the start of their trip, and then suddenly this protein bar-machine appeared. It seems hard to accept that the magnificent Wilford would make this train with room for this low-class people, but with no way to feed them. And how did they make this bug-protein-bar machine while traveling at such speeds? 2. Having this class-system and using riots as a way to kill some of the population, seems a very cruel and inefficient way to keep the trains population regulated. And not to mention risky, after all this "grand plan" is what sets in motion the events that lead to the trains demise. There are tons of other option that history has shown is better ways to handle situations like this. And what about just plain simple birth regulations? 3. What does the engine run on? Hopes and dreams? explain please. Nuff said. 4. How those no part of the railway the train runs on gets destroyed or needs fixing during this 18 year long train ride? In an such extreme climate some part of the rails are bound to be somewhat damaged. 5. At the end of the movie they step outside and into the cold "harsh" weather. And let me just tell you. We call that summer in Norway, not an apocalyptic freezing weather. There truly need to be some better way to deal with the problem of this "extreme" weather. (and yes i know it was the middle of the day and the weather was nice, and maybe its worse at other times and blah blah, but still, doesn't seam to make sense.)' 6. The peoples behavior wasn't believable either. First of all, we need to remember that it was an closed environment, and people in the different classes all knew each other. And when after 18 years on this train some of the upper-class people see these dirty, bloody and new faces, they don't seem to give one single f**k. Not one single one of them. And why did Curtis choose to destroy the engine, the only thing that was keeping all the people on the train alive, to temporarily save one kid? He basically doomed the whole train, including the child he just saved. (And don't get me started on how he did it, jeezez.) The list of these "What?!" moments just goes on and on and on. Some are short and brief, but others (like the examples i have given) are major movie-enjoyment-destroying. The sum of all these moments just leaves you with an bad feeling when you are finished watching the film. BUT, the movie ain't all bad. This fictional setting of the film, makes for a type of film that is enjoyable. But often it boils down to; Are you able to believe the case that the film presents, or do you find it just to unrealistic to bear with. At the end of the movie, where all was revealed, the "mind blown"-moment. I just sat there with to many questions and a big "what?!"- expression. And not the "I-just-got-my- - head-exploded-"What?!", but the what just happened "what". And that the reasons why all this things had happened was the general premise of population control, wasn't mind blowing material, if you ask me.

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