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Babylon A.D.
2008
Veteran-turned-mercenary Thoorop (Diesel) takes the high-risk job of escorting a woman from Russia to America in a post-apocalyptic world. But it isn't long before they are pursued by warring factions who are both determined to take the girl, and it is up to Thoorop to stop them. Read more
| Starring | Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Melanie Thierry, Gerard Depardieu |
|---|---|
| Director | Mathieu Kassovitz |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Audio Descriptive, Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
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Babylon A.D.
Veteran-turned-mercenary Thoorop (Diesel) takes the high-risk job of escorting a woman from Russia to America in a post-apocalyptic world. But it isn't long before they are pursued by warring factions who are both determined to take the girl, and it is up to Thoorop to stop them.
| Starring | Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Melanie Thierry, Gerard Depardieu, Charlotte Rampling, Lambert Wilson, Mark Strong |
|---|---|
| Director | Mathieu Kassovitz |
| Studio | 20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 27 mins Blu-ray: 1 hr 30 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Collections | 100 Hot Hits |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Audio Descriptive, Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
| Language | DVD: English, English Audio Description Blu-ray: English, English Audio Description |
| Released | DVD: 29 Dec 2008 Blu-ray: 29 Dec 2008 Production year: 2008 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews
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Adapted from Maurice C Dantecs cult 1999 novel Babylon Babies, this post-apocalyptic sci-fi film began life as... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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50 out of 51 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
Not exactly Babylon
Fraught with delays and problems during production, Babylon AD is perhaps better known for the fact that it's own director, Mathieu Kassovitz, slammed the film before release, labeling it as little more than a 'bad episode of 24'. Due to alleged interference from Twentieth Century Fox the original script was severely cut by as much as 70 minutes to bring it into the hour and a half bracket. And it shows, with a disparate and at times perplexing pace that clearly leaves a lot unsaid. But despite this there is still the shadow of what the film could have been, and is worth a rental if you're a fan of Sci-Fi, though if you're not it may be better to give this one a miss.
Based on the 1999 book 'Babylon Babies' by Maurice Georges Dantec, Babylon AD is about one man's struggle to stay alive when he accepts a mission to escort a young girl to America. But as expected the mission isn't so straight forward, and the mercenary Toorop soon finds that his young charge is far more than she seems. Sadly what exactly she 'is' is not explained very well through the course of the film and instead of developing the story the film runs through a serious of action sequences (some more impressive than others) before hurtling at light speed to a rather disappointing ending. And this is where the cuts are very obvious: within the space of around ten minutes the protagonists go from a submarine under the ice, to a jet ski battle, before suddenly coming to an upmarket apartment in New York. Whew!
Overall Babylon Ad isn't as bad as some have made out (even the director) but thats only if you're willing to forgive it's glaring problems. Vin Diesel puts in a decent performance, though is starting to look a lot more wrinkly around the edges. Michelle Yeoh gives a similar performance to her other films (which is no bad thing) and Melanie Thierry is perfect as the innocent wide eyed charge put into Vin's care. But there's definitely been a missed opportunity here and we can only hope that a directors cut will make it's way to DVD in the future. Then we may see what this story really has to give. -
Most recent members' review
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6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
Unoriginal Tosh
I saw the trailer for this movie, and thought that looks pish. Unfortunately i still spent money on this woeful effort which directly borrows from the superior Children of Men, (because the trailer looked to have some good effects in it). The effects don't really get going till the last 40 minutes, so you have to wait and get all the politics out the way, before the action gets underway. My summary of the film is thus:
The acting is woeful, the action is unengaging, the direction is lousy and the characterisations are as bad as the acting, at least the cinematorgraphy was decent.
One final note is Michelle Yeoh needs to get her agent fired for doing generic tosh like this and the mummy 3, she is a much better actress than that.
Lets just leave it there. -
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