The Machinist on DVD (2004)

Cult Classic!

Alistair McFarlane from Leeds, England , 25/03/2005

Christian Bale looking his worst and acting at his best. If you like films that make you think, then this film is awesome and not to be missed. Though it's sinistercism will mean it's not everybones cup of tea.

Scarred throughout with an underlying dark feel to it. The machinist takes you into the mind of Bale's charachter Trevor who suffers from extreme insomnia. As the film progresses it allows you and Trevor to simultaneously unravel the trail of clues leading to the cause of his insomnia. The backdrop of the average dull toned town that he lives in adds even more realism to this must see film.

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Fantastic!

Amichaelglg from Surrey , 02/05/2005

This was one of the BEST films I have seen for a very very long time. Although the previous post said it was predicatble...Well, it is like saying The Sixth Sense was predicatble !

If you have similar tastes to me and loved Gladiator, The Sixth Sense, Butterfly Effect, Assault On Precinct 13, The Notebook, and many others that don't initially spring to mind then you must SEE this film. I just cannot praise it highly enough !

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A movie that will make you think.

Felicity from Horsham, West Sussex , 09/04/2005

This is a truly wonderful and scary movie. Christian Bale looks scarier even than his character in American Psycho, yet this has to be his best role to date. This film will keep you guessing until the end.

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Intriguing, infuriating insomniac

ATfilmcritic from London , 17/03/2005

Chilling, compelling psychological mystery, which, despite a mostly predictable denouement, remains gripping and disturbing from beginning to end; and the incohesive whole is driven fiercely by Bale’s astonishing commitment.

His ferocious, powerful performance should be marked down as one of the greatest human achievements in cinema- starved down to an unrecognizable bare-bones of a person (“If you were any thinner…you wouldn’t exist”), Bale’s extraordinary feat of losing 63 pounds, transforming his usual muscular self into a skeletal ghost, is the greatest physical weight loss in film history. His dedication shows, and ultimately lifts the film from mediocrity.

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UNLESS YOU'RE A MONSTER, GIVE THIS ONE A MISS

A customer from Bristol , 09/08/2008

This is really just a straightforward morality tale, with a pretty obvious message. Why on Earth Christian Bale felt that it was worthwhile to starve himself in order to play this role I cannot imagine. The film is really about as dull as watching grey paint dry, and has all of the charms of such an experience. And don't think that you'll be able to find the answer to this puzzle of a film either, as almost everyone gets it wrong; it's as difficult as deciding upon the ending of 'Total Recall', you know, is he really on Mars at the end, or is he about to go crazy in a chair on Earth? The only difference is that ,with this film, one doesn't tend to care one way or the other. This is not a film to lose any sleep over!

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Pretty good!

Sarah from Devon , 18/08/2008

I enjoyed this film. It was a bit dark and dreary but once you get past that and understand what is going on (it takes a while to get into) I found that I really enjoyed it. Well written and good plotline, although Christian Bale is sickeningly thin for this film; not healthy!

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