1,336 reviews
The internet is a funny place... it seems to be filled with people who have graduated with 5 Ph.Ds. and clearly seem to be smarter than everybody else (thousands of astronauts and astrophysicists on IMDb apparently). One star rating? Come on... Clearly, you haven't watched enough films to know decent from terrible.
I watched this film without having heard of it (no trailers, spoilers or anything). I'm a sci-fi fan and thought this was a good watch.
I found the characters to lack depth and their actions were questionable at times but the plot was believable and the acting decent. Special effects were good and made the movie believable in my opinion. The movie was well shot and I thought the scenes with the creature were pretty cool.
I don't get how people even compare this movie to "Aliens"; it's nothing alike. Overall, I thought it was pretty good.
I watched this film without having heard of it (no trailers, spoilers or anything). I'm a sci-fi fan and thought this was a good watch.
I found the characters to lack depth and their actions were questionable at times but the plot was believable and the acting decent. Special effects were good and made the movie believable in my opinion. The movie was well shot and I thought the scenes with the creature were pretty cool.
I don't get how people even compare this movie to "Aliens"; it's nothing alike. Overall, I thought it was pretty good.
- emailbox911
- May 31, 2017
- Permalink
- Leofwine_draca
- Aug 6, 2017
- Permalink
I'm seeing a few negative reviews for this one that I don't understand. Life isn't a cinematic masterpiece exactly, but it's thrilling enough to hold your attention for one hundred minutes.
The story is simple: something horrible gets on a space ship and wants to waste the crew. We don't know much about it or how it thinks except that it's extremely hostile and needs oxygen. After the very well-paced and beautifully-executed set-up the remainder of the film consists of the humans trying to outwit and destroy this thing.
And that's it. It doesn't get boring. It does the job. It has a couple of pointless moments we don't really need amidst the exciting chaos, and then it rumbles to a slightly weak finish.
You don't except a mind-shattering gourmet meal when you order a cheeseburger and shouldn't get bent out of shape when this isn't Alien or 2001. It's a very solid film. Switch brain off and give a go if you like space stuff.
No much else to say.
The story is simple: something horrible gets on a space ship and wants to waste the crew. We don't know much about it or how it thinks except that it's extremely hostile and needs oxygen. After the very well-paced and beautifully-executed set-up the remainder of the film consists of the humans trying to outwit and destroy this thing.
And that's it. It doesn't get boring. It does the job. It has a couple of pointless moments we don't really need amidst the exciting chaos, and then it rumbles to a slightly weak finish.
You don't except a mind-shattering gourmet meal when you order a cheeseburger and shouldn't get bent out of shape when this isn't Alien or 2001. It's a very solid film. Switch brain off and give a go if you like space stuff.
No much else to say.
Life was a solid horror/alien movie with a wonderful cast and well shot visuals. It is not a masterpiece especially considering the genre's many great entries, including the alien which seemed to be something that this film has modelled after.
I liked how this film in contrast to Alien seemed very plausible and realistic, focusing on the 'science' part of sci-fi. The mission in search of extra terrestrial living organisms is a very interesting topic and this film made the possibilities of this seem so much more plausible. At the same time Life also brings up an interesting idea of how little we know about the universe that we live in and how inexperienced we are. How alien life form could be so different to our expectations and hence the debate of whether we should explore and the consequences of human curiosity.
It carried a good amount of intensity and suspense and was gory and terrifying at times.The performances were quite good, the cast is pretty great though so there was no surprise there but it did fall flat in writing though, not that it was poor but it's a very straight forwards and rather clichéd trope that we've seen many times even though it was indeed well done.
I liked how this film in contrast to Alien seemed very plausible and realistic, focusing on the 'science' part of sci-fi. The mission in search of extra terrestrial living organisms is a very interesting topic and this film made the possibilities of this seem so much more plausible. At the same time Life also brings up an interesting idea of how little we know about the universe that we live in and how inexperienced we are. How alien life form could be so different to our expectations and hence the debate of whether we should explore and the consequences of human curiosity.
It carried a good amount of intensity and suspense and was gory and terrifying at times.The performances were quite good, the cast is pretty great though so there was no surprise there but it did fall flat in writing though, not that it was poor but it's a very straight forwards and rather clichéd trope that we've seen many times even though it was indeed well done.
- austin0731
- Jul 1, 2017
- Permalink
"Life" is one of those type of movies that snuck under my radar. I hadn't even heard about it prior to it being released. And I got the chance to watch it by sheer luck. So of course I did so, because I do love watching movies. And with the likes of Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds on the cast list, what's not to like?
First of all, I must state that the story presented in "Life" was actually surprisingly good and interesting. It is the type of movie that creeps under your skin and sticks with you, leaving you wanting to see more.
A Sci-Fi movie is bound to have great CGI, especially if it is a movie that is reliant on proper effects, which was the case of "Life". So luckily they had a great budget for the CGI and special effects, and it bore fruit. The CGI was amazing in the movie and it all looked so life-like and realistic, all which definitely contributed to the overall enjoyment and outcome of the movie. Which leads me on to the creature design. Wow. Just wow! I don't know how to explain or detail this, because it is something that has to be seen and experienced with your own two eyes.
"Life" is a very intense movie experience.
Of course they had a rather impressive cast ensemble to perform in the movie. With the likes of Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds, you know it is going to be good.
This is the type of Sci-Fi movie that combines horror in a nice way, and it is definitely a movie that is well worth investing time and money in, if you haven't already seen it.
First of all, I must state that the story presented in "Life" was actually surprisingly good and interesting. It is the type of movie that creeps under your skin and sticks with you, leaving you wanting to see more.
A Sci-Fi movie is bound to have great CGI, especially if it is a movie that is reliant on proper effects, which was the case of "Life". So luckily they had a great budget for the CGI and special effects, and it bore fruit. The CGI was amazing in the movie and it all looked so life-like and realistic, all which definitely contributed to the overall enjoyment and outcome of the movie. Which leads me on to the creature design. Wow. Just wow! I don't know how to explain or detail this, because it is something that has to be seen and experienced with your own two eyes.
"Life" is a very intense movie experience.
Of course they had a rather impressive cast ensemble to perform in the movie. With the likes of Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds, you know it is going to be good.
This is the type of Sci-Fi movie that combines horror in a nice way, and it is definitely a movie that is well worth investing time and money in, if you haven't already seen it.
- paul_haakonsen
- Dec 29, 2018
- Permalink
- tony-clifton
- Aug 13, 2017
- Permalink
I enjoyed this movie. It has some great jumpy moments at the beginning to pull you into this movie's orbital trajectory.
But to enjoy this movie you do have to suspend your essential disbelief that America and a consortium of other product placement regions, sorry I mean Russia, China and Japan, could spend "well over $200bn" putting a science station in orbit and then man it (or should that be "woman it") with half of a dozen of their most stupid scientists (convincingly played by Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and Rebecca Ferguson). ;-)
If you can do that, you'll love it and even find some of it funny.
And if you've never seen Alien (1979) or Gravity (2013) before you might even find the plot line highly original too. ;-)
But to enjoy this movie you do have to suspend your essential disbelief that America and a consortium of other product placement regions, sorry I mean Russia, China and Japan, could spend "well over $200bn" putting a science station in orbit and then man it (or should that be "woman it") with half of a dozen of their most stupid scientists (convincingly played by Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds and Rebecca Ferguson). ;-)
If you can do that, you'll love it and even find some of it funny.
And if you've never seen Alien (1979) or Gravity (2013) before you might even find the plot line highly original too. ;-)
It starts of interesting and moody, then it's suspenseful but 20 minutes in it turns stupid and stays that way till the end. The characters make one stupid decision after another and that takes you out of the movie. After the third stupid decision/action you lose interest. Good actors, great sets, good SFX, crappy script. It's entertaining, but just barely.
- joao-vendetta
- Apr 11, 2022
- Permalink
- mukool-hastak
- Jun 11, 2017
- Permalink
- robertjkitchen
- Aug 21, 2017
- Permalink
Not such an original premise of a sci-fi film, but it seems to tick along ok. The cast and production values are quite good. It's a reasonable viewing mind you, but the climax is more inevitable rather than a twist.
- swordsnare
- Nov 9, 2019
- Permalink
I was highly annoyed by the unprofessional and error-prone behaviour of the movie characters. Throughout the movie, you will ask yourself: How can he be so stupid? Why is she not doing the obvious? Why are the astronauts emphasising proper procedures, then five seconds later breaking their own rules? How come a former soldier is breaking the chain of command? There is nothing realistic about the behaviour of these characters. In the end, I just hated them. I do not believe that there is a demographic that likes movies like this. Either the script was written by an incompetent author, or the directors are ignorant of what makes a good movie.
- dschoenenberger
- Mar 23, 2017
- Permalink
I wasn't expecting much from this movie because of the reviews that I've read. But it turned out pretty good. Not a great movie but it's pretty interesting. Some of the intense parts actually had me at the edge of my seat.
- jaminajheelyn
- Nov 30, 2019
- Permalink
Just got back from seeing this and I have to say that I thought it was a really good film.
I see that RT only has it at 65% and it's being made out to be a cheap Alien clone but I think that is doing it a dis-service. I felt it was intelligently made, set characters and situations well and created a palpable sense of tension. Criticism that it's a blatant re-run of Alien are unjustified. Granted, it's about an alien life form in space but that to me is where the similarity ends.
Alien isn't the only scary film set in space that is allowed to be made and if Prometheus is anything to go by, Ridley has no right to be the only person allowed to make sci-fi horror films. It captured well the excitement of discovery, the wonder of space and the precariousness of facing any problems up there.
The effects were good, you could see what was going on, there was unease and dread and it kept me thoroughly absorbed and entertained. I don't want to elaborate anymore for fear of giving away spoilers but if you like a bit of tension with your sci-fi, it's worth checking out. Try to avoid the critic reviews if you can as I think going in a little blind will help your enjoyment.
I see that RT only has it at 65% and it's being made out to be a cheap Alien clone but I think that is doing it a dis-service. I felt it was intelligently made, set characters and situations well and created a palpable sense of tension. Criticism that it's a blatant re-run of Alien are unjustified. Granted, it's about an alien life form in space but that to me is where the similarity ends.
Alien isn't the only scary film set in space that is allowed to be made and if Prometheus is anything to go by, Ridley has no right to be the only person allowed to make sci-fi horror films. It captured well the excitement of discovery, the wonder of space and the precariousness of facing any problems up there.
The effects were good, you could see what was going on, there was unease and dread and it kept me thoroughly absorbed and entertained. I don't want to elaborate anymore for fear of giving away spoilers but if you like a bit of tension with your sci-fi, it's worth checking out. Try to avoid the critic reviews if you can as I think going in a little blind will help your enjoyment.
- Paynebyname
- Mar 23, 2017
- Permalink
- jsmith-59317
- Aug 29, 2017
- Permalink
I wanted to believe the positive reviews but the negative reviews were right!!!! The characters in this film are frustratingly stupid and annoying!!! The amount of dumb decisions they make for scientists and an advanced space crew is beyond believable. Emotional and stupid decisions. Jake Gyllenhaal, who is a superb actor, was even poor in this! His character was so annoying in this movie and he literally ignores all logic and rational thinking, and acted off pure emotion throughout the entire movie. This film had a good cast and still couldn't carry this film. This film is just frustrating beyond words!!! Utter disappointment!!!!!
- leonmessyb
- Sep 28, 2022
- Permalink
I'm starting to notice a trend in movies throughout the beginning of the year. Ever since January, we've been getting quite a few different horror/thriller films this year. The results have been mixed to generally positive; Split and Get Out have received positive attention for instance. And now we have Life.
Life is about a group of six astronauts who discover a single cell on Mars. They all research it for a while, the cell grows into a life form, and they discover that the life form is very deadly, and the astronauts must work together to keep it from reaching earth.
I'm going to start with what I didn't like about the movie. My main issue with it has to be the characters. For the most part, they feel very dry and empty. So much so that I couldn't remember a thing about them. There were only two characters who felt like they had any sense of character. The two I'm talking about are Ariyon Bakare's character since he is a scientist and holds a lot of focus in the beginning as the main researcher. Then there's Hiroyuki Sanada's role. His reasoning for wanting to go back to earth makes him the only character I wanted to root for. Aside from that, it's hard for me to care about the movie's characters.
If I were to talk about the things I liked about it, I would like to start with the overall feeling of the movie. After the first act, everything begins to feel tense. There are many tense scenes that have left me feeling horrified, and that's what I believe is the main strength of the movie. If you're going into a thriller movie, you'll expect many intense moments. That's what you get throughout the movie. Something I find very impressive throughout it is that almost the entirety of the film takes place in a space vessel. It's amazing how well it plays into the movie and how well the director, actors and cameraworkers perform their duties and how the movie works so well in such a small, boxed in area. I had my doubts walking in, but what works works really well. Another thing I liked about it was how it ended. I'm not gonna go in-depth with it because that would lead into spoiler territory.
Overall, I thought this movie was very frightening and unexpecting. It had many twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat. However, the movie's weakness would have to be the characters. But I can forgive that with its gripping and thrilling plot.
Life is about a group of six astronauts who discover a single cell on Mars. They all research it for a while, the cell grows into a life form, and they discover that the life form is very deadly, and the astronauts must work together to keep it from reaching earth.
I'm going to start with what I didn't like about the movie. My main issue with it has to be the characters. For the most part, they feel very dry and empty. So much so that I couldn't remember a thing about them. There were only two characters who felt like they had any sense of character. The two I'm talking about are Ariyon Bakare's character since he is a scientist and holds a lot of focus in the beginning as the main researcher. Then there's Hiroyuki Sanada's role. His reasoning for wanting to go back to earth makes him the only character I wanted to root for. Aside from that, it's hard for me to care about the movie's characters.
If I were to talk about the things I liked about it, I would like to start with the overall feeling of the movie. After the first act, everything begins to feel tense. There are many tense scenes that have left me feeling horrified, and that's what I believe is the main strength of the movie. If you're going into a thriller movie, you'll expect many intense moments. That's what you get throughout the movie. Something I find very impressive throughout it is that almost the entirety of the film takes place in a space vessel. It's amazing how well it plays into the movie and how well the director, actors and cameraworkers perform their duties and how the movie works so well in such a small, boxed in area. I had my doubts walking in, but what works works really well. Another thing I liked about it was how it ended. I'm not gonna go in-depth with it because that would lead into spoiler territory.
Overall, I thought this movie was very frightening and unexpecting. It had many twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat. However, the movie's weakness would have to be the characters. But I can forgive that with its gripping and thrilling plot.
- brankovranjkovic
- Mar 24, 2017
- Permalink
- djgoutsmart
- Mar 22, 2017
- Permalink
- bringbackberniew
- Apr 1, 2024
- Permalink