Aside from having one BAD ASS poster, no film has made me more intrigued in my lifetime (perhaps The Poughkeepsie Tapes) than the insane “Escape From Tomorrow”. Filmed in absolute secrecy as “home movies” in DisneyWorld in Florida and edited in South Korea to keep Disney unaware of the project, it really is a modern day marvel of how far amateur filmmaking has come. Here we are, 2013, and this guy not only decides to make a film-which is fine, lots of guys do this like Kevin Smith or a better example is the Blair Witch guys-but do INSIDE a usually restrictive DisneyWorld. Thank god Disneyworld had lax rules on uploading footage to the internet and cameras and whatnot, otherwise this thing would NEVER have been made.
However, it IS the type of film where the story behind it is kind of more interesting than the film itself. The hype is much more worth it.
That isn’t to say that the film is bad. For a first film, it’s shot EXTREMELY confidently and the people in it-children too-are very very good. I have a few problems with it though. First off, sound. Now, I can’t gripe too much because of the way it was shot, and so it’s understandable sound would be an issue from time to time but a lot of times I had a hard time hearing what was being said and it made me actually miss key plot elements. That’s not good. Secondly, it becomes rather incoherent around the 40 minute mark or so. See, this film was sold to me as a “horror” movie, so I expected more stuff like when they were on the rides. I expected horror. Instead, I now understand what they mean when they compare it to the likes of early David Lynch, because it is extremely Twilight Zoneish and odd to the point of wondering if you’re on drugs while you’re viewing it.
I think somewhere in this movie is a great 40 minute short film, but I think as a feature there was a lot of padding. A lot of when the father was just following the french girls around…yeah…kind of padded.
But don’t make it out like I’m attacking or criticising the film in any way. It really is worth it to see, especially because of how it was made alone. One thing I noticed was in high traffic areas where they needed dialogue scenes-lengthy dialogue scenes-they actually greenscreened the actors over background footage of the park. Frankly, it not only didn’t look too bad but it was a smart move. Here they are, making a film in a place you’re not supposed to be making a film in, and to take some of the heat off themselves, they did the smart thing and digitally created some of the scenes. Very very smart way to stay safe.
The film is shot in black and white, which DEFINITELY helps. The atmosphere would be downright silly and absurd if they had shot this in color. No question. I had a hard time taking it seriously at points, but the whole film would’ve been a joke had it been in color. Probably the smartest thing they did in the production was that noir pallet choice. They also replaced some of the music in rides and attractions, which was probably to take some of the heat off themselves legally (they actually have a banner on their website that reads “number of hours since release that we haven’t been sued”) but also makes it WAAAAY creepier. Intentional or not, worked like a damn charm.
So is the movie good?
Well, it’s a curiosity. It’s worth seeing because as one reviewer put it so perfectly, “It shouldn’t by any logical means exist and yet it does.” It’s definitely more for film buffs than a mainstream audience, but it’s certainly worth seeing one time. Beyond that just depends on your general interest.
I definitely view it as an artistic triumph, I reward them for what they accomplished with what they had and I give ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW a rating of:
A+
However, it IS the type of film where the story behind it is kind of more interesting than the film itself. The hype is much more worth it.
That isn’t to say that the film is bad. For a first film, it’s shot EXTREMELY confidently and the people in it-children too-are very very good. I have a few problems with it though. First off, sound. Now, I can’t gripe too much because of the way it was shot, and so it’s understandable sound would be an issue from time to time but a lot of times I had a hard time hearing what was being said and it made me actually miss key plot elements. That’s not good. Secondly, it becomes rather incoherent around the 40 minute mark or so. See, this film was sold to me as a “horror” movie, so I expected more stuff like when they were on the rides. I expected horror. Instead, I now understand what they mean when they compare it to the likes of early David Lynch, because it is extremely Twilight Zoneish and odd to the point of wondering if you’re on drugs while you’re viewing it.
I think somewhere in this movie is a great 40 minute short film, but I think as a feature there was a lot of padding. A lot of when the father was just following the french girls around…yeah…kind of padded.
But don’t make it out like I’m attacking or criticising the film in any way. It really is worth it to see, especially because of how it was made alone. One thing I noticed was in high traffic areas where they needed dialogue scenes-lengthy dialogue scenes-they actually greenscreened the actors over background footage of the park. Frankly, it not only didn’t look too bad but it was a smart move. Here they are, making a film in a place you’re not supposed to be making a film in, and to take some of the heat off themselves, they did the smart thing and digitally created some of the scenes. Very very smart way to stay safe.
The film is shot in black and white, which DEFINITELY helps. The atmosphere would be downright silly and absurd if they had shot this in color. No question. I had a hard time taking it seriously at points, but the whole film would’ve been a joke had it been in color. Probably the smartest thing they did in the production was that noir pallet choice. They also replaced some of the music in rides and attractions, which was probably to take some of the heat off themselves legally (they actually have a banner on their website that reads “number of hours since release that we haven’t been sued”) but also makes it WAAAAY creepier. Intentional or not, worked like a damn charm.
So is the movie good?
Well, it’s a curiosity. It’s worth seeing because as one reviewer put it so perfectly, “It shouldn’t by any logical means exist and yet it does.” It’s definitely more for film buffs than a mainstream audience, but it’s certainly worth seeing one time. Beyond that just depends on your general interest.
I definitely view it as an artistic triumph, I reward them for what they accomplished with what they had and I give ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW a rating of:
A+
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