"Apollo 18" appears at the moment, whether it is the subject matter or the technique, it is somewhat overwhelmed and insufficient. A film that can be regarded as "nostalgic", its significance is that it can associate many "predecessors" from it. On the basis of a comprehensive tribute to style and story, it has witnessed the unforgettable and long-lasting masterpieces in the history of film. Works packaged in the form of pseudo-documentaries are far more rare today than other types of films. But because the style is too peculiar, the sword goes slanted, on the one hand, it can attract the audience's attention and upset; on the other hand, after several baptisms, most of the audience will not be surprised. Although "Apollo 18" did not have an extraordinary story system, it resolutely chose the method of pseudo-recording, which shows that courage is commendable.
From the shadow cast by "Apollo 18", we have seen all kinds of familiar figures. The background of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union has long been squeezed out by the themes of espionage; the space arms race at the same time has also been exhausted by countless science fiction themes; as for the rampant rampage of unknown creatures, it is even more cliché To no one cares. But the film collects all these elements together, and the painstaking efforts to gather the masters are not necessarily very annoying. After scanning the film, all kinds of more or less similar memories flooded in: "Death Video", "Red Planet", "Space Transport", "Alien", "Mungo Lake", "The Last Exorcism", "Ghost and Shadow"...
Jokingly said, "Apollo 18" is a lunar version of "Crazy Stone" - the unknown organisms appearing in the film, under static conditions, look like ordinary meteorites, Once triggered, it transforms into a pervasive and indestructible monster (shaped like a crab). In general, the technique of exploring films of unknown species is that the truth will not be made public, at least not in the first film. First, it leaves suspense and creates an illusion of reality; second, it is easy to play casually. Similar to "The Cloverfield Files", the origins of the monsters were never introduced; "Monsters", simply said to be alien creatures, said nothing; "Unfrozen", the effect of bugs is very similar to this film, one sentence belongs to the prehistoric creatures seal Keep everyone's mouth shut; "The Third Shape of Mutation", the classic work is also finished with a few words. Then list Ruins, Chasing Trolls, Skyrim, and more. "Apollo 18" unabashedly bears witness to the quality of its brethren.
The pseudo-documentary shooting of the film is technically much more difficult than the general pseudo-documentary. Although "Blair Witch" is the best of the bunch, its success with mirrors is to speculate on the audience's psychology in art. Unlike "Apollo 18", bringing the story to the moon is a complete test of the position of the camera. So, even though it's quite "lunarized", a little bit of blemishes are still visible everywhere. If you think that all American astronauts are selfie freaks, you must forgive them. In addition, there are sound effects, which are as difficult as using a mirror, and the film processing is more satisfactory.
Americans are good at conspiracy theories, and movies often magnify this tradition infinitely. Today's widely circulated space-related secrets are full of stars. The third (fourth) kind of contact, the Roswell incident, Area 51, the face on the back of Mars, the moon landing is a false image, etc., the movie takes the trouble to explain it again and again, and the audience can't help but feel that these seem to be all No longer like science fiction, but real reality. Among them, large and small events during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union are even more talked about. In "Apollo 18", we once again witnessed the familiar "conspiracy theory". For the suspense, thriller, and blood that the film lacks, these qualities that could have added points to it, the real climax is that after the male protagonist Ben knew that he had been rejected by the country, he used the tape recorder to play several times that his son said " I love you". At this moment, personal interests and national interests collide in all directions. Thinking rationally, it seems that Ben should make due sacrifices for the country, but considering the repeated conspiracy theories of the United States, we will have infinite sympathy for Ben. The last silhouette of the players before they set off again points to the "American spirit", which also arouses thought in the irony. On the screen, there are too many familiar figures working hard for a certain country or a certain organization. They only give orders and follow their lead, always saying less and doing more, basically without asking why. But what did they end up with? With worries, it is difficult to retreat, and after becoming enemies, he is smashed to pieces, what he has done is a feat that amazes the world, and what he harvests is an anonymous tombstone. I remember that there was such an episode in "Master of Horror Season 1", titled "Going Home". It is said that in order to succeed in the election, the president shouted a slogan "Let the soldiers who died in the war go home". As a result, those dead souls really "come home" in this show. With the help of the popular "zombie" element, it achieves the purpose of satire with excellent effect. It can be seen that the truly terrifying monster is not the "crazy stone" on the moon, but the conspiracy of the politicians who are close at hand.
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