Good, dark movie

Rating: 8/10 (10 May 2001)

This is a really good, underrated movie. I felt it was very similar in many respects to David Fincher's works (specially Fight Club): although the theme in itself is not even similar, both share gloomy visions of our future because of our present. Even more, both films look as if they had been purposely treated to look incredibly ugly on screen (which, btw, is not a bad thing when you consider the plot).
The plot? Well, humanity was wiped off the surface of the earth, and doomed to live underground. Before you start harvesting thoughts of "Battlefield Earth", STOP! The plot is just an excuse for an incredibly complex story, which, if you are not paying attention, might not be clear to you the first time you watch the film. As a matter of fact, watching the film twice, or three times, will demonstrate all the possibilities of the story (which are many, and all powerful).
I might be wrong, but I think this film was also Bruce Willis' first "serious" movie. He is the "hero" (if the word fits his persona) of the movie. Paired with Brad Pitt, in a stunning role as a psychotic man, both guys deliver quite a performance. Pitt, in particular, avoids the "pretty boy" persona he seemed to have cultivated up to that point, and delivered a stunning rendition of a mad mastermind. He might be called the "villain" of the movie. He is, but *not quite*. Everything in this picture, actually, is *not quite* it seems.
Add to this a very good surround mix, and you have yourself a winner, what might have been the most underrated film of 1995.