The Colony

Plot synopsis:
A terrified woman (Alex Paxton-Beesley) and a man (Eric Murdoc) run in a corridor. They are running away from something or someone. They reach the end of the corridor and they bang on the door, shouting for somebody else to open up the door.In a grim future world, when people have to live underground because on our planet a new Ice Age has begun, the scarce survivors try keep civilization while waiting for a better future. Briggs (Laurence Fishburne) is the leader of one of these underground places, called colonies. Colony 7 has its own problems. The lack of food and medicine make something as "mild" nowadays as the flu really dangerous, which can lead to a disaster of epidemic proportions. Briggs tries to keep civilization in Colony 7. He has organized a system of 40-day quarantine, to give people the opportunity to get over the flu. After a flu epidemy has killed twenty people within the colony, he has devised a system in which people who are sick after the quarantine period is given a choice: they may be killed, or they may try to live outside, on their own, and try to survive by their own means. Not everybody agrees with these system, though. Mason (Bill Paxton) kills Hal (Sten Eirik), a man who couldn't get over the flu completely, in fear that he would eventually return to the colony, as there is no way for a single human to survive for long in the frozen prairie which our planet has become.Sam (Kevin Zegers) has told Mason to let Hal go, as he has chosen to leave. Hal says that it's not a choice, it's survival, and one less person will mean more food for the rest. Sam explains that people from the cities which reached one of the colonies considered themselves lucky to reach one of the colonies. At the beginning, they had to make do with crammed conditions, but then, people's life expectancy started to dwindle, and now, they are not crammed at all. At colony 7, attempts to keep seeds for when the Ice Age finishes have been done. Sam tells Briggs that Mason killed Hal - Briggs doesn't like that.An SOS from Colony 5 is pulsing two days after the colonizers had said that they were disconecting the radio for some repairs. All the inhabitants of the Colony are called in for a meeting. Briggs tells Mason off, but he makes his disgust clear. Kai (Charlotte Sullivan) is Sam's girlfriend. She keeps seeds locked - she has her laptop connected to an old satellite. When Sam tells her that Hal "has died", she is more accepting. In the meeting, people are on the merge of freezing. Two people are trying to disguise the fact that they are suffering from the flue. Sam says she's already fixed the ventilation system, but for them, it's too late.In this meeting, Briggs says that he'll go to Colony 5, and that he needs two volunteers to go with him. As usual, Mason disagrees - if they bring more people to their own colony, food would be even more scarce. Sam offers himself to go, as Kai will be the person responsible for the turbines' maintenance. Graydon (Atticus Dean Mitchell) offers to go, even though he doesn't have much experience on being on the ground. When Elena ( Kristin Shepherd) coughs, the meeting is called off sooner, as everybody panics. She and her husband are put in quarantine. Briggs says that Kai will be the leader while he's away.That night, Sam dreams of himself as a child (Mitchell Nye), lost in a polar storm, dressed in fur, watching his parents' dead bodies. Sam wakes up and goes to wash his face. Kai also wakes up, They kiss each other.Briggs, Sam and Grayson leave the colony in the freezing cold. Sam looks at the overwhelming frozen desert outside the colony, and reminisces of stories he heard when he was a child. Global warming brought the ice age. One day, it began to snow, and it has never stopped since. Humans tried to change the weather back with some tall structures, - they have to pass the remains of one - but they didn't really work. Later, they have to cross a frozen bridge, full of holes. The river below looks half-iced, but it is not considered safe to cross it on foot. In the middle of the bridge, they find a frozen truck. The dead body of a man lies outside, with a gun by his side; inside lies the dead body of a woman which was shot in the forehead - probably killed by the man outside in desperation when their truck got stuck and they couldn't cross the damaged bridge on it. The three of them also find an emergency helicopter which was used to evacuate people. Inside, they find a caption written on the frozen mist on a window "HELL HAS FROZEN OVER". They use walkie-talkies to communicate with their colony: they are told that the couple is still sick with the flu. Briggs tell them to wait until he comes back. They will sleep inside the helicopter and then move onto Colony 7, which they will reach by midday the following day. Grayson looks at two models in bikinis, Nadia and Crystal - Sam and Briggs can see he's enjoying the experience a lot. Sam says he can't remember when he saw the sun for the last time.When they finally arrive to Colony 5, they see a blood trail outside. Briggs says that they have come to help, so that they should enter anyway, in spite of Graydon's concerns. They smell of smoke, threw a light to see how deep the chimney goes, and they go down by the hand ladder. Graydon would have rather wait outside, but Sam tells him to come down with them.Inside, there are pools of blood everywhere. The three men move around quietly. They find a terrified sleeping man who insists in having the door closed. Leland (Julian Richinds) shows them a message they found: a colony has succeeded in making one of the weather towers towers, melting the ice, dispersing the clouds and even bringing in fertile soil. Briggs writes the localization of the spot, which is the only unclear part of the message. The who speaks is sending out a message, as they haven't got seeds to plant on that soil, so they ask for some other colony's collaboration. Colony 7 sent out some people to that place, which lies outside of Briggs' map, but nobody has returned. Briggs wants to take Leland back with them, but he doesn't want to go. He says that there's somebody else in the colony. Some weird noises are heard. Leland pushes the three of them out, and he locks himself in his communications room again.The three travellers wander around the compound in search of the origin of the pounding. They see a man butchering human remains, and some deformed people - they look like the product of miscegenation - feasting on other human beings. The butcher realises they are there and ties to attack them with their butcher's knife. Briggs and Sam shoot some people while running away. They use a hand bomb to give themselves more time to run. Graydon is attacked by several cannibals. Although Briggs and Sam help him, Graydon dies, and his two friends have to leave his body behind.The cannibals run after the two survivors. Briggs and Leader of the cannibals (Dru Viergever) look at each other, measuring their own strengths. Briggs blows out the entrance of the place, saying that the inhabitants of Colony 7 are beyond their help. They have to rest in the helicopter in spite of the danger, because temperatures are descending dangerously. They are sad for Graydon.The cannibals chase them. Briggs and Sam have to hump a huge hole. Briggs uses dynamite to blow up the bridge, delaying them for a while. Briggs has to set fire to the dynamite again. Finally, the dynamite goes off, creating a huge gap in the bridge but killing Briggs at the same time. The leader stares menacingly at Sam, who runs away to his colony.Sam arrives at Colony 7. Mason kills Elena instead of doing the flu test to her. Kai aims her gun at Mason, but at that moment, Sam arrives. Kai runs to him. Sam faints and Mason uses his shotgun to knock Kai down. When Sam wakes up, he is put in the infirmary and is handcuffed by Mason. Mason nominates himself as the leader, saying that he will reduce food rations by half. Mason doesn't believe Sam when he tells about the cannibals.A boy steals the keys to the cuffs - a boy which Briggs had kindly reprimanded before. Sam frees Kai. Mason learns that Sam has escaped. Sam and Kai look for the location of the ice-free area though Kai's connection to that old satellite. They find a spot of a 12-km gap of blue cloudless sky. Sam takes some random seeds and throws them into his handbag. Mason won't let him and Kai go - he doesn't believe Sam's words yet. Immediately, they listen to the bumping made by the invading cannibals. Sam tells that it's too late now, and that he'll be the king of an empty castle. Mason orders everybody to go to the meeting hall in order to defend the colony. Mason accuses Sam of showing the cannibals their location. The power goes off, and back on. The cannibals try to attack them from their back. The cannibals are moving through the ventilating system. Sam kills a cannibal who was attacking Mason on his back.Sam suggests to leave the place, but some of them want to fight. As they are outnumbered by the cannibals, Sam tells everybody to go back to the meeting hall. A few survivors try to leave through the ventilating system, and one of them stays behind to blow everything up. The leader of the cannibals survive. He and Sam fight face to face. The leader looks to be winning - he shows Sam his sharp pointed teeth while the room starts to burn. Sam hits him with an iron bar, beating him repeatedly in a frenzy. Sam is about to leave, but the leader stops him. Sam uses a butcher knife to cut his head in half.A small group of people succeed in leaving Colony 7. Mason stares at the burning remains. Sam shows them a tin of some produce, and he tells them that they have what they need to survive.They are leaving in search of the warm place.---written by KrystelClaire

Tags: dark, boring, murder

Review:
There are several stories going on, the efforts to survive, the well-meaning but not entirely successful leadership of Briggs (Laurence Fishbourne) the love story between Sam (Kevin Zegers) a young resident loyal to Briggs and pretty botanist Kai (Charlotte Sullivan) who is in charge of the seed inventory, and militant army veteran Mason (Bill Paxon) who wants to install himself as the colony's dictator.
Interesting atmosphere, solid set of actors, good opening of movie which draws you somewhat in, waiting what will happen next.Solid graphics...Film moves on and somewhere in the end of first third of it, CUT!.Its like somebody came in to the set and said: "Wrap it up guys, we are closing!".End is terrible, and over all everything that happens in first part of the movie is blown in the rest of the movie.Nothing special, already seen, and definitely not gonna see it again.
Like I said i don't see what they where thinking, or what went wrong and who is a guilty party.Graphics, actors, set, atmosphere, story, it all holds separately as parts of good movie but all together just fails terribly..
As the plot states, a small colony of survivors attempt to survive an ice age, and some unforeseen circumstances occur.There isn't much I can say about the movie, apart from the fact that I felt that it was definitely worth the time to watch.
I don't know what the makers were thinking, why will you cast Lawrence Fishburn if you're not going to use it in any meaningful way?.The movie portraits humanity after the ice age has begun.
The Colony only explains partially what happened to the planet and why we as humans destroyed it burning all the fossil fuel which contributed to a new ice age, all humanity is lost and the only remains are some "colonies" beneath the earth.The starting point is quite good, the first minutes of the movie too.
He appears to just shoot himself in the foot with the directing the movie takes.It goes without saying that this was actually an incredible missed opportunity to tell a interesting story of the survivors of humanity...
I was really looking forward into seeing The colony, nice couple of actors, huge fan of Paxton, love the Apocalypse theme, love the mix with the winter and freaking HATE, The Colony!!And here are the reasons: the dialogue is pure cliché, you can predict almost every word that comes out of somebody's mouth, especially during those intense moments.
I know there are many gems out there, where you need to go logic free and just enjoy what you're seeing, but this time, it's beyond anything remotely acceptable.The ending itself is truly pitiful, I seriously couldn't believe it whatsoever, I knew it was about to hit its last minutes, yet I never gave up on it, always hoped for something to happen and leave me with a so-so feeling about it.This movie is truly bad, no reason to recommend it whatsoever.
The only other qualities they share involves isolation and some annoying narration by the lead character.Colony has a strong horror aspect to it, including an answer to the question of what might be the middle-ground between human and zombie.
With a low budget of what it had to deal with it turned out very good.It deals with post apocalyptic colony underground while it is constantly snowing outside.
Since in this film there was no help from outside even the remnants of the civilization left in the colony were attacked by a gang of cannibals.If you like sci fi post apocalyptic films this one is for you..
The plot line was far too predictable and reminiscent of '30 Days of Night' which was a far superior cinematic experience for the genre.'The Colony' left many unanswered questions from beginning to end, like how the climate truly turned so cold based on man-made weather stations to the point in the movie where it seemed this effect was being reversed.
By the end of the film I hoped we'd get some answers on that score but that was left hanging.And of course what led to the entire break down of civilization as a whole which is the underlying story of this movie beyond the clichéd explanation that people will do almost anything under great stress doesn't go far enough.I think in the end I was looking for a more intelligent film which is what actors like Laurence Fishburne and Bill Paxton have brought to projects in the past, I'm a little surprised they agreed to do this film on the script alone.
The movie is predictable from the beginning to the end and you just know whose going to die and live, the main character is an Orlando Bloom lookalike who ends up fighting a massive Zombie when he's only about 4ft.
The only 2 good things about the film is Laurence Fishbourne and Bill Paxton who are movie veterans.
I found the setting of the movie, an underground base effectively surviving underneath a frozen world, a good basis for a story.
He delivered what his crew expected from him and the rest was recovered by the other cast members that I don't know anyone of them.Basically, this movie had a very simple concept, a story that was not expanded, but moves on a certain lane till the end.
A simple, decent directed post-apocalyptic story where the actors playing ordinary human beings living in an underground vault somewhere (I did not understand why were there Cyril letters in the walls while they speak English but whatever).
I was looking forward to watching the Colony because it has some great actors and the plot line sounded good.
Worse yet after the extended period of time it takes to inject any real fear or excitement into the story it has completely failed to engage the viewer by an utter lack of character development even after forty long minutes in.
Well, because of Laurence Fishburne and Bill Paxton.The second reason is that the script is far from many allegedly SF movies in a good sense.
I mean there are no genetic modifications in the "bad" characters, there is no "good" character with delirious mystical ideas, although there are a bit too archetypal...Without spoiling the surprise, the one word that comes to mind, regarding this film is DECENT.You might think of "The Thing" or other psychological thriller in the "cabin fever" genre, but this is a quite film.Don't expect too much and you'll be pleasantly surprised..
So the The colony turns from an "end time" post apocalypse movie to kind of a zombie stuff...
environmentally savvy audience are just not going to buy into this.Some of the younger characters were interesting and I hoped something would happen that they could help develop or would help to develop their roles etc.I would have much rather seen a survival struggle through the blizzard's to find this miraculous colony where they had reversed the weather disaster.Watch it once so at least you can join in the wailing and laments on the pathetic state of modern film making..
When the fate of humanity is at stake, you want Morpheus on your front-lines.7.9/10 – Other good, recent post-apocalyptic movies: "Carriers", "Stakeland", "Snowpiercer", "Land of the Dead", "Survivors of the Dead", "Vanishing on 7th Street", "Pandorum", "Blindness"..
I didn't know if it's a b-movie, I just hadn't heard of it before.Eventually chose to watch it and was actually very positively surprised at first, it looked like a well made and good looking movie with decent acting (I had no idea Bill Paxton was in it too).
The movie actually looks very good and follows an interesting plot, but it all goes down the drain in the end.Not gonna go much more into details, but it hits a different gear totally and in my eyes goes a bit cheap.
There is some Relevance to the Times We live in, like the Climate Change Template.But in the End it is much to do about Not Much as Things Devolve into expected Gory goings on and some Plot Holes Big Enough to Fill the one in the Ozone.
Outdoor CGI done well, more contrast with bright environments like the one briefly pictured in the transmission desperately needed, instead movie gets stuck on even more "zombies" crawling through volts and sewers.Good performances from Fishburne and Zeger, the rest is two dimensional, Viergever does a decent bad guy, if he was given a tiny bit of intellect that would have gone a long way..
They assemble a team to investigate, but what they're about to find out will prove to be shocking, to say the least.It's a movie which bases its story and action in a frozen world, where people lived in underground colonies and fight every day for survival.
Like the one obsessed with control and leadership despite of every logic, the so called hero on which the story focuses but his impact is little in the overall outcome, the fearless leader who leaves his people for a "very important mission" and so on.The events presented can be suspenseful, but unfortunately fall deep into the predictable side.
Still unfortunate, this movie bases its intrigue on some disturbing flaws, like tracks which are somehow not covered by the snow and a terrible blizzard, even after prolonged periods of time, character personalities and decisions which are simply mind-blowing, big inconsistencies like the fuse from two piles of TNT, one which burns in matter of seconds and another which simply is extinguished by the wind/snow, or just big intentional plot holes which somehow allow the antagonists to survive/teleport like otherworldly creatures.
And it really is a shame, as it makes the plot even more pointless and less interesting than it already is.Overall, I found a movie with a good location, with some unsympathetic characters which fight for survival, with some intense but unrealistic fighting scenes which ultimately lead to a favorable but predictable finale.
All I saw was what looked like an arctic disaster movie and one that had both Bill Paxton and Laurence Fishburne on the cast list.Director Jeff Renfroe manages to start out with a rather impressive feat of establishing a very interesting setting and a fair story, along with some detailed characters.
I love a post apocalypse thriller and this movie has some great names attached to it; so I got the popcorn out and everything.The premise is good and well set out.
You can nit pick about individuals scenes or elements but I think as a finished product it holds up quite well.The pacing was deliberate and measured although I can see how some people might interpret that as slow or dragging.I was impressed that the movie chose to hold off on some of the worst excesses of action films, its hard to stage fight scenes dressed in three layers of winter clothing..
But after reading various reviews from particular IMDb I knew this was a B-Movie from the beginning, so my expectations were not very high and that is perhaps why I was OK entertained.The atmosphere in The Colony made ​​me think of scenes from Alien3 where prisoners are being chased in tight hallways.
Paxton will always be Hudson from Aliens in my world.But watch the movie if you are into Sci-Fi with a hint of horror, and would like to to be entertained without having to immerse yourself to deep in the storyline.
The rest of the story is played pretty damn fast and with no time to develop some kind of sane plan to avoid all the trouble.With good actors and good theme I give it 2 just because this was a real disappointment of a movie for me..
It barely possesses any unique qualities, and by the time the movie is over, it will be either forgettable or interchangeable with any mediocre films.Story follows the survivors on Colony 7, led by Briggs (Laurence Fishburne).
The overall concept holds some promise, but there are far too many boring narratives and stupid behaviors from the characters to fully realize its prospect.Script is highly foreseeable, down to the sob stories of the survivors, which to the film's credit, would be salvageable if it actually portrays them instead of having guys talk about it.
Though big budget (at least by Canadian film standards), "The Colony", like just about every Canadian movie, got a token release with little advertising.
Some viewers more charitable than myself may say the movie passes the time, but even they will more likely than not experience a real deja vu with the story - it's all been done before, and better..
I can't rate it better than an OK movie, not one I would go out of my way to watch, but decent for those who enjoy the Post-Apocalypse style..
Yet unlike John Carpenter's remake of The Thing (1982), Colony has a great build up but seemingly loses its way and devolves into a stereotypical, violent chaos with not much in the way of intelligent script writing.The premise of isolated pockets of humanity in a bleak ice-bound, frozen land, the mysterious SOS message, the lonely, dangerous search, the discovery and even further tidbit of hope all are fabulous in their presentation.
And, among the other offerings that find their way into 'bargain bins' up and down the country, this one actually stands out - at least a little bit.Basically, the world has suffered another ice age and the few survivors are left to fend from themselves in their 'colonies.' The first thing that makes this movie nice is the setting.
The 'lead' bad guy does tend to simply roar a lot rather than offer any real 'motivation' for his slide in humanity, hence why I saw this film as a weird 'zombie-like' story (just with cannibals instead of the undead).It may be that 'The Colony' is one of those movies that has a concept which actually exceeds its capabilities.
True is, The Colony doesn't invent the wheel new and the story told is maybe a little too standard but what we get is a decent post-apocalyptic flick set in a world after a new ice age hit Earth with some action and good production and solid acting.
It must be said that if a plot has to rely on the main characters making a litany of stupid mistakes to move it forward, then its probably not a great, well thought out story to begin with...and that's exactly what we have here with The Colony.
There are countless places in the film where the story would have ended abruptly, if only the characters made a good decision.
Released in 2013, "The Colony" is a post-apocalyptic movie about life in North America after the next ice age hits.
Yes, the script is predictable, yes some acting is poor, yes this movie has nothing new, but still I enjoyed watching it and I can honestly recommend to viewers seeking decent Sci-Fi / action / horror flicks.Post production is done well and there is no ugly or cheap looking scenes in the film.
i really didn't know what to expect with this film, looked good on trailer but like a TV movie.
However, not long after arriving, they soon see that something has indeed gone very wrong and what they find there is something of unimaginable horror.The Colony's another of these post-apocalyptic movies so you can imagine that there's nothing really original story-wise here.
This, by the way, is the exact same premise as the much better and more creative film "Snowpiercer."Here, however, instead of a train as in Snowpiercer, the remaining humans live in "colonies," dark, dingy underground industrial complexes, while the surface is covered with ice and ever-falling snow.
"The Colony" had all the right ingredients for a great science fiction film, but the end result of this movie was disappointing.
To jump to the story line briefly, "The Colony" is a movie about a group of humans living in an futuristic setting where Earth has literally froze into a second ice age.
I really liked the idea of this movie and it started out pretty good but quickly went downhill.
And, among the other offerings that find their way into 'bargain bins' up and down the country, this one actually stands out.Basically, the world has suffered another ice age and the few survivors are left to fend from themselves in their 'colonies.' The first thing that makes this movie nice is the setting.
However, because of the short running time (probably due to budget constraints), the film does feel a little rushed.If you accept it for what it is - a B-movie - then you should enjoy it.
However, because of the short running time (probably due to budget constraints), the film does feel a little rushed.If you accept it for what it is - a B-movie - then you should enjoy it.
Global warming etc., leaves the earth in an ice age with a few colonies striving to survive.The story focuses upon the tribulations and adventures of the inhabitants of one particular colony.Not only is the acting good but also the scenes and settings are very convincing.
Part post apocalyptic, part sci-fi, The Colony is about a bitter future where people need to fight against cold, hunger and sickness for survival, but also against each other.The first half may not be like much.
The Colony started a lot better than other post apocalyptic movies.
So an average Hollywood sci-fi.Good actors like Bill Paxton and Laurence Fishburne are stuck in films like this.
The movie starts off slow, but there is some attention to detail about how life would be like in an underground Colony.The acting in general is average - the actors did well given the plodding pace of the story.
I wish we never found out because after traveling to the other colony (Both Laurence's character and Zegers along with a 3rd person)the movie breaks down into a stupid c horror film .