MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise

Borgarkeri A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Michael Ledo The film focuses on 4 young adults hiking and camping on the Mohawk Trail in upstate NY. Meanwhile, Martin (Jordan Marder-writer, producer) and his expecting wife Julia (Lymari Nadal) return to his deceased parents' home in a plot to be developed. Frank (Bill Sage) is the local sheriff.When a poorly explained nation wide blackout, lasting several days happens, a group of people misbehave becoming looters, rapers, and killers as if this is the end of the world and the lights will never come back on. Eventually they, as expected, confront those in subplots A and B.That's about it. The rape is implied. The killings are not very graphic. The dialogue is boring and attempts to have a theme about light and darkness with a Genesis quote that didn't tie in that well. It didn't make me want to run out and buy duct tape and candles.Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.

rbstern I enjoy this genre, so I decided to watch this film when it popped up on Amazon Prime, despite the mediocre reviews.Definitely has B-movie overtones: Script is a bit ham-fisted at times. Background sound effects are overdone, particularly the transitional "thunder." At volumes just loud enough to hear the dialogue, the sound effects were rattling my home theater. Definitely out of balance. Acting performances were acceptable, but it's clearly B-level talent.On the positive side, the cinematography is excellent. Not sure where it was filmed, but the backdrops are beautiful.Perhaps best of the film is that the screen writers depict what many preppers consider to be the expected reality for such a situation: The thin veneer of society will peel away quickly if the power goes out and stays off for more than a few days. The plot deals with this very effectively, and that alone will interest viewers who think about these situations.

eabra48463 The Blackout is a well-crafted film from the start about a global blackout and its impact on one local area. The acting is superb and there is ample tension throughout its duration. It bogs down a little at times with mundane dialogue, but overall the pacing is good. The film is a study of human behavior during a time of serious crisis and it plays out in a fairly realistic manner. There is an obvious anti-gun bias evident, especially at the end of the film, where it seems that everything would be fine if there were no guns. Well, realistically, in a global blackout that lasted for any extended period, everything would not be fine--guns or no guns. In a world so dependent on modern contraptions and conveniences, most of us would not know how to survive in their absence--not for long anyway. In the end, it is a good film, but personally I could do without the political message.

GlukeMore I rented this from a redbox on a whim one night, not really giving it much thought. When I picked it out, it reminded me of the TV movie "American Blackout" that came out on nat geo a while back, which had a very similar plot. But "The Blackout" surprised me, it looked good, had solid acting, and above all it had a story was realistic and not over the top. Even minor things really stood out to me, like how loud the gunshots were (it's a pet peeve of mine when gunshots are too quiet in movies). It gave that same feeling the TV show "Jericho" did, where you don't know what's going on, so the anxiety levels are up there. This movie gave me a pretty good adrenaline rush on more than one occasion. I would have liked to have seen a little more of how the survivalist made use of his preparations though, but that's not something that took away from the movie.