Watched Primer over the weekend

[AntiFreze]

Talk about a complex movie, I loved it, but didn't fully or even halfway grasp it. I read up on it this morning on wikipedia (with the nice chart) and I full approve of this movie.

very well done.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

You need to watch it about three times and concentrate hard to be able to stay up with who is when and where. The first time through it kind of spins of out control pretty quickly.

 

[Special K]

I've seen it twice now and I completely lose track of what's going on once they start using the machine. I'm not even sure there's enough info presented in the movie to conclusively figure out what's going on.

 

[mundane]

Originally posted by: Special K
I've seen it twice now and I completely lose track of what's going on once they start using the machine. I'm not even sure there's enough info presented in the movie to conclusively figure out what's going on.

I think there's some intentional ambiguity.

 

[bolomite]

I completely got lost after Aaron discovers the failsafe box on the upper floor of the storage place

 

[Zolty]

Primer forums have pretty well explained the whole plot and all of it's implications.

 

[rivan]

Good movie.

 

[Chronoshock]

One of the better treatments of time travel. I thought their pseudoscience was also more believable than in many other big budget hollywood films. The movie is amazingly good considering how tiny the budget was.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Why do people admit to being confused by films?

 

[Gibsons]

Spoiler diagram

 

[Chronoshock]

Originally posted by: SphinxnihpS
Why do people admit to being confused by films?

In the case of Primer, it's warranted.
Anyone who claims to understand Primer either a) has watched it several times or b) didn't really understand it and is lying

For a movie like this, some of the enjoyment comes from post-viewing speculation about what actually happened. The plot is like a puzzle, there are certain constraints (fixed events, event precedence, causality relationships), and then some unsolved elements (what happened with Granger? How many times did they go back to fix the party? What other events did they fix and unfix in the same manner?).

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: SphinxnihpS
Why do people admit to being confused by films?

If you think you're too smart to be confused by a film, you need to watch Primer. There's no shame in being completely befuddled by the end of the movie.

 

[grohl]

I watched it once and thought it sucked because I couldn't figure it out. Maybe I need ti try it again with website instruction.

Memento was a mind screw also. Maybe I'm just dumb.

 

[JujuFish]

Primer is one of the most painfully boring movies I've ever had the displeasure to see in its entirety.

 

[Gothgar]

never even heard of this

 

[Jadow]

I watched it and got totally lost. I chalk it up to the fact that I never watch a movie totally sober and start hitting the booze before the opening credits are over.

Now Timecop, awesome f'in movie!

 

[Kev]

Originally posted by: Gothgar
never even heard of this

pretend you still haven't. It's pure crap.

 

[XZeroII]

I just watched it and pretty much understand it. I'm going to watch it again though to see what I may have missed because I don't see what the real problem understanding it is.

 

[sygyzy]

I found this film extremely confusing as well. The Wikipedia entry and charts help but not completely.

 

[Chriscross3234]

One of the best movies I've ever seen dealing with the time-travel paradox despite the fact that I got completely lost right when they realized they made their mistake. I've only watched it once and I am still somewhat unclear as to what caused the mistake, how they intended on fixing it, and how they failed on fixing it... The appeal of movies like this is indeed the fact that they leave parts of the puzzle left to you to solve (either by watching it multiple times or by discussions on the internet).

 

[DangerAardvark]

Watching it with the commentary helped.

 

[Fingolfin269]

You want to know how to make this movie even more difficult to watch? Try streaming it to your TV via Netflix as you're attempting to go to sleep each night for about a week. I couldn't tell if the movie sucked, my mind was blown, or a combination of both.

 

[Gothgar]

ok I watched it last night after reading this thread again...

I liked it, I got into it, so that made it more likable.

I had it until the last 15 minutes, it seemed rushed as fuck at the end, and I couldn't really keep up

 

[Praxis1452]

Originally posted by: Gothgar
ok I watched it last night after reading this thread again...

I liked it, I got into it, so that made it more likable.

I had it until the last 15 minutes, it seemed rushed as fuck at the end, and I couldn't really keep up

I was good up until the last 1/3 or so of the movie. I'm usually very good at following even complex plots... When Granger appeared things started to go everywhere. Had to read on wikipedia to figure out the last third of the film, but a great film it was once you piece it together.

 

[Indolent]

never heard of it. might need to give it a try