The Colony (2013)
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Critics Consensus: A formulaic sci-fi thriller, The Colony features cliched dialogue, cheesy special effects, and underdeveloped characters.
Critics Consensus: A formulaic sci-fi thriller, The Colony features cliched dialogue, cheesy special effects, and underdeveloped characters.
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Movie Info
Forced underground by the next ice age, a struggling outpost of survivors fight to preserve humanity against a threat even more savage than nature. (c) Official Facebook- Rating:
- Unrated
- Genre:
- Action & Adventure , Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Directed By:
- Jeff Renfroe
- Written By:
- Jeff F. Renfro , Jeff Renfroe , Patrick Tarr , Pascal Trottier , Svet Rouskov
- In Theaters:
- Sep 20, 2013 Limited
- On DVD:
- Oct 15, 2013
Cast
-
Laurence Fishburne
as Briggs -
Bill Paxton
as Mason -
Kevin Zegers
as Sam -
Charlotte Sullivan
as Kai -
Atticus Dean Mitchel...
as Graydon
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LoginCritic Reviews for The Colony
All Critics (31) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (5) | Rotten (26) | DVD (1)
A zombie by any other name is still a zombie in this utterly routine horror pic.
A screaming, lunging, chomping chase movie that has nothing new to bring to a genre that just won't die.
It's somewhat low-rent and thoroughly humorless - hey, the future's not funny - and, in the manner of the genre, adamantly bleak.
Becomes yet another run-from-the-ghouls exercise, cheapening decent work by a good cast.
The film strands its archetypal characters in a featureless danger zone and gives them overly familiar dialogue borrowed from a dozen other B-movies.
Charlotte Sullivan looks really, really cute in blond dreadlocks. But she can't save the movie, nor can her impressive costars, Bill Paxton, Kevin Zegers, and Laurence Fishburne.
Rather than watching tough survivors taking on a deadly foe, we are watching something more akin to a low achieving mouse trying to fight off a gang of militant carpet beetles.
A collection of disparate genre parts that are presented with a noted lack of snark or irony.
[Blu-ray Review] A pretty standard post-apocalyptic thriller, economical but unsure of what it wants to be.
Rote sci-fi dogma fails this flick well before the finish line.
This sci-fi thriller makes us almost feel the frosty cold in our bones, thanks to cinematographer Pierce Gill's magic touch.
Dull and formulaic, it's yet another wannabe post-apocalyptic thriller.
A small-scale science-fiction horror story full of big, troubling ideas about what a new Dark Ages might look like.
The Colony would definitely fit into a Saturday night viewing experience...and you don't have to scour the bottom shelf of some dingy Mom and Pop video store to find it.
Formulaic post-apocalyptic thriller...when you don't especially care who lives and who dies, all the skull-crunching action doesn't amount to a hill of beans.
The filmmakers' aversion to any hint of storytelling originality means that the main impression "The Colony" leaves is one of almost stupefying over-familiarity.
Nothing in The Colony feels real. Not the emotions, the settings, the characters or even the cannibals.
Bill Paxton and Laurence Fishburne certainly add to the experience, but this is not a substantial enterprise, requiring a few extra beats of storytelling and panic to pass as a full cinematic meal.
The Colony could have been something so much more, but copy-cat genre blandness instead leaves viewers out in the cold.
Audience Reviews for The Colony
Survivors of the next Ice Age find they have to contend with roaming bands of savage cannibals: it's the zombie apocalypse on ice! Or: The Zombie Ice Capades!
Just having a little fun.
Which they don't in the film. Everyone's very serious, which ain't bad but there's nada new here, it's all been practically blueprinted, so this is to watch only if you've seen every other zombie apocalypse and are still dying for another or you haven't seen zombie apocalypse at all before so this would be your first time.
In a word, meh.
Super Reviewer
When the earth froze, the rules of survival changed forever.
Good B Movie! This movie is surprisingly done well. I have a personal liking for post-apocalyptic settings, and this one hits the nail on the spot, for what they chose. 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. It's a really solid movie, and you won't regret watching it. The acting was fine, there were no outrageous moments, and there were no issues with the other details in the movie. The pacing of the movie is relatively nice, and the movie finishes just right. The movie wasn't stretched out, nor cut short. Any post-apocalyptic movie can easily be over or underdone but this one has just enough. If you are a sci-fi/horror fan, I recommend you go see this movie!
Forced underground by the next ice age, a struggling outpost of survivors must fight to preserve humanity against a threat even more savage than nature.
Super Reviewer
The Colony is an interesting Sci Fi survival horror film that I was very much looking forward to seeing. Although it could have been a much better film, the plot itself manages to be quite entertaining and makes it a thrilling experience from start to finish. There are some impressive actors here, and they bring something unique to the screen. I find that The Colony is one of this year's surprises in terms of low budget horror, and is far better than most genre films so far this year. We've seen similar films, but the idea is quite interesting and there are some thrilling moments that make up for a highly entertaining film experience. The result is not a perfect film, but is a better movie than what most critics have said about. If you enjoy these types of horror yarns, then give The Colony a shot. There are some well structured scenes to make this one of the standout horror films of the year, and though it is at times similar to other survivalist horror films, this one adds a few new things to the formula. So far, I've been quite disappointed with a few horror films this year, but this one is quite good and worth checking out. The cast are what kept me involved and with an entertaining plot to boot, this is a delight for horror fans that are disappointed with remakes that make their way into theatres. Like I said, this isn't too original, but its concept and direction is what makes The Colony worth watching. A flawed, but satisfying film, this is sure to thrill genre fans looking for good, mindless shocks.
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Super Reviewer
This Canadian science fiction horror is directed by Jeff Renfro end it had a limited release on 26 April 2013 in Canada, and will be released next week (20 September 2013) in the United States. Nothing new - recycled events without too much unpredictable happening. In the story we have a scenario where by 2045, humans have built weather machines to control the warming climate but those machines break down and one day it begins to snow and never stops. Whatever humans remain they hide in "colonies" - underground bunkers - to escape the extreme cold. Their challenges are controlling disease and producing sufficient food. Two soldiers, Briggs (Laurence Fishburne) and Mason (Bill Paxton) are the leaders of one such bunker, Colony 7. Briggs, Sam (Kevin Zegers) and Graydon (Atticus Dean Mitchell) travel to nearby Colony 5 after receiving a distress signal... what they discover catches them by surprise!
I have to say that while Laurence Fishburne as Briggs was in it, I enjoyed the story - as soon as he was gone, everything started plummeting down - with enormous speed. I read few reviews of this movie and most of the critics agree with what I mentioned above: this film is full of old science fiction ideas. Canadians did a good job mimicking Hollywood blockbusters, using decent CGI on a shoestring budget - but I don't think that was the goal of the filmmakers. I will note that this film could be appealing to the audience which never watched movies like this because for most of them those scenes would be something new, but I almost could say to myself watching it: Oh, I saw this in "that and that" movie...
Not bad for recycled thing - but if you are looking for something original - stay away!
Super Reviewer
The Colony Quotes
- Sam:
- It's no the cold we need to worry about. It's each other.
- Sam:
- We used to live and die by the rules we made. But our rules like, everything else we built... are breaking down. There's only one rule left out anyway. One rule above all. Survive
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