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Amazon.co.uk Review
While not the career shot-in-the-arm that Vin Diesel was probably looking for and certainly needs, Babylon AD does have its merits, and they make it just the kind of fodder waiting to greet a DVD audience.
The plot of Babylon AD sees Diesel heading from Europe to New York, transporting a package that turns out to be more than it first seems. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Diesel’s mercenary character inevitably comes up against the dangers and problems of a world in chaos and disarray. This is a cue for plenty of action, and some solid effects, all of which are easy on the eye and the brain.
The problem with Babylon AD, though, is that the plot doesn’t make a great deal of sense, and the film displays all the hallmarks of one that’s been hacked too far in the editing room. This doesn’t fatally hurt it, but it certainly inflicts a good deal of damage.
As it stands, Babylon AD is a decent, and comparably brisk futuristic thriller, that had the potential to be a lot more than it is. But at worst, it’s still enjoyable enough, and a decent way to spend an easy night in front of the telly. --Jon Foster
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
First off, I really like Babylon Babies by Maurice Dantec; it's a complex tale of social engineering and evolution, both racial and individual. Toorop, the hero of the tale, is a philosophical warrior who has seen too many conflicts and not enough resolutions.
Toorop is also around fifty years of age, Vin Diesel isn't - the beginning of the films' divergence from the book! The film tries to boil down the complexities of the book into a more linear action film, but it doesn't work. I suppose Christophe Gans might have made a better director and added some French flair to the proceedings, but it's hard to see any film really doing justice to Dantec's story.
So, Babylon AD is a fun action film, but it leaves out all the questions Dantec poses, opting instead for louder gunfights, and replaces Toorop's anguished musings with Mr Diesel's sometimes incomprehensible drawl. Even Michelle Yeoh spends most of her screen time looking slightly bemused, whether because of the script or a feeling she was in the wrong film... The other players in the story fulfil the necessary roles, but there isn't anything new or shiny to raise this above the other sci-fi actioners that unfortunately take the place of decent science fiction films.
Toorop is also around fifty years of age, Vin Diesel isn't - the beginning of the films' divergence from the book! The film tries to boil down the complexities of the book into a more linear action film, but it doesn't work. I suppose Christophe Gans might have made a better director and added some French flair to the proceedings, but it's hard to see any film really doing justice to Dantec's story.
So, Babylon AD is a fun action film, but it leaves out all the questions Dantec poses, opting instead for louder gunfights, and replaces Toorop's anguished musings with Mr Diesel's sometimes incomprehensible drawl. Even Michelle Yeoh spends most of her screen time looking slightly bemused, whether because of the script or a feeling she was in the wrong film... The other players in the story fulfil the necessary roles, but there isn't anything new or shiny to raise this above the other sci-fi actioners that unfortunately take the place of decent science fiction films.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Infamous as the film that was so bad even its director went public to warn audiences off (albeit his complaints were mainly aimed at the incomprehensible studio cut that is released as a single disc DVD), Babylon A.D. may be a huge step down from the days when Mathieu Kassovitz was making the likes of La Haine or even The Crimson Rivers, but in the director's preferred version released in French theatres and on DVD as the `extended version,' it's an okay silly scifi action film. There's not much in the way of the ideas from Maurice G. Dantec's novel that attracted him to the project in the first place and it's little more than another derivative Children of Men-style chase through a future dystopia with a few added cyberpunk fittings as Vin Diesel's mercenary is hired by an unrecognisable Gerard Depardieu's Russian mobster to deliver Mélanie Thierry's genetically engineered mystery girl from Eastern Europe to New York with a little help from Michelle Yeoh's two-fisted nun and hindrance from Charlotte Rampling's corporate religion and mad scientist Lambert Wilson's followers.
Take it seriously and it's a non-starter, but take it as an overpriced bit of Euro comicstrip nonsense with the odd striking scene - a terrorist bombing in a crowded railway station, refugees trying to scrabble aboard a submarine before it submerges beneath the ice - and it's an okay if rather familiar timefiller. The longer 'harder' cut certainly isn't a profound rediscovered masterpiece, but unlike the shorter cinema version that seemed to have been hacked to pieces by a combine harvester, the plot and characters do make a lot more sense and you do get to see Mark Strong with hair.
Take it seriously and it's a non-starter, but take it as an overpriced bit of Euro comicstrip nonsense with the odd striking scene - a terrorist bombing in a crowded railway station, refugees trying to scrabble aboard a submarine before it submerges beneath the ice - and it's an okay if rather familiar timefiller. The longer 'harder' cut certainly isn't a profound rediscovered masterpiece, but unlike the shorter cinema version that seemed to have been hacked to pieces by a combine harvester, the plot and characters do make a lot more sense and you do get to see Mark Strong with hair.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Babylon AD isn't all bad and isn't as terrible as some of the review make out here. It seems like the theatrical version is a worse cut than this version (god help those cineman folk).
But while it has its bad points and I could fire them off like Vin Diesel waving a gun at anything remotely threatening often for no apparent reason - I'm not going to. Its not TERRIBLE, but its not great or anywhere near good. Its got a few gritty eastern european momments and a fairly decent start but apart from that theres no noted interest.
Leanding from Blade Runner and the 'heroine' part from 5th element. Think of them two films together, minus a few star ratings and you've got one BABYLON AD. Wait till it hits the TV folks, then fall asleep watching it then!
But while it has its bad points and I could fire them off like Vin Diesel waving a gun at anything remotely threatening often for no apparent reason - I'm not going to. Its not TERRIBLE, but its not great or anywhere near good. Its got a few gritty eastern european momments and a fairly decent start but apart from that theres no noted interest.
Leanding from Blade Runner and the 'heroine' part from 5th element. Think of them two films together, minus a few star ratings and you've got one BABYLON AD. Wait till it hits the TV folks, then fall asleep watching it then!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
take off your jacket and relax
Sci-fi. Set in the future. Reasonable plot. Some good actors and acting. Turn the pace to medium. Put them all together and, you have a decent action movie. Worth a watch. Or two.
Published 5 months ago by liver12
pleased
the disc is a realy good buy,does as described.i no where to get another 1 if needed,gud work guys.fab work guys.
Published 7 months ago by Keith C. Hales
Save the planet, one child at a time. Ain't that a bitch.
Babylon A.D. is directed by Mathieu Kassovitz who also co-adapts to the screen with Éric Besnard & Joseph Simas from the Maurice G. Dantec novel, Babylon Babies. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Spike Owen
bad experience, lot of good intention and no result
It could be a good film, they could be good actors, It could be very good FX.
...but the sum of all the items it's lower then the set of the single item. Read more
...but the sum of all the items it's lower then the set of the single item. Read more
Published 12 months ago by athecat
good sci fi action movie
i cant understand why everyone is giving this movie a hard time..? even though it did borrow heavily from the classic ''bladerunner''.. Read more
Published 14 months ago by rama o rama
Oh Dear
I watched this film a few nights ago when I wanted to kick back with a few beers and just relax in front of a sci-fi movie on the TV. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Cuban Heel
it could have been great but lacked focus
the 1st time i watched this move was at the cinemas & i did not get it.. i got bored but i watched it on dvd for the second time & i got it & it made sense.. & i loved it.. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Barbara Ngwenya
Surprisingly Impressive.
Despite being a huge sci-fi fan I have always found Vin Diesel's films to be very disappointing with the exception of Pitch Black. Read more
Published 19 months ago by intenseblue
Futuristic Actioner with abrupt finish
The biggest problem with this film is that it comes to a kind of sudden finish, more or less the story has been told by this point and its almost like the production team just... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Lark
Alternate future
I watched this movie with no expectations and was surprised to find myself learning about a stark alternate future. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Sephy
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