- Actors: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, John Sharian, Michael Ironside
- Directors: Brad Anderson
- Format: PAL
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 15
- Studio: Prism Leisure Corporation
- DVD Release Date: 25 Sep 2006
- Run Time: 98 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000H5U78S
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 21,177 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
As a bleak and chilling mood piece, The Machinist gets under your skin and stays there. Christian Bale threw himself into the title role with such devotion that he shed an alarming 63 pounds to play Trevor Reznik (talk about "starving artist"!), a factory worker who hasn't slept in a year. He's haunted by some mysterious occurrence that turned him into a paranoid husk, sleepwalking a fine line between harsh reality and nightmare fantasy--a state of mind that leaves him looking disturbingly gaunt and skeletal in appearance. (It's no exaggeration to say that Bale resembles a Holocaust survivor from vintage Nazi-camp liberation newsreels.) In a cinematic territory far removed from his 1998 romantic comedy Next Stop Wonderland, director Brad Anderson orchestrates a grimy, nocturnal world of washed-out blues and grays, as Trevor struggles to assemble the clues of his psychological conundrum. With a friendly hooker (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and airport waitress (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón) as his only stable links to sanity, Trevor reaches critical mass and seems ready to implode just as The Machinist reveals its secrets. For those who don't mind a trip to hell with a theremin-laced soundtrack, The Machinist seems primed for long-term status as a cult thriller on the edge. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Product Description
Christian Bale, Brad Anderson, Jennifer Jason Leigh "Fight Club Meets Memento" - Loaded "Christian Bale is awesome!" - Heat Trevor Reznik (CHRISTIAN BALE - Batman Begins) has not slept for a year. Ravaged by fatigue, his body is little more than a bag of bones. Wracked by exhaustion, his weary mind increasingly plays tricks on him. Then, one fateful day at the machine shop where he works, he's involved in an accident and a fellow worker loses an arm. Reznik's guilt turns to paranoia when he discovers cryptic notes in his apartment and a ghostly apparition haunts his every move. Is it someone out to exact revenge for the gruesome accident? In a desperate attempt to save his sanity, Reznik must uncover the truth...but the more he learns, the more terrifying his sleepless nightmare becomes. "Gripping...The Machinist is set to be a cult classic" - Sunday Times Culture
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
"The Machinist" is one of the best films I have seen this year; it has great acting, a mysterious and thought-provoking plot and is visually stylish. The viewer is never quite sure if the insomniac machinist Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) is paranoid, hallucinating or being subjected to a form of supernatural mental torture as a series of disturbing events unhinge him. As the film progresses, the distinction between reality and imaginary blurs as Bale's mind becomes a hell to him. "The Machinist"is gripping and intriguing throughout and its ending will make you revisit the whole film again in your mind , a bit like "The Usual Suspects".Christian Bale's performance is remarkable as a tortured soul trying to identify the source of his torment in a loveless, isolated world where sleep and peace of mind remain constantly elusive.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is a fairly dark, surreal, psychological thriller about an industrial machine operator living a life of solitude in his own dreamy hell.
The central character acts brilliantly through the torment and confusion. Searching out the truth following some strange events and encounters, he finds some buried information painful to discover.
Without revealing too much about the plot, it's a good story. Not so odd it's never been done before, but with some originality. The confusion is built up well, and the truth is revealed for those of us who don't latch on. When that happens, everything gets tied up neatly and you re-evaluate everything you saw, 'sixth-sense' style.
Good entertainment, and something for your mind to do. Reccomended.
The central character acts brilliantly through the torment and confusion. Searching out the truth following some strange events and encounters, he finds some buried information painful to discover.
Without revealing too much about the plot, it's a good story. Not so odd it's never been done before, but with some originality. The confusion is built up well, and the truth is revealed for those of us who don't latch on. When that happens, everything gets tied up neatly and you re-evaluate everything you saw, 'sixth-sense' style.
Good entertainment, and something for your mind to do. Reccomended.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
OK, so I've watched The Machinist once and will definitely be watching it again.
I don't know what to say about it really - I think the description on the DVD case says 'Fight Club meets Memento' and I'd go with that.
It has a edgy, stark feel to it - very much a sense of sleeplessness - disconnected at times, not sure what's happening or what's going on.
And for all of that, by the end of it I wanted to watch it again - I suspect it's one of those films where a lot of stuff makes much more sense the second time round.
And to say Christian Bale is thin doesn't even begin to describe the physical presence and pathos, if that's the right word, that he brings to this role. Haunting.
I don't know what to say about it really - I think the description on the DVD case says 'Fight Club meets Memento' and I'd go with that.
It has a edgy, stark feel to it - very much a sense of sleeplessness - disconnected at times, not sure what's happening or what's going on.
And for all of that, by the end of it I wanted to watch it again - I suspect it's one of those films where a lot of stuff makes much more sense the second time round.
And to say Christian Bale is thin doesn't even begin to describe the physical presence and pathos, if that's the right word, that he brings to this role. Haunting.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
excellent
I really liked this movie and would recommend it to everyone who is interestedin a Psychological thriller. Christian Bale has done very good acting and is the essence of the movie.
Published 25 days ago by fhanif
I Need to Sleep ....I WANT TO SLEEP ....I CAN NOT SLEEEEEEEEEP...!!!
(THE FILM)A little guilt goes a long way...Having not slept for a year, lathe operator Trevor Reznick (Christian Bale) is dying of insomnia. Why he can't sleep, he can't remember. Read more
Published 1 month ago by S. F. husseiny
Method acting at it's best.
In this feverish movie the viewer is dragged down along with a machinist that hasn't slept for years and is becoming more paranoid every day. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Bart Van Bouwel
machinist review
I heard a lot of good reviews about this film & I was not disappointed. I am surprised it missed my radar before now, it is right up my street, quite dark and mysterious with a... Read more
Published 9 months ago by dlg
The Machinist!
Haunting, dark and fantastic acting from Mr Bale. How he didn't get an Oscar for his portrayal Trevor Reznik I don't know know. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Je Salter
Excellent mystery to resolve
There is a touch of film noir to THE MACHINIST, and a lot of Alfred Hitchcock, but mostly it is a very good mystery story that attempts to throw you off the scent by a series of... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Charles Vasey
Intense and Profound..
The depth and power of this psychological movie is unique. It moved me like nothing else has ever before, its use of colour, the nightmarish atmosphere, Christian Bales outstanding... Read more
Published 11 months ago by D. Stott
Excellent movie but with French subtitles I can't remove!
The titles says it all. Christian Bale is outstanding in this and the film will have you guessing all the way, but the DVD came with French on the box instead of English and was... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Ms. E. R. Munsey
Facinating stuff from Mr. Bale et al
This story line kept me on the edge of my seat and was full of surprises. The film is even better second time around, when you have time to pick out the really clever... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Mo
Disturbing yet gripping film
One of the most disturbing films I have seen , with Christian Bale giving a stellar performance as a stick thin, mentally tortured young man working in a factory , trying to come... Read more
Published 15 months ago by john8pies
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