This movie sounds terrible from this thread... that's good enough for me

nah, Broken Arrow has a great 5.1 soundmix that for me raises it above Paycheck.

Thoughts about Paycheck:

Eckhart as the badguy, come on all he had to do was smirk to convey his evilness (real stretch for him there).

For a Woo film the gun fights were pathetic. the dry ice/fog machines were tacky, I kept on thinking someone on roller skates was going to whiz by.

The overuse of the bird flying out from a door near the end of the movie, how about a duck instead of a dove, this Woo trademark has gotten corny.

The script was just plain awful, some of the worst dialogue exchanges I have heard in this genre (the agents came across as complete moronic buffoons).

And as my friend pointed out: "for a movie dealing about time travel and the future, it was dreadfully predictable".

There's more:

4. The machine shows that it will lead to armageddon. Why would the evil company want to create armageddon? Sure, they want to be rich, but I don't think they would want to destroy the Earth. After all, they live here too.

5. Why did Ben get his memory erased? The scenario was first, he agrees to get his memory erased, then he falls in love with Uma and decides to stay with the company, memory unwiped. It is only at the last minute that he realizes he has created an armageddon machine and must stop it. Why does he decide the best way to stop it is to get his memory wiped? Why doesn't he stay with the company, memory unwiped, and destroy the machine from within?

6. The bad guys use the machine and see Ben gets killed at 3:03 P.M. Ben sees this too and mails himself goodies. Are we supposed to believe the bad guys never used the machine again, and therefore never learned that Ben was going to survive 3:03 P.M.? The explanation can't be that the machine didn't show the changed future until after Ben changed it, since Ben was able to see the changed future and know what items he would need after 3:03 P.M.

All that said, I actually enjoyed the movie quite a lot. It's not the sort of plot that holds up to scrutiny, but it was a lot of fun guessing how Ben would get out of the various predicaments he was in and how he would use the various items. It's the kind of movie I should hate, yet somehow I enjoyed myself. I'd give it a 6 or 7 out of 10.

wuzzit better than raindeergames?

I really enjoyed it...Woo had his best imo...Affleck's good and Uma makes me drool...

I thought this was pretty bad. One of the worse movies I've seen in theaters for months.

I saw it last night, it wasn't bad, but it also wasn't great. It was just a typical action moive only with less action than it needed. I thought Ben was good though, but I'm like one of the few people who don't mind him. I think Pig Vomit should have been in it more though

Yeah more Pig Vomit...he was awesome...

The company didn't want to create armageddon, nor did it. The machine predicted another war, so the USA responded first.

Ben always got his memory erased to prevent him from remembering the devices he created, so he couldn't go off and make his own and sell it to other companies. Plus, he's almost stealing other companies ideas.

Ben could have planted the bug shortly after watching his own demise.

Glad you enjoyed it even though you seemed like you missed a lot of points.

I'm surprised that so many people hate this flick...for a mindless entertaining sci-fi actioner, it sure delivered. I thought it was one of the better genre pics I've seen in a while. To each their own.

MATT

I saw this Christmas night with my family and thought it was TERRIBLE.

My biggest gripe (though there are many) is that the movie had absolutely no surprises. None whatsoever.

(1) No, the company didn't want to create the end of the world. But by keeping their time-seeing machine up and running, they were doing exactly that. If Affleck's character could have gotten the "headlines," there is no reason the company couldn't have seen those same newspapers. And if Affleck gets hit with the premonination that they were essentially predicting/creating their own demise, there is no reason to think the company wouldn't be hit with the same reasoning.

(2) Yeah, he usually gets his memory erased. But then again, he's usually consenting. I think the earlier argument was that it would have been better (more logical for the character's plight) had he refused to have his memory erased, which he very well might have. For all we know he might have been forced into getting that second isotope shot.

And while both of those counter-points are easily arguable, you must admit that Affleck would look mighty suspicious mailing himself a paper clip, access card, etc.

Speaking of access cards, why wouldn't the company just render Affleck's obsolete?

Forgot to mention, the best thing about the movie was one scene with the prominant use of Honda Elements. That's my car!

Good points, i didnt really think about those. Of course, there's always plot holes like in films dealing with the future, and John Woo isn't exactly the type of director that would get into the technicalities of it.

Although, i think one of the reasons i enjoyed it was it reminded me of old adventure games where the hero has a pocket full of items that he'll use and combine together to get out of situations.

Because then the machine would never be fixed. Without the machine, Allcom couldn't become the most powerful company in the world.

But for a while they were trying to sabotage Affleck's mission. It wasn't until half-way through they decided to "help" because of the virus.

Not a good movie at all. It seemed to have promise, and Eckhart is a great actor, but it just didn't put it all together.

Worst movie I've seen in 3 years. And I have been going to the movies almost every friday for the last 8 years.

Uma Thurman is the first actress in the history of film who ruined her career (again) in the middle of her come-back film.

I've stuck up for Ben Affleck for years but this is just too much.

Awful is too good a word for this mess.

That's a pretty bold statement. Sure, Paycheck sucked, but I'm sure by the time I've soaked in Kill Bill: Volume II I'll have forgotten all about her role in this movie.

How is Paycheck?

Terrible.

I wish John Woo would go back to Hong Kong. His movies were so much better there............ The Killer, Bullet in the head, Hard-Boiled, A Better Tommorrow, etc.....................

once again i am grateful that i can enjoy movies like this for what they are - fun, mindless action. i get to enjoy 2 hrs while others nit pick and end up suffering for 2 hrs.

I can enjoy mindless action, like Passenger 57, Con Air, etc. What I can't enjoy is shit, like Paycheck.

yeah, props for Con Air!

"They'd call me Jonny 600 if they knew the truth"

Terrible? Worst movie in 3 years? You guys must have amazing luck in picking movies.

The only thing particularly bad about this movie was the idea that Woo, Eckhart et al wasted a year on making such an average picture. The film itself is far from terrible. It's just another slick, well-made but uninspired Hollywood product. There are bits to enjoy all over the place, but it lacks the spark that would make it truly fun. Nothing about it sucks though.

The 2 things that really piqued my interest were:

1) Watching how slick Woo has become as a director. Broken Arrow had no style outside of the action scenes whereas this one remains slick & stylish throughout, but subtly so. It flows like the better, A-level Hollywood movies. Forgive me for saying this, but I didn't think Woo was capable of that for his dramatic scenes. His stuff always struck me as either completely super-dramatic/stylish, or flat. Now he has a middle ground.

2) The climactic battle was unusually fun and loose for John Woo.

Worth a rent or matinee.

I disagree about Woo, although i thought it was a decent movie. I thought the action seemed less slick and stylish then his other work in the States. It seemed forced and just wasnt as riveting as Face/Off or MI:2. The bird at the end... which i loved as Woo's trademark in other films, just seemed slapped on. Windtalkers and Paycheck seem like a step backwords after delivering some pretty good movies in Broken Arrow, Face/Off, and MI:2.