|  | Actors: Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne
Studio: Summit Entertainment
List Price: $26.99
Buy Used: $3.25
as of 11/23/2009 08:55 CST details
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New (42) Used (61) Collectible (1) from $3.25
Seller: FamilyVideoInc
Rating:  291 reviews
Sales Rank: 813
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 121 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.7
MPN: 66110365
UPC: 025192031885
EAN: 0025192031885
ASIN: B001GCUO02
Theatrical Release Date: 2009
Release Date: July 7, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Pre-viewed. Professionally refurbished rental product. Original studio art-work. Rental sticker on hub of disc. Studio coupon books, promotional flyers, and digital copy are not included.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 286-290 of 291
 Strictly By the Numbers March 21, 2009
Chris Pandolfi (Los Angeles, CA)
114 out of 149 found this review helpful
"Knowing" achieves a level of greatness so few science fiction films ever achieve. It's not merely an engaging mystery--it's a deeply thought-provoking fable that's just as frightening as it is intelligent, and it ultimately makes a statement so profound that I was left completely awestruck. I don't often have an experience like that at the movies, and for that, I'm indebted to director Alex Proyas and writers Ryne Douglas Pearson, Juliet Snowden, Stiles White, and Stewart Hazeldine. They've successfully crafted one of the year's most stimulating films, taking the audience on a suspenseful, emotional, and ultimately (albeit unconventionally) redemptive journey that poses interesting questions on the nature of things. A movie like this could have easily placed technical achievement over character development, and thankfully, that didn't happen; we care just as much about the people as we do about the spectacular special effects.
The story begins in 1959, when an elementary school class is asked to draw pictures of what the world will look like fifty years later. What they draw will be put into a time capsule, which will be reopened in the year 2009. Rather than draw a picture, the quiet, disturbed Lucinda Embry (Lara Robinson) writes out a series of numbers on both the front and the back of a piece of paper.
Flash forward to the present day. We meet an MIT astrophysics professor named John Koestler (Nicholas Cage), who teaches his students that two theories on the nature of the universe have been proposed. On the one side, we have the determinist view, which states that everything happens as the result of a predetermined--and more importantly, a predictable--sequence of events. How, for example, could the Earth be located at just the correct distance from the sun to sustain life? On the other side, we have the random view, which states that absolutely nothing can be predicted, that life, the universe, and everything happened as the result of cosmic coincidences. What exactly does Koestler believe? Here are some clues: His wife died some years earlier, and he's openly stated that the existence of Heaven can't be proven.
As it so happens, John's young son, Caleb (Chandler Canterbury), goes to the same school that Lucinda Embry attended fifty years earlier. The day comes when the time capsule is unearthed and opened, and lo and behold, Caleb gets the envelope containing the numbers Lucinda wrote. He then takes it home, thinking the numbers might mean something. John initially thinks nothing of it ... until he places his wet glass of hard liquor on it and leaves a ring. Was it a predetermined act or a random act that led to a ring being formed around very specific numbers (the significance of which I won't reveal)? More important, was it a predetermined act or a random act that landed Caleb with the page of numbers in the first place? While I won't say what the numbers refer to (and this is in spite of the many ads that give plenty of hints), I will say that what John discovers changes him forever, forcing to consider ideas he never thought he would be able to consider.
To describe more of the plot would do you and the film a great disservice. Much of the story thrives on an engrossing mystery that only gets more unsettling with every passing scene. Visual motifs, such as shiny black pebbles, burning landscapes, and silhouetted figures emerging from the forest add great psychological weight. The same can be said for a house so old and ramshackle that, under different circumstances, it would be mistaken as being haunted. It ties in wonderfully with the psychological states of the characters inhabiting it. John is a solemn, broken man, estranged from his father, often detached from his son, occasionally dependent on a bottle of alcohol to drown his sorrows. Caleb is expectedly precocious but surprisingly fragile, always yearning for that which has been lost somewhere along the way. For the first time in a great while, we have a story that can actually support such characters; were it not for the awesome nature of the final fifteen minutes, John and Caleb would be nothing more than melodramatic clichés.
There are two more characters of great importance. One is Lucinda Embry's daughter, Diana Wayland (Rose Byrne), who enters John's life in a way that reaffirms the notion that nothing happens randomly. The other is Diana's daughter, Abby (also played by Lara Robinson), who, like Caleb, has been contacted by the creepy silhouetted figures, eventually called the Whispering People. Watch John and Diana as they search through Lucinda's abandoned home in the middle of the woods--the fear they express is disturbingly convincing.
Like last summer's "The X-Files: I Want to Believe," "Knowing" is one of the best cinematic surprises of recent memory, a meaningful and absorbing allegory made with intention of challenging the audience in matters of spirituality. It's difficult to say whether or not this film takes a religious stance; that would depend on your own view of the nature of the universe. There are, however, a number of religious implications, the least subtle of which is revealed in the final shot. This might account for some early reviews, where words like "overwrought" and "preposterous" came up. From my perspective, those who feel that way have failed to look any deeper than what was presented in the ads, which only scratched the surface. Contrary to what trailers and TV spots have been promising, this is not your average science fiction thriller. Serious time, effort, and thought went into "Knowing," one of the best films I've seen so far this year.
 Unique movie with an entertaining plot March 21, 2009
Electro
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
Initially I figured that the TV previews for Knowing had pretty much given away the majority of the plot; to summarize briefly what the trailers described, Nicolas Cage comes into possession of a list of numbers which predict the dates and death tolls of worldwide tragedies. I found the movie itself, however, to be surprisingly unpredictable from start to finish aside from already knowing the basic plot. There were very few times where I was able to guess what would happen next, keeping me in suspense and very much entertained by the dramatic and oftentimes quite intense scenes throughout the film. The special effects are stellar, and the storyline was great as well. As far as the acting, it wasn't particularly outstanding but for the most part Knowing had a well-selected cast. I'd give this film four, perhaps four and a half stars... definitely recommended.
 Not As Good As I Thought It Would Be!!! March 21, 2009
Pumpkin Man
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
It started off pretty good. I liked the beginning when it showed the classic 1950's. It was kinda scary a few times with those 'Whisperers' The things that got to me were seeing the people burn after the plane crash, dying in the subway, and the depressing ending. Nicolas Cage did a really good job, as did everybody else, and thought the special effects were pretty cool, but toward the end seemed silly, involving some kind of alien/angel/demon thing. It was confusing toward the end. I probably wouldn't recommend KNOWING!!!
Breakneck Tension, Out-a-site Effects, Bummer Ending March 21, 2009
Ken Douglas (The Coast)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
It's 1959 and to celebrate the first year of a Lexington, Mass elementary school the students are asked to draw a picture of what they think the future will look like in fifty years. Most of the kids draw rockets, but not Lucinda Embry. She starts writing down numbers at an alarming rate, but when the teachers tells them times up, she keeps going, trying to get that last number out, but teach takes the paper before she can finish. Lucinda disappears and is found later, fingers bloody scratching on the inside of a closet door.
Flash forward to the present day and we see John Koestler (Nicholas Cage) teaching a class in astrophysics at MIT. During this lesson we learn he believes there is no divine order, everything is random. We later learn his father's a minister, who obviously has different beliefs. They have not spoken in years. Koestler's son Calib hears voices, whispers and guess what elementary school he goes to. Yep, you guessed it.
Now it's time to open that time capsule and each of the kids gets one envelope with a drawing from half a decade ago. Guess what envelope Calib gets. Yep, no drawing for Caleb. He gets those numbers and that night dad figures them out. They've predicted every major disaster over the last fifty years. There are three left. Can John change what Lucinda has predicted.
He's going to try.
Okay, that's a pretty good set up for a story. Had me and Vesta glued to our seats. We were sitting up close and let me tell you the special effects were so doggone good they were scary, but could you expect anything less from the man who directed I Robot. Alex Proyas seems to have been born to direct this kind of movie. Cage was born to play in it. The horror on his face as the plane crashes in front of him is real. He's nailed this roll. But unfortunately he shouldn't have been in it and Alex Proyas shouldn't have directed it. Don't get me wrong, they've done great work, but in my opinion nobody could have saved this movie from the bummer ending.
The first two thirds of this move are simply outstanding. Tension, tension and more tension. And when that plane falls from the sky, you are there like you've never been in any movie plane crash before. And the subway disaster, jeez Marie that was scary stuff. Even the boy meets girl stuff doesn't detract from the excitement, then it all goes away with that bummer ending.
Numeric nightmares March 21, 2009
R. Kyle (USA)
25 out of 35 found this review helpful
Are events random or pre-ordained?
50 years ago, the students of Dawes Elementary created a time capsule for the school's 50th anniversary. The children created drawings depicting what they believed the future to hold.
Only one student, Lucinda, seemed almost possessed in her writing of a series of numbers instead.
Young Caleb (Chandler Canterbury) is a present day Dawes student who is handed the page with the numbers on it. Thinking it's important, he takes it home. His physicist Dad (Nick Cage) tells him it's just random numbers until he sets his cup down and realizes the date for 9/11 and number of fatalities are listed there. From that one bit of information, he extrapolates all the world's catastrophes, including a few that are yet to come.
"Knowing" answers the question I asked above, yet manages to pose more than that. The screenplay, written by Ryne Pearson and Julie Snowden, is a tightly paced science fiction thriller that barely leaves a breath in between action sequences. Effects are reasonably well done.
Whether you like or hate this story will well depend on your take of the above question and your personal theology. The film is well worth watching if you are a staunch Nick Cage fan; however, some of the scenes may be too intense for 'young 13's.'
Rebecca Kyle, March 2009
Showing reviews 286-290 of 291
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