Altitude Falling (2010 Video) User Reviews

Just tedious

[vampyrecowboy · 3/10 · 24 September 2010]

The entire gay theme detracted from what could have been a good story.

The entire concept of chips in bodies was good and the basic story had potential...but the gay love story just trashed it...well that and the horrible music.

The music and production values were just atrocious and that made the story and film just a hideous piece of cinema to watch.

Add to that a gay love story which didn't quite fit in and some unbelievably horrible dialogue and flat characters and you have this...something which will go nowhere.

Not trashing gay love stories...there are some which I find awesome - even though I am not gay...they are interesting and have character and story. This just kills the entire structure.

Maybe it was to get financing for the movie - to seed money from the gay arts vaults - well that;s OK...but the story was bad and the actors were even worse.

The script was horrible and of course, the music was downright nasty in all respects.

It failed on so many levels with a concept that had plenty of potential - even for a small budget.

Almost too many shortcomings to overlook - but only almost.

[shroyerw-1 · 4/10 · 29 December 2010]

Had the cast and crew seemed any less sincere in their efforts to make the best flick they could, I would probably tear a film like this to shreds. But more important to me than having the best of acting, props, effect, etc... etc... et... is to come away from the film with the feeling that it wasn't just thrown together and half-heartedly produced. I do think the producer - the kinda' cute older gent playing the lead - likes making these movies partially as an excuse to get to mess with young dudes, and find it amusing how he is utterly unafraid to let it all hang out in his flicks (literally). Even so, I don't get the impression that's the entirety of his motivation - that seems more like just one of the "perks" to him.

That said, if you just want to know the pros and cons, here are my views on the matter:

Pros: - Realistic, believable plot - I have little doubt that sooner or later, humans will be tagged in just such a way, and that sooner or later someone, somewhere is going to take advantage of it for their own tyrannical ambitions; - While all the effects were cheap, they weren't utterly absurd like they tend to be in most films of similar budget. This guy really seems to know how to make the most with practically nothing, and to make it believable. Not that there were a lot of really special effects - the CGI was bare-bones minimal - but the look, feel and functionality of the props (automated voice greetings, videoconferencing, one or two of the implants after they'd been removed & destroyed, etc...) were good; - A message that people really do need to hear, about a topic we're almost certain to face not too far from now; - Paul Bright's exposed booty.

Cons: - Bad acting. Bad, bad, bad. At least for the most part. One or two of them were pretty good most all of the time, but all of them had their moments where they couldn't possibly have been any less believable. You really do have to just overlook it through much of the flick, so if that bothers you then you probably should avoid this one; - Unclear plot details - particularly regarding the man he video'd with and his boss lady. I understood the guy's role in the unseen back-story leading to the movie's current events, but not what he was supposed to be doing in the present and definitely not what role his boss lady was supposed to be playing; - Paul Bright's exposed booty. You're either going to like it or you're not, and after seeing similar in "Angora Ranch", it seems fairly clear he's just being exhibitionistic. I personally don't mind, but a lot of people would and so I figured you might as well hear about it now. It's not real frequent or anything, but for the short time it's there, it's _all_ "there", if you catch my drift.

What did I just watch?

[billh03903 · 3/10 · 8 September 2023]

And more importantly, why? I kept waiting for some purpose or meaning. Still waiting. Gave it a 3 because of the actress playing the grandmother. She was oddly engaging on screen. I kept wanting more of her. But, that's as good as it got. So many weird storylines all at once. Dystopian sci-fi, gay romance, political manifesto, kitchen sink melodrama, the list goes on. What's the point of it all? Each of those fragments had their own particular interest, but none ever really gets off the ground, or makes any sense on its own, much less in combination with the other fragments. I really only watched to the end in hope it would all finally make sense. And the actress playing the grandmother.

Do people seriously consider this a movie?

[henryshanks · 1/10 · 2 July 2012]

I hadn't read any reviews prior to watching it, so I had no expectations to start with.

However, if you care for your faith in the human race and do not want to needlessly torture yourself with horrible gay grandfather fetish science-fiction, just watch something else. Why? Oh boy...

The STORY if you can even call it that... is of a communist USA (still pretending to be democratic and have a president though) in the year 2029. People go around with chips in their arms, and those who have them removed are outlaws. I'm not sure why the theme sounds extremely familiar.

The ACTING... eek. I'd be more believable telling my math teacher that the dog ate my homework for the 20th day in a row. As a highlight, check out the part when Mom and Gran find out Greg's in town. So. Many. Emotions!

The DIRECTING... where do I even start? Half of the movie consists of people biking (Greg even does a splendid double-take!) or looking around. I especially liked the part where Greg and Danny stay in bed for 2 minutes.

GREG deserves a separate section on his own, for being absolutely the most obnoxious. For one, he goes after his best friend Michael's son. Michael has absolutely no problem with it, by the way (USA, I pity you...). Morals aside, he's just as bad as actor, writer or director. All he did was write himself in a lot of naked scenes with a 20-year-old. If he craves "fresh meat", I'd recommend a different film-making industry. As it is, it's just disgusting. Yes, love transcends, but this is too much.

How many people live in that... "town"(?). We see a grand total of SEVEN. Add two working at the train station and one moving boxes, but that still leaves us with less than twenty. I get it that it's low- budget, but they could at least invite their cousins or sisters to walk around in the background.

What's the title even about? Ice melting and seawater rising? Really? What does that have to do with... never mind. Baffling? Wait until you hear Gran say something like "We don't own a spade, so we can't have a garden." I used to say "Shut Up and Kiss Me" was pathetic, but after watching "Altitude Falling", I have to admit I was wrong.

On its own, the movie is not original in the slightest. Watch 1984 (future societies gone wrong), Milk (age difference), Gattaca (implanted chips/population control), Naked Boys Singing (unabashed nudity) or House of Wax (deserted towns with strange people). Your neurons will be grateful for not sentencing them to death.

, or: An Aging, Untalented Narcissist's Paranoid Fantasies

[jm10701 · 17 August 2013]

If you, like Paul Bright, are turned on by the sight of middle-aged Paul Bright strutting naked, with everything flopping free, before a boy he's just met, young enough to be his grandson... and a few minutes later the two of them making out naked (both of them, this time) in bed (obviously the strutting worked its irresistibly sexy magic - but he IS the director, after all, AND the writer), then this is the movie you've been waiting for.

I've forced myself to watch Bright's first four movies because his relentless determination to make them despite huge obstacles fascinated me, but this is the last. He has no talent. A monster ego, but not one drop of talent anywhere.

Low budgets have nothing to do with it. Masterpieces have been made for a fraction of what a Bright movie costs to make - Shane Carruth made Primer for $5000, but Carruth has talent and Bright has none.

Bright's movies do nothing but aggressively and artlessly push his absurdly narcissistic self-image and his nauseating libertarian fantasies of legalized drugs and uninhibited man-boy naked LOVE triumphing over diabolical government oppression and violent religious lunatics. They're extremely tiresome, like being harangued by an old, naked hippie.

The fundamental requirement of ANY movie is that it be entertaining. Bright's movies obviously entertain him enormously, but they only irritate, bore and repulse me. In a DVD extra for his 2007 movie Theft, Bright said anybody who writes a negative review of his movies is "a bitter queen with an axe to grind". I guess that's me. I'd rather BE a bitter queen than watch another minute of his talentless egomaniacal crap.

Worse movie I've EVER seen!

[moggymoo-33588 · 1/10 · 8 October 2019]

This movie totally creeped me out with bad acting, stupid dialogue and gay kissing between the older man and the 20yo twink that looked like two trouts mouths agape.

The Man Who Made Man-Boy Love Actually Boring!

[caseymck · 1/10 · 26 October 2013]

I wish this "writer"/"director" would just hire teenage boys for sex in the confines of his own home rather than writing incredibly creepy, dramatically vacant vehicles for his own chicken fetish. The teddy bear should be a warning: beyond this point, there be creeps. The young lead is such a bad actor, he relies on the "exasperated" tone of voice to make any emotional inflection, and Bright has that terrible monotonous (attempting world-weary) delivery that just makes each scene between the two more excruciating. Bright is staggering in his lack of charisma. If you can't tell that lines like, "Mother, I just don't know about your attempts to run my life!" are embarrassing clunkers, you probably shouldn't be writing or starring in movies at all. And technically? At least learn how to make an eyeline match. It's not hard. The wrong frigging people have money to waste on masturbatory projects like this.

Terrible

[nazishmubashar · 1/10 · 20 November 2013]

one word describes it all CRAP and whoever gave it a good review probably were paid to do so like the one with 10 stars waste of time do not watch and watching clouds go by would have been more entertaining, no story horrible acting not entertaining and wasted hours i have not seen a worse movie than this in my life and i'm sure there were some bad ones but this one topped it all your better off watching a movie that u have seen before than waste time on this one horrible acting i must say again Director didn't know acting how would them rest of them know it Avoid if u really don't want to waste your time

one word describes it all CRAP and whoever gave it a good review probably were paid to do so like the one with 10 stars waste of time do not watch and watching clouds go by would have been more entertaining, no story horrible acting not entertaining and wasted hours i have not seen a worse movie than this in my life and i'm sure there were some bad ones but this one topped it all your better off watching a movie that u have seen before than waste time on this one horrible acting i must say again Director didn't know acting how would them rest of them know it Avoid if u really don't want to waste your time

Worst Ever!

[jlinamen1229 · 1/10 · 4 March 2016]

The premise is interesting but don't be fooled. There is nothing to like about this movie. The 'soundtrack' is awful... the script and dialogue is bad and the acting is probably the worst I've ever seen on film.

Some movies are so bad they're funny. Not this one. It's just bad, bad, bad.

The direction is awful too. A director should be able to make actors look good.... here they just look even more foolish. Not only are the actors not likable in their roles, they sound like third graders reading it for the first time.

The story goes from interesting concept to poor execution and ends with a journey to nowhere.

A pedophile's futuristic fantasy

[Coralknight · 1/10 · 29 September 2016]

There is very little one can say that's good about this film...other than to say "yeah...I guess it's a film?" The acting is laughably bad (they seem to have used any/all characters from John Waters' early works as the standard). The premise is one of a futuristic "big brother" type of doomsday scenario...only the budget is too small for anything other than the occasional CGI effects on monitors to get this point across (wait...that implies there was a point). The man-boy love premise pervasive throughout this film seems more like a NAMBLA recruitment tactic than an actual plot-line. The writer/director/"star" seems to believe anyone cares to see him naked is probably the biggest fantasy in this film. No wait...the second biggest fantasy, since I just read the reviews and there are actually people giving this 10 stars...apparently thinking we don't know they are somehow attached to the film or actors.

In sum, unless you too are a creepy old man who fantasizes about scenarios where it could possibly be acceptable to seduce and sleep with the boy next door...just don't watch this.

It's a no from me.

[djdjdj-77122 · 1/10 · 16 April 2022]

It was like a gay fantasy porno. There were so many holes in the plot, I assume because the writer was too busy figuring out more ways to write in love scenes with the 20 yr old boy toy love interest, that had nothing to do with the movie. It was so bad, and I don't say that often about movies. Zero cinematic anything in this one. The weiner scene was def my favorite. Just shirt c*cking it, for no reason at all. Amazing.

The grandma was the best actor in the film. She really kept me in it and made it semi believable enough to crawl my way through to the end.

A film which is more important then you might think...

[David_Alexander_L · 10/10 · 18 August 2010]

I have just watched this film and I would like to write this review while it's still fresh in my mind.

I have to admit that in this particular gay themed movie, the gay issue is the least important aspect. There are many similar examples to this kind of film, and it's no better or worse then any of them.

However, the near-futuristic plot line is vital, and in fact it is the first time I see this kind of realistic plot that deals with what will definitely be our lives in 15, 20 or 25 years ahead - life with no freedom, life which is monitored and controlled by our would be oppressors - the government, the army, the elite. It is truly important that everyone should watch this film and relate to it not as a sci-fi movie, but as a real life experience - 20 years or so ahead from today.

This I feel is the main contribution of this film.

As for production levels - well as one can expect from indie low budget; but please try to look beyond the mere look of the film, and into the strong message it entails.

Highly recommended viewing!

a salad

[Kirpianuscus · 14 June 2022]

Obvious, not a great film. Good intentioned, no doubts , using an idea who seems more than realistic in contemporary context, but , for many reasons, only a nice try, like many independent films and the basic motif remains the awful acting and the not inspired dialogues.

A film like a salad - many ingredients, reasonable taste , a slice of indulgence from viewer, some shirtless scenes and too gay in many scenes, good mix of past facts, idealism and crisis , family , friendship and Sci Fi with flavor of distopia, the elder man and his cat - Edison remains the best actor of film - , a young guy, some thrills .

And, at first sight, just enough.

Here's Your Future

[TBROUGH · 10/10 · 11 December 2010]

It's hard to do low-budget sci-fi. And when I talk low budget, I am talking about an eight day shooting schedule and very small cast (basically, five main players and a small handful of extras). Plus making a premise that doesn't collapse under it's own weight. "Altitude Falling," a modestly created look at the near future, pulls it off, and is director Paul Bright's best film to date.

To summate, it's a decade or so into the future. There's a deep recession going on, and an inexplicable war in Venezuela. People have been implanted with tracking chips, which started out as innocent ways to identify and locate people in case of serious emergencies, like accidents or natural disasters. But now the mere act of entering a mini-market ID's you and offers you a targeted special sale item. It also means that, as the war escalates, the government can find you if they need you.

The five lives interconnected here are all tied to the chips and how they evolved. Greg Forrster (Bright) has fled his old life to take residence in New Mexico, and Danny's family has come to escape their unemployed status after tidal surges have destroyed their home (the consequences of global warming are where the movie's title come from). One of the more intriguing aspects of "Altitude Falling" is just how easily this future could occur, without any whizz-bang gizmos or vacuously expensive "Avatar" effects. The fiction is subtle, but realistic. "Altitude Falling" is a provocative and enjoyable film.

Check This Movie Out!!!!

[Jjck501 · 10/10 · 13 July 2010]

Even if you need a review to purchase (watch) a movie, get this movie. Paul Brights latest in a series of "gay movies of gay men from the Heartland". This is the fourth film from Mr. Bright and it has it all! Drama, suspense, some skin, great acting...I could go on but you get the idea. I am a fan of this genre and definitely of Bright so even though it was a given to get(view) this movies, I was blown away! I do not see Indies this well done often. Check out Brights other films,Angora Ranch, Theft, Aaron, Albeit a Sex Hero, I promise, you will not be disappointed! And remember that by purchasing these films, you support the independents, where more great movies can be made!.... Jeff