I'm very glad Netflix advertises this as an 'event' and not as a 'movie'. It is entertaining, and given the topic of the film, it makes perfect sense for it to be in a "choose-your-adventure" format, but this kind of format could potentially destroy the artistic value of cinema, if used in other contexts.
The themes of the story rely around the concept of free will, no matter which choices the viewer makes, hence the format makes complete sense. I really enjoyed the plot, I must say. Technically speaking, the film can't be touched, it's definitely well done.
I played around with the possible choices, and reached 5 or 6 possible endings. There are indeed 5 hours of footage, I presume mostly repetitive though, given my experience. Many choices for example lead to similar or same results. The viewer is also challenged in the end to get back to previous choices. Some early choices bring to loose ends, and you are forced to go back in the story. Honestly, two outcomes were completely idiotic, definitely put there for the only purpose of increasing the amount of choices.
As I said earlier, this format works for this particular work, but the success this black mirror 'event' might reach can lead to something I personally don't want to see in cinema. It's like turning cinema in a videogame. Technically speaking, Bandersnatch is exactly the choose-your-adventure videogame the protagonist is developing in the plot (which is another reason why this format works for this particular project).
I can't see anything good in mainstream cinema adopting this format for future films. Cinema is a 'passive' form of art; a work that requires the active attention of the viewer in understanding the meaning of the film he's watching, but that doesn't require his active participation. This format works better with interactive forms of entertainment, like videogames.
I personally think I would have enjoyed it better if it was a traditional movie, despite it being a quality content.
The themes of the story rely around the concept of free will, no matter which choices the viewer makes, hence the format makes complete sense. I really enjoyed the plot, I must say. Technically speaking, the film can't be touched, it's definitely well done.
I played around with the possible choices, and reached 5 or 6 possible endings. There are indeed 5 hours of footage, I presume mostly repetitive though, given my experience. Many choices for example lead to similar or same results. The viewer is also challenged in the end to get back to previous choices. Some early choices bring to loose ends, and you are forced to go back in the story. Honestly, two outcomes were completely idiotic, definitely put there for the only purpose of increasing the amount of choices.
As I said earlier, this format works for this particular work, but the success this black mirror 'event' might reach can lead to something I personally don't want to see in cinema. It's like turning cinema in a videogame. Technically speaking, Bandersnatch is exactly the choose-your-adventure videogame the protagonist is developing in the plot (which is another reason why this format works for this particular project).
I can't see anything good in mainstream cinema adopting this format for future films. Cinema is a 'passive' form of art; a work that requires the active attention of the viewer in understanding the meaning of the film he's watching, but that doesn't require his active participation. This format works better with interactive forms of entertainment, like videogames.
I personally think I would have enjoyed it better if it was a traditional movie, despite it being a quality content.