Contagion
| release date | September 9 2011 |
| studio | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| director | Steven Soderbergh |
| writer | Scott Z. Burns |
| starring | Matt Damon, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Laurence Fishburne, Josie Ho, Demetri Martin, Jennifer Ehle, Bryan Cranston, Elliott Gould |
| site | contagionmovie.com |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
2 Comments
WOW:
this movie is so creepy and freaky it did what I wanted it to do, and I am super happy for that. It freaked me out creeped me out. The acting was amazing all across the board, the first 10mins WOW, huge props and balls for pulling that all off in a PG_13 film none the less. Shit we dont’ even see that in R films. Anyways I was freaked out after going to the bathroom being around people touching shit. I am still creeped out and my heart beat is racing. Very good tense movie, music was awesome too. very massive in scope. Check it out while you can.
Contagion is a very well made psychological thriller. I found the acting to be top notch, the script was great, the score was amazing, and the cinematography was both grim and gorgeous. But I also found it to drag on almost the whole movie. Nothing really HAPPENS. I found myself bored at times. All In All, Contagion is a very satisfying psychological horror film, it just really lags a lot at certain points.us
This type of movie is scary because it has actually happened and will happen again. There were several loose ends but I think thats what the director wanted. It keeps you thinking about it after its over. EXCELLENT MOVIE.
Contagion isn’t really a horror movie, But it is an exceptional infected movie. The acting was really good besides the lack of character time because of such a long, and elaborate cast. The story was interesting and presented a reality aspect. Definitely worth a view.
This movie was fucking fantastic.
decent enough. but sometimes meanders around. jennifer ehle and laurence fishburne did the best acting jobs in the movie.
I think what makes a movie like Contagion so great, is the horror that goes along with an realistic epidemic. It’s the kind of film that pulls you right into the characters world and leaves you wanting just a little more at the end. There are so many well known faces in this movie, that it would have been hard to make this one fail. Contagion, although won’t satisfy your taste in gore, makes up for it in every other category.
Contagion is one of the best Horror films of 2011 since Final Destination 5, Fright Night(remake) and Paranormal Activity 3. This is a really good disaster film and it really scared me from start to finish. I personally like this film and the plot is really intriguing and well paced and there’s no problem at all with this movie it is really good and scary as well. What’s great about Contagion is that the film is full of incredible acting from an ensemble cast like Matt Damon from the Jason Bourne trilogy, Laurence Fishburne from CSI, Gwyneth Paltrow from Glee, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and other casts as well did a good job with their performances in the film so far. Since the movie not only has some incredible performances from different casts the movie also has a lot of elements mixed together in different scenes so mainly Contagion is not only a Horror movie but more of a Psychological thriller. Mainly what I like about Contagion is that the two genres are used in different ways it’s mainly used in the opening scene until the ending. From the opening scene it’s a Horror film because the opening scene with Gwyneth Paltrow dying mainly freaked me out so far. While on the middle scenes it turns into a Psychological thriller. And in the later on parts until the ending the genres are mixed together and they’ve been put to the film’s climax until the ending. I personally like the idea of the two genres being mixed together and they are both used in different ways and I did like that idea where the first genre which is the Horror genre is used in the opening scene then on the later on parts it changes into a psychological thriller while on the climax and the ending the two genres are mixed together which makes this movie even better. What’s also good about Contagion is that the film uses lots of unique tension and scares with an emerging creepy factor plus the suspense is really well used in the movie as well and while the movie may have some unique and good scares and tension with suspense and an emerging creepy factor the other great things about Contagion is that the pacing of the film is really fast paced and it isn’t slow at all it’s really in the right pace. I also like the idea where after we see what’s happening to the first character’s life we switch to the scene where we see what’s happening to the second character’s life until the later on characters in the film before it goes for the final climax of the movie. What I also like about this movie is that the film also has a dark twist that finally reveals on how the virus started in the opening scene before it leads through a massive outbreak in a couple of countries which results the decrease of population in each country. This movie really does an incredible job to keep the thrills and scares in the audiences when they watch the movie in the big screen and this is a really different Horror film and unlike most Horror movies that usually uses gore and onscreen violence to just scare the audience even jump scares as well Contagion is a really different Horror movie usually because the film uses a couple of tricks to frighten the audiences when they’re watching the film and mainly they use a couple of facts like the virus outbreak in different countries that results the decrease of population in each country which is true because various things like this has happened in real life we mainly hear them in the news like the Swine Flu and mostly other diseases like Bird Flu and Ebola Virus even other diseases as well that exist in real life. Director Steven Soderbergh did a really good job in directing this movie he really did a good job with bringing the tension and suspense to life when he made Contagion and he made audiences experience how and what it feels like to be sick with the most deadliest virus in the entire world that can cause a massive decrease of population in each country along with writer Scott Z. Burns who also did a good job with the pacing and plot of the movie and these two really did an incredible job with bringing the virus to the big screen so far. Overall Contagion gets a 10/10.
Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion” feels like a documentary film shot through the lenses of a gloriously high-quality film camera. Perhaps this is because in a sense, it kind of is. The film is about a deadly epidemic/pandemic – unidentified and initially untreatable – that starts to spread across the globe; from Hong Kong to Atlanta. The basic plot concerns a number of different people ranging from scientists to a blogger; all of whom react in significantly different ways to the outbreak. Unlike most plots of this sort, there is no love story, and there’s little-to-no joy. This is a bleak, explicitly detailed account of the possible fall of man; an apocalyptic medical drama told through the eyes of many – perhaps too many – individuals.
The virus is named Meningoencephalitis Virus One (abbreviated MEV-1). By the end, the source of the disease has been tracked, more or less successfully; although whether it’s the scientists, or just us, making the progress is ambiguous. Let’s just say that for us, it starts with a single woman; the first one we see in the film. She is Beth (Gwyneth Paltrow), and she is the wife of a kind man by the name of Mitch (Matt Damon). She was on a business trip when she contracted the disease; and only experienced the most severe of side effects – constant coughing, seizures, and eventual death – when she returned home. Luckily, it is soon revealed that Mitch is immune; although he must still take action if he wants to protect his children, like a good father should.
Mitch and his family are a big part of the plot, but an even bigger part of the plot is devoted to the science behind the virus and the potential cure. In the film, there are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; where representatives meet and discuss the problems at hand. One of the doctors present is Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne). He theorizes that the virus will spread now more than ever due to the fact that Thanksgiving is just around the corner; and thus, most people will be shopping. Door knobs shall be turned, credit cards shall be swiped, and faces will (of course) be touched. Cheever understands that they might not be able to save everyone, as always, but he decides to act upon his attempt to save those who he can regardless. To do so, he sends Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) to Minneapolis to conduct a search that shall hopefully lead to answers in regards to the true nature of this epidemic.
Then, there is the blogger. His name is Alan (Jude Law), and as you might be able to tell from his job/character description, he’s the only individual in the story who doesn’t really “fit in” with the others. He believes that he has found a cure for the disease, and takes precautions whenever he so much as exits his apartment every day, but his station in life isn’t a well-respected one, and he’s out to change that. He wants to prove something with his discovery of the cure; but will science bargain with him, and will the cure truly work? Those are two out of about a few solid dozen questions that you will come across if you choose to catch “Contagion”.
Soderbergh’s film is scary. That’s what it wants to be; that’s what it is. I liked how the director – who has gained both fame and genuine infamy over the years – chose to avoid just about any side-story, distraction, or inaccuracy that he could when he made the movie; there’s relevance and accuracy in the science of the film, and that’s precisely why the realism of every last situation gets under your skin. It also helps that Soderbergh’s film is beautifully shot from start-to-finish, and some of the footage he captures is truly provocative. “Contagion” lashes out, fearlessly and with great aim; although in a few short instances, perhaps out of desperation.
This is not a great medical drama because even though it tries not to side-step, it still does. I said that the blogger character didn’t really fit in, and that’s because he doesn’t; I felt his character was wholly unnecessary to the plot, and truth be told, it would have been much better without him. The dramatic elements of the story are also a disappointingly mixed bag; there are moments that are dead-on in their believability, and others that are just too, I don’t know, cinematic. You can tell when drama is genuine and when it is staged; I’d rather have the former over the latter, and in his attempts to stay true and faithful to science, Soderbergh has failed to truly compel.
Nevertheless, he shook me up a bit, or at least for as long as I had wanted to be shook up at all. For that, I am grateful. “Contagion” is absorbing, engaging, and intriguing; unlike a lot of dramas, which are boring and drab. The story certainly needed the Soderbergh touch; and that’s exactly what it got, a visual and contextual boost from a man who certainly knows his way around every obstacle of filmmaking. I can honestly recommend the film to those who enjoy a film that is though-provoking – albeit flawed – and above all, sort of fascinating. I watched the movie knowing that it could have been better; that it also could have been worse, and also that it had accomplished exactly what it had set out to do.
Some moments near the beginning and the middle were compelling but the final 1/3rd was enough to sink this film for me. Overall: subpar film.
Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion” is a captivating and visually stunning virus-outbreak-thriller, and I highly regret that I didn’t see it in a theater, because this is a movie that was definitely made for the big screen.
Script writer Scott Z. Burns and director/cinematographer Soderbergh created an incredibly realistic doomsday scenario that kept me glued to the screen, due to the excellent direction, the gripping ‘apocalyptic’ atmosphere and the superbly written, superbly paced story with all its believable characters, fantastic dialogue and interesting sub-plots.
The cast is impressive (stand-outs: Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Matt Damon & Marion Cotillard), Cliff Martinez’ vibrant synth-score is outstanding, the editing is awesome and I love the wide range of settings/locations that keep the film moving.
It could have been darker and a bit more shocking – nevertheless, I totally enjoyed “Contagion” and I think it’s one of Soderbergh’s most powerful movies next to “Traffic” and “Kafka”.
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