Exile (2008) Reviews

• Entertaining indie sci-fi thriller

  TVPowers2009-08-05

  EXILE is an entertaining independent movie, a science fiction thriller made by Las Vegas based filmmaker Mike Conway. Conway's film won't be mistaken for a big-money Hollywood epic, but it looks far more expensive than the actual budget. The photography and location work rival that of films you'll see featured on the SyFy Channel. The extras on the DVD reveal the clever digital sleight-of-hand that enhanced the minimalistic sets and concealed some production short-comings. It also gives us an idea of how dedicated indie filmmakers can band together, with many of the actors doubling as impromptu crew members. The relationship of the blind man and the female android is well-written, with a nice "Twilight Zone/Outer Limits" atmosphere and twist. Action scenes are well handled. The CGI spaceship effects have nice movement and weight to them, marred slightly by a lack of convincing "real world" detail and weathering. The music, also by director Conway, is well done, and quite fitting for the subject. Worth a look, especially if you have an interest in independent genre film-making.

• Refreshing movie, mostly rough around the edges, but fun for certain

  meritcoba2017-05-25

  Granted, this not a good movie in any way, but unlike bad movies, this one contains an interesting idea which, surprisingly, is worked out reasonably well. The central theme is one that could be taken from Philip K. Dick, or for those more erudite in movies; Blade Runner(or Ex Machina). Dick has a fascination about what is real and what makes someone human or not. Therefore the most interesting character in this movie is Reyna. She is a non-linear android who is activated by Jason, the survivor of a crash who has been blinded. Non-linear means that she is able to think her own free thoughts, which she proceeds to do. What next follows is hard to demonstrate without spoiling the fun. Reyna depends on Jason as much as Jason depends on her. And since he is blinded he can not see what she tells him she is seeing. While the story develops they seem to grow closer together, but we as the third party, get to see what Jason does not. The conflict starts to develop once it is clear that Reyna will cease to function when Jason dies or leaves, which makes efforts to defend him understandable, but at the same time makes you wonder how he will defend himself from her. The movie makes a good attempt to develop this dual relationship and at first I was taken in by the apparent straightforwardness of Reyna. How the story finally pans out is for you to see, but I must say that up till the end it got me rooting for her. The bad part of the movie is not so much that is clearly shows how low budget it is, but that given the choice the movie makers could not resist adding an alien monster for which they had no budget. The lesson to learn here is: if you lack the budget for a good monster, don't have one in your movie. Especially because it was totally superfluous to the movie and could have been easily substituted by something more mundane, as it actually was by having Jason chased by enemies from anther planet. All in all a movie that is clearly low budget and rough around the edges, but has an interesting central story that certainly merits a remake with a better budget(and some better plot development). At time the movie has serious plot holes and at one time Jason runs out to wave at planes he can not see, but he can now. The script totally forgetting that he is blind. This movie is a bit like a cheap Ex Machinima version. One specific point to make here is that unlike Robots/Androids like say Data, Reyna never expresses the desire to become human. Which is refreshing.

• I couldn't get through it.

  kddhr2019-03-07

  I think any review over 3 stars is obviously fake. I've seen a lot of bad films, but this is by far the worst ever.

• Indie sci-fi dud

  Leofwine_draca2017-11-16

  EXILE is an example of your usual indie science fiction flick with the Nevada desert masquerading as an alien planet. This is a virtual two-hander in which a stranded astronaut hooks up with a female android who protects him in a hostile landscape of monsters and murderous soldiers. Mainly this takes place in just two locations (a tiny silver-lined room and the desert) with some brief computer game-level CGI. It's pretty poor, and the brief narrative feels stretched to the limit.

• Mike Conway just may be the next John Carpenter...

  theslamman2009-08-06

  Anyone who is familiar with Mike Conway's work, will immediately recognize this solid effort as his best yet. This delightful tribute to Sci-Fi classics will have genre fans drooling like Pavlov's dog. If you enjoy B films, you will be pleasantly surprised by Midnight Sun Entertainment's latest offering: "Exile". Directed & Produced By: Mike Conway. This film has it all... Clever storyline, good actors, tongue in cheek visual FX and a monster that only a true Kaiju fan could love. Exile is not your stereotypical example of independent cinema. This film actually has heart. As you will see for yourself, if you choose to treat your mind to some Sci-Candy. Keep an eye on this guy because like it or not, he's on his way to becoming a Hollywood Director.