@ChristopherDone I made a few errors the first time around, so I rewrote the reply. Basically, they can only go back to the earliest point that a box was set running. This took the form of the failsafe box setup by Abe on Sunday morning. I can't see how Aaron could get back to that point in the timeline, a time before they had discovered the time traveling. If I've missed something, please help me out.
@jeffjlogan I interpreted the degeneration of their penmanship to be a symptom of being a copy of a copy of a copy... like a degenerating image that has been through a Xerox machine countless time and becomes increasingly distorted and illegible. But... yeah... loss of muscle memory... awesome movie!!
@grosslyclever No, they caused time paradoxes. in the primer universe, if I went back in time and told myself not to enter the box, I wouldn't disappear. There'd be one of me who told them not to go back and one who didn't go back, thus not disappearing into the box. In Primer, Aaron goes back and drugs himself and takes the previous Aaron's place, which means the previous Aaron can't go back and drug himself. Then Aaron comes back again. Abe does to when he uses the failsafe and gasses himself.
@deadkidsfoundation the idea was that it's untethered from anything, so gravity can't affect it substantially. because it's oscillatory, the weeble moves back and forth in time until the machine is shut off
I don't pretend to fully understand this movie, but it's fucking amazing! The science seems probable--invent a machine that suspends gravity and son-of-a-gun it suspends time too. Even without a physics background it seems probable. Very logical that it only suspends time for the length of time it's turned on---Freakin amazing. Also shows all the consequences, even with extreme care, how everything affects the fabric of time--mind blowing!
totally agreed on all counts. i found this movie to be way more terrifying than any horror or sci fi film i've seen, for the exact reasons you pointed out.
It's probable /because/ you don't have a physics background, you can travel forward in time at different rates, but you can never travel backwards in time, physics has taught us this already
That is a fair point, since travelling backwards in time causes all sorts of causality problems, paradoxes, and discontinuities.
But on the other hand, it does make for great storytelling, and this movie portrays it in a very scientific and believable fashion -- unlike so many other movies about time travel.
I'm being a bit nitpicky here but it most certainly does NOT suspend time. It cycles it. Allowing more time to pass in the box than outside of it.
The "radius" of this time loop expands from the moment it's turned on to the moment it's shut down cycling back and forth as the radius grows linearly and there's a 1:1 ratio in the time it takes to go into the past.
It's a time exchanger. Of course at this point there in the story neither of them knew that.
I only just got around to watching this film, thanks to xkcd. And, just, wow. Upon my first viewing I called it the best film on time-travel ever made. Now on my 4th viewing, I call it a masterpiece. There was so much thought put into it that it's simply astounding.
And I STILL don't entirely get the plot. What a mindfrak. xD
For Sci-fi, this is one of the greatest just for it's emphasis on Science and less on Fiction. It's almost completely believable and the atmosphere accompanies that. You really feel like a genius just watching it, because you are absorbed into a world NOBODY fully understands. On an unrelated note, Arrested Development is a great TV show and the best comedy ever put out.
@Bassbait and yet the primary focus of the film really isn't the science but the degradation of Abe and Aaron's relationship as they struggle to cope with the moral implications and new found power the technology gives them.
@dandanthepumpkinman Ya. But I'm saying, when a Sci-fi film is made, they don't give a crap about accuracy, but just about story. This film has a great story and great logic to back it up. 2001 is the same way. 2001 is accurate in most ways, has a great story, and also provides a mythology which all later Science-Fiction films have learned from.
@dandanthepumpkinman And that is one of its best features. It's a film which meets the definition of quality. What would the implications of time travelling be? What would we do with it?
This was a cool movie, very technical. But if anyone can tell me what the box was originally meant to be that would be cool. I got the feeling it was an ice maker or something, I could be way off i'm sure. And I get the base storyline about getting ahead financially, by going back an forth several hours in time to find the right investments. But how did they give or receive the info to their doubles? I'm gonna watch it a few more times.
The box was originally designed to reduce the mass of objects placed inside. It would have made it easier to transport very large heavy objects (space shuttles etc). As for the doubles I think they were co-existing with some of them that were drugged and hidden in the attic. Plus every time they entered the machine they would effectively split, one would come out having 'travelled' while the other would come out having gone nowhere. My brain hurts
Put the friggin popcorn down chump and pay attention! This assumes that you are sat bolt upright, all cyclinders firing. Anyone who claims they got it first time is lying (or alone). The ending is a touch abrupt but leaves a satisfying chill
If you're interested at all in time travel theory this movie is a must see. Great diologue and IMO decent acting for an indy flick. At one time I prolly knew every word to this movie, lol it's obsessing and every time you watch it the picture gets clearer.
Shane Carruth is a genius and it's a shame this is his only work.
"Is this normal? What for the machine? No for PEOPLE what you think this is the MACHINE?!?"
I've now seen it 15 times. I kept thinking I've got it. Now I definitely have it all worked out. Finally. Theres so many clues, right down to the rotation of camera shots. Which Aaron is Aaron? etc. On the face of it , it's a simple looking film yet it is so packed full of hidden story. Mind boggling. Amazing film. I'm watching it again. Right NOW !.
When the part of Feynman eigenvalues , frame-dragging and wormholes came up I remember sitting upright being - WTF someone almost knows what they are talking about, and then they play it for laughs ... A: "This is just a problem in heat and mechanics" ....B : "This is NOT just heat and mechanics." awesome
@LeavesNoTrace Right, like he's got his hand on the button way before it's all been checked -- he's been through it all before? Loads of things like that.
yeah, and according to Shane's website/commentary he only spent 7000, which makes this the most successful and technically impressive independant film I konw of
best movie of all time
best.
heavybass4ever 1 month ago
Is anyone else really impressed by the soundtrack? It reminds me of Brian Eno's Music for Airports. Is there anything Shane Carruth can't do?
thedaydreamarchitect 3 months ago
1:56 — perfect! He's eager to press the button because he's done this all before.
ChristopherDone 5 months ago
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TheEquilibrium26 4 months ago
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TheEquilibrium26 4 months ago
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TheEquilibrium26 4 months ago
@ChristopherDone I made a few errors the first time around, so I rewrote the reply. Basically, they can only go back to the earliest point that a box was set running. This took the form of the failsafe box setup by Abe on Sunday morning. I can't see how Aaron could get back to that point in the timeline, a time before they had discovered the time traveling. If I've missed something, please help me out.
TheEquilibrium26 4 months ago
Absolutely love this film, such a cool idea, executed with huge talent all round
I had no idea it was such a low budget project ! I'm amazed,
If you haven't seen this film, watch it now, it will mess with your brain!!!
watchtheskies 7 months ago
@jeffjlogan I interpreted the degeneration of their penmanship to be a symptom of being a copy of a copy of a copy... like a degenerating image that has been through a Xerox machine countless time and becomes increasingly distorted and illegible. But... yeah... loss of muscle memory... awesome movie!!
GrossNational 7 months ago
i think somehow at this point aaron already knew.
spadehatesscrewtube 7 months ago
wasnt 7000, nore like 70k. still better than the best out right now. grand writing
spadehatesscrewtube 11 months ago
this movie is very confusing...so they made a copy of each other?....is that what it is? A duplication machine?
grosslyclever 1 year ago
@grosslyclever No, they caused time paradoxes. in the primer universe, if I went back in time and told myself not to enter the box, I wouldn't disappear. There'd be one of me who told them not to go back and one who didn't go back, thus not disappearing into the box. In Primer, Aaron goes back and drugs himself and takes the previous Aaron's place, which means the previous Aaron can't go back and drug himself. Then Aaron comes back again. Abe does to when he uses the failsafe and gasses himself.
166291 10 months ago
@grosslyclever It's time travel.
wittsmith 8 months ago
fantastic camera work, score, acting, editing, story. This is what indies are all about
Gibson889 1 year ago
GREAT film. Downloaded it...then bought it online. So worth it.
brewskhee 1 year ago
whats the song during the start!?
loldog25 1 year ago
@loldog25 All the music was written specially for this movie, so you won't find an extended version
CyberWolf008 1 year ago
this has got to be one of the best movies ever.
kentman86 1 year ago 3
One of the best rough cuts ever: Lifting the box and bam, black.
Leprutz 2 years ago
The music is the best thing in this movie. It really made it what it is.
Jurijgud 2 years ago 2
Funny how the best films of this past decade feature both time-travel and beautiful music (Donnie Darko, Primer).
Damn weeble wasn't decreasing in weight from less gravity- it was headed backwards in time. GYAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
deadkidsfoundation 2 years ago 4
@deadkidsfoundation the idea was that it's untethered from anything, so gravity can't affect it substantially. because it's oscillatory, the weeble moves back and forth in time until the machine is shut off
bairfanx 2 years ago
I don't pretend to fully understand this movie, but it's fucking amazing! The science seems probable--invent a machine that suspends gravity and son-of-a-gun it suspends time too. Even without a physics background it seems probable. Very logical that it only suspends time for the length of time it's turned on---Freakin amazing. Also shows all the consequences, even with extreme care, how everything affects the fabric of time--mind blowing!
Sutterjack 2 years ago
totally agreed on all counts. i found this movie to be way more terrifying than any horror or sci fi film i've seen, for the exact reasons you pointed out.
peyoteugly 2 years ago
It's probable /because/ you don't have a physics background, you can travel forward in time at different rates, but you can never travel backwards in time, physics has taught us this already
ztdk 2 years ago
That is a fair point, since travelling backwards in time causes all sorts of causality problems, paradoxes, and discontinuities.
But on the other hand, it does make for great storytelling, and this movie portrays it in a very scientific and believable fashion -- unlike so many other movies about time travel.
watsisname 2 years ago
but that is only if causality is inevitable. or more accurately - if time is linear.
wladwlad 2 years ago
I'm being a bit nitpicky here but it most certainly does NOT suspend time. It cycles it. Allowing more time to pass in the box than outside of it.
The "radius" of this time loop expands from the moment it's turned on to the moment it's shut down cycling back and forth as the radius grows linearly and there's a 1:1 ratio in the time it takes to go into the past.
It's a time exchanger. Of course at this point there in the story neither of them knew that.
Unclevertitle 2 years ago
I only just got around to watching this film, thanks to xkcd. And, just, wow. Upon my first viewing I called it the best film on time-travel ever made. Now on my 4th viewing, I call it a masterpiece. There was so much thought put into it that it's simply astounding.
And I STILL don't entirely get the plot. What a mindfrak. xD
watsisname 2 years ago
It's up there for me as greatest movies.
Of course, 2001 is great too.
For Sci-fi, this is one of the greatest just for it's emphasis on Science and less on Fiction. It's almost completely believable and the atmosphere accompanies that. You really feel like a genius just watching it, because you are absorbed into a world NOBODY fully understands. On an unrelated note, Arrested Development is a great TV show and the best comedy ever put out.
Bassbait 2 years ago 2
@Bassbait and yet the primary focus of the film really isn't the science but the degradation of Abe and Aaron's relationship as they struggle to cope with the moral implications and new found power the technology gives them.
dandanthepumpkinman 1 year ago
@dandanthepumpkinman Ya. But I'm saying, when a Sci-fi film is made, they don't give a crap about accuracy, but just about story. This film has a great story and great logic to back it up. 2001 is the same way. 2001 is accurate in most ways, has a great story, and also provides a mythology which all later Science-Fiction films have learned from.
Bassbait 1 year ago
@dandanthepumpkinman And that is one of its best features. It's a film which meets the definition of quality. What would the implications of time travelling be? What would we do with it?
I absolutely love this flick.
LubliDecka 1 year ago
This movie is a masterpiece.
Tuthur 2 years ago 4
do not try and watch this with a hangover, it causes your brain to fry inside your skull.
tigermunky 2 years ago 3
hahahaha i watched it stoned last week and was pretty fucking freaked out.
peyoteugly 2 years ago
Haha, that'd be pretty crazy. I can barely even keep track of the details of the film when I'm sober. =P
watsisname 2 years ago
@peyoteugly, right??
WhooAlright 1 year ago
This was a cool movie, very technical. But if anyone can tell me what the box was originally meant to be that would be cool. I got the feeling it was an ice maker or something, I could be way off i'm sure. And I get the base storyline about getting ahead financially, by going back an forth several hours in time to find the right investments. But how did they give or receive the info to their doubles? I'm gonna watch it a few more times.
redrumancoke 2 years ago
The box was originally designed to reduce the mass of objects placed inside. It would have made it easier to transport very large heavy objects (space shuttles etc). As for the doubles I think they were co-existing with some of them that were drugged and hidden in the attic. Plus every time they entered the machine they would effectively split, one would come out having 'travelled' while the other would come out having gone nowhere. My brain hurts
stopwhistling 2 years ago 3
I LIKE BOOBZ. And this movie.
giggettygoo123 2 years ago
$7000 budget? Woh. And it's so much better than most of the Hollywood douchery where they've spent 10,000 times that amount.
Slimboid 2 years ago 45
@Slimboid Shane Carruth also composed the music too.
ChristopherDone 5 months ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
the music is gay. the acting is bad. I'd rather watch porn than watch this.
BECK26x 2 years ago
Ur insane. this is one of the most well thought out, sensible scifi movies out recently!
ajatkinson2004 2 years ago 3
Sorry for having a dissenting opinion, forgot that wasn't allowed on YouTube
BECK26x 2 years ago
Well, having a stupid dissenting opinion is frowned upon.
trinitymike 2 years ago
I certainly won't disallow your dissenting opinion, but I have to assume that you're missing the point.
Unclevertitle 2 years ago
My bio professor is in this movie!
followtheleader21 2 years ago
Put the friggin popcorn down chump and pay attention! This assumes that you are sat bolt upright, all cyclinders firing. Anyone who claims they got it first time is lying (or alone). The ending is a touch abrupt but leaves a satisfying chill
stopwhistling 2 years ago 2
great film... amazing that they managed to shoot tihs for that little! Shane could really teach the Hollywood guys a thing or two
Ranked999 2 years ago 5
I once watched this awesome movie while stoned and I pulled a whitey trying to figure it out.
privatejoker285 2 years ago 5
If you're interested at all in time travel theory this movie is a must see. Great diologue and IMO decent acting for an indy flick. At one time I prolly knew every word to this movie, lol it's obsessing and every time you watch it the picture gets clearer.
Shane Carruth is a genius and it's a shame this is his only work.
"Is this normal? What for the machine? No for PEOPLE what you think this is the MACHINE?!?"
KinKAIDhot102 3 years ago 6
Shane Caruth is actually a real Enginere.
THEMAJORHERO 3 years ago 3
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clodioz 3 years ago
Dude, if you can't even speak fluent english dont' try to watch this movie. It's hard to understand even if English is your first language.
TheCruddyBug 2 years ago 5
This was one of the coolest movies I've ever seen.
INT3RNAUT 3 years ago 3
I've now seen it 15 times. I kept thinking I've got it. Now I definitely have it all worked out. Finally. Theres so many clues, right down to the rotation of camera shots. Which Aaron is Aaron? etc. On the face of it , it's a simple looking film yet it is so packed full of hidden story. Mind boggling. Amazing film. I'm watching it again. Right NOW !.
LeavesNoTrace 3 years ago 32
WHAT?
gatoradeee 2 years ago
It's the BEST!!! Circles and rotation...It blows my mind.
LeavesNoTrace 2 years ago 3
When the part of Feynman eigenvalues , frame-dragging and wormholes came up I remember sitting upright being - WTF someone almost knows what they are talking about, and then they play it for laughs ... A: "This is just a problem in heat and mechanics" ....B : "This is NOT just heat and mechanics." awesome
proadmin1 2 years ago
@LeavesNoTrace Right, like he's got his hand on the button way before it's all been checked -- he's been through it all before? Loads of things like that.
ChristopherDone 1 year ago
@LeavesNoTrace Answer me this, then.... Why does their writing get all fucked up??? lol
deathfalk 9 months ago
@deathfalk Because they've spent soo many days/hours traveling through time and using tape recorders they loose the muscle memory to write?
jeffjlogan 8 months ago
@LeavesNoTrace you could also be reading too much into it...
ANTIMKrebirth 8 months ago
Best movie ever
Pr0x1mo 4 years ago 6
this movie is amazing and its better if u understand it
HugeBoe 4 years ago 5
yeah, and according to Shane's website/commentary he only spent 7000, which makes this the most successful and technically impressive independant film I konw of
Spikew0ng 4 years ago 5
This comment has received too many negative votes show
El Mariachi ?
cgreer127 4 years ago
Comparar una joya como Primer con esa peli hace llorar al niño Jesús.
isradelacon 4 years ago
isradelacon, that's hilarious : D But you have to give some credit to Robert Rodriguez, he's a great filmmaker.
betomas 3 years ago
phenomenal movie
piceras 4 years ago 6