A few words about…™ Knowing — in 4k UHD Blu-ray

I really like this film, up until the denouement, which is a bit too metaphysical for my tastes. To that point, however, I thought Cage's performance was excellent, and the secondary characters well-developed. I just intrinsically love these sci-fi movies that have mysteries attached, which adds a sense of wonder and intelligence to the mix.

Really like this movie some of the VFX & action scenes are very effective. Get my copy tomorrow

Forgot to mention, that at about the 90 minute mark, score goes into full Bernard Herrmann mode.

Robert Harris said:

Forgot to mention, that at about the 90 minute mark, score goes into full Bernard Herrmann mode.

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Yes, it's a score I listen to periodically. Keep an eye on Marco Beltrami.

The Airplane scene is one of my favorites on Bluray. The kicker is I have only seen it on demo disks I have never seen the whole movie. To say I am stoked to see the whole thing in Atmos is an understatement!

I'm not asking to discuss religion, but I'd like to know if this movie is a heavy duty religious flick?

Johnny Angell said:

I'm not asking to discuss religion, but I'd like to know if this movie is a heavy duty religious flick?

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No, I don't recall that it touches on religion at all. I suppose you could draw some parallels with some of the events, but it's not a central theme.

Malcolm R said:

No, I don't recall that it touches on religion at all. I suppose you could draw some parallels with some of the events, but it's not a central theme.

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It's hard to answer your question without discussing the very end of the film.

But I don't see the film as being a religious picture overall.

Josh Steinberg said:

It's hard to answer your question without discussing the very end of the film.

But I don't see the film as being a religious picture overall.

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Same here, I don't see the film as being a religious picture overall.

I bought the bluray for $1 just for the airplane crash scene after my original copy was stolen. That scene is simply fantastic. Hearing it in Atmos is very intriguing, may have to seek this out.

Not sure how I feel about the movie. It was enjoyable until the end, but I remember not being happy with the end. My tastes have changed though, maybe I'll like it this time around.

I agree that there is no particular religious tie in, but at the same time, I felt there was a certain spiritual feeling to the end.

Johnny Angell said:

I'm not asking to discuss religion, but I'd like to know if this movie is a heavy duty religious flick?

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Well, yes, but only at the end, which is why the finale kind of disappoints me. I haven't a religious bone in my body. But I would still highly recommend it.

Dick said:

Well, yes, but only at the end, which is why the finale kind of disappoints me. I haven't a religious bone in my body. But I would still highly recommend it.

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Me neither. We rented it on Amazon and are watching it now.

Just finished it. An interesting movie.

I loved this movie up until the ending. Great mystery, really creepy atmosphere at times. And yes, the plane.

But for me it felt like they threw religion in there at the end just to ratchet up the conflict of Nicholas Cages choice. They didn't explore it well so it rang hollow to me. I think it was supposed to be a tragically hopeful ending. But if Cage and his family are okay with his decision its because of blind faith and a renewed sense of familial
love. Kind of an allegory to religious faith. But I have trouble that anyone of deep religious faith would have made the same decision. So for me the filmmakers betrayed religion in order to promote religion.

I'm probably not explaining myself well, and I don't want to digress into specific religious topics, but it just didn't work for me.

Although I probably won't re watch it, I would still encourage those who haven't seen it to watch it. It is very well made.
I guess its true that a great ending can save a dreadful film, and a dreadful ending can ruin an otherwise great film. And this falls onto the latter category for me.

Some may wish to control spoilers. Many have not seen the film.

Please fix posts.

Johnny Angell said:

I'm not asking to discuss religion, but I'd like to know if this movie is a heavy duty religious flick?

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It's not religious at all, but a LOT of people have misinterpreted it as such. It is really, deeply, Science Fiction. Roger Ebert seemed to be one of the few critics who understood that when it came out. In fact, I take it as an homage to a particular Arthur C. Clarke novel. I'll put the title in a spoiler at the end of this post, because people have already been spoiling enough of this thread.

Both the movie and the novel I'm referring to have essentially the same outcome. Not in the specific details, but in the result and the actions that lead up to it. The movie is presented as a mystery, so it doesn't spell out what is happening and who is involved (the icons) the way the novel does. They both have visual icons which are not actually religious, but have become part of religious imagery. This also brings up one of Clarke's own rules, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"... or the supernatural/religious. The difference is that in the two stories, those icons have resulted in opposite perceptions. This is only my interpretation, but it is one that hit me over the head immediately the first time I saw Knowing years ago.

I hope I've managed to give an explanation without spoiling anything for anyone who hasn't already seen the movie. What I've said shouldn't make any sense until after seeing the movie.

JohnRice, I wanted to say all of that but was struggling with finding the right words. Excellent post!