The Quiet Earth (1985)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Geoff Murphy

Writers:

Craig Harrison (novel)
Bill Baer (written by) ...

Release Date:

18 October 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Mystery

Plot:

A mans awakens to find himself alone in the world.

Plot Keywords:

Minimal Cast | Oscillator | Female Nudity | Last Man On Earth | Lawnmower

Awards:

10 wins

Cast

Bruno Lawrence	...	Zac Hobson
Alison Routledge	...	Joanne
Pete Smith	...	Api
Anzac Wallace	...	Api's Mate
Norman Fletcher	...	Perrin
Tom Hyde	...	Scientist

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

New Zealand

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:R21 | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

New Zealand

Company:

Cinepro

Trivia:

When Zac checks in at work he hits a few buttons and the monitor starts buzzing and repeatedly displays the words, "Response....Negative." He is signaling all other stations in the worldwide grid to see if they are manned. The negative response tells him that everyone is gone in those countries, too.

Quotes:

Api: You coming?
Joanne: I wouldn't ride with you if you were the last man on Earth.
Api: I'm workin' on it.

Movie Connections:

References E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Hope over Hell

This was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Instead of being yet another it's-the-end-of-the-world-so-let's-kill-everyone-left movie it beautifully illustrates human hope, self-realization and sacrifice.

We begin with Zac in his depressed, selfish self. On day one, we get a taste of how Zac must have treated the world when people were in it. Now that the people are gone a happier Zac moves through the Kubler-Ross stages, to the audience's amusement. Eventually he meets another person, a woman - Joanne. Joanne is the embodiment of nurturing, femininity and compromise, herself having been alone as long as Zac.

Once they find each other, Joanne and Zac form an alliance that quickly becomes romantic, quirky and easy. Then the third player arrives, Api, who seems far better prepared for living after the world has gone empty.

Two men and one woman - from the moment they all meet it's strained with only Joanne bridging the distance. Jealousy and suspicion begin, there are poignant examples of human frailty and attempts to reach out to each other, except with Zac. Zac knows something that neither Joanne or Api could possibly know and eventually, he has to tell them.

The tension of the living situation builds and hits an apex when Zac finally tells the truth, the horrifying secret that is not only the answer to how the people vanished, but to what is about to happen. The ending, Zac's decision to change who he was, to love Joanne and Api enough to put himself aside turns weirdly mystical in the final scenes.

Overall, the story is an allegory of what we do to ourselves, how we can overcome our tendencies for base, selfish behavior and learn to love. It's one movie I walked away from thinking about so much more then when I began it.