J-bot6 I actually enjoyed this film more than I thought I would, although the first half-hour didn't really work on me. I could see the low-budget in the initial shots. Because of this, I wasn't fully paying attention. However, I kept finding that I needed to keep rewinding to check out what I missed since the plot was actually moving along quite fast.Then at about the half-hour point, this movie really captured and kept my attention throughout. I really like the acting and the way the lead actress moved (including her dance and combat movements).As for scenes, the interior shots were set up well. The dark lighting was really effective and the eye glows worked very well. Editing was actually pretty quick and the story was compelling. I was actually concerned for the characters (which doesn't seem to happen for me very often in movies today).One of the real standouts is the visual effects work. It's phenomenal (especially considering the low budget). The intro credits look fantastic, the robot-creation sequence is just amazing, and the glow effect on the robot was pretty phenomenal. I have a feeling that the VFX teams did some serious overtime on this one. I also suspect the effects houses didn't make much on this production although I suspect the shots they did will make great portfolio material.If I had a qualm with this movie, it's the soundtrack. On one hand, it uses very cool CS80 sounds, similar to Blade Runner. Unfortunately the shots that used this instrument didn't have the 'weight' to warrant that sound. Believe me, I love that synth, but it needs to be used strategically. Then there's the other style of music which is typical of movies like Her or Ex Machina. I didn't think that score worked particularly well either. Perhaps something in-between the two styles would have worked better. The Blade Runner style was more mysterious and haunting than this film's presentation and the more modern score was too light and nondescript for the shots it was attached to. Regardless, there were sections of music that did work nicely. I seem to recall the music near the end of the film being spot-on.In general, this is a film that I can recommend to people who like science fiction and the topic of A.I., androids, cyborgs, etc.... It's actually quite a thoughtful film. Interestingly, I found that I prefer this movie over both Her and Ex Machina.

joshua-verse9 This movie has a big budget look to it, and most of the actors do a pretty fantastic job, especially the male and female leads. However, it was definitely a B movie sci-fi flick, not a ground-breaking intellectual future classic.There were two very disappointing aspects that will keep me from recommending it to others. 1) The soundtrack. Oh my goodness, it was SO AWFUL. I almost turned the movie off somewhere near the beginning when it started. I think they were going for 80s synth. 2) The ending. The movie felt like it was building up to something, and then it just fizzled. It was like they either didn't know how they wanted to end it, or they ran out of money and had to wrap it up quickly. Overall it was an enjoyable movie with a rather disappointing ending.

goldencut I had heard nothing about the film before seeing it. I quite liked the mood - dark, dystopian. Blade Runner (BR) came to mind. More and more BR as it progressed. Too much BR at some point to be sincere. Also some Ghost in the shell, Resident Evil and others. Like a collage more than an original artwork. A lot of this going around lately, though. Choice of music was OK, but it felt cheesy. So much Vangelis' BR that it started to distract. Plagiarism, homage - 50/50? Sound effects, lens flare and other mood enhancers became too much after a while, characters remained shallow. Clinical, disconnected, restrained. Some things seemed illogical, like soft-shelled liquid-filled android that shows no marks after being shot at with armor-piercing bullets etc. Film felt like it never really took off. Despite all the shortcomings it was still quite enjoyable, at least for a sci-fi fan.

Finfrosk86 Even though there are some flaws with this movie, there are several moments of greatness, and it's overall good.This is made on a pretty low budget, under a million £'s. And that's not bad, because this movie looks very good. In stead of suffering from the low budget, it's more like, had it had a bigger budget, they could probably have done a lot more. What we actually get looks real good. Everything from the sets to the makeup to the effects looks nice.Caity Lotz does a pretty good job. There was one scene with her that I thought the acting was a bit iffy, but that was soon forgotten. Might even just have been me. She also has a couple of real good scenes.There's a lot of cool stuff in The Machine. I ain't no science expert, but most of the science seems relatively legit. Movie raises some interesting questions about AI and what it means to live, too. And, you know, I love Terminator 2 to death, so I guess I'm a sucker for this artificial intelligence + emotions-thing.The Machine can be compared to Ex Machina in a lot of ways, but they are also very different movies. The budget being one of the large differences, btw. Low budget sci-fi often tends to get boring, but The Machine did not bore me at all. Well played, Machine!