Yes, the concept will seem quite familiar to anyone who is a fan of either Ghost In The Shell or Tetsuo: The Iron Man - both of which seem to be obvious visual touchpoints - but something being a bit familiar doesn't mean it can't also be good. Such is the case with Matthew Santoro's Offline, a classically styled cyberpunk film that looks to overcome some obvious budget limits with limitless imagination. And who is Santoro? He was a visual effects man for Alien Versus Predator: Requiem, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and designed the title credits for Cutting Room so the man's skills have clearly been recognized in Hollywood, though with his directorial debut he seems to be going another direction entirely. It's a bit apocalypse, a bit virtual reality, a bit ghost-in-the-machine and all of it very impressive. Check the trailer below the break.
O F F L I N E from Matthew Santoro on Vimeo.
the trailer has a lot of energy, maybe a bit to much...reminded me of that obnoxious 'rubberboy' video mixed with "The Cell".
still, hopeful that there's other cyberpunk projects out there, proving that "the matrix" did not stunt further growth of the genre. we'll see.
yuck, looks awful...like a computer game cut-scene.
would not look out of place in 'splinter cell'
Would be nice to see a less edited trailer so you can get a better feel for the movie.
The time for the cyberpunk genre is long over. We are all living cyberpunk right now, surfing the internet and using our multifunctional cels and other assorted gadgets. Pretty much everything from those books of the 80ies has already become part of our daily lives in one way or another. I still appreciate a good cyberpunk story once in a while but for the nostalgia value and not as actual science fiction.
This isn't a trailer but a promo reel desined to get financial backing for a real film:
http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/06/05/the-trailer-for-matthew-santoros-sci-fi-horror-film-offline
Looks awesome. I'm a total sucker for cyberpunk, but I don't think I totally agree with Catepillar. Although we may be living on the cusp of the dream, we are nowhere close to living the 'whole' dream. And to me, cyberpunk is only part sci-fi and is largely a 'style' like steampunk is. It has a palpable look and feel, which this has in spades.
Low budget or not, this looks totally watchable. Count me in!
I am with LT on this one. Cyberpunk is much less about the actual technology than the feel of the surroundings that technology offers. Cyberpunk has been around a lot longer than the 80s and has yet to be sloughed off as meaningless yet.
Agree with LT Roberts and hope to be continually updated on this project
It all goes back to story and character, if those are solid and well told then any of the familiar cinematic scenarios be it western, alternate earth or cyberpunk can offer a compelling viewing experience. Sure the technology of today may have caught up to certain cyber-punk cliches but unless I missed the Gizmodo or Engadget post where I can now download/upload the contents of another person's brain and life experiences or control a cybernetic organism with my mind then this is still future tech, and yes you've made say, the future is now, yadda, yadda. All that being said this movie looks a lot like Oshii's Avalon. Which is all right by me, bring it on.
I just hope this trailer represents the actual style of the film (especially the editing). And of course, talking cyberpunk, it all comes down to style over substance. Screw plot and characters, metal and industrial sounds is what it's all about.
Great Editing! A little bit too long, but respect for the editor!
Cyberpunk is not dead. Those who think the concepts of cyberpunk have been fulfilled simply because we have internet phones and fast computers are missing the point. A common theme of cyberpunk is the melding of man and technology and the social repercussions, a path that we have just started to follow and a concept that we have just started to come to grips with as a society. Cyberpunk authors have been remarkably prescient, and not all of their predictions have yet been realized. And, as far as films go, gotadventure is right when he says story and character are essential. A younger friend of mine read "Neuromancer" recently for the first time and told me he enjoyed it and felt it wasn't dated 25 years after it was first printed. Cyberpunk with a good script could certainly work today.