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5 comments about Idaho Transfer.

1. I first saw this movie about 10 years ago on video and was amazed at how affecting it was. This low-budget sci-fi shocker is about a group of college kids who transport themselves 50+ years into the future and discover that mankind has been wiped out by some sort of natural disaster. Watching it again recently on DVD, I was stuck by the fact that it doesn't seem that out of date. The early 70's fashions are now back in style, so the kids seem appropriately hip, the special effects (while minimal) are realistic, the cinematography is quite good, and the music was certainly ahead of its time. A soundtrack of the film would be interesting mood music. My only complaint is the quality of the disc - looks like someone burned a copy of an old VHS tape right onto DVD. But, since this is the only way to see it (for now), I'll let it slide. This movie has several memorable scenes, including a "transfer" gone bad, the discovery of an abandoned railroad train, and the ending, which seems even more ironic today. If you're a fan of intelligent cinema and don't need to be stimulated constantly by lots of action and violence, then this movie is for you. If not, go rent "The Matrix".



2. Ironically, this film IS about armaggedon, but it is acted, filmed, directed and scored in a diametrically opposed style to the dumb, budget-bloated garbage of today. Incredibly subtle, disturbing and visually spectacular, this forgotten masterpiece is ostensibly about the environment, ecology, and the total consumption of our natural resources---but it has a lot more than that to say.
   It ultimately leaves you with an existentialist viewpoint, stated clearly in one character's speech regarding the bleakness of the future and how the self-important idea of the propogation of the human species is, frankly, a crock. An utter masterpiece.



3. If you're looking for explosions, lasergun battles, or alien spaceships, forget it! IDAHO TRANSFER has none of the trademark sci-fi trappings. What it does have is an excellent story and a terrific actress (Kelly Bohanon as Karen) in the lead. Karen is caught in the middle of a time-travel experiment that proves to be one horrific experience! I like this one a lot. It has that 2001 / PHASE IV atmosphere going on. The ending is bizarre and abrupt, and may leave a lot of viewers unsatisfied. This is especially true if all movies must end happily w/ no loose ends. I watched it w/ someone who absolutely hated the whole thing! I'll watch it again without them...



4. This was a deeply disappointing video in so many ways!
   
   (1) Poor transfer quality - The DVD looks like a videotape.
   (2) Plot was disconnected and rambling with a complete plot failure at the ending.
   (3) No special effects budget and it shows!
   (4) The plot was full of holes.
   (5) Amateurish acting - Varying from wooden and stiff to over-emoting some of the scenes.
   
   I appreciated the obligatory panty shots of the starlets, but that's not enough to save this movie. The real shame was that some of the holes in the plot were so raw and gaping that I couldn't connect with the movie at all.
   
   Here are some of the most dreadful plot holes:
   
   (1) Why in the hell did they put the future transfer station in the middle of barren ancient lava fields in Idaho? If the whole point was to "save the human race" by sending some young people forward past the "catastrophe" why not locate the transfer station near a place with water and soil instead of rocks. They don't even pretend the future transfer station is located at the same geographic place as the lab - So that's not the reason or the limitation.
   
   (2) I can accept the dark irony of these young people being sterilized by the transfer so they cannot "save the human race". The whole premise of the movie is some near future cataclysm wiped out most people (apparently turned them to dust?) and left the survivors severely mentally retarded. And these young people are supposed to repopulate the earth. But couldn't the writer come up with some explanation of what that catastrophe was? - It's just the central premise of the movie!
   
   (3) The ending just plain blew chunks! What was the writer or director trying to convey in the final scene? Are they trying to say that the survivors in the farther future are picking up people who just happen to wander by and are using them for fuel for their car? Give me a break - The matrix this is not! This future family out for a drive didn't hunt or lay a trap. They just picked up a gal that dragged herself near the road and couldn't go on. Yeah, you can count on that happening every day or two - NOT!
   
   (4) The tagline on the case "Can the ideals of the past save the future?" Is some publicist's wet dream? It doesn't match the movie at all! Which "Ideals of the past" are we talking about - Is it the gal who goes nuts and kills her companions when she stays at the future transfer station? Is it the bitchey gal who refuses to read her dad's letters from the past to find out what happened? Is it the traveling hippy pair we see early in the movie? - Say, maybe the idiot children are theirs?
   
   By the way, for some reason the female characters all seemed to favor each other to the point I had some trouble telling the characters apart. I'm guessing Mr. Peter Fonda liked girls that looked that way. Couldn't we have had a little variety? The guys were more varied.



5. I watched this movie and it stuck with me for several hours. Since I remember the energy crisis back in the '70s, when this film was done, I picked up on a number of cultural references of the time. Not to mention we again have the same sort of problems going on today with high fuel costs.
   
   And since I'm an English major, this allowed me to dissect the story line and pick on several references that explain the end. The frightening final use for the transfer system for instance. The people found in the rail cars and the deaf girl the group found, are all clues to the final scene.
   
   What I did find annoying was no clear reference to what happened to create such a world nor the fate of what happened to the rest of the group heading for the coast.
   
   Finally, the film was an interesting experiment and could be used as an exercise in story telling for classes. I would recommend it for anyone who likes to think about visual images and story lines.

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2 comments about Frank Patterson - Ireland In Song.

1. .
   As I indicated on my original CD review (Ireland in Song - CD) dated May 13, 2000, I have been waiting for this DVD ever since I watched it on PBS six years ago. The DVD version of this CD is finally here. Kudos to Kultur, they are releasing the DVD version on February 28, 2006.
   
   As of this writing, the song listing is not available from Amazon. I will list them below:
   
   01. Maggie
   02. Galway Bay
   03. Little Bridget Flynn
   04. The Fields of Athenry
   05. The Mason's Apron (The Cassidys)
   06. My Irish Molly O (Frank with The Cassidys)
   07. Tipperary So Rare
   08. The Last Rose of Summer (Eanan Patterson)
   09. An Irish Lullaby (Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral) (with Eily O'Grady)
   10. The Marino Waltz (Eanan Patterson)
   11. Lady of Knock
   12. Red Sails in the Sunset
   13. Away from the Roll of the Sea
   14. Memory (from "Cats")
   15. Danny Boy
   16. How Great Thou Art
   
   My only gripe with this DVD is that subtitle or lyrics is not provided. I would love to sing along and is one feature I hope this DVD will include and should include. Besides from this ONE missing feature, it is still highly recommended. My comments from my original CD review still hold true today.



2. Ireland's Golden tenor lives on in this this dazzling show of scenes of the Emerald Isle with Patterson's sweet Irish songs being sung beautifully and with passion as he always sang. What a loss that he died. But how great to have his recordings still available to see and hear. Fabulous.