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 Phoenix Forgotten 

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 Phoenix Forgotten 
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Phoenix Forgotten is a 2017 American science-fiction psychological horror film directed by Justin Barber in his directorial debut, and written by Barber and T.S. Nowlin. The film is also produced by Nowlin, alongside Ridley Scott, Wes Ball, Courtney Solomon, and Mark Canton.

Originally advertised as Phoenix, the film tells the story of the disappearance of three teenagers who set out to find the source of the widely reported 1997 UFO phenomenon known as the "Phoenix Lights". It was released on April 21, 2017.

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Fri Apr 21, 2017 6:08 pm
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Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:11 pm
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Post Re: Phoenix Forgotten
This actually wasn't bad. Especially the first 2/3 of the movie. I found the dialogue believable, the character actions mostly made sense, the acting was fine, and I found myself quite involved in the mystery going into the final third. Then it goes into found footage cliche territory which isn't nearly as interesting as the first two thirds. It's not very scary, but works pretty well for a while as a mystery.

7/10


Tue Apr 25, 2017 10:59 am
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Post Re: Phoenix Forgotten
I enjoyed this. Far more than I expected, to be honest. It is almost two films in one, and both are satisfying. Approximately 50 minutes at the start are devoted to introducing the "Phoenix Lights" incident, a widely reported potential UFO sighting, and the film's fictional sub-mystery regarding a trio of teens who vanished in the Arizona desert shortly thereafter. This segment is slowly burning, but enigmatic and truly drew me in: I became invested in the sister's search for her long-gone brother and her family's tortured dynamic. The drama, such as it is, has certain a weight and resonance beyond just functioning as expository setup. In this regard, the film far outpaces last year's similarly plotted Blair Witch sequel-reboot. Real stranger-than-fiction details, such as the Arizona governor's initial dismissal of the extraterrestrial theories as absurd and subsequent post-gubernatorial admission he cannot explain them and indeed found them otherworldly, are also nicely woven into the scripted content.

Then there is the more traditional found-footage second half in which a day trip spirals into a fateful night of close encounters. These sequences are rather nerve-jangling due to the anxious authenticity of the performances. In general, they seem to me an example of the format done right; not wheel-reinventing, but appropriately tense and chaotic.

B+

One caveat: the film ends abruptly amid a swirl of motion and noise, which is predictable for the sub-genre and not a particularly significant problem for me. It is what it is. The shot of the camera falling from the sky is neat. BUT I wish there was an epilogue returning the present day. I believe the audience spends enough time with the adult sister for her to deserve slightly more closure, either of the horror variety (does the military let her leave the desert?) or the dramatic variety (does she show the footage to her mother and father?).

P. S. What a conscientious hiker to mail the crushed and melted camcorder to the high school. ;)

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Sat Apr 29, 2017 10:52 am
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Post Re: Phoenix Forgotten
The last 30 minutes or so saved this quite a bit for me. I understand what they were going for in the first half by trying to be different with the conspiracy theory approach, but honestly I didn't find it all that intriguing and kind of got bored with it after a while. I will say though that the acting in this film is actually pretty damn good, especially from the actors who played the missing teens. The attention to detail was nice too because it really felt like footage taking place in the late 90's with exception of that Fight The Future vhs lol. Anyways, as cliché and generic as it might be I definitely wanted see more of the actual phoenix lights encounters since that was my favorite part of the movie. They built up the tension really well in those sequences eventhough you still get the typical found-footage ending.


Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:33 pm
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