Emulation (2010) Poster

(2010)

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1/10
poorly made student film
wsmith8014 July 2012
All the other reviewers and raters have got to be involved with the movie. To say this movie is made by amateurs would be an understatement. The scenes seem like they were all filmed at friends homes and the university were these kids probably attend. I can understand and forgive the obviously low budget that this movie was made on.

What I can't forgive was the terrible acting, writing and directing. Seriously it looks like all the actors were the director/lead actors friends or perhaps fellow classmates who could provide a camera, maybe some editing or just a warm body.

The acting and writing were sub par for even a student film. I would only recommend it to other student film makers as a study in what not to do. Film making like most everything else requires a lot of forethought planning, rewrites, story boarding, actual casting etc before filming the first scene. It's not just hey I have an idea and lets start shooting. Have some respect the the medium.
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1/10
Worst Action Movie of all Time
candacem-214 July 2012
This movie was complete drivel from the week plot, terrible acting and schizophrenic directing. Quite frankly I am surprised that it has a high rating though assume the people who made this blackmailed their family and friends to give it a good rating. Do yourself a favour and watch anything made by kids in your local neighborhood with a cell phone as it is likely to be more interesting than this movie.

A note to the writers of this movie: Just because you have an idea for a story it does not mean that it should be made into a movie. Maybe run your ideas past someone not related to you first so that they can tell you to head back to the drawing board.
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1/10
No Budget Home Movie Flops as Wannabee Motion Picture
JJMcJames28 July 2013
A lot of the other reviewers (as of July 2013) are lying through their teeth about this being a quality, exciting, well acted or well directed film. Truth is that this film is an example of novice film making gone awry. Although the general idea for the plot is creative, the film's use of non-actors in major character roles, its novice level direction, along with its very poor editing make this film as one that is almost entirely impossible to get through without fast forwarding and skipping scenes altogether. But, the question I ask myself is whether it's the worst movie I've ever seen??? My honest answer is a solid, unequivocal Yes.

Nevertheless, I do congratulate the kid who tried to pull this off simply for his courage to try to do so. However, I after shooting first scene or two I have to fault him for his time wasting foolishness for thinking that this film was going to turn out being anything but a complete and total failure.

Any producer/director worth his salt would know when to fold up the production and patiently wait until the film could resume with competent actors and production staff. I'd assume that the kid who made this film was well aware shortly after filming began that it was going to be a failure but was too intimidated by the thought of having to tell his friends and family that he needed to replace them. It's a hard thing to tell a friend, who has put a lot of time and effort into helping you fulfill a dream, that their efforts diminish the value of the film's quality, but that's the price of the leadership role you have assumed in trying to make this movie.

If I were the producer/director of this film and had any aspirations of making it in the film industry, the first thing I would do is to ensure that every copy is destroyed and pulled from the internet so that no one in the film business could ever see it in the future and form a derogatory opinion of me when considering me for film work. It's simply a shame that it's been registered on IMDb because it's now more difficult to hide it. This is not a film making effort to be proud of, but is instead one to take a hard look at evaluate the reasoning and causality behind its criticisms and simply learn from it. I'd also ask my friends and family who posted those overtly enthusiastic reviews to go back and correct them with what they really think of the film.
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1/10
deja vu all over again
yfrank14-651-2531409 October 2014
Warning: Spoilers
and now for a review that was not written by the director's mother. If you feel like you have seen this movie before, you watched the movie "the game". I knew what was going to happen, because the game already did it. unfortunately, this movie is very bad and very unbelievable. the FBI agents are, maybe, 20 years old. the suspect escapes from a detention room with a paper clip and a rubber band. the FBI left a paper clip and a rubber band in the room. suspect escapes from the detention faculty by pulling a fire alarm. a person manages to film the suspect, including from an assassins car, and not be seen by the suspect. or the assassin. the suspect calls a radio show and says he is a hostage and they are heading to a bridge, and the FBI falls for it. the lead bad guy rigs a building with explosives before he knew his main plan would be thwarted and he would need the building to be rigged to explode. the lead bad guy orders his minion to handcuff the suspect to a pole. minion duct tapes his hands. suspect was duct taped so it would appear he shot the FBI agent and threw a girl off a roof and called the FBI. while his hands were duct taped. i cant tell you the ending, but lets just say the main character realizes he was used, set up, lied to. this is all confirmed by the person who set him up. and the main character never hits him. i think i can safely say any one of us would have beaten him with a chair.

SPOILER ALERT

the whole thing was a TV show. everybody was watching. but the suspect never saw the show? his own mother did not tell him? he watched the news several times, listened to the radio, and never heard of ,or saw the show? no one that he ran by ever said "dude, you are on TV"?
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10/10
Excellent, must see
Pbearjar18 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
From the very beginning, Emulation is packed with action, excitement, and deep suspense. Although the up and down adventure slows at points to develop, it is consistently well thought out and entertaining. At no point is there any boring or unnecessary filler. Emulation's many elements of reality really pull the viewer in to the storyline, giving the feeling this could all really happen. The emotions and reactions of Noah throughout the movie seem very accurate and human. Multiple viewpoints of nearly all the characters keep the viewer guessing on their true position in Noah's journey. Through many twists and turns, it builds up to a fantastic climatic ending.
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6/10
Good plot but you cannot take it seriously...
antcasq22 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I watched the movie last night and I've to say that the plot was great. Its a mix of "The Game" and a bit of "Total Recall". So I must congratulate the writer for that.

From my point of view, the big problem with this movie is just that from the beginning you will not believe that the story is real, because the actors chosen to be the FBI are just to young. An the escape for the police detention facility is just TOO EASY.

The performance of the main character is awesome but the support actors not that great. The girlfriend is just unbelievable, she does show any emotion at all...

So to sum it up, congratulations Tom Getty. Don't get me wrong, I like your performance like I said, but the movie needs a remake with another actors to meet it's full potential.
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8/10
Wonderfully executed
calbruin217 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I have seen numerous expensive produced Hollywood movies that are crap compared to this modest collegiate production.

When the audience gets beyond the non-Hollywood production, then they can focus on the story. A good idea explored to a logical end without the un-necessary backstory.

The acting was good. Nothing took me out of movie.

(For those who may argue wanting "realism" in their movies i.e. think the college actors were too young to play their roles, you seriously think that Daniel Craig looks like he could play a real James Bond? Or, better yet, you have no problem with actors in their 20s playing high- schoolers or middle school teens.)

Two criticisms

• Could have done without the love-interest subplot. The IM exchanges are acceptable and I follow their how necessary to the plot. The motivation to rescue the damsel in distress is an unclear cliché with which _I_ have a problem.

• (Discussion of second point of criticism involves SPOILERS.)
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8/10
Solid thriller
luke5207-409-47970326 July 2012
Saw this one at the Barebones International Film Festival in Oklahoma and have to say the director did a good job doing a throwback to 90s conspiracy thrillers like The Game and Total Recall. I'm eager to see what comes next from him.

Lots of interesting twists and turns. As a whole it was very tightly constructed, not a slow moment throughout. Also makes great use of locations in Pittsburgh.

Very entertaining. Tom Getty displays incredible potential and has action scene smarts. Despite budgetary restrictions, the set pieces were still incredibly impressive
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10/10
Great from beginning to end!
kaphriends4 December 2010
This movie kept my attention all the way through, lots of twists and turns, just the way I like them. And the actors were fantastic! I was really believing what was going on and couldn't wait until the next part to see what was going to happen. The action scenes were extremely well executed. I was fooled more than once by this movie. Looking forward to seeing a movie that has the ability to have sequels. That would be great! Anyone who likes an action packed thriller will be interested in seeing this movie. Way to go cast on putting together a terrific flick with a well thought out plot and amazing ending. Well directed, can't wait to see more!!
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8/10
A filmmaker's vision executed to perfection
william-lusk19 July 2012
After watching this movie, I couldn't believe it was made by a college student. Each scene was a well-crafted display of the director's vision. This film is the culmination of high-quality cinematography, editing, music, and special effects. To say that this is a well-thought out and well-executed film is an understatement. It is the product of a future star.

The most impressive part of this movie is that Thomas Getty started with a vision and turned it into a final product that displays his skill and creativity while providing entertainment value. Not many people are capable of matching that feat.
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10/10
The twists keep coming!
crh131-897-20058014 November 2010
This film was entertaining, thought provoking and surprising from the start! You immediately get to see, and relate to the lonely and bored with life main character, Noah. The film takes him through what was supposed to be an entertaining night using a new concept, to a fight for his life! For an independent film, the action shots are breath taking. I was on the edge of my seat until the very last scene wondering how it was going to end for this somewhat naive and sheltered character who was thrust in circumstances and craziness beyond his control. Noah learns the hard way that life and the movies, aren't always what they claim to be.
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8/10
A very solid movie done with next to no budget.
casablancavic25 January 2019
This is the second movie I've watched from writer/director/actor/producer Tom Getty and while there are major consistent continuity problems, due to weather and clips from other videos he borrowed stock footage from, and yes - there are also some flaws in the story and plot, it still is a solid film.

Done on a super small budget - over a period of several years - I find this top notch.

As far as I'm concerned, if the minor flaws were not there and the entire cameras being all over the place idea actually made a little more sense with the way it was shot, then I would probably rate it a 10.

As far as I'm concerned, with a bigger budget and better editing and maybe another writer on hand to really go over some of the ideas, this would be a winner in the entire production - those few things saddly brought this production down - but that's not a bad thing.

His genius to create, direct, film and produce and market his scripts to completion is just remarkable - and that is something that thousands of directors and producers can not do half as good with a budget over over $60 million dollars.

Even with the problems which arose, it still kept me invest in watching to the end without wanting to turn it off - and many many many other film don't do that.

When I realize that the amount of effort it takes to complete this all, those few problems are nothing that I can't overlook.

This and America Has Fallen is just amazing - deemed his budgets are really under $8000.

That is some crafty work and more film makers should take a lesson from this guy, because this is top-notch work as far as I'm concerned.

Problems aside, I wish this guy plenty of prosperity with making his films in the coming years, because it just shows how talented he is and how he can do things like this - while Tom Cruise and George Clooney require hundreds of millions of dollars to make something that doesn't stand up to this at all, not keep me interested.

No, I don't know the writer or director in any capacity - nor am I a co-worker or student at his school, but after seeing his stuff - I would certainly love to meet and work with him - because he shows the skills that so many other film makers have either never picked up on, or have forgotten of they ever did know it.

Awesome work guys.

Looking forward to your upcoming work...hopefully you will have a bigger budget to work with, because I would love to see what kind of magic you can do with it.
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10/10
A must see thriller!
erdabbs11 February 2014
Coming from someone that will never be considered a "movie buff", this picture had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end! Getty remarkably portrays a character that gets much more than he bargained for when he desires to live his life through the twists and turns of a movie. I could really see the fear in Noah (Getty) as he suddenly becomes the subject of a nationwide manhunt, unsure of who he can trust or how to clear his name.

With many twists and turns throughout, you will have no idea what to expect. Trust me when I say that when Getty eventually becomes a well known and respected name in the Hollywood community, this will be a movie that helped catapult him to his success. I personally cannot wait to see "Rising Fear", which I've heard to be Getty's next film!

In short, watch this film and enjoy the ride. You will not be disappointed!!
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