After Earth (2013)

A crash landing leaves Kitai Raige and his father Cypher stranded on Earth, a millennium after events forced humanity's escape. With Cypher injured, Kitai must embark on a perilous journey to signal for help.

Director:

M. Night Shyamalan

Writers:

Gary Whitta (screenplay), M. Night Shyamalan (screenplay)

Stars:

Jaden Smith, David Denman, Will Smith

3 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Jaden Smith	...	Kitai Raige
Will Smith	...	Cypher Raige
Sophie Okonedo	...	Faia Raige
Zoë Kravitz	...	Senshi Raige (as Zoë Isabella Kravitz)
Glenn Morshower	...	Commander Velan
Kristofer Hivju	...	Security Chief
Sacha Dhawan	...	Hesper Pilot
Chris Geere	...	Hesper Navigator
Diego Klattenhoff	...	Veteran Ranger
David Denman	...	Private McQuarrie
Lincoln Lewis	...	Running Cadet
Jaden Martin	...	Nine-Year-Old Kitai
Sincere L. Bobb	...	Three-Year-Old Kitai
Monika Jolly	...	Female Ranger
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Matthew Andrews	...	Flirting Cadet

Storyline

One thousand years after cataclysmic events forced humanity's escape from Earth, Nova Prime has become mankind's new home. Legendary General Cypher Raige returns from an extended tour of duty to his estranged family, ready to be a father to his 13-year-old son, Kitai. When an asteroid storm damages Cypher and Kitai's craft, they crash-land on a now unfamiliar and dangerous Earth. As his father lies dying in the cockpit, Kitai must trek across the hostile terrain to recover their rescue beacon. His whole life, Kitai has wanted nothing more than to be a soldier like his father. Today, he gets his chance.

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Plot Keywords:

box office flop | real life father and son playing father and son | fear | father son team | race against time | 

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Taglines:

Danger is real. Fear is a choice.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence and some disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Facebook [Brazil]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 May 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

1000 A.E.

Filming Locations:

Utah, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$130,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$27,520,040 (USA) (31 May 2013)

Gross:

$60,522,097 (USA) (16 August 2013)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Overbrook Entertainment, Blinding Edge Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (ACES)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kristofer Hivju, Lincoln Lewis, and Isabelle Fuhrman had major supporting roles in the original cut though the majority of their scenes were deleted during post-production (In the theatrical cut Hivju has one scene, Lewis has one line, and only the back of Fuhrman's head is visible in one shot - though her face can be seen in the trailer).

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Goofs

When Kitai climbs out of the underground river, the next shot shows the water relatively undisturbed.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Kitai Raige: I've heard stories of Earth. A paradise. Until we destroyed it.

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Connections

Featured in Nostalgia Critic: Top 11 Funniest Shyamalan Moments (2016)

User Reviews

Kitai Litter

This film is not recommended.

Father doesn't always know best, the latest result being After Earth, a vanity project that Will Smith has concocted for his son, Jaden. This wobbly sci-fi tale of survival will certainly test both Mr. and Mr. Smith's star power. Director M. Night Shyamalan, the man who continually keeps falling from grace, one film after the next, is still tumbling further from his talented beginnings, although here the director crashes and burns.

This is not to say that After Earth is hopelessly clichéd, it's just hopeless. Shymalan's well- made film has some striking imagery, mostly of panoramic vistas, but his ill-conceived screenplay (co-written with Gary Whitta) keeps this exercise in filmmaking rather earthbound. Adding to that, his main star and one of the film's producers, Papa Smith, pushes nepotism to its limits with this unoriginal dreck. (He is also given story credit for this silliness.) It's not just that this film has no Will power, it just has too much of it, both on screen and off.

Will Smith plays the fearless Cypher Raige, a no-nonsense military commando sent on a mission with his newt of a son, Kitai, played by Jaden Smith. Cypher is disappointed with his son's lack of achievement as a cadet and their relationship is a bit strained, just like the acting. The Smiths obviously look the part and act the part with the same stilted delivery. Like father, like son. Unfortunately (for us), they crash land on the apocalyptic Planet Earth. Cypher is injured with two broken legs, but pain is not an option. However a better script would have helped matters. Kitai must now go into rescue mode, wearing his amazing technicolor space suit, fighting beasts and creatures along the way to becoming a man.

On his journey of self-awareness, Kitai contends with imminent peril: giant baboons, poisonous leeches, carnivorous tigers, and such. He needs to deal with the fluctuating below-freezing temperatures and an active volcano too. Life is hard. Kitai even battles a monster called the Ursa, a predator that hunts by sensing fear. (If the creature could instead sense the smorgasbord of bad acting on its plate, the Ursa would never go hungry again.) The elder Smith underacts and speaks in annoying solemn platitudes while the younger Smith overacts in a squeaky nasal voice that only a teenager can tolerate.

The art direction is mind-numbing. The futuristic sets are bargain basement knockoffs of Disney World's Tomorrowland, circa 1960...very unimaginative with an overabundance of Rubbermaid-influenced interiors and enough flowing linen sheets to make one think that Bed, Bath, and Beyond had given the filmmakers a cut-rate deal for some product endorsements. All of the special effects are barely adequate and not the least bit compelling. After Earth has a strange lethargic listlessness throughout its short length. The film never builds any real tension or suspense. It's just so dull and unrelenting in its stupidity.

After Earth is the type of film that gives the sci-fi genre a bad name. Shyamalan and the Smiths might want to use other aliases after creating this debacle. Let's hope they refine their own survival skills when making another film. After Earth is strictly Ursa Minor.

So dear moviegoers, heed the film's tag-line: "Danger is real, Fear is a choice". You have been sufficiently warned about the real dangers in viewing After Earth...Fear not, it's still in your control. GRADE: C-