Cube²: Hypercube (2002)

Eight strangers awaken with no memory, in a puzzling cube-shaped room where the laws of physics do not always apply.

Director:

Andrzej Sekula

Writers:

Sean Hood (story), Sean Hood (screenplay)

Stars:

Kari Matchett, Geraint Wyn Davies, Grace Lynn Kung

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Kari Matchett	...	Kate Filmore
Geraint Wyn Davies	...	Simon Grady
Grace Lynn Kung	...	Sasha
Matthew Ferguson	...	Max Reisler
Neil Crone	...	Jerry Whitehall
Barbara Gordon	...	Mrs. Paley
Lindsey Connell	...	Julia
Greer Kent	...	Becky Young
Bruce Gray	...	Colonel Thomas H. Maguire
Philip Akin	...	The General
Paul Robbins	...	Tracton
Andrew Scorer	...	Dr. Phil Rosenzweig

Storyline

Eight strangers find themselves waking up in a strange cube-shaped room with no recollection of how they came to be there. Soon discovering that they're in a strange fourth dimension where our laws of physics don't apply, they have to unravel the secrets of the "hypercube" in order to survive...

---

Plot Keywords:

hypercube | overhead camera shot | writing on skin | falling up | calculus equation | 

---

Taglines:

Welcome to a new dimension in fear

---

Genres:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some violence and brief nudity

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 April 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cube²: Hypercube

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ghost Logic, Lions Gate Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Used a similar staging method as the first film. The Cube was a single set consisting of identical panels for the walls and the floor (in some shots it was a green screen). For the previous movie, the crew clamped large lighting gels to the outer frame of the set so they could change the color scheme, but the all-white high-tech color scheme of this film simplified the lighting, and all they had to do to change the set in regards to what room they wanted to depict was to write on the walls with a grease pen and position certain props necessary to the plot. Some shots required the use of a green screen, especially when any door was opening. Some scenes used a full box to depict the room, but it was always the same set, just modified with extra panels.

---

Goofs

The cube Jerry draws on the wall changes between shots.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Colonel Thomas H. Maguire: [Maguire opens the portal to a new room, but ignores the room to look at the sides of the portal] Numbers. Where's the goddamn numbers?
[the portal closes before he can decide what to do]
Colonel Thomas H. Maguire: Oh God, oh God. There has to be something.
[He opens the briefcase, but it does not hold whatever he was looking for]
Colonel Thomas H. Maguire: Oh, shit. Goddamn it! Goddamn it! I mean, they're my numbers! Damn. Don't I at least get a shot at my numbers, you stupid fucks? I want a chance! God. I want a chance. God. I want a ...

---

Connections

Referenced in Yes Man (2008)

---

Soundtracks

I No You
Written and performed by Kas Dunn
Published by Eat Entertainment

User Reviews

You still have to watch it!

Since most reviews here are damningly negative of Cube 2, I feel I have to post one opposing view, just so that possible fans won't skip this film altogether. Yes, the characters are rather stereotypical, and basically imported directly from Cube 1, but there is enough mystery about some of them to make you wonder about their real motives and/or origins. I personally think the effects and visuals (the cube) look wonderful. But maybe it's just cos I was brought up on things like Doctor Who and Blakes 7!

The mathematics and physics behind the cube remain intriguing throughout the film, as you gradually learn how the work in the cube. My interest was retained despite the fact that I was already very familiar with the concept of a 4-dimensional cube (`hypercube') and some theories about how they might `appear' to someone inside them. On the other hand, maybe this is why I was intrigued - to see how they translated these theories into a film (answer: very intelligently). I think that the script writers managed very well to combine interesting evolving inter-personal dynamics with the bizarre realities of physics (time and 4 dimensions).

Although the film was very similar in some ways to Cube 1, it was cunningly different in others. For example, the numbers identifying the rooms, vital to the progression of the first film, were in some ways a red herring in the second. I am somewhat ambivalent about the ending. I think it was acceptable, if you caught what happened exactly (I've only seen one review here (Sareji's) which seemed to actually catch what happened at the end), but as others have pointed out, it lacks the much deeper and fascinating metaphorical meaning about society and individual responsibility.

Although slightly flawed, this is an intelligent and unusual film, and, I think, deserves to be seen, but only after Cube 1, because it plays with some of the viewers expectations, and extends on many of the ideas of the first film.