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Transcendence

  • 20142014
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 1h 59m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
227K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,040
152
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Johnny Depp in Transcendence (2014)
Dr. Will Caster, the foremost researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence, is working to create a sentient machine that combines the collective intelligence of everything ever known with the full range of human emotions. His highly controversial experiments have made him the prime target of anti-technology extremists who will do whatever it takes to stop him. In their attempt to destroy Will, they inadvertently become the catalyst for him to succeed. For his wife Evelyn and best friend Max Waters, both fellow researchers, the question is not if they can...but if they should. Their worst fears are realized as Will's thirst for knowledge evolves into a seemingly omnipresent quest for power, to what end is unknown. The only thing that is becoming terrifyingly clear is there may be no way to stop him.
Play trailer2:34
15 Videos
99+ Photos
  • Action
  • Drama
  • Sci-Fi

A scientist's drive for artificial intelligence takes on dangerous implications when his own consciousness is uploaded into one such program.A scientist's drive for artificial intelligence takes on dangerous implications when his own consciousness is uploaded into one such program.A scientist's drive for artificial intelligence takes on dangerous implications when his own consciousness is uploaded into one such program.

IMDb RATING
6.2/10
227K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,040
152
  • Director
    • Wally Pfister
  • Writer
    • Jack Paglen
  • Stars
    • Johnny Depp
    • Rebecca Hall
    • Morgan Freeman
Top credits
  • Director
    • Wally Pfister
  • Writer
    • Jack Paglen
  • Stars
    • Johnny Depp
    • Rebecca Hall
    • Morgan Freeman
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 588User reviews
    • 372Critic reviews
    • 42Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 5 nominations

    Videos15

    Trailer #2
    Trailer 2:34
    Trailer #2
    Trailer #1
    Trailer 2:29
    Trailer #1
    Transcendence
    Clip 0:50
    Transcendence
    Transcendence
    Clip 0:46
    Transcendence
    "What Is Transcendence?"
    Featurette 2:21
    "What Is Transcendence?"
    Interview
    Interview 8:16
    Interview
    Interview
    Interview 7:35
    Interview
    Interview
    Interview 5:55
    Interview
    Interview
    Interview 5:37
    Interview
    Interview
    Interview 4:28
    Interview
    Interview
    Interview 2:52
    Interview
    "Which Side Are You On?"
    Promo 0:56
    "Which Side Are You On?"

    Photos360

    Kate Mara in Transcendence (2014)
    Rebecca Hall in Transcendence (2014)
    Morgan Freeman in Transcendence (2014)
    Morgan Freeman, Paul Bettany, and Cillian Murphy in Transcendence (2014)
    Johnny Depp in Transcendence (2014)
    Rebecca Hall in Transcendence (2014)
    Cole Hauser and Cillian Murphy in Transcendence (2014)
    Cillian Murphy in Transcendence (2014)
    Kate Mara in Transcendence (2014)
    Paul Bettany in Transcendence (2014)
    Morgan Freeman and Cillian Murphy in Transcendence (2014)
    Kate Mara in Transcendence (2014)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Johnny Depp
    Johnny Depp
    • Will Casteras Will Caster
    Rebecca Hall
    Rebecca Hall
    • Evelyn Casteras Evelyn Caster
    Morgan Freeman
    Morgan Freeman
    • Joseph Taggeras Joseph Tagger
    Cillian Murphy
    Cillian Murphy
    • Agent Buchananas Agent Buchanan
    Paul Bettany
    Paul Bettany
    • Max Watersas Max Waters
    Kate Mara
    Kate Mara
    • Breeas Bree
    Cole Hauser
    Cole Hauser
    • Colonel Stevensas Colonel Stevens
    Clifton Collins Jr.
    Clifton Collins Jr.
    • Martinas Martin
    Cory Hardrict
    Cory Hardrict
    • Joel Edmundas Joel Edmund
    Falk Hentschel
    Falk Hentschel
    • Bobas Bob
    Josh Stewart
    Josh Stewart
    • Paulas Paul
    Luce Rains
    Luce Rains
    • Rogeras Roger
    Fernando Chien
    Fernando Chien
    • Hengas Heng
    Steven Liu
    • Chiuas Chiu
    Xander Berkeley
    Xander Berkeley
    • Dr. Thomas Caseyas Dr. Thomas Casey
    Lukas Haas
    Lukas Haas
    • James Thomasas James Thomas
    Wallace Langham
    Wallace Langham
    • Dr. Straussas Dr. Strauss
    James Burnett
    • Meth Head #1as Meth Head #1
    • Director
      • Wally Pfister
    • Writer
      • Jack Paglen
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit
    Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) is the foremost researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence, working to create a sentient machine that combines the collective intelligence of everything ever known with the full range of human emotions. His highly controversial experiments have made him famous, but they have also made him the prime target of anti-technology extremists who will do whatever it takes to stop him. However, in their attempt to destroy Will, they inadvertently become the catalyst for him to succeed-to be a participant in his own transcendence. For his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and best friend Max Waters (Paul Bettany), both fellow researchers, the question is not if they can...but if they should. Their worst fears are realized as Will's thirst for knowledge evolves into a seemingly omnipresent quest for power, to what end is unknown. The only thing that is becoming terrifyingly clear is there may be no way to stop him. —Warner Bros.
    • scientist
    • artificial intelligence
    • technology
    • power outage
    • mind upload
    • 130 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Taglines
      • What if a new intelligence was born?
    • Genres
      • Action
      • Drama
      • Sci-Fi
      • Thriller
    • Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
      • Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, some bloody images, brief strong language and sensuality
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Christopher Nolan had eyed the project for some time while finishing up The Dark Knight Rises (2012) before taking on Interstellar (2014), believing Transcendence was "perfect" for Wally Pfister's debut as a director.
    • Goofs
      Will Caster is killed by the highly toxic radio-active element, Polonium (the same one used to murder Alexander Litvinenko in true-life in 2006). Despite its toxicity (scientists estimate that 1 gram could kill 50 million people), his wife and friends are allowed to remain with him in close proximity until his death. Whilst intact skin is actually a barrier to the passage of alpha radiation particles to a nearby person (so we could let them off this goof), we later see Caster's cremated ashes being tossed into the breeze above a river for all to breath in. These are hardly actions that any homeland security or radiation expert would conceivably have allowed to happen.
    • Quotes

      Will Caster: For 130,000 years, our capacity to reason has remained unchanged. The combined intellect of the neuroscientists, mathematicians and... hackers... in this auditoirum pales in comparison to the most basic A.I. Once online, a sentient machine will quickly overcome the limits of biology. And in a short time, its analytic power will become greater than the collective intelligence of every person born in the history of the world. So imagine such an entity with a full range of human emotion. Even self-awareness. Some scientists refer to this as "the Singularity." I call it "Transcendence."

    • Connections
      Featured in Half in the Bag: Transcendence and the Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
    • Soundtracks
      Genesis
      Written by Jorma Kaukonen

      Performed by Jorma Kaukonen

      Courtesy of RCA Records

      By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

    User reviews588

    Review
    Top review
    6/10
    Exceptionally good at many things, superb at nothing
    Critics and wannabe critics alike really lashed into this one. And I guess I have them to thank for me liking (not loving) this movie, as they lowered my standards significantly before I walked into the theater. Like them, my expectations were sky-high. I figured since Wally Pfister has been Christopher Nolan's cinematographer since 2000's Memento, maybe some sort of slow-release genius-osmosis had taken place, and Transcendence would be a stellar thriller/head- scratcher like we've come to expect from Nolan. Well, the cold hard fact is that it's not. But it sure isn't terrible.

    As scientists are on the verge of a new breakthrough in A.I. technology, a rouge terrorist group known as RIFT begins knocking off labs around the country. One of their antics is the assassination, by radioactive poisoning, of scientist Dr. Will Caster. As his body slowly deteriorates, his wife and his partner work frantically work on a way to upload his mind to a computer, thus allowing him to continue his research. And as anyone could've guessed, the plan goes completely to hell.

    Transcendence is not excellent, but it's also not the travesty that reviews from people more reputable than me are calling it. The main problem is the script. An excellent script can make you buy into even the most ridiculous of plots, but first-time-writer Jack Paglen's script never finds a constant tone, is unevenly paced, has underdeveloped side plots, and keeps you at arm's length from any connection with the characters and the story. In other words, it doesn't raise up any concerns or ideas we haven't already seen, and the shallowness of the script gives you plenty of time to question the incongruence of the story.

    Other than that, Transcendence is pretty good. Pfister's direction is expedient, and he avoids the jumpy camera syndrome that typically plagues these kinds of movies. In fact I was even getting trappings of Chris Nolan's directing style at times (is it just me?). The ensemble performance from the cast is solid. The cast list may look like Nolan's leftovers, but they do an excellent job, and they make better use of the paltry script than I thought possible. Even though Pfister was behind the camera and not the cinematographer, you think he was going to let his baby look mundane? While not as gorgeous as, say Inception, Jess Hall hits it home and makes Transcendence look properly futuristic while still squeezing in some contrasting elements of nature in almost every frame.

    Does 6 stars seem too high? I don't think so. In my mind, 10=revolutionary, 9=excellent, 8=very good, 7=pretty good and 6=jusk OK. An airtight script that rises up to the challenge was all that was needed to make Transcendence truly, um, transcendent. But it doesn't, and the lackluster script affects every other technical aspect of this film like a virus, and makes Transcendence a pretty- to-look-at popcorn movie. I know this is Wally Pfister's first time in the director's chair, but I still feel he was capable of making a film more nuanced than this.
    helpful•390
    130
    • Joe_Chadowski
    • Apr 19, 2014

    FAQ3

    • What does the last garden scene represent?
    • How did Max upload virus in Evelyn? Did he have access to Nano Technology?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 18, 2014 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • China
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Warner Bros. (United States)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Trí Tuệ Siêu Việt
    • Filming locations
      • Belen, New Mexico, USA
    • Production companies
      • Alcon Entertainment
      • DMG Entertainment
      • Straight Up Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $100,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $23,022,309
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $10,886,386
      • Apr 20, 2014
    • Gross worldwide
      • $103,039,258
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 59 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • SDDS
      • Datasat
      • Dolby Digital
      • Dolby Atmos
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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