Cosmos (2019) Poster

(I) (2019)

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7/10
Great Flick, Awesome Look from another view
wlwhited99 November 2019
First of all, Cosmos is a masterclass on low budget high production value. It's awesome seeing what they talk about from a whole new view scape. Yes it's not paced to the best of it's ability and some time could be cut out easily, but once things finally kick off, it's actually a great Flick with some heart pounding scenes. They have obvious influences and wanted to set a tone based on those influences, and I think they nailed it. Definitely worth a watch especially for any space lovers.
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7/10
Stick with it.
smith78-928-6339488 November 2019
If you can get through the really slow parts, it is a pleasant surprise.
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7/10
Cosmos
henry8-327 December 2021
3 astronomers go out to study the stars in the middle of nowhere at night. Suddenly they start picking up a strange signal.

If you were going to make Close Encounters and you had no money, this is how you'd do it. Most of the film is set in the woods at night and in the Volvo where they keep their equipment. Hard to believe how exciting this film becomes and how much tension can be generated through 3 guys tapping away at screens and discussing what might be out there. The film even manages to generate a palm sweaty last 10 minutes and a quite impressive climax given the zero budget. An impressive and intelligent sci-fi adventure.
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6/10
Color me impressed...
paul_haakonsen18 July 2020
I stumbled upon this 2019 movie titled "Cosmos" here in 2020. I hadn't heard about it, so I didn't know what it was about. And usually I am not one to delve headfirst into anything sci-fi as it is not my favorite genre, but I read the synopsis for writers and directors Elliot Weaver and Zander Weaver movie and found it to sound like it could be interesting enough. So I sat down to watch it.

And I was entertained by what "Cosmos" turned out to be. Sure, there wasn't actually a whole lot of things happening throughout the course of the movie, so "Cosmos" might not just have an overall appeal to everyone in the audience. However, the storyline turned out to be compelling enough and the the casted actors really carried the movie phenomenally.

The storyline in "Cosmos" is straight forward, and some might say it is on the boring side of the axis, but to each their own. Personally, I didn't find the storyline to be dull or boring at anytime throughout the course of the movie, and I will be the first to say that the movie wasn't packed with action or much of anything happening. This was essentially just three guys sitting in a crammed car, scanning the night sky for signs of extraterrestrial life.

But directors Elliot Weaver and Zander Weaver made something grand and enjoyable out of very little. So thumbs up on that achievement.

I can warmly recommend that you sit down and watch "Cosmos", especially if you have just an ounce of interest in the greater galaxy at large beyond our little planet.

My rating of "Cosmos" lands on a well-deserved six out of ten stars.
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5/10
Fun..Until Stupidity Set In
austincope-2037819 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Great acting and a very interesting story. Too bad, after making the greatest discovery and their battery dying ( no convertor from the car to all their equipment) and with only 20 minutes before all they have taped is wiped out.....they now start to deliberate on packing their equipment or leave to save their evidence. Wow....that was just plain stupid and ruined the whole movie. Just too much stupidity for me. Screw your equipment. With what you just captured on tape would be worth unftold amounts, but your worried about tripods and one telescope you can go back and pick up later?????
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7/10
Impressive Indie fare
chintones8 November 2019
With a crew of about a dozen people, these guys put together a good film. Acting was great all around, cinematography in cramped spaces worked, writing and reveals were well done. My only complaint is that the editing could have been tighter and would have helped the first half of the film. Kudos to the filmmakers and well worth a watch!
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3/10
In all honesty...
JKolman24 May 2020
The film has a 2h9m runtime. They could have shaved this significantly if they had just trimmed a few scenes of the characters staring fondly at each other. Honestly, the last ten minutes of the film is basically state up at the sky, now look at each other, now back at the sky, now have one guy look at another guy while the others stare at the sky, repeat.

The music is trying to force the emotion at the end instead of actually providing a payoff. Play the movie with the sound off and it's just some people staring at a lens flare. It's quite comical.

It's obvious the movie was made with some care, but the pacing is awful.
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8/10
Sometimes cynicism goes too far...
mail-553-8208918 November 2019
The film is certainly slow, but it's hardly a problem when the makers of a movie want to take their time in portraying their vision. I have little affection for those who want a "flash, bang" type of movie, usually indicating that they have little sense of story and instead seek a visual spectacular, all too often mindless. This isn't a film for them, and it clearly isn't intended to be. It is a low budget movie with an actual story, and I see no reason why the makers should be expected to apologise for that. It's a story of people, and their search for something outside themselves, and to their utter amazement they find it. Simple, clean and well worth watching. If you don't like it then so be it, but don't indulge in cries of "fake reviews" or other similar mindless attention-seeking refrains. It is a film that I watched from start to finish with fascination, and there are precious few films I bother to pay that sort of attention to these days. If you want a story well told, with people who are real and have their own foibles then I suggest you watch it and make up your own mind, rather than "follow the herd" in decrying what isn't to your taste. You may be pleasantly surprised
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6/10
Decent Movie for budget
bderek-225349 November 2019
This was a decent film, but could have been much better. I thought the film was a little to long and there were parts that should have been cut out. maybe made the film around 1.40 mins.

I liked how the guys started out a little distant and as the film progressed you really felt their friendship coming out. I loved the music and felt the film heartwarming between the characters.

It sort of made me feel like thinking about lost friendships and memories i cherish.

Their was a little frustration at certain parts which did not really need to be there and seemed to stopped the film from moving forward with petty scenes.

I sort of wanted to fast forward to get over the scene.

The last 30 mins like most films was really good and kept you on your seat towards the ending which pulled on your heartstrings.

Overall the film was nicely done and i enjoyed it. The actors were great and you felt the bond between them. I think the film makers have loads of talent and for the budget the quality was 1st class and with the right budget, these guys could make a really good film.
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4/10
A meeting that should have been an email
dogshark-071817 November 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Late to the party on this. But compelled to review anyway.

Laughable in parts with poor science and extremely corny dialogue.

A nice idea, with some good acting but just too threadbare on momentum.

Three dudes in the boot of a car for two hours with little else going on except them "bonding" over their failures.

At least they all get the same hats in the end.

The race to the observatory that serves as the movies big finale is plain daft.

Efforts to make their scientific endeavours plausible spoiled by cliched writing.

Apparently the three scientists are clever enough to build satellites, write software that images in realtime infra-red radio signals and build telescopes with automated tracking but they're not smart enough to hook their equipment to the cars alternator when their batteries start running out, leading to the silly race against the clock to the observatory for a new battery.

Feels like it should have been a short but was dragged out to movie length.
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8/10
Don't listen to the haters.
k_frend9 November 2019
This movie was really good. A lot of talking, but if you are one of those people who love looking up at the star at night, always hoping to see something, then you will really love this movie. I always wanted to do this as a job, but I messed up in school.
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Decent sci fi
rsvp32112 November 2019
Children rating this one are disappointed that there's no lasers or comic book heroes, but adults will get it.

Unfortunately for the audience these days, Hollywood won't make a new movie or television series without a heavy dose of pc, agenda driven, special interest group pandering, or identity politics, anymore.

This movie has none of that, and is quite enjoyable.

Personally, as a sci fi aficionado, I'm very harsh in rating books or vids, and this one is a solid "thumbs up"!
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7/10
weird decisions made for an otherwise graet film
phenomynouss25 May 2020
First off, I am handily impressed that this was an extremely low budget film. If not for the fact that the vast majority of it takes place basically inside a car, you'd never know just how low.

Right away, however, the film is slowed down in the first 30 minutes. It's a serious detriment threatening to turn away much of the audience.

Once it finally gets to the core of its story, it approaches it with realism and subtlety; lots of focus on technical information and data, radio transmissions, binary code, satellite positioning, all establishing contact with an alien race presumably communicating via a ship close by. No ridiculously over the top things like crystal clear satellite imagery of space ships or an HD livestream of alien faces transmitting to their computer screens.

The film does a decent enough job not letting the advanced technical details drown out the understanding of what is happening, though it doesn't reach a technical level of something like "Primer". A lot of weird decisions are made that come across as either cringeworthy or supremely goofy, such as the overly dramatic orchestral music whenever one of the scientists makes a sudden realization or a sudden tragedy that threatens to doom their work, like "My hard drive is full *dramatic music sting*". It all makes sense in context, but given the largely subdued and realistic nature of the content, it comes across as goofy.

As well, towards the end there comes a "race against the clock" sequence that, without giving anything away, is even more overly dramatic and over the top, while also full of plotholes that seemingly negate the entire need for the urgency of it.

Again without spoiling, the subdued and realistic nature of the film allows itself one major indulgence that pays off spectacularly, with all the right elements of visual and audio coming together to make it work.

If not for these weird design choices with the goofy drama and the "race against the clock" sequence, this would've been near-perfect sci-fi along the lines of stuff like "Contact" or "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"
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3/10
Good effort. Fine acting. Broken Reality.
coach162517 January 2020
I have to say this, I liked the movie. A good effort from some fine young people. The characters are absolutely believable and terrific actors. But honestly, I will say this. Spending 10 minutes of the movie having the lead chatracters panicking about leaving poor Annabelle the telescope may be the second dumbest thought ever. You can't go back for it? First dumbest thought? A computer running out of power and needing a #47 powerpack when they are driving a car with a powered battery???? What idiot would not have a car inverter to use the car's power. I mean, as a camper; I'd call that criminally stupid. They do all their research in the country! Sorry guys. I can't hold back on that. Totally flaky drama for no reason. Good score though. Just enough dumb to ruin it for me. I really wanted to like this, but the plot and functional holes are huge. LIke sinkhole huge.
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7/10
Aren't we supposed to rate a movie upon its merits?
AustinZiprick8 November 2019
I'll admit, considering it's my understanding that the first public premiere (which I attended in California) was only last night, I too thought it was a little strange to see such glowing reviews posted from before that.

Integrity is obviously important, and I hope the brothers commit to that standard, but I'm really here to talk about the film.

I liked it.

I found myself enjoying the process quite a lot (though, admittedly again, I am a fan of sci-fi, so there's definitely some bias working for it).

From a technical standpoint, this movie rocks! Sound design and score were very good IMO- it reminded me why this storytelling medium is referred to an AUDIO-visual experience.

Speaking of visuals, the cinematography was certainly commendable. Shooting in confined spaces is never easy, and I thought the filmmakers worked well within the parameters they had.

Editing was also pretty good, however, there is more I wish to say about it in my "cons" breakdown.

The story felt uniquely genuine in depicting the human connection and conflicts shared by these men who are clearly passionate and knowledgeable about their fields of study. Juxtapose those character arcs (which actually show growth and change, so that's cool) with the looming threat of something "extra-human" now possibly now making itself known for the first time ever, and you have a tale that peers out at the grander implications of such discoveries from such a small and tangible viewpoint that most people in the audience can easily identify with. Excellent contrast.

For a film that (to me anyway) gets fairly technical with its storytelling devices, I still was able to track a lot of what was going on and the significance they carried. This was largely due to the quite decent dialog the script brought to bear. I'm struggling to recall many moments where I cringed in my seat from "campiness". And there's definitely some good funny bits too.

The acting? Solid. With such a small cast (mostly just 3), there's really no wiggle room for subpar theatrics, and I didn't think there was much of that on display. The talent really breathed life into their characters, made them feel real and complex, and overall we're just pretty fun to watch.

How about the directing? Also, it's pretty good. I'll just say that for me, I felt a touch of that special "in between the lines of the script" magic that was exuding from the screen. These guys were clearly passionate about their project and worked very hard to creatively tell their story with what they had available to them.

Alright, I've gushed about this movie long enough; time to talk about some cons.

It's long.

Now, like I said, I personally enjoyed the slow burn, but there were some places that the pacing and momentum felt like it slowed or dragged a little too much.

There is a lot of talking in this movie, and while it is pretty good for a good chunk of it, some character beats might have benefited from keeping them a bit snappier.

One of the critical setbacks that happens to the scientists midway through and lays down the foundation for climactic conflict I felt was not adequately explained as to what exactly triggered the catastrophe (I guess the script said so?).

Also there's a sequence right before one of the main action set pieces that has a timer countdown. For supposedly being under the gun, some character actions/reactions feel a little mismatched to how I felt they should have been in that moment.

Also, I started to notice the relatively frequent use of dramatic zooms. Perhaps fewer, more selective uses of them would be more effective?

Basically, I thought the editing was alright, but could have been tightened up even more to improve the overall narrative and presentation.

In summary, this film has a lot going for it, especially considering how little was available to put into it.

For what it was aiming to accomplish, I think the movie did a remarkably good job of doing that.

Definitely looking forward to seeing what else Elliot and Zander make in the future!

Peace.
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5/10
Nice story that takes way too long
george-coufos123 March 2021
I'm not sure what was going on with the writers, but there are some serious gaps in the competency of the three main characters who are supposed to be seasoned astronomers/scientists. Subplots are also boring. This film should be no more than one hour long if you condensed it and cut out the fat. But that hour of good story makes it worthwhile overall in my opinion
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7/10
Really enjoyed it
lardarseclass8 November 2019
What a real nice surprise this movie is, thought the story was great, the characters well fleshed out and human. Only thing is the comedy, I don't know whether the totally ott cliches were intentional, they were funny and hamed well and truly but in no way detracted if anything improved it with viral meme level clips by the dozen.
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4/10
Im Going to Be Honest
boogdeborah9 November 2019
I am going to rate this film up against the others within the science fiction genre regardless if its a first feature or not. There is no doubt the directors have talent to technically pull this off with no budget is something you don't see often (el mariachi had a 7k budget) . The best compliment i can give is it felt like i was watching a film. A film that was made with heart and passion behind it. The tone and vision of the film was clear to see. The camera movement was well thought out and precise. (Spielbergish, with a hint of zemeckis) ,The music was very good (i felt the movie relied to much on the music to push certain emotions which in turn felt forced) However there are several points where i feel cosmos missed the mark. One of them is the acting it felt stale in some parts which pulled me out of the story and halted the character development. The actor who played Mike Webster however carries the movie on his shoulders and turned out a solid performance. The movie did feel very long but i felt it was intentional a slow burn although i feel it might of benefited from cutting 20-25mins out. The story didn't capture me as i wanted it to, exposition was used a lot, for character development. And more tension building would of been welcomed. The films climax did yield some beautiful shots, but story wasn't enough to make me feel the emotion. Would i watch another film by these directors? That answer is easy...Yes i would!. The talent is undeniable the tone and vision of cosmos was nailed! and With a well thought out and developed story and script, With some help from experts within the industry. There is no reason these directors cant make a catalogue of films that are thoroughly enjoyable.
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10/10
Pure SCI FI
siddharthjain-048629 November 2019
Loved the movie, bit slow at start but ending was great ,must watch for a SCI FI lover.
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7/10
A pleasant surprise.
durham10024 July 2020
It is a little long as others have mentioned and there are one or two too many "let's do this" cliche moments but overall it is really good fun. It doesnt look like a low budget movie and in fact has moments that are trulyspielberg-esque. The story is tight and well plotted for the most part and the acting is above average, you really believe you are in the company of nerds. For a debut feature film it is really impressive and I hope the two director/writers are given more opportunities and a larger budget as I believe they have huge promise for the future. Thanks for keeping me entertained.
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2/10
SETI Scientsts who leave something to be desired
scottjtepper28 June 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Currently for free on Amazon Prime -- so I can't ask for my money back.

In the mad dash back I was expecting the scientists first to check the oil and tyre pressures before leaving. Why? Because they were too dumb to take pictures of the signals they were getting back with their smart phones or use the electrical capacity of the Volvo to bridge the loss of battery life. Of course, if they were too dumb to remember that batteries wear down, what can you expect of them.

Verdict: Smart enough to build satellites, dumb enough to drive an audience nuts with their stupidity.
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8/10
Excellent movie.
caseyvferguson8 November 2019
Truly enjoyed it. Especially the ending. Don't believe the reviews that say it's anything but a good watch.
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Unintentionally funny
nicolasmountain15 March 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Why are three expert scientists explaining things to each other like they are children. So we thickos can understand it. I felt dumb downed to . Acting is pretty bad at times with some of the most cringeworthy moments I've seen in a film. Take the music away and you would have little left. There are some much better low budget sci-fis out there. For goodness sake, who has a countdown clock on their computer telling them when the batteries going to run out, and if I see another 'the engine won't start' moment, I'm going to scream!
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6/10
Not bad for a low budget flick
travispetrillo9 November 2019
This movie was an overall good watch, as long as you understand that it's definitely not some Hollywood blockbuster, and it doesn't pretend to be either, which is a redeeming factor, at least for me.

The story was a tad bit silly/corny at times, especially the "action" scene(s), but given the characters and situation, I believe it worked pretty well, and that the actors did a fair job. A few plot-holes here and there, and it could have used a bit more editing to tidy up the run-time, that runs a little long. Still an enjoyable and wholesome watch though.
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5/10
Veeerrryyy ssslllooowwwww....
PastyCornish19 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The first 90 minutes is just people talking in a car, this is the watchable part, what they are talking about is actually quite interesting. This is then followed by 20 minutes of people running around a forest with absurdly dramtic music accompanying entirely bland activities, and then 10 minutes of driving a car fast to plug in a laptop before the battery goes. My favourite bit is where they pull up 500m from where they are going, and then run the rest of the way for absolutely no reason other than to have some people running to more dramatic music.

That's it. The whole movie.
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