DVD Review: The Echelon Conspiracy - Page 3

Picture-wise, The Echelon Conspiracy looked about as fine and dandy as a Standard Definition DVD of a Euro-made B-Movie can be. The 2.35:1 widescreen image was anamorphic, and the 5.1 Surround Sound came through nice and loud. What more could a guy want? OK, maybe some nudity, but at least The Echelon Conspiracy contains some tame PG-13 sex.

And so, as I said before, The Echelon Conspiracy is sort of the shot-at-night-with-a-foreign-cast version of the far more popular and less-believable Eagle Eye. Its cast—whether they put their all into the roles or not—is more likable. The action and special effects are kept well within their budgetary restraints, making it more realistic. The story doesn’t shoot for the moon and overshoot it in the process. Nor was The Echelon Conspiracy directed by a guy who has ripped off movies like Rear Window and 2001: A Space Odyssey hoping no one would notice.  Rather, The Echelon Conspiracy is directed by 11:14's writer/director, Greg Marcks—who is certainly more deserving of another project than Eagle Eye's D.J. Caruso.

OK so, yes, it’s a B-Movie. From Europe. And a knock-off to boot. But, hey, I was probably the only reviewer to actually A) give it a chance, knowing full well what it was; B) sit from the beginning to the end without fast-forwarding (some critics do that, you know); and C) enjoy it the whole way through.

Sure, it’s brainless. But then so was Eagle Eye.

Article Author: Luigi Bastardo

Luigi Bastardo is the disgruntled alter-ego of Adam Becvar, a thirtysomething lad from Northern California who has watched so many weird movies since the tender age of 3 that a conventional life is out of the question. …

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