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Babylon A.D.

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This article is about the film. For the glam metal band, see Babylon A.D. (band).
Babylon A.D.
U.S. Theatrical poster
Directed byMathieu Kassovitz
Written byÉric Besnard
Produced byAlain Goldman
Mathieu Kassovitz
StarringVin Diesel
Michelle Yeoh
Mélanie Thierry
CinematographyThierry Arbogast
Edited byBenjamin Weill
Music byHans Zimmer
Atli Orvarsson
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Alliance Films
Release dates
August 29, 2008
Running time
90 min. (USA) / 101 min. (Europe)
CountriesFrance
United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$70 million[1]

Babylon A.D. is a 2008 science fiction thriller film based on the novel Babylon Babies by Maurice Georges Dantec. The film was directed by Mathieu Kassovitz and stars Vin Diesel, Mélanie Thierry, Michelle Yeoh and Lambert Wilson. It was released on August 29, 2008 in the United States.

Plot

A few decades in the future, a mercenary named Toorop (Vin Diesel) accepts a contract from a Russian mobster, Gorsky, who instructs him to bring a young woman only known as Aurora (Mélanie Thierry) to New York. In order to reach his goal, Gorsky gives Toorop a variety of weapons as well as a US passport that has to be injected under the skin of the neck. Toorop, along with the girl and her guardian nun Sister Rebeka (Michelle Yeoh), travel from the Noelite Convent in Mongolia where they lived across Russia to reach America.

The towns and cities of Russia have been turned into dangerous, over populated slums by war and terrorist activity, forcing Toorop, Aurora, and Rebeka to face dangers of the human element, all the while fleeing from an unknown group of mercenaries claiming to have been sent by Aurora's supposedly dead father. The stress of humanity's situation causes Aurora to act out in strange ways that neither Toorop, nor Rebeka can explain. On one such occasion, Aurora seemed, for no reason, to panic and run from a crowded train station, just before it explodes.

Later, they are forced to board a submarine that carries refugees to Canada. There are too many refugees to take at once, so the submarine is forced to leave some behind, even if it came to shooting them. Aurora, infuriated by the loss of life, suddenly knows how to operate the thirty year old submarine, without having ever learned about it.

Sister Rebeka explains to Toorop that Aurora could speak nineteen different languages by the age of two, and always seems to know things she has never learned. When, three months before leaving with Toorop, she has begun acting out in ways she never had before. This occurred after a visit by a Noelite doctor who had administered a pill to Aurora. The doctor tells her to go to America, and arranges for Toorop to take them.

Once in New York, a news broadcast about the bombing of the Convent that Aurora and Rebeka hail from, causes the group to realize that there is more going on than they know. Gorsky, working for the Noelites, had planted a tracking device in Toorop's passport, and then bombed the convent when he knew they were in America. The doctor who earlier saw Aurora in the convent then appears to examine her again. When he leaves, Aurora reveals (again without being told) that she is pregnant with twins, even though she is a virgin.

Looking outside, Toorop sees both Gorsky's men, as well as the Noelite group, heavily armed and waiting for them. The High Priestess then calls Toorop and asks him to bring Aurora outside. Just before they take her away, Toorop changes his mind and starts a firefight with the two groups with the ultimate goal of getting the two women to safety. However, because of the tracking devices, Gorsky's men can lock onto him with tracking rockets. Rebeka gets shot and killed defending Aurora, who in turn shoots Toorop saying the words "I need you to live." By dying, the rocket goes off target and hits Aurora instead. Though Aurora survives this by uncertain means - possibly psycho/telekinetic powers. Nobody seems surprised or interested in the fact that she survives a large explosion without being touched, nor does anyone even refer to it. What the hell? are they retarded

Toorop's body is revived by Dr. Arthur Darquandier, using advanced medical techniques that involves replacing his right arm and left leg with cybernetics to undo the damage of being dead for over two hours. Darquandier explains that when Aurora was a fetus, he genetically enhanced her by using a super computer to 'implant' intelligence into her brain. It is also implied that the Noelite group had him create Aurora to become pregnant at a certain time in order to use her as a 'virgin birth' for their religion.

After she was born, the Noelites had him assassinated, or so they thought. He remained 'dead' until he found his daughter in Russia with Toorop.

Doctor Darquandier then instructs Toorop to find Aurora before the Noelites can, which he does. Aurora dies giving birth.

Cast

Production

Mathieu Kassovitz developed an English-language film adaptation of Maurice Georges Dantec's French novel Babylon Babies for five years;[2] in June 2005, this project got financed from StudioCanal and Twentieth Century Fox.[3] The adapted screenplay was written by Kassovitz and screenwriter Éric Besnard. Production was initially slated to begin in February 2006 in Canada and Eastern Europe.[4] French actor Vincent Cassel was initially sought to be cast in the lead role.[5] In February 2006, actor Vin Diesel entered negotiations to star in the film, titled Babylon A.D.,[6] dropping out of the lead role of Hitman in the process.[7] Production of the futuristic thriller about genetic manipulation was slated to begin in June 2006.[8] By February 2007, filming was slated to wrap in April to release Babylon A.D. in time for the coming Thanksgiving.[9] In February, filming took place at Barrandov Studios.[10] In March 2007, the filming crew, having shot in the Czech Republic, took a two-week hiatus to deal with uncooperative weather, such as the lack of snow, and problems with set construction. Crew members scouted Iceland for locations with snow to shoot six to eight days of footage, which was supposed to be done in February. Filming was also done with the leads Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, and Mélanie Thierry in Ostrava in March.[1] The French visual effects company BUF Compagnie was contracted to develop the film's effects.[11]

In April 2007, Babylon A.D. was reported to be over-budget and three weeks behind schedule. A lack of snow meant a skiing sequence to be shot in Eastern Europe had to be moved to Sweden.[12] Later in the month, actor Lambert Wilson was cast into the film.[13] Filming was completed in May 2007.[14]

American artist Khem Caigan designed the sigil that appears as a tattoo on the right side of Toorop's neck - an emblem which originally appeared in the Schlangekraft Necronomicon in 1977.

Music

The music of Babylon A.D. is scored by composers Hans Zimmer and Atli Örvarsson. The musical alliance Achozen, represented by Shavo Odadjian and RZA performed the score for the film. Zimmer described the intended style: "Musically, our objective was to merge the sounds and energies of hip hop with classical music, seamlessly melting them into an unusual soundscape."[15]

Mathieu Kassovitz said that 20th Century Fox interfered throughout production, and he never had a chance to shoot a scene the way it was scripted, or the way he wanted it to be. [16]

Release

Babylon A.D. was originally slated to be released in the United States on February 29 2008, but its release was postponed to August 29 2008.[17]. According to movieweb.com, the dvd and blu-ray versions released on January 6. The single disc included no features but contained the unrated version and the theatrical version. The two disc unrated edition contained only the unrated version, which ran ten minutes shorter than the theatrical cut. It also included four behind-the-scenes featurettes, a digital graphic novel prequel to the film, a still gallery, and a digital copy. The two disc blu-ray contained all of that plus an exclusive picture-in-picture feature.

The unrated version differed greatly from the theatrical version. The ending was cut short and did not show the full-length ending that was in the theatrical version, followed by more foul language. Other short scenes were put in, including one in the train where Toorop excludes the existence of Christ.

Rating

Babylon A.D. is rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, language and some sexuality.

Reception

The film was universally panned by critics. As of January 31, 2009, Rotten Tomatoes records a 7% rating ("rotten") (based on 87 reviews), with the consensus being: A poorly constructed, derivative sci-fi stinker with a weak script and poor action sequences. [18] Metacritic compiles a 26% rating based on 15 reviews.[19]

As of January 31, 2009, the film grossed $22,442,781 in the United States and $33,900,724 in foreign countries totaling a worldwide gross of $56,343,505.[20] The film was placed #2 behind Tropic Thunder with $9,484,267 in 3,390 theaters with a $2,798 average.[21] The film has the eighth-highest 4-day Labor Day gross since 1982.[22] Despite over $56 million being made from its box office gross, this is not a success (based on its $70 million budget) and many would consider the movie to be a box office bomb.

References

  1. ^ a b Alison James (2007-03-15). "'Babylon' gets back on track". Variety. Retrieved 2007-04-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Fox beckoned by 'Babylon'
  4. ^ "Big-Screen Babylon". IGN. 2005-06-24. Retrieved 2007-04-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Vin Diesel to Topline Babylon A.D.". ComingSoon.net. 2006-02-05. Retrieved 2007-04-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Alison James (2006-02-08). "Studio Canal eyes English-lingo pix". Variety. Retrieved 2007-04-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Nicole Laporte (2007-01-17). "Olyphant to shoot 'Hit Man'". Variety. Retrieved 2007-04-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Liza Klaussman (2006-05-14). "Parlez vous anglais?". Variety. Retrieved 2007-04-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Alison James (2007-02-09). "Legende plans TV series, touts films". Variety. Retrieved 2007-04-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Katja Hofmann (2007-02-09). "Czech movies shine at Berlin". Variety. Retrieved 2007-04-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Rebecca Leffler (2007-04-10). "France new star in global effects biz". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2007-04-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Richard Johnson (2007-04-21). "EGOS COLLIDE ON SCI-FI PROJECT". New York Post. Retrieved 2007-04-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "Wilson Boards Babylon CE and Heaven". ComingSoon.net. 2007-04-29. Retrieved 2007-04-30. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Alison James (2007-05-18). "Starry pics put Studio Canal back on map". Variety. Retrieved 2007-05-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Shavo Scores First Feature Film". Ultimate-Guitar.com. 2007-12-14. Retrieved 2008-03-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ Clayton Nueman (2008-08-25). "Masters of Scifi - Babylon A.D. Director Mathieu Kassovitz Describes a Disastrous Production". /Film. Retrieved 2008-08-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Peter Sciretta (2007-11-03). "Babylon A.D. Pushed BACK". /Film. Retrieved 2007-12-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Babylon A.D. Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes
  19. ^ Babylon A.D. (2008): Reviews - Metacritic
  20. ^ "Babylon A.D." Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-10-19. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ "Weekend Results from 8/29 to 8/31". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-10-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ "Top 4-day Labor Day Weekends". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-10-09. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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