Beyond the Black Rainbow

Although I can see how this film alienated people who need a clear, spelled out plot, let me remind you that this is an ART film. Blending styles that influenced Panos Cosmatos work overall so far, his vision is sublime, surreal, terrifying and beautiful. The first time I watched this I could not look away-or the second time-or...lol. There is so much about this film that people misunderstand as shown in some other reviews-Example: When Elena is trying to escape, she comes face to face with one of the "Sentionauts", it reveals that it's a genetic experiment that wants her to avenge not only herself but all the sentionauts, so it lets her go. That's just one of many examples I've seen people misconstrue. Now let's talk about the ending-The main area people lose the point. Completely insane, Nyle detaches from all things material including Arboria and the pyramid and becomes a pure real-world murderer. Another thing I see often is that people think that when Nyle and Elena come face to face at the end (SPOILER), I've seen people interpret that as he got stuck and fell of his own accord. No...she froze him in his tracks and pushed him over. I think the main reason people don't get this has to do with the pyramid and it's power to control psychic activity-So when you see her break the pyramid's influence while she's a prisoner, the screen clearly shows the effort she has to put in to beat the thing. Once outside, her powers are in full force with nothing repressing them so she kills him so effortlessly it's apparently confusing. She is now the most powerful person on earth, and she knows it.I love this film. The mood, the visuals, the acting and the resolution-If you've only seen it once, look again-you may find it's a lot better than you first thought.

Two stars because I can't deny how damned great the visuals and soundtrack were...I mean the scenerey was amazing and the music really set the tone.That being said, the rest was horrible. I mean I usually enjoy artsy movies. Only God Forgives comes to mind as a movie that only a handful of people enjoyed including myself, with impressive visuals but an obscure plot. But this movie...man, the plot was weak, the ending was atrocious, and any real action was quickly cut away to make room for endless drawn out scenes of closeups of the characters' faces or them performing everyday tasks except 1000x slower than a normal human being.Of course this is just my opinion, as others really seemed to enjoy it, but finishing this movie really pissed me off because the entire thing felt like a chore and I kept telling myself it'd all pay off. But no. Nothing. I've never tried as hard to like a movie as I did this one but I just couldn't.

Honestly, I didn't go into this film expecting anything, or knowing anything about its director, or having ever even heard of the film itself. I must say that I have a rather high-standard for entertainment because I don't really like sitting in front of a screen in the first place. Well, this film was able to hold my attention for me to finish it the whole way through.I must say that the visuals and audio in this film are top-notch. It's a surreal, hallucinogenic, and creepy in all the right ways. The director, like another director I like, David Lynch, doesn't particularly care about the pacing of the film so that alone will be enough to make some people turn it off. It's, shall we say, not for those who need immediate satisfaction or answers from their film, or any answers at all.If you who David Lynch is and like or tolerate his work, you will probably enjoy this. If you're looking for a nice, clean, neat ending that made you feel like you watched a nice, "packaged" film, this will not leave you feeling that way.

After seeing some recent press on the director's upcoming "Mandy" w/ Nicolas Cage, I checked this out - watched twice over as many days. There are several comprehensive reviews that cover a lot of what happens in the film so in an effort to avoid redundancy ill add some observations that I haven't read elsewhere. I also highly recommend the excellent essay by Chuck Kollars entitled "Describing 'Beyond the Black Rainbow'" which is one of the most comprehensive and well-informed analyses of the film.Aside from the obvious Kubrick and Argento references which many have mentioned, it feels to me most stylistically indebted to Fulci's "The Beyond" in the overall atmosphere, especially the outstanding music the importance of which cannot be overstated. Watch at home with a good surround audio and sub system and be rewarded. Syzygy seems to be the main theme of the film with Manicheistic or Gnostic concepts of duality explored throughout. There is no lack of occult symbolism below the surface (get out your gematria calculator, "Arboria" has a value of 384, same as Thelema), the concepts of the magickal child and new aeon are also prevalent. There are some William S. Burroughs and Aldous Huxley references as well. If you pay attention there's a lot here.There are many snippets that tip the hand in a tribute of sorts to genre films of the late 70s and early 80s but arent developed beyond that. The film is least successful when it turns into an outright horror film in the third act. Hanging out in the woods listening to Venom's "Angel Dust" on a boombox feels like a direct nod to those who grew up in the era of 70's and 80's big box video nasties and im sure reflects the director's own background. Expect we will see more of that in "Mandy".

Approach this looking for plot, three acts, a script that makes sense, conventional acting or anything resembling reality and you will be profoundly disappointed. However if you love vintage SF like The Groundstar Conspiracy, Cronenberg, Fulci`s zombie music soundtracks, The Andromeda Strain, Phantasm and just a general WTF? quality to your movie-viewing you will ADORE this tone-poem to all that cool stuff. Don`t try and force a narrative onto what unfolds before your eyes, just let the film transport you back to those youthful, heady days when you could while away an entire afternoon just gazing at the box-cover artwork in your local video-rental store imagining the delights within. The director approached the movie with this desire in mind and viewers should do the same when watching it.As if the visuals weren`t enough, the soundtrack by Sinoia Caves is similarly incredible though it remains criminally unavailable to buy.Cannot recommend this highly enough.

Great soundtrack and a movie that If you enjoy sc-fiyou can watch again and try and work wtf is going on ? hehmy recomendation for a Halooween head fek

A very strange and trippy film but that's what's so great about it. I loved the 80's sci-fi style they used for the sets.

Tenía mis reservas al principio porque la mayor parte de las críticas del público parecen odiar rotundamente esta película, sin embargo me llamó mucho la atención la cinematografía y la música. Fue una interesante sorpresa (y de paso fue bueno hacer caso omiso de los comentarios), una mezcla de ficción y horror que por su ritmo y pocos diálogos pareciera tener poco contenido pero realmente tiene varias lecturas. Si consideras aburrida una película que no cambie de escena cada 5 segundos abstente de mirar esta película, el ritmo definitivamente es lento pero no por ello deja de comunicar.Ésta edición en Blu-ray está perfectamente cuidada en video y audio, y sí contiene subtítulos en español.

I did not know what to expect watching this. I remember the trailer from years ago and thought it looked interesting.Think of this as an 80's sci-fi that merged with David Lynch and Timothy Leary. It reminds me of the state one is in while watching Eraser Head. You are watching someones dream on screen. Very long, silent shots with an awesome 80's style soundtrack.Loved it but not for those who like their movies fast and furious. If you know what I mean.