- Trailer for Indigenous Apocalyptic Film POLARIS
- Trailer for New SCAVENGERS REIGN Animated Series
- Trailer for New SCAVENGERS REIGN Animated Series
- Trailer for New SCAVENGERS REIGN Animated Series
- Book Club: SWAN SONG Is a Post-Apocalyptic Classic on Par with The Stand
- Book Club: SWAN SONG Is a Post-Apocalyptic Classic on Par with The Stand
- THE SHARDS: New Bret Easton Ellis Novel Publishes in January
- THE SHARDS: New Bret Easton Ellis Novel Publishes in January
- EDGE OF TOMORROW 4K Detailed and Available Now
- Welcome to THE FRINGE - The Exciting New Cinematic Universe Coming from the Makers of PROSPECT
- Re: Occupation, Australian Sci Fi movie
- Slice of Life, Blade Runner inspired short
- Is Snowpeircer a sequel to Willy Wonka?
- Re: Yesterday
- Re: Yesterday
- Yesterday
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Trailer for Indigenous Apocalyptic Film POLARIS
- Trailer for New SCAVENGERS REIGN Animated Series
- MANBORG Novelization Out Now!
- Book Club: SWAN SONG Is a Post-Apocalyptic Classic on Par with The Stand
- First VESPER Trailer Finally Drops!
- Feast Directors Return with Zombie Comedy UNHUMAN [Trailer]
- First Poster for Anticipated Apocalyptic Thriller VESPER
- Teaser Trailer for Netflix's RESIDENT EVIL Series
- Here's What's On Blu-ray and 4K This Week! [May 10, 2022]
- THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN Series Blends Post-Apocalypse with Epic Fantasy
- Turbo Kid Directors Apating THE ZOMBIES THAT ATE THE WORLD Comic Series
- VIFF 2021: THE IN-LAWS, MIRACLE, SALOUM, SECRETS FROM PUTUMAYO [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2021: SILENT NIGHT Review
- VIFF 2021: Documentary Preview [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2021: THE PINK CLOUD, THE HOLE IN THE FENCE [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2021: JAGGED Review
- TIFF 2021: SUNDOWN Review
- VIFF 2021: Animation Preview [Capsule Reviews]
- SAINT-NARCISSE is Bruce LaBruce at His Most Accomplished [Review]
- TIFF 2021: DASHCAM Review
- TIFF 2021: THE DAUGHTER Review
- Stop-Motion Madness! Phil Tippett's MAD GOD Premieres on Shudder in June
- Sequel for THE WITCH Coming in June
- THE BOOK OF THE NEW SUN Series Blends Post-Apocalypse with Epic Fantasy
- Watch the Full Obi-Wan Kenobi Trailer
- Famous First Films: Sam Raimi's IT'S MURDER! (1977)
- Four Disc Limited Edition of THE WICKER MAN Is Everything
- Robert Eggers' Edgar Allen Poe Adaptation Finally Gets Released!
- The Northman is Already Up for Pre-Order
- Watch Now: Heavy Metal Meets He-Man in STARCHASER THE LEGEND OF ORIN
- AVATAR 2 Trailer Reactions Are In!
- Trailer for SciFi Indie CRYO Looks Great!
- Sausages: The Making Of Dog Soldiers Book Available Now!
- Turbo Kid Directors Apating THE ZOMBIES THAT ATE THE WORLD Comic Series
- This Week on 4K Blu-ray and DVD (April 25, 2022)
- Surreal Scifi Film AFTER BLUE Channel Jodorowsky
- Listen to John Carpenter's New FIRESTARTER Theme!
- Zack Snyder's REBEL MOON Giving Us Major Seven Samurai Vibes
- New Red Band Trailer Gives First Look at HEAVY METAL SteelBook Edition 4K Blu-ray
- Trailer for Sci-Fi Prison Thriller CORRECTIVE MEASURES
- This Week on Blu-ray and DVD! [April 19, 2022]
Jack In
Latest Comments
Latest Forum Posts
PA News
Latest Reviews
Older News
Crew
Marina Antunes
Editor in Chief
Vancouver, British Columbia
Christopher Webster
Managing Editor
Edmonton, Alberta
DN aka quietearth
Founder / Asst. Managing Editor
Denver, Colorado
Simon Read
UK Correspondent
Edinburgh, Scotland
Rick McGrath
Toronto Correspondent
Toronto, Ontario
Manuel de Layet
France Correspondent
Paris, France
rochefort
Austin Correspondent
Austin, Texas
Daniel Olmos
Corrispondente in Italia
Italy
Griffith Maloney aka Griffith Maloney
New York Correspondent
New York, NY
Stephanie O
Floating Correspondent
Quiet Earth Bunker
Jason Widgington
Montreal Correspondent
Montreal, Quebec
Carlos Prime
Austin Correspondent
Austin, TX
Latest news








Year: 2009
Directors: Roland Vranik
Writers: Roland Vranik / András Barta
IMDB: link
Trailer: link
Review by: Ben Austwick
Rating: 7 out of 10
[Editor's note: We also have another review Rick wrote from August of 2009 here]
Post-apocalyptic worlds are often of familiar type – dusty wasteland, warring tribes and a desperate struggle for survival. While anyone who has read The Road or played Fallout 3 will know this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's a shame that the broad possibilities the genre opens up have been pushed out by this convention. Transmission harks back to a time when authors like JG Ballard and John Wyndham took a What If? approach, removing or adding factors that send society on a new course, exploring the possibilities thrown up on the way. Furthermore it does so with real style.
The premise of Transmission is simple at first glance: data can no longer be transmitted. There is no TV, no radio, no computers. People charge batteries from makeshift generators, but there is no national grid. Food production has become localised, the coastal city the film is set in relying on fishing. Communication is at its most basic, an area of the city called “The Wall†used as a meeting place to put up notices and pictures of lost loved ones. But while isolated, people are well-fed, safe and unafraid. Just bored and listless.
The nature of the disaster is revealed slowly, the questions it raises tackled in the sparse conversations of a slow-paced, restrained film. While most of the holes in the theory are explained at some point, its very nature is rather unscientific and precludes a full explanation. Speculation is minimal, but interestingly is mainly along the lines of the phenomenon being caused by mass hypnosis or delusion. This Ballardian touch fits in well with the haunting setting of concrete precincts, tower blocks and tatty modernist houses, and also the dazed, resigned air of the city's populace. When one character begins to obsessively build a wall of concrete blocks in his garden to distract from his insomnia the connection is complete.
Disappointingly, this strange, dreamlike world becomes the setting for a simple murder mystery tale that is as slight as it is drawn-out and bears no relevance to the unusual world it is set in. The disaster is relegated to background setting as this uninspiring story unfolds, and while you wait for the two to connect up in some intriguing and unforeseen way they never do. It's the only flaw in a film that gets pretty much everything else right, but it's a big one, leaving Transmission's beautiful direction and original premise hanging in a void of irrelevance.
You might also like








agentorange (12 years ago) Reply
This film is slow at times but I loved it. Highly recommended.