Review of Transcendence (2014) by Ian H — 28 Aug 2014

Transcendence was largely underappreciated by most viewers, but was easily the most thought provoking film I have watched in a decade. This was the first -- and only -- movie that has ever succeeded at instilling fear in me from a machine, similar to how The Terminator franchise sought to depict (but failed) the T1000 as a cold, unstopping, INHUMAN terror.

Many of the negative reviews of Transcendence likely stem from those viewers not comprehending what it is they are witnessing onscreen. It is definitely a fiction, likely viewed by critics as unrealistic and far outside the realm of possibility, and therefore highly unimmersive. For these individuals, it's like trying to describe much of today's modern technology (smart phones, the internet, nuclear power) to an average person in the early 1800s -- they can't conceptualize it.

Some aspects are deeply sci-fi (currently), but for those cerebral viewers who study medicine, computer science, and technology, nothing shown in this film will be too far fetched to be enjoyable.

Most viewers missed that some of the "impossible" science was actually real -- the script referenced REAL LIFE studies as the present day status-quo, setting the stage for the fiction in the later half of the movie.

This film was the BEST medium I have experienced for articulating the questions of: What does it mean to be human? At what point do our lives become so revolved around technology that it becomes a part of us as human beings; both literally -- in the physical cyborg body modification sense -- and figuratively -- if I carry my iPhone everywhere, am I the same thing as if I didn't? What would happen if we as a species had the ability to take control of our own evolution? What would we do, and how would we feel, knowing we were secure from the threat of death?

Fans of any or all of these topics will find this film enjoyable and thought provoking. Fans of Deus Ex: Human Evolution will be familiar with some of the topics and questions broached in Transcendence.