The Quiet Earth - The Last Experiment 25th Anniversary Edition - DVD

Film: Imagine waking up one morning to find that you are apparently the only surviving human on Earth. With this simple but effective premise, the New Zealand low-budget production The Quiet Earth - The Last Experiment conquered the domestic cinema charts 25 years ago. And in the rest of the world, too, the film developed over the years into a genuine cult hit that has lost hardly anything of its fascination, despite outdated special effects and its very worn staging.

When Zac Hobson (Bruno Lawrence) wakes up, he still thinks it's a day like any other. He gets up, eats breakfast and heads off to work. It's strange that he doesn't find anyone at the gas station, but Zac doesn't really think about it until he finds his colleague's house completely deserted. And the rest of the city is also deserted. Soon Zac has a terrible suspicion. Is he perhaps the only survivor of a terrible catastrophe. At first he makes the best of the situation: he moves into a luxury mansion, loots the most expensive shops and doesn't give a damn about speed limits. But the longer he is trapped in solitude, the more he is overcome by madness. But is he really the last man on earth?

On the DVD cover of the re-release Geoff Murphy's film is announced as an oppressive end-time thriller, which shows us the fate of a few survivors of the world after the nuclear Super-GAU. However, this is not correct and seems a little bit as if they want to profit from the current nuclear panic. Because a nuclear Super-GAU simply does not exist. What the last experiment is about, the viewer does not learn at first - but it is clear that Zac has been directly or indirectly involved in it.

That the end-time drama also turns into a kind of love triangle story at the end, works very well not least because of the good actors and the completely cliché-free staging. Admittedly, the special effects, which are used extremely discreetly here, are clearly outdated. Nevertheless, especially the last shot of the film, which slowly unfolds during the credits, still exerts an extreme fascination on the viewer. Geoff Murphy has succeeded in creating an atmosphere that is still unique in the now somewhat overused genre of end-time thrillers and that makes even somewhat weaker effects and not always finely honed dialogue quickly forgotten. It may be that especially younger viewers, who weren't born 25 years ago, have a hard time with the calm and somewhat old-fashioned production. But if you give The Quiet Earth - The Last Experiment a chance, you will be rewarded with a very special movie experience. Because not for nothing is this film cult! Absolutely recommendable!

Picture + Sound: Although the film is available in time for the 25th anniversary in a technically revised version, its age and its rather low budget are still to be seen. The picture repeatedly shows minor dirt and significant blurring. And the years have also left their mark on the sound. It may be that they tried to get the best out of the source material. The oppressive end time atmosphere is then also very well transported into the living room. But from the level of more recent production is also this technically revised version still very far away.

Extras: Besides trailers of the provider, the DVD has as the only extra an audio commentary by producer and co-writer Sam Pillsbury in the offer (and not, as announced on the cover, by the director). The commentary, unfortunately not subtitled, is most interesting and provides a good insight into the production. For instance, Pillsbury talks about how entire inner cities could be (seemingly) emptied on a shoestring budget and why Bruno Lawrence was completely cast against his image here. Even if a retrospective documentary on the anniversary would have been even nicer and the commentary is already known from the earlier DVD release, it is definitely a very good encore.

Conclusion: The Quiet Earth - The Last Experiment is a small film - and yet a milestone of the science fiction genre. With little means, an oppressive end-time drama was created, whose ending remains long in the memory. The re-release for the 25th anniversary differs only slightly from the last DVD version, but those who do not yet own the film should definitely grab it now at the latest!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp