Hollow Man
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hollow Man | |
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 Film poster |
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| Directed by | Paul Verhoeven |
| Produced by | Stacy Lumbrezer Alan Marshall Marion Rosenberg |
| Written by | Gary Scott Thompson Andrew W. Marlowe |
| Starring | Elisabeth Shue Kevin Bacon Josh Brolin |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
| Cinematography | Jost Vacano |
| Editing by | Mark Goldblatt |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 2, 2000 |
| Running time | 112 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $95,000,000 |
| Followed by | Hollow Man 2 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Hollow Man is a 2000 science fiction thriller film, starring Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Shue, and Josh Brolin and directed by Paul Verhoeven. The film is about a scientist who makes himself invisible, a story which is loosely inspired by H. G. Wells' The Invisible Man.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Visual Effects in 2000. The sequel Hollow Man 2 was released direct-to-video in 2006.
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[edit] Plot
Bacon plays Sebastian Caine, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who, with a few others — including his ex-girlfriend Linda McKay (Shue) and his friend (and Linda's new beau) Matt Kensington (Brolin) — work on a serum for the U.S. military to "successful phase-shift a human being out of quantum sync with the visible universe and then return him safely, with no after affects". That is, an invisibility serum. The serum works on animal subjects, but Caine lies to the oversight committee and decides to test the serum on himself. At first, the procedure is a success and Caine initially enjoys his new ability. But when he is unable to regain his visibility, Caine becomes increasingly unhinged and deranged, endangering the lives of his co-workers. This ultimately leads to a tense and lethal game of cat-and-mouse in the underground facility that the invisibility was being developed in.
[edit] Cast
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[edit] Critical reaction
Reviews generally praised the special effects, but panned the story. A common criticism was that the film abandoned its intriguing ideas to become an ordinary slasher film. Many also accused the film of being misogynistic.
Viewers had the same reaction, and were doubly disappointed given the enormous cult popularity of Verhoeven's previous three science-fiction films. Second to Showgirls, it is his lowest rated film on the IMDb.
[edit] Controversy
Despite receiving mixed critical reaction, one supporter of the film at the time of its release was film critic David Manning who gave the film critical praise. In late 2001, however, Manning was revealed to be fictitious, created by Sony to fake publicity for the film.
[edit] Trivia
- Sebastian is frequently seen as having abilities that do not relate to his invisibility; these being superhuman endurance and physical strength, which is seen over the course of the film. Some of these cases include: being struck full force in the head with a crowbar, set on fire, electrocuted (all of which cause minimal harm), and is capable of lifting a 200 lb man with one arm.
[edit] External links
- Hollow Man at the Internet Movie Database
- Hollow Man at All Movie Guide
- Hollow Man at Rotten Tomatoes
- Official Court Notice of David Manning settlement
[edit] Reviews
- Review by Roger Ebert at Chicago Sun-Times
(2/4) - Review by A. O. Scott at New York Times (2.5/5) (readers' rating)
[edit] References
- ^ Full Cast and Crew for Hollow Man (2000); accessed on October 1, 2006
| Films directed by Paul Verhoeven |
|---|
| Business Is Business • Turkish Delight • Katie Tippel • Soldier of Orange • All Things Pass • Spetters The Fourth Man • Flesh & Blood • RoboCop • Total Recall • Basic Instinct • Showgirls • Starship Troopers Hollow Man • Black Book • Kneeling on a Bed of Violets |
