# Primer - the movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 21, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primer-the-movie/295570 "2005-03-21T15:41:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primer-the-movie/295570/1 "2005-03-21T15:41:52Z")
Has anyone seen this? I saw an ad in my Wired magazine this morning and it looks interesting. I’m hesitant to read too much about it since it’s supposed to be some sort of a mystery, but I’m curious as to other peoples’ opinions. [Link to movie’s website](http://www.primermovie.com) ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primer-the-movie/295570/2 "2005-03-21T19:21:38Z")
> [@audiobottle](#): > > Has anyone seen this? I saw an ad in my Wired magazine this morning and it looks interesting. I’m hesitant to read too much about it since it’s supposed to be some sort of a mystery, but I’m curious as to other peoples’ opinions. > > [Link to movie’s website](http://www.primermovie.com) Ya know. . .this weekend I was sitting around thinking, “dang. . .what was name of that movie Ebert liked about those guys who invented that thing?” So, I haven’t seen it, but I’ve read more about it than you (apparently) and it sounds real interesting. Now that you’ve reminded me of it’s name, it’s on my short list. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primer-the-movie/295570/3 "2005-03-21T19:49:02Z")
Apparently nobody else has seen it either. For a movie that won all those awards, it sure didn’t seem to get much publicity. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primer-the-movie/295570/4 "2005-04-22T02:42:28Z")
OK, I watched this movie on DVD the other day. I have no clue what was going on in it. Could someone please, please, PLEASE ‘spoil’ the plot and tell me what happened. And why? And to whom? And when? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primer-the-movie/295570/5 "2005-04-22T03:36:47Z")
I’ve seen it. (Oh, the privlidges of living in LA.) Without giving away any important plot points, I’ll say that it’s a time travel movie. They invent a time machine and use it to…well, that’s giving away too much. Let’s just say that the plot depends on the same temporal paradoxes that have been explored in literature since before Heinlein’s “All You Zombies”, and generally much better done. It’s told in a somewhat non-linear fashion. That makes it a little confusing. It’s also basically an incoherent plot. That makes it significantly more confusing. Actually, it’s not that the plot is incoherent as that it just isn’t told very well. Inaudiable dialog, poor cinematography, nonsensical technobabble: yeah, I can believe these guys made it for $7,000. You can figure it out if you’re willing to sit down and puzzle on it for a while, or watch it a couple of times. Unlike, say, _Momento_, though, it just isn’t worth it. My advice to you is that you’re better off watching the average episode of “Dr. Who”, which has better writing, more believeable characters, and much higher production values. :snark: And if that doesn’t turn you off, well, it’s your 80 minutes. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primer-the-movie/295570/6 "2005-04-22T16:42:01Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > It’s also basically an incoherent plot. Man, you can say that again. And then say it one more time yesterday. On a 1 - 10 scale, this movie gets a SUCKED. I would watch it again, except I don’t wanna. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primer-the-movie/295570/7 "2005-04-22T18:02:11Z")
I agree that it was in many ways frustrating and incomprehensible… there were some key moments in which I couldn’t understand what the characters were saying. On the other hand, it had some interesting enough scenes and ideas that I definitely thought it was worth seeing… and I paid money to see it in the theatre. I probably would have been better of waiting for DVD, with subtitles, commentary and rewinding. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primer-the-movie/295570/8 "2005-04-22T18:11:08Z")
I was thinking of watching after seeing Rollins’ review of it on his IFC show. I mean come on it was made on 7k. What did you expect. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primer-the-movie/295570/9 "2005-04-22T19:26:28Z")
I agree that it was very confusing, and there was one part that I think they were giving some critical information in the dialogue but I couldn’t understand it, and I’m still scratching my head over that part. But overall, I enjoyed it. It was very rawly filmed, and it seemed fairly real. I’d recommend it, if you don’t mind having to figure out on your own what’s happening. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primer-the-movie/295570/10 "2005-04-22T19:53:57Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > I mean come on it was made on 7k. What did you expect. A good, coherent script costs nothing (for a writer-director). While you can get away with nonsense if your movie is comprised largely of **Big Noisy Explosions** , if you are going to write a small picture on a tight budget you’d better have some good dialog, plot twists, or character development, like Christopher Nolan’s [Following](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154506/) (his first film, prior to _Momento_) or De Sica’s [The Bicycle Thief](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040522/). Hitchcock’s early films developed great suspense on a budget smaller than the catering bill on a modern picture. You can make a good, even great film on a small budget, but _Primer_ is not an example of this. It is, however, like _The Blair Witch Project_, a good example of guerrilla marketing. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Jane\_D\_oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/839c29/32.png) [@Jane\_D\_oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jane_D_oh)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primer-the-movie/295570/11 "2005-05-01T20:17:41Z")
I just got done watching this movie and came out here to see if I could get an explaination about what I watched. I was watching at home with the subtitles on and still didn’t get it. Or almost got it. I’m just not sure. ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primer-the-movie/295570/12 "2005-05-01T23:38:29Z")
It’s a movie about time travel, the story is linear, time is not. There are no flashbacks, really. That will probably help greatly in understanding the last 15 or 20 minutes. The technobabble is largely irrelevant. If you want to know what they’re building look up [Podkletnov](http://www.google.com/search?q=Podkletnov). I liked this movie, but I still only watched it once. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/primer-the-movie/295570/13 "2005-05-02T00:32:34Z")
I saw it about a month ago and enjoyed it. I have been planning on renting it so I could see it again with subtitles. I didn’t understand completely what went on, but I thought it was interesting and unique, and I liked it.