I envy the folks who managed to watch the shorter three hour version of this movie. I happened to come across a download version of the film in three parts, each with it's own set of opening credits that amounted to nearly five hours of the director's cut. Quite honestly, the most interesting thing that happened in the movie for me was that horrific car crash to open the picture when one of the bank robbers threw that beer bottle out the window of his car. After that, it was a looong, slow descent down an extended slope, notwithstanding the global odyssey that took place involving the principal characters. That whole business about the runaway nuclear satellite from India barely managed to impact my attention span. More than anything, when it came to the sci-fi aspects of this picture, I was reminded of the original mid-Sixties 'Star Trek' series in which Gene Roddenberry's futuristic vision came up with things like flip phones and Uhura's mini-skirts, things that translated into reality only a short time later. For this picture released in 1991, director Wim Wenders made a dramatic leap of faith to envision a world eight years into the future that included such things as viewing kiosks, facial recognition and locator technology, and glass front refrigerators, which when I think of the latter, who really wants to see wilting celery stalks and dripping milk cartons even before opening the door? I have to admit, some of the hand held telephone devices looked kind of interesting, except for the fact that they all looked a lot like art-deco artifacts from the Fifties. I don't know, maybe I'm missing something here compared to all the folks who praise the film for it's poetic vision, but for all of the lovely cinematography and stellar cast, for me this was as dry as the Australian Outback, which you could probably cross a lot sooner than the amount of time it takes to watch this picture.

This is my favourite film but it will not be to everyone's taste. The mix of whimsy and melancholy will puzzle some, who may ask how seriously they are meant to take it? Its length and occasional problems with continuity will put others off. Added to this, what is intended to be the central romantic relationship never quite convinces. But the film as a whole is redeemed by its sheer ambition and, most importantly, the humanity and the generosity of its vision.It's 1999 - that's seven years into the future - and the world is threatened by an orbiting satellite that carries a powerful nuclear device. Meanwhile, Henry Farber has stolen a camera of his own invention from the American government, not trusting the uses to which they might put it. He sends his son, Sam, around the world, collecting images with this device. These images are to be electronically projected into the brain of Henry's blind wife, Edith. On his travels, Sam picks up a stalker, Claire Tourneur, who is on the rebound from a broken relationship with the writer, Gene FitzPatrick. Sam collects images for his mother. Claire chases Sam. Gene chases Claire. The investigator, Philip Winter, who appeared in Wenders' previous film, 'Alice in the Cities,' chases all of them. Eventually, everyone ends up at Henry's lab in the Australian outback, the satellite having exploded and, with all communication cut off, no-one being sure whether the world is still alive. Here, the precious images are projected into Edith's head and, in the single most moving scene in any film (IMHO), she sees a picture of her San Francisco dwelling daughter Elsa, for the first time, but with no idea whether Elsa herself is still alive.And there's more to it than that. Much more.As Sam, William Hurt delivers a convincing and sympathetic performance throughout. Sam Neill is likable as Gene. Rudiger Vogler as Winter is stratospherically cool. Max von Sydow, as Henry, is intensely flawed yet utterly sympathetic and, appearing on screen only about half way through, comes close to making the second half of the movie his own. Jeanne Moreau as Edith is, at some points, heartbreakingly moving. Special mention must go to Solveig Dommartin, who played Claire and who conceived some of the story. It was clearly a labour of love for her - for example, finding that they couldn't film in China, she snuck in with a video camera and taped a few lo-fi sequences single-handed. The film's lack of immediate success must have upset her deeply, and her premature death has robbed her of the chance to witness the recognition that this lovely, warm-hearted story is, little by little, beginning to get, now that the four-hour version is available on DVD. Not to everyone's taste then, but those of us who like it, love it.

You know you are in trouble when the comments on the back of the DVD packaging say "visually stunning", because this is the inevitable comment on a film which has a rambling disjointed plot and below par acting. And so it was. Way, way too long at almost 3 hours the story is played out across the world. The characters are flat and unengaging - the two male leads being played by Sam Neil and William Hurt who specialise in alienation and distance. Neil's facial expression is the same whether he is in love, being betrayed, chasing the bad guy, being mugged, or watching his beloved in agony. Even the most emotionally charged part of the film - in the father-son relationship during the last third - is clichéd (with Max von Sydow playing to type) and stilted.The plot twists and turns, but in the end leaves many things unexplained - it's not at all clear why Hurt is being pursued in the end or who the people were that pursued him. It all gets resolved by the supposed disaster which never materialises - a disaster movie with no disaster, an apocalypse with no horsemen. It's full of disjointed parts that don't add up to a satisfying whole. Many of the scenes are completely flat and add nothing. When Hurt wakes up between two elders, they seem to be as baffled by their appearance in the movie as I was, and he is as unreadable as ever.The idea of hiding away in Australia with a tribe of Aboriginals is somewhat novel, but this is a white man's fantasy I think - they are a group of Man Friday's who attend to his every need, although there is a step too far and they do leave him which once again is done with minimal emotion.The whole thing was as dry as the Aussie desert. Maybe you had to see it on the big screen, but in the end I did not believe the film was visual stunning - it used some stock shots of the Australian Outback but there was nothing very interesting in the way the film was shot.I found myself earnestly wishing for the end of the movie, if not the world.

after great movies like Wings of Desire and Goalkeeper's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick, for instance, Wenders decided to TRASH his whole reputation with a god-awful, cornball, cheesy, Sprockets, ridiculous (f)artsy nonsense.The dramatic premise of a satellite threatening the world is upended by a ridiculously implausible and synthetic scenario. Nothing in this movie feels real or possible, and the Euro-trash clichés, effete noir ideas, and absurd storyline makes it a risible piece of bad art.It feels like a very long bad 1980s music video for Madonna or Dick Tracy movie, with Euro-Sprockets coming at you from every direction.Only the music is good.