Wow! Unthinkable #3 on IMDB!

quote - "Personally I feel strangely conflicted. On the one hand, there's so much positive response -- believe me, I've made movies no-one cared about! -- and on the other, all this seems to be coming from folks who have stolen the work of a lot of people, watched it without paying for it."

Haven't seen the film, but have read the synopsis.

First issue there is no theft, no stolen. Nothing is stolen. Unless someone is selling it and makign money that you guys should be making from it. Which 99% of internet downloads are not.

You have to realise, most people who download films and watch them, if they had no option to download it, they would not have gone out and paid to watch 99% of the stuff they download (if not 100% effectively). So there is no theft as you liked to call it, and no real loss of payment to you. Yes they got something for free, but if they had to pay for it, they would have done without it. Its as simple as that.

Anyone will take anything for free (which is 99.99999% of people on the net), but attach a price to it and people will get picky very quickly with what they pay for.

That is why cinema numbers keep going up, dvd sales don't drop off in real terms (other than for bad films and maybe due to recession) and so on, even though more and more people might be downloading films.

[#] 99% of the people who go to the cinema do so because they want the cinematic exprience (dates, friends, genre fans, special effects fans, big screen fans etc).
[#] 99% of the people who buy the films do so because they have already seen it and want it in their collection.

The only industry that is losing money due to piracy is probably blockbuster (never was a big industry to begin with) and the music industry.

But again there is no theft, just copyright infringement. The difference is the fact that there is no way of knowing if someone who committed copyright infringement would have paid for that item anyway. It is obvious to me and most people that the majority of people who committ copyright infringement would not have paid for those items, so their is no billions of lost revenue from these people that the MPAA cry about. Its in their dreams that every download equals a lost purchase. People will take junk for free, but if they had to pay even a penny, they wouldn't.

(not saying your film is junk, no idea, but majority of films are junk, and if people could find out before they pay, they wouldn't pay. Which is the case now. That to me is not unfair, or unjust, even if illegal. The films that are quality still make money and break records and box office stats etc. Because people are willing to pay for them, and buy them, and they still do that even in this age of digital torrenting.)

So you have to ask yourself, does a 10 year old kid deserve to go to jail or pay 50million fine for a film he watched for free, that if he had to pay to watch it, he would have gone without watching it?

That is the case 99.99999% of the time.

P.S. Also by law, the jury or public is allowed to judge the law itself as well as the defendent. So they can find a law guilty of being unjust, and therefore the defendent innocent and have the case and the law thrown out and rewritten because they believe the law to be unjust. To me that is the case nowadays. Piracy where no money exchanges hands, where a friend lends another friend a film for free, should not be a criminal offense. The law needs to be changed. And that is obviously the feeling voiced by the majority in the world.

I loved the film. It was exciting and one of the best thrillers this year, after maybe the Crazies (but that seemed bigger budget).

I didn't torrent it. Ninja video had the version up on its movies section. Streaming DivX.

The movie presented both sides, both arguments. Through the eyes of Agent Brody you could see the liberal perspective, and through "H" and the CIA agent you can see the conservative perspective, and through the military you can see a more neutral perspective (surprisingly the military was quite human-rights loving).

There are many quotes in this movie that I can take out, because it's filled with such beautiful dialogue and arguments.

The plot was filled with surprises that were very intelligent, it made me start cheering for the film when I realized where the plot was going. I am impressed, I'll buy the Blu-Ray when it comes out.

I definitely pay for movies and DVDs, but sometimes if I think a movie can go either way, I first watch it on ninja video or other sites. This makes sense because movies are sold as a product box, for which you have to pay before you open the box and find out what's inside. If the movie had turned out to have an incredible political bias or horrible plot, I would be so pissed if I had payed for it. This is exactly what happened when I payed for that stupid movie named Avatar.

movie-links.tv also has Unthinkable up as #1, with 9.2 rating, and has streaming video of it.

Samuel L. Jackson's performance was award worthy, I haven't seen him act this well before in most of his recent movies. He hasn't made a performance like this since Rules of Engagement! (Although Lakeview Terrace wasn't bad either).

Seriously great job, don't be upset that the movie didn't get released in theaters (a lot of bad movies have been released in theaters), I'm sure it will make a ton of money on DVD sales. Also making a good movie is thousands of times more important that the amount of profit made; it shows your reputation rather than the size of your budget.

What you made here is art. And people will remember it. Most people won't remember Avatar in 20 years except for the fact that it made so much money---oh and to never trust James Cameron ever again.

well, i'll start by saying i loved this movie... sam jackson is awesome as always, carrie anne moss as well, and oh-my-goodness i didn't even recognize michael sheen until about after 10 mins of his screen time... it didn't exactly remind me of 'law abiding citizen', they're not really alike but i thought this film went where 'citizen' was afraid to go...

on a certain website for watching movies/tv shows online, someone left a positive user comment on the film, so i clicked the name and saw it had all positive reviews, read the description and cast and watched from there... not a torrent, just streaming... there's about 25 versions on a dozen or so different streaming sites...

the one i saw has a watermark which reads "property of s.p.h.e. for promotional viewing only" etc etc... then it goes black and white with a po# in the top right hand corner of the screen...

this movie's good, so i'd definitely buy the dvd once it's out; i live in barbados so its mainly the bigger budget, blockbuster movies that come to the theatres... but yes, for right now with no sattelite tv online streaming movies and tv shows are what i watch... i was obsessed with eBay a while back, you get good deals on dvds there too, but anyhoo....

oh yeah, the version i saw had the 4th bomb ending; they diffuse the 3rd bomb and the camera pans over to the 4th bomb counting down to 0... one of many jaw-dropping moments, i absolutely loved it...



It's mercy, compassion and forgiveness I lack. Not rationality...

I downloaded it, however had it been released in the cinema here in the UK I'm pretty sure I would have gone to see it. That is providing I was aware of it. As it was I was only made aware of it because it was torrented.

I should also mention that I have a vast and entirely legal DVD collection. If I love something, I will support it.

I really enjoyed the movie, rated 9/10. Michael Sheen as the terrorist was an excellent piece of casting and both Jackson and Moss were very good. I was surprised by the content, probably because I never saw a trailer. Although I do think it has some unique and exceptional qualities. Not only did it surprise me, it entertained and gripped me from start to finish. It also made me think and question. All the qualities you need for a good cinematic release.

It is a travesty that this movie was not shown in cinemas. Being someone who likes to regularly go to the cinema, I often find a list of movies playing that I'm not particularly interested in. I can imagine that if I had seen Unthinkable (with the cast and vague plot description) on that list I would have been interested and gone to see it. I would also imagine there are a lot of other people like me, so I really don't understand how this movie did not get a cinematic release, can you elaborate as to why another distribution company wasn't found? Did no one like the movie? Was it the context/topic of the movie?

I have to say that in this instance I actually believe that torrenting has done this film a favour. After the first 1000 or so votes on imdb I believe the movie had a rating of around 8.3. That is a lot of people torrenting this movie and enjoying it, people who will tell their friends/co-workers/family members about a movie that has enjoyed no cinematic release and no advertisement as far as I can see. It is the kind of movie that you will mention to people and will talk about even if you didn't like it. If you did enjoy it the way I enjoyed it, it is the kind of movie you actively suggest people watch.

For example, I've mentioned this movie to several people who I know have never downloaded a movie in their lives. Those people are now aware of a movie they would never have known about or been interested in before. They are also aware that it is an interesting and entertaining movie. Presumably I'm not alone and presumably that will translate into buys/rents that otherwise would not have existed. The No.3 on imdb seems to further highlight the fact that in this instance the torrenting could possibly have been the best thing to happen for this film.

Judging by the boards here, I'm pretty sure quite a few of the negative ratings are down more to peoples perceived idea as to what the movie suggests is good or bad. i.e. torture etc. Rather than the actual quality of the movie. Personally I felt the movie just asked the viewer questions and offered perspective. I didn't feel in anyway that it had any agenda.

Is there no way you can orchestrate distribution in Europe/UK for a cinematic release? The movie would make a few £million in the UK alone with a couple adverts. It could actually do very well indeed as Sheen is relatively well known and popular here now (if people saw his name they would perceive quality) and Jackson is a major star. You would think it would be worth Sony investing in order to push this through. I don't have the slightest idea how these industry things are organised. I do know that if the completed article was released here, I would go to see it.

I'm not sure whether as a producer it is better to be part of a crap but big and financially successful movie or be part of a good but financially troubled movie.

It is a little gem of a movie and you should be proud to have been part of it. I look forward to watching the completed article at some point with the correct score and ending.

I downloaded and have watched it 3 times already...it's very entertaining, intense, and riveting!! Plus the actors do a great job in here. This movie definitely should have gotten a theatrical release as I've seen the trailer also and I disagree with the other poster that it was horrible. This could've made a nice box office run. I just found out about this movie a few weeks ago when I surfed on my usual site to check what's been released out into the internet...read the synopsis, found out quite a bit of known actors were in it, but had no theatrical run and was going straight to dvd. So I decided to check it out.

I am pretty sure I got the complete movie as the one I got had both endings on it as that can only come from a finished dvd when converted.

What else is gonna be on the DVD? Some bonus stuff and commentary?

Hi there.

Thanks for reaching out.

I downloaded your movie in 720p format. Given the availability of 720/1080p works, I hardly believe it's an unfinished product. I, personally, like to purchase and collect plastic/metallic little discs, so I've been able to rationalize my behavior. Not saying it's right or wrong. Would be glad to discuss details on the 5 Ws offline, if you'd like.

Regarding the series of unfortunate events that led to the straight-to-video situation: I'm really sorry. I walked into the movie thinking it'll be another tried and tested ticking bomb movie, a la "24". Thankfully, I was wrong. The struggles between "H"'s and Helen were perfectly scripted and mimicked my own struggles within throughout the movie.

I'm not one to provide a fleshed out and full out review. I will, however, boil this down to several points for you to take away:

*) Digital distribution is where it's at. Embrace it.
*) Your movie is great, I will be recommending its purchase to everyone when your distributors get off their asses.
*) Pre-ordered.

For all these questions my answer is the following: why should we wait, for example in Europe for a movie to come to the cinemas maybe for months or sometimes years? If the movie companies could arrange a global release, on the same day, than maybe people don't have to wait for months to see that. In a global world when you hear about something interesting, you want to see that immediately, not months later, when the other part of the world maybe have already forgotten that movie. This is the problem of lawyers and distributors, not the viewers. Share everything globally and then we can for example talk about the same movie with my Australian and American friends on the same day when we watch it.
You can see from the financial success of the Avatar movie that if a movie gives us the sense of freshness and uniqueness, than we immediately go to the cinemas. people like to go to film theaters, we just don't like to wait.

I also buy my favorite dvd's - when they are available on amazon.com and when there is some extra stuff on the DVD. I think this is a really great film, I am really waiting for the release.

I've just finished watching the film on one of the many free streaming sites available.
First of all, with regard to this, I normally don't use these sites - having spent 10 years as a product manager for a music company I appreciate the effect downloading/streaming has on the entertainment business (and being 35 I'm probably very 'old school' - I much prefer to actually have a CD/DVD that I can keep on a dusty shelf forever!)
That said, I was aware that the film was not going to be available for some time and I had a real vested interest in watching it. Having given up the world of music some years ago, I returned to university and now study war and terrorism. The film was a fantastic embodiment of the 'ticking bomb' moral argument and highlights how this form of logic in justifying torture can never be used.
Furthermore the film opened up for debate many questions about the 'War on Terror' (personally I believe it is not possible to have such a war, terrorism is a tactic not a form of conflict that can ever be won, again the film highlights this). While, in the first 20 minutes, I thought the film was going to head along the lines of US propaganda to drum up support for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, I was happy to be proven wrong.
Many will 'enjoy' the film for the torture scenes and Samuel L Jackson in his 'bad ass' persona, many more may question the current conflicts in a new way and perhaps begin to wonder whether America really is the 'good guy'. While terrorist attacks and brutal regimes cannot condoned, the US and its allies cannot expect other countries to choose democracy and adhere to liberal norms and values when they themselves allow for these values and the regulations of the Geneva Conventions to be ignored when it suits America.
I really hope that the film makes it to general release and many more people are able to (legally) see it. It was a very brave film to make and was superbly scripted and acted. Although it may, unfortunately, not become a box office hit, it certainly will open up debate and discussion among those who see it which, perhaps, is a greater accolade than bringing in dollars or awards.