| Absolon | 
 enlarge | Director: David Barto
Actors: Christopher Lambert, Lou Diamond Phillips, Kelly Brook, Ron Perlman, Roberta Angelica
Studio: Lions Gate
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy Used: $1.05
You Save: $8.93 (89%)
New (2) Used (26) from $1.05
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 64030
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 96
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D1074D
ISBN: 1594350663
UPC: 031398107040
EAN: 9781594350665
ASIN: B0000DJYMG
Theatrical Release Date: 2003
Release Date: December 16, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Former Rental with Security Label and Minimal Rotations, Boxart in very good condition also.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Absolon Corrupts October 4, 2008
Absolon is a science fiction movie set in the future:
A mysterious AIDS-like virus has decimated the world
population. A cure was found such that a remnant was
saved. The cure is a drug called Absolon, and it must
be taken on a regular basis, or you die.
Some scientists discover a vaccine so that Absolon, in
theory, is no longer necessary. A detective investigating
the murder of one of these scientists discovers that he
has been chosen to carry the antitode until mass production
of the vaccine is made possible. A chase begins to stop
Detective Norman Scott from revealing the antitode to
others.
The new drug, Absolon, is treated like money, and the
company which manufactures it has become the new world
central bank. "The Company" does not want Absolon to
become obsolete for that would bring the new economy that
is founded upon Absolon, to an end.
How much Absolon you get depends on how long you work,
rather than how hard you work. (Pay Equity and Work Equity
are not the same concepts.) The price of Absolon injections
are measured in units of time. To wit, a homeless man asks
Norman Scott if he can spare some time. But the woman he is
with says to Norman, "Forget about him, he's already in stage
two" (of the disease). In the New Economy, if you don't have
"time" to spend, you don't get Absolon. And some who work
harder get paid the same as some who don't work as hard, but
work as long.
Young twenty-something females are coporate managers, overseers,
in this New Economy, which might make you wonder if only the
males are infected. But the fact that you don't see a middle-aged
female working, might make you wonder if females are unable to
afford Absolon, not being able to do something useful to purchase
Absolon with, after a certain age.
His girlfriend asks him why he looks sad whenever a phone rings.
He tells her he used to have a wife, but one day she walked out
the door and never came back. And everytime a phone rang he used
to wonder if it was her, but now, hearing a phone ring just makes
him sad. She infected him, and then left. He used to have a wife.
Perhaps she left him because she did not want him to see her die.
Or perhaps she did not want him to discover that females are immune.
The movie is special because it talks about AIDS, and the reality
that some people look upon others as disposable batteries,
"coppertops", to be used and thrown away. (I once read that early
in the AIDS crisis, some guys had to give up their houses in
exchange for experimental pills, in the hope of prolonging their
lives.) This film deals with issues of paranoia, betrayal, and
guilt, while asking the audience to believe in the power of love.
Who will keep the faith? Who will keep believing in "true love"?
In one scene, Detective Scott gives a boy a card with the image of
a superhero on it, telling him, "He shall return": The image on
the card may not look like Jesus, but religious art, even if it is
not accurate, speaks of a mystery, and of a hope. In the future,
it seems quality religious art is difficult to come by.
The action scenes in this movie are soo ridiculous as to appear
deliberately ridiculous. Perhaps the director is saying, Consider
how this is only plausible if you assume that Detective Norman Scott
is moving through time at a different rate than the other characters?
(To wit, in one scene he dodges bullets in an alley, while the
assassins are only a few feet away, and then manages to get into a
nearby SUV and drive away, down the same alley, while they are still
trying to shoot him.) Some people, it would seem, are able to do more
than others in a given "frame of time". This is a thinking person's
movie, and not for say fans of martial arts movies.
CAN THE FUTURE BE SAVED? March 13, 2008
Christopher Lambert has found his niche and it is nowhere near the one that many of us expected to find him in after the double whammy of GREYSTOKE and HIGHLANDER. Lambert has found himself relegated to playing small time straight to video action star. He does a fine job in most, but the potential he showed at one time is a spark that has died and in its place is someone walking through far too many similar roles as if he were there for a paycheck and little more. Sure, he turns in a credible performance, but he could always seem to do better.
The movie starts after a virus has wiped out nearly all of humanity. The supplies left on Earth will keep those who have survived going for at least 100 years. There is still electricity and cars around, but the virus still affects people. Only a cure known as Absolon keeps people from falling victim to the disease.
As the movie opens, a scientist sitting behind his desk hides a disc when a masked intruder enters and kills him as he sits. This turns out to be a hologram that Detective Norman Scott (Lambert) is watching. The case is his and he has already begun looking for clues when a government agent (Lou Diamond Phillips) gives him an all access pass and the instructions to keep him informed.
Lambert finds the disc, passes it along to his team and then heads out to interview the scientist's assistant. Bits and pieces are garnered from this conversation but it isn't until the second time they speak that Lambert discovers that the pair were working on a cure for the disease that would not require people to take Absolon on a daily basis. And after revealing this information, the assistant's head is blown off and Lambert kills two agents dead.
The government organization behind the killings is now aware that Lambert has been made aware of the possible cure, something they do not want. If a cure is found then the money and control brought about by a dependency would collapse. Framed, Lambert is on the run with these agents in tow.
As he is about to be killed, a car pulls up driven by a scientists who worked at the same lab. They pair make their escape and she informs him that they found the cure but it works in two parts. And Lambert is carrying the first part in his own bloodstream, administered by a glass of tea he was offered.
The rest of the film has the pair avoiding the agents who keep popping up with the help of a satellite and a bugged chip. Along the way in search of the second part (without which Lambert will die) they encounter several people and have more than one near mishap with Phillips and crew.
Will Lambert find the cure? And who is the real killer? Not to mention who are the mysterious members of society that keep helping this duo?
The movie starts off slow but develops gradually until it makes a satisfying action thriller that holds your interest. Is it Oscar material? No way. But it does make for an interesting viewing. For Lambert fans and people who enjoy a little action with their sci fi, you should enjoy this one on a rainy night.
 Hamlet of the Future!!!! January 15, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
No film tackles the ambiguities and tribulations of the human condition like Absolon. Through an examination of all of the great works of Christopher Lambert, this film rivals all others in its depth and meaning. More trancendent than Fortress, more epic than the Highlander series, this film captures one man's struggle for survival and quest for truth like no other. The film's greatest contribution to cinema is the settung: a distopian future; a previously unexplored and daring topic for both the genre and Christopher Lambert himself. In short, this film moves the spirit to ethereal hights of ecstacy; truly, not since Michelangelo has man created such art to stir the soul.
I WANT A NEW DRUG September 16, 2004
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
ABSOLON doesn't rely on flashy special effects nor big budget car chases. Unfortunately, it achieves only mild cult status as a B film. Christopher Lambert, trying hard to hide that French accent, is a noble hero, and Kelly Brook is a fetching love interest. Lou Diamond Phillips is an inept hitman, government agent; and Ron Perlman is the shadowy pharmaceutical magnate. Seems like the world in 2010 has been basically wiped out by a virus that came from man's destruction of the rain forests. Now all survivors must take a drug called Absolon daily in order to fight off the virus. When a doctor discovers a possible cure for the virus, he is killed and the hunt is on for Lambert, who has gotten involved.
The script is tangled and doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it entertains; just don't expect a great movie. Just a passable one.
Slow but Kelly Brook Looks Hot February 24, 2004
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
Like any movie on the sci fi channel this movie is slow. Lambert is his usual professional self playing his part well but this movie gets its 3 stars for the looks of model Kelly Brook.
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