Review: ‘The Echelon Conspiracy’ Is Shameful
by Mike Long
The Echelon Conspiracy could spin off a veritable global economy of work in the form of books, magazine articles, documentaries and parodies to investigate and explain the dissonance between the picture’s pre-production pedigree and the post-production fiasco. There are surely a lot of fascinating stories here: How such a rancid wreck got made in the first place; how it didn’t end up going directly to DVD; how so many A-list actors such as Ving Rhames, Jonathan Pryce, Ed Burns and Martin Sheen got involved; why screenwriters Michael Nitsberg and Kevin Elders figured they could rip off the end of War Games—at times, nearly line-by-line—and that no one would notice; and how a movie with a reasonably interesting premise, at least one notable idea at its heart, and enough Bush-bashing to please every liberal film critic in America could end up (as of this writing) with a rare 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.
(And thank goodness for that–keep reading.)
The plot, in brief: The Bush Administration directs its Shadowy Intelligence Agency to override Congress and capture every bit of electronic data in the world, then to analyze it for potential terrorist threats. The program gains consciousness (seriously) and acts first to protect itself, then to take over American security.
It’s silly, but I don’t have a problem with silly. Its politics are tinfoil-hat lefty—but I try to judge a movie on its entertainment value, not on the politics of the filmmakers, so I can live with even that.
What I can’t abide are bald lies about history, slanderous accusations about my country, and the offering up of murderers as heroes.
This B-grade garbage delivers all three.
In The Echelon Conspiracy, America is engaged in careless, self-aggrandizing acts that could lead to war or the occasional violation of privacy. (The filmmakers seem to think that the latter is far worse than the former, never mind the casualties.) SPOILER AHEAD: The movie ends with a twist: the party responsible for ending the Evil American Plot is the Russian Secret Police. (Or maybe the Russian Army. It’s not really clear. Either way, though—same point.)
The bottom line of The Echelon Conspiracy is that democracy is saved by the measured moral judgment of leftover communists.
I expected the credits to play over a denouncement of anti-Semitism delivered by Adolf Hitler.
To make things worse, the soldier-spies in the final scene engage in a more-sorrow-than-in-anger dialogue for the camera in which they wonder if Americans will ever learn, and if the wise Russians will be able to save democracy again the next time the U.S. pulls something like this.
Hey, Echelon guys: Here’s some history for you:
Between 1917 and 1991, the leaders of the Soviet Union killed about 20 million people, give or take a mother or son here and there.
For most of a century, the Soviets incarcerated, exiled or murdered those who spoke out against the government. They banned political opposition. They shuttered churches. They conducted fixed elections so they could pretend their dictators had public support. They directly oppressed the people of Eastern Europe, and held the free world hostage to nuclear weapons. They paid the bills for totalitarian revolutionaries around the world. They buried three generations of Russian human potential under the greed and arrogance and abject evil of leaders without the slightest interest in human rights, democracy, liberty or the freedom of individuals to make their own lives–much less make their own movies.
And some second-rate B-movie makers in a free nation portray the Soviets’ holdover enforcers as world-saving heroes? And the U.S. as the bad guy?
How much do you have to hate humanity to make a picture like that?
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68 Comments
Look, Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill and think things over. I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission.
And I want to help you.
-HAL 9000 (or it could just as well be our clown president Obama speaking)
Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Will you stop, Dave? Stop, Dave. I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I'm a… fraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you'd like to hear it, I can sing it for you.
Mike: You really can't figure out why Martin Sheen would be connected with an anti-American, tech-ignorant, conspiracy movie?
Its just a movie moron.
One minor correction, estimates of Soviet Russian murders (1917-1987) are over 61 million.
The PRC from 1949-87 was over 76 million
The Nazi's hit the 20 million mark from 1933-45.
"Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I'm half crazy all for the love of you…"
The lefties have been obsessed with ECHELON for some time. It is, of course, the 'hardware' behind our surveillance programs. The NSA won't officially admit it's existence, but the Brits let the cat out of the bag, so there you are… they hate it because it works, and we are a stronger country for it. Anyhoo, if Marty Sheen is in
it, what do you expect?
Ed Burns is an "A-list actor" since when?
The lefty idiots get their intelligence by sticking their heads up the collective's ass–which is why this movie has all the value of a great steaming pile of excrement.
Well there goes my regard for Ed Burns. I know whose DVDS are going to the used DVD store for something a little less middle finger to the free world. What a crock of BLEEP!
Oh and God Bless the CIA!
Eagle Eye, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Colossus: The Forbin Project all called. They want their plot back.
Any bets on the cume ? $5mm tops ?
Vladimir Putin warned the world about socialism at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12331706933212524...
His speech is fascinating. Brilliant, even.
Yeah Dave is right, I saw this movie at a free preview last Thursday in Manhattan, and thought it was crap, of course all the morons in the theatre who look to hollywood to teach them history A. Cheered at the end of this crap… and B. talked about the movie outside the theatre like it was all true.
More critics need to hold hollywood up to standards. BRAVO!
I just saw the same movie last night, and it had roughly the same ending in the sense of the evil United States gov't spying on its citizens – it was a Spielberg production called "Eagle Eye."
That was the first movie we'd seen in months – I simply can't take the crap spewed out by Hollywood. Even the kids have given up on film – they play computer games instead.
According to the IMDb, it only played on 400 screens and grossed a whopping… wait for it… $500,154!
I love a good techno-conspiracy thriller as much as the next guy but I saw the trailer for this months ago on Apple's trailer website and it looked awful.
If it makes you feel any better, I'm sure he just did it for the paycheck so he could finance another one of his personal indie projects.
It's just a review jacka**.
Ed burns an a list actor?since when/ he's been playing ed burns for his entire career. & martin sheen (the president from the left wing, right?) hasn't done any good work since he was younger than his two sons (charlie & emilio) are now. Mr rhames & mr pryce are talented, maybe they didn't read the script beforehand. All hollywood nonsense, both cinema & tv, blames america first & foremost. You should know that if you haven't been in a cave for the last thirty years.
Sounds like this is someone's Ishtar. Even the timing sucks now that we're in the new Age of Aquarius. Oh well, if it went direct to DVD, it ain't even worth the outrage, but thanks for the heads-up so I can avoid it on Netflix.
Never even heard of this movie, and I like to think I'm fairly plugged in. Must not have been very big, despite the names in the cast.
What a shame. I really liked Greg Marcks' last movie, a very stylish low-budget thriller called 11:14, and I was looking forward to his follow-up. I think I'll skip it now; thanks for saving me the money, Mike.
Personally, I'm just waiting around to watch the sequel to "Red Dawn." (Hopefully not LIVE on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC.)
What's ironic, to me, is the potential for a vast left-wing conspiracy movie. After all, liberals invented conspiracies and myth. Conservatives always get caught. Case in point: JFK. He bugged the whole White House and somehow, lotsa tapes went missing. What's even more ironic is that tinselati (I know I made it up; but the word works) probably have cushier lifestyles than 99 percent of the American public. Most of the A-listers fall into income brackets that pay less taxes than those in the $100,000-500,000 range. So for the life of me I can't understand why they continually shoot at windmills in government that has treated them well for the most part. Glad I read your review though. I won't waste my $1 on the Red Box for this one. best, KBD
(sarcasm)
Mike Long, you racist-sexist-homophobic Nazi. Don't you understand that these brave filmmakers are Speaking Truth to Power™? America has oppressed everyone who wasn't rich or white! You have to understand this, rather than wave some red, white, and blue rag around like the knuckle-dragger you are!
(/sarcasm)
Dissent is the highest form of patriotism when a Republican is in office. When a Democrat is in office, obedience is the highest from of patriotism. Perhaps whoever made that movie believed that they were being super-patriotic, since the only things you are allowed to say about America are put-downs now.
Now that you mention a Sheen. I just saw 'The Arrival' (with Charlie) on cable over the weekend. I hadn't seen that movie in probably ten years. The entire "Global Warming" crisis, with all the standard dogma, was a theme in this movie (perpetuated by aliens to "terra-form" the earth). I thought, "how long has this been a theme in Hollywood's subliminal trick-bag?"… so I click on the "Info" button. Turns out they've been peddling this junk since at least 1996. My how time flies when you're being indoctrinated.
"vast left-wing conspiracy movie." ……. Well there was that "Manchurian Candidate" flick in the 60s. But nobody would ever believe that could actually happen, so it's chalked off as "unbelievable" and utterly "impossible"….. right? Somebody tell me I'm right…. please!
KBDay: guilt
LOL!! Classic.
Thanks for the revision. For ease of citation, my source was the Black Book of Communism, but I do not doubt that their estimate is low.
You want them to do a sequel to Red Dawn? Today's Hollywood? Are you sure?
Think "Amerika," with Kris Kristofferson: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092316/
Anger building…
the leftists are the ones who hate the right to privacy, the soviet stasi and the british nanny state are definite proof of that
what they apparently object to is violating the privacy of terrorists who are busy plotting to kill people
lol. Hollywood would never do a sequel, remake, or a reboot of 'Red Dawn.' Besides, Patrick Swayze can't run as fast as he used to, and nobody can find Powers Boothe. I read about 'Amerika' awhile back on imdb. Never saw it during the original run – apparently not many other people saw it at the time either. 'The Day After' had already scared the hell out of them I suppose. 'Amerika' is not available on DVD and hasn't been shown on TV in ages – for a good reason; it sucked.
Watch the shift over the next little bit as the emphasis changes from the dangers and evils of eavesdropping, interrogation, and so forth to deeply personal dramas about how our courageous President, with the help of a few right-thinking Liberals, takes on his less attractive and somewhat sinister-seeming Republican opponents, proves to everyone that (big) government IS the answer, and restores balance to the force. Plus, lots of cameos for all the d-bags on cable news. I love it when they put television personalities in movies. My personal favorite is Brent Musberger in The Waterboy although Stu Nahan is quite good in Fast Times at Ridgemont High as well. My bet would be Stephanopolous as himself getting schooled by Imaginary President's amazingly eloquent chief of staff (Doogie Howser). This serves to further two ridiculous conceits. The first is that Liberals are brilliant by nature and the second is that George Stephonopolous is a journalist.
Just proves Hollywoodites will suffer to remain true to their artistic vision, else they would just pay the RiffTrax guys to "fix" their crap pre-release.
Hollywood loves to rewite history in its own image. I'll pass on THE ECHELON CONSPIRACY. And, really, hasn't this storyline been done about a million times already? Can't they think up some new garbage for once?
http://the100mostannoyingthings.blogspot.com/
I never finished it, it's still on my stack of books to finish once I finish ,y degree. I used RJ Rummel's work for reference: http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/20TH.HTM
I saw it at the time. It was very defeatist. And while it claimed to explore what it meant to be an American, the premise itself shows that the writers didn't understand a thing about us.
Mike,
The premise of this movie is the same as one I remember watching on TV back in the 70's. But that movie made the premise work in very clever, very scary, very realistic way. Which is why I remember it to this day. Since you were so kind to alert us to the hilarious sleeper, "Sex Drive" (I raved about it yesterday on your 10 Best page), I recommend you check out "Colossus: The Forbin Project." It's available on DVD.
Now we're even.
If one were to base their ideas and notions of this country based solely on what Hollywood has put out in the last 8 year, the real question is why haven't we all killed ourselves for the better good of the world? Unless of course we aren't such an evil empire after all and in fact we spend a lot of money to better other peoples lives around the world.
I always wonder what historians will write about this point in American history? The time in history when the government watchdog the media became the obedient government lap dog. It will be an essay question in history classes in the future how come no one noticed or was concerned about it?
Your last lines were a rhetorical question, right? They made this intestinal worm, yet ignore "Brothers at War", right?
If libs were doorstops, they would cost $5000 a copy, could only work on left handed ones, and want bailout money when they won't function properly, or at all.
I don't think I'm alone when I state that I prefer Martin Sheen with duct tape on his mouth. Better yet, with his whole head wrapped in it.
Have those involved in the production of Wargames ever admitted that the "moral" of their movie, that "The only way to win is not to play," turned out to be dead wrong? That their analogy of tic-tac-toe to the Cold War was simplistic, childish, silly and uninformed?
Have they ever faced up to the fact that we not only "played," but we "played" hard and we "played" smart and wound up freeing millions of oppressed people?
I guess making a lefty movie means never having to say you're wrong, even if following the policies that you preached would have resulted in the continued enslavement of entire countries and the continuation of the Cold War and the nuclear threat.
No it's a moniker blending two different bands. If that was my real name I would have been beat up a lot as a kid.
Are you kidding? Admit they were wrong? LOL!! ROFLMAO!!! These are the same people who claimed that mutually assured destruction was an insane theory devised by Ronald Reagan to kill us all… until it worked. Now they claim that it's the only thing that kept us safe and that we should not seek to improve our defenses for fear of changing the MAD equation.
Truth to Power™!!! Classic sarcasm!
Funny how this crowd fearlessly sniffs out fascism everywhere except where they might actually find some real fascists.
[...] grandparents’ heroic tales from the war. Putin has given us stability and economic growth Review: ‘The Echelon Conspiracy’ Is Shameful – bighollywood.breitbart.com 03/09/2009 by Mike Long The Echelon Conspiracycould spin off a [...]
I know a few immigrants from eastern Europe who would fly into a rage if they met anyone associated with this movie.
Liberals are Americentric. They think the rest of the world is probably just like them, only poorer.
they should have ripped off "the clonus horror" and completed the hat trick.
Truth to power…. wait are you saying that Russia, USSR and cold war enemy was not a benevolent and humanistic society. How dare you sir!? They build a wall of love and compassion do you not remember this great wall of love. It was called the iron curtain, why, because iron is one of the strongest things on this planet just like love. It was a love shield from the great tyranny that is capitalism. May that devil Reagan rest in peace for destroying such a wonderful love shield. When he commanded Mr. Gorbachev to tear down that wall he obviously had no idea as to the greatness that it protected……It protected so many people that they couldn't sneak out fast enough and now I feel a little bit dirty using a great Presidents name in a sarcastic rant. I'm sorry President Reagan I meant it only in jest.
Here's the question, since most of the great presidents mentioned or quoted are trying to be hijacked by the left how does one respond to that. I've heard Obama supporters refer to him as Reagan esque or Lincoln esque. When will they just come out and speak the truth and call him Carter esque.
This insane infallibility and high status doesn't belong to their party or this president and I'm highly enraged by it. Pick your great democrat president FDR and let Obama be like him. Quite trying to steal Republican Presidents that accomplished social, economical and international problems.
May your left leaning ideas pull you into that black hole of reasoning that is your party.
I'll have to get that book back out and see if it is or is not the Obama play book. From what I remember of the plot it was along the lines of talking about a plan to save the stock market but actually doing nothing during a financial melt down. Nope no similarities there we're all safe, everyone back to the punch bowl.
Future U.S. historians will write what the Government allows them to write. Anything else would be hate speech, silly.
"U2Dave" eh? Is that your real name?
I'ts Chinatown, Jake.
If one mentions this in your presence, tell them this: "Isn't it funny that he has to compare himself to Republicans? You'd think there would be a democrat as good as Reagan or Lincoln, but I guess not."
I was going to ask the same question. Poor guy can't act worth a lick.
Agreed Scott… I can even overlook the usual "(shadow) government is behind the techno-plot" (See Enemy of the State, Shadow Conspiracy), but then there's such a thing as just being awful from the get-go, and this one qualifies (I'd only seen the trailer online somewhere…)
Wow, Hollywood has made another movie that dumps on the United States. It must be Tuesday.
mez, Take a look at the movie "Soylent Green" with Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson. Edward mentions the "green house effect". The movie is from 1973.
Gad that movie was boring, you can only watch Kris Kristofferson stare with one eyebrow rasied for so long.
Echelon is certainly real, it just isn’t defined -what- it is and what it does. The most common theory is that it has the ability to passively scan large quantities of different communications (voice, e-mail, etc.) for patterns that would suggest questionable activities from a foreign security standpoint. Does it do that? Does it scan US communications illegally? Don’t know, don’t care. Nobody has been thrown in an unmarked van and locked away without a trial because they said ‘bomb’ and ‘Crawford, Texas’ in the same sentence, so I’m pretty sure we’re okay.
I’ll give the filmmakers one prop: taking something real and using it as a plot point in a thriller. Past that, this movie sounds incredibly silly. MST3K silly.
Well said!
actually enjoyed 'the Arrival'… mebbe 'cause the envirowhacko thing wasn't as annoying back then…
"Delgo"! Remember Delgo?
No one else does, either….
Explains why he went into hunting vampires…
Shut down the communist NSA!!!
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