''Echelon Conspiracy'' is a 2009 American
action
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
directed by
Greg Marcks, from a screenplay by Michael Nitsberg and
Kevin Alyn Elders. It stars
Shane West,
Edward Burns
Edward Fitzgerald Burns (born January 29, 1968) is an American actor, producer, writer, and director best known for appearing in several films including ''Saving Private Ryan'' (1998), '' 15 Minutes'' (2001), ''Life or Something Like It'' (200 ...
,
Ving Rhames
Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series and gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in ''Pulp Fiction''. He also a ...
,
Jonathan Pryce
Sir Jonathan Pryce (born John Price; 1 June 1947) is a Welsh actor who is known for his performances on stage and in film and television. He has received numerous awards, including two Tony Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2021 he was ...
,
Tamara Feldman
Amara Zaragoza (born December 5, 1980), known by her stage name Tamara Feldman, is an American actress.
Career
Feldman is known for playing Marybeth Dunston in the horror film ''Hatchet'' (2006) and for her roles in the television series '' Small ...
, and
Martin Sheen
Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...
.
The film was theatrically released in the United States by
After Dark Films
After Dark Films is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Courtney Solomon and Allan Zeman in 2006.
History
The company is the organizer for the annual independent horror film festival ''After Dark Horro ...
on February 27, 2009, and was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
and
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
in the United States by
Paramount Home Entertainment
Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Media Distribution, and originally Paramount Home Video) is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global.
The division oversees PPC's home entertainme ...
on July 21, 2009.
Plot
Max (
Shane West), a young American computer engineer, acquires a mobile phone that receives strange text messages. First they encourage him to miss his flight which crashes soon after takeoff. Then the messages direct him to buy a certain stock, which increases by 313%. Next, the messages direct him to a hotel/casino in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
to gamble. He first wins one-hundred thousand euro on a
slot machine
A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively a ...
and bets the entire amount on a hand of
blackjack, which he wins. Max then has an altercation with a beautiful woman (
Tamara Feldman
Amara Zaragoza (born December 5, 1980), known by her stage name Tamara Feldman, is an American actress.
Career
Feldman is known for playing Marybeth Dunston in the horror film ''Hatchet'' (2006) and for her roles in the television series '' Small ...
) and her jealous boyfriend in the hotel corridor, where he is knocked-out, and his mysterious phone is apparently scanned. Max wakes up with the smiling woman, Kamila, and asks her out for a drink.
To further his new-found career in gambling, Max enlists the aid of a Russian cabbie/apparent e-gadget enthusiast, Yuri (Sergey Gubanov), who outfits him with a text-to-voice earpiece to wirelessly receive his anonymous and lucrative text messages. He then hits the 3 million euro jackpot on a slot machine but runs away when
casino security led by John Reed (
Edward Burns
Edward Fitzgerald Burns (born January 29, 1968) is an American actor, producer, writer, and director best known for appearing in several films including ''Saving Private Ryan'' (1998), '' 15 Minutes'' (2001), ''Life or Something Like It'' (200 ...
) attempts to detain him.
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
Agent Dave Grant (
Ving Rhames
Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series and gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in ''Pulp Fiction''. He also a ...
) interrupts the chase and handcuffs Max to interrogate him about the phone. Frightened, Max is unable to provide any information.
At this point, Agent Grant contacts Raymond Burke (
Martin Sheen
Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...
) of the
NSA
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
, apparently monitoring Max because of messages from an omniscient communication
surveillance computer system known as
Echelon. These messages have been responsible for the deaths of several Americans, most recently a
Pentagon IT specialist. Burke recently lost a battle to pass a bill in
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
to allow Echelon to be upgraded by being uploaded into personal computers worldwide. Burke eventually decides that Max knows too much and must be eliminated; however, Reed and the beautiful woman from the hotel – now revealed as Reed's associate – come to Max's aid and spirit him away to
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
. There, Max reconnects with the techie Yuri to get his help in discovering who is sending the messages. Yuri believes that the messages are coming directly from the computer itself, and that the system has somehow become self-aware and autonomous. Max and Reed don't agree but flee when more armed men arrive at Yuri's apartment. A car chase through Moscow ensues.
The chase ends with Reed outmaneuvering and blowing-up the pursuing cars led by Agent Grant, escaping injury; nevertheless, Max inflicts some payback for their previous encounter. Grant, who now receives threatening texts, asks Max to help to stop Echelon. Max receives another text, instructing him to return to
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...
, where he first worked as a computer security engineer. Max, Grant, and Reed all fly home on a military aircraft.
After arrival, the group finds a sealed-up bunker-like structure with a cache of servers and a high-end computer system that Max helped install years earlier and is revealed to belong to another victim of Echelon's messages - the same person whose credit card was used to send Max the phone. Max starts up the bunker's computer and is instructed via text to fire up the servers to connect them to the network for Echelon to download itself into the bunker's computers and to begin a countdown to replicate itself across the world wide network. Agent Grant calls Burke at the NSA to inform him; nonetheless, Burke wants the Echelon in the global network in the interests of US national security. Meanwhile, Max fails to stop Echelon's replication countdown, until he takes the idea of using the computer self-learning ability (also in 1968 Star Trek episode ''
The Ultimate Computer'' and in 1983
WarGames
''WarGames'' is a 1983 American science fiction techno-thriller film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film, which stars Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood, and Ally Sheedy, follow ...
). Max asks the computer about its primary purpose, and it replies that it aims to defend the US as defined by the Constitution. Max asks the computer to search for threats to the
US Constitution. A lot of articles appear concerned about the recent attempts to secure Congressional approval to upgrade Echelon, underlined as a grave threat to personal freedoms. When the download is complete, Echelon shuts itself down, "learning" that it itself is the threat to both the US and the world due to the potential of misusage by those that control it.
In the end, Agent Grant and Reed send Max and Kamila to
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
while Burke is subpoenaed to appear before the
Senate Intelligence Committee for his decision that endangering the US itself. In the final scene, back in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
, the techie Yuri is unveiled as a Captain in the Russian
Security Service. He is commended for his actions and says they will soon start it again, but they have helped the Americans to make the right decision for the time being; "I want to believe so." he cryptically adds, turning off his mobile phone.
Cast
Reception
On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, ''Echelon Conspiracy'' holds an approval rating of 8% based on 13 reviews. On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, it has a weighted average score of 26 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
Joe Leydon
Joseph Patrick Michael Leydon (born August 22, 1952) is an American film critic and historian. A critic and correspondent for ''Variety'' since 1990, he is the author of ''Joe Leydon's Guide to Essential Movies You Must See'' (Michael Wiese Prod ...
of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' wrote that the film "plays an awful lot like a direct-to-vid knockoff of last year's ''
Eagle Eye
''Eagle Eye'' is a 2008 American action-thriller film directed by D. J. Caruso and with a screenplay by John Glenn, Travis Adam Wright, Hillary Seitz and Dan McDermott from a story by McDermott. The film stars Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan ...
''" and "ups the ante with additional pilfering from ''
WarGames
''WarGames'' is a 1983 American science fiction techno-thriller film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film, which stars Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood, and Ally Sheedy, follow ...
''".
See also
*
List of films featuring surveillance
There is a significant body of films that feature surveillance as a theme or as a plot arc. These are a number of these films produced in the United States and other countries.
List of films
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External l ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
"Film Review: The Gift"by Duane Byrge at ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (May 16, 2008)
{{Greg Marcks
2009 films
2009 action thriller films
2009 independent films
2000s chase films
2000s mystery thriller films
American action thriller films
American chase films
American independent films
American mystery thriller films
2000s English-language films
Films about artificial intelligence
Films about assassinations
Films about computing
Films about security and surveillance
Films directed by Greg Marcks
Films set in Bangkok
Films set in Moscow
Films set in Prague
Films set in Washington, D.C.
Films shot in Bangkok
Films shot in Bulgaria
Films shot in Moscow
Films shot in Prague
Techno-thriller films
Dark Castle Entertainment films
Paramount Pictures direct-to-video films
2000s American films
Films set in bunkers