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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1980s
    Movies - 1980s Movies - Q 2 Mins Read

    Quiet Earth, The (1985)

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    Scientist Zac Hobson (Bruno Lawrence) awakes one morning to realise he may be the only person left alive on Earth. Left to wander through a deserted New Zealand landscape, Zac discovers that all life has apparently vanished, literally overnight.

    Half-eaten meals sit unfinished in their trays, empty cars are strewn recklessly about the roadways and, in one inspired scene, Zac passes by a random blaze in a levelled building, caused by a felled Air New Zealand jet, devoid of passengers but with its seatbelts fully buckled.

    Disoriented, the scientist returns to the high-tech research establishment where he was employed, only to learn that a covert global operation called Project Flashlight – run in conjunction with the US Defense Department – has had something to do with the catastrophic ‘Effect’ that has eliminated all life from the planet.

    At first, he can’t process what’s happened, slipping between bursts of madness and self-pitying despair, but he gradually develops a way of life – moving into an enormous mansion and plundering the deserted metropolis, impulsively looting department stores and feeding his uncontrolled whims – until he eventually degenerates into a morass of alcohol and depression.

    quietearth_011

    Bruno Lawrence gives a beguiling central performance as someone who is suddenly able to live out his fantasies, to enjoy the empty city without guilt or interference.

    Shot against stunning Auckland backdrops by Geoff Murphy, the acclaimed Kiwi director of the Maori historical drama Utu (1983), the early section develops a strong sense of mystery, but after Lawrence discovers two other survivors – Joanne (Alison Routledge) and Api (Pete Smith) – the script follows an all too predictable path, albeit leading to a very *unpredictable* ending.

    It’s an intriguing if not altogether original concept. The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959) and Charlton Heston’s cult The Omega Man (1971) were there first.

    Zac Hobson
    Bruno Lawrence
    Joanne
    Alison Routledge
    Api
    Pete Smith
    Api’s mate
    Anzac Wallace
    Perrin
    Norman Fletcher
    Scientist
    Tom Hyde

    Director
    Geoff Murphy

    Video

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