Wow.
This is why we desperately need more Indie films.
It seems almost clichéd to say, “I’ve never seen anything like this before,” but, ironically, that is very true. I never have seen anything like this. It is a film which on the one hand mocks the low budget Sci Fi films of the fifties and sixties, while at the same time honoring them.
When Tom and Gavin met up with their friend Jeffrey that day, they had no idea what a horrible fate lay in store for them:
After all, it was the day of the big Sci-Fi convention and they had already agreed that they would go with him.
Not that they actually ever intended to go, or anything crazy like that.
However, things only get worse once Jeffrey drags them into a showing of a very old — and even more clichéd — black and white movie called “Space Warriors in Space!” Without warning, they find themselves trapped inside the movie itself, in a reality which is made of cardboard and recognizable bits and pieces.
Just like the movie in the film.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the evil Battlelord Froth attacks them moments later.
Before long, they’ve teamed up with Councilor Emmanor and a reptilian alien Professor in their war against Froth, but the strange force that brought them here has other plans for them. Can they find their way back into the real world before they all become the fictional characters from Space Warriors in Space?
It’s hard to sum up this strange little gem of a film from New Zealand. It is at once a love letter to those of us cinematic geeks who love those old films from the Fifties and Sixties, and yet at the same time an ironic commentary on them. At first glance it seems just pure fantasy, but in the end proves to have something far more solid and satisfying (to the average Science Fiction geek, at least) at its core.
Part of the fun is that the director and co-writer, Christian Nicolson (who also stars as Tom), threw in anything he could think of, from giant lizards to Benny Hill references, to living stuffed animals, a big robot, a city full of (very cheap) aliens, an unexpected last minute change of personality for one of Jeffrey’s two friends, and a wise old muppet. Fortunately, the basic premise allows him to build his spaceships (and just about everything else) out of odds and ends, assorted bits of scrap and whatever spare parts he could find..
The plot is as absurd and cheesy as everything else — which is how it should be. It sags just a bit towards the middle before suddenly getting a new burst of energy for the sock finish climax, a number of wacky twists, an exploding muppet, and a final surprise revelation.
Along the way, it finds plenty of time for a host of quick little references to all sorts of well know Science Fiction films, for a musical montage (which ends unexpectedly) and for what proves to be a sweet little romance.
This Giant Papier-Mâché Boulder Is Actually Really Heavy isn’t perfect, but it is clever and makes brilliant use of the filmmakers own limited resources. I have to admit that I would have been just as happy with the film if they hadn’t explained how everyone entered into Space Warriors from Space’s strange new reality, leaving the film fantasy rather than science fiction. However that explanation does far more than just explain: it reinforces the underlying themes, making the film much stronger.
And it gives Christian Nicolson a way to bring his story to an absurd but happy ending.
As I said, This Giant Papier-Mâché Boulder Is Actually Really Heavy (or, as Christian Nicolson calls it, TGPMBIARH) shows us exactly why we need independent film. Such a weird and goofy little comedy would have died an ignominious death under the weight of a vast corporation and its many layers of management each demanding their own changes.
Only a group of hardcore movie fans from New Zealand could possibly make such a film.
And I, for one, think we are so much richer that they did…
rivets on the poster 