Echelon Conspiracy (2009)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Excellent but underrated film

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Imagine a movie where FBI chief doesn't know what is Authorize BIOS? I mean come on! And how do you build a software junk without getting it approved by the senate first? And how in the world you access street cameras in Moscow without getting help from Russian Govt. The movie is full of flaws including the climax where the lead actor starts talking to the computer!! I mean a moment ago, he cannot access the computer, next minute, he is doing a Skype call with it. He is shown as a Computer Security Guy, and doesn't even know how to connect a blue tooth wireless headset to his phone! In which century are you making this movie!! To all of those who contributed to the script-> Watch a couple of CIA movies like Bourne series, etc. You ll know how tech stuff works. And at least what kind of intellect you need to show in FBI agents!

This is about a guy that falls into a money scam - but unlike most money scams it's not about getting screwed out of money but being blackmailed and killed. Could have been better if they put more into it but for a low budget movie this is very good. It doesn't surprise me that people give it a low rating - they are just looking for blood and guts, violence, or sex. If you're looking for a witty movie, a family movie, and original plot, this is for you. By low budget I don't mean it's badly filmed - they just didn't go all out financially to produce a block buster. I've seen a lot of higher rated movies that are not as good - most of the time these movies have a lot of violence or sex (or video game like action) and get 8 or 10 stars when they are really 4 star or less movies. My honest rating is this is above average and worth watching. If it had a lot sex or violence in it they would rate it 10 stars. The lead actor's part is someone you can relate with, a working class man that gets scammed in regards to some get rich scheme, and the actor himself does a good job adopting to the role.

Max Peterson (Shane West) is a renowned IT specialist, specialising is fail-proofing computer systems. After completing his latest order in Bangkok he receives a mysterious package with a mobile phone inside, onto which untraceable text messages are being sent. The first message saves Max from getting onto a plane, which crash-lands after take-off, while the second gives him some insider trading information. The next SMS tells him to fly to Prague, where he should partake into some well-deserved gambling. Only for him to break the bank... Soon afterwards he becomes a focus of interest by ex-FBI agent John Reed (the unstoppably forgettable Edward Burns), the not-so mysterious Kamila (the skeleton figure of Tamara Feldman) and the FBI led by agent Dave Grant (the eternally lovable Ving Rhames). A well constructed premise, which works for making a very intriguing story. Nonetheless much like a Chinese toy the end product may look nice, but the elements that keep it together turn it into a veritable dud. The plot itself stays perfectly fine throughout, but various over-the-top situations, corny and badly scripted dialogues and underdeveloped ideas make the movie crumble down like a house of cards. To give a specific example: Our heroes are captured and put in jail. Soon after Max is released and shortly after he finds out that no charges have been filed against him. Not more than a sentence later he proceeds to ask 'Who paid bail?' Although this may be just treated as a goof it does give a general idea about the scripting of this movie, which is in dire need of proofreading. This essentially ends with "Echelon Conspiracy" jumping around in search of more or less ridiculous ways to forward the plot up until its "War Games" finale...Tech credits as well as acting is generally fine, although don't expect anything to pull you in with awe. The movie does manage to remain fairly enjoyable and I can't say that I was bored throughout. I did however have issues with a chase scene, which outdid its welcome and really warranted a FF on the remote. All in all given the movie has no ulterior motives it needs to at least deliver a feasible script that is held together by something more than Thai-Czech duct tape.

How long have movies dabbled in the theme of a smart computer taking over our lives? 2001: Space Odyssey? Earlier than that, at least back to 1956 and "Forbidden Planet".In this movie Shane West is Max Peterson, software security expert, and while traveling abroad gets a mysterious, unexpected package. Inside is what looks like a phone, and soon we realize it is a model which has not yet hit the market. Even stranger, a message pops up telling him to stay an extra day, then the flight he had been scheduled on crashes and everyone dies.He gets other texts, including a stock purchase recommendation and some specific gambling recommendations, all of which are valid. What is going on? We wonder, he wonders, everyone else he encounters wonders.All of this sets up some intrigue and chases, getting the NSA involved. Then it is discovered that others who received such a phone all had been killed in some way. So Max Peterson was running for his life.Other good actors were Edward Burns, Ving Rhames , Jonathan Pryce, and Martin Sheen.Certainly all impossible, by what we know is possible today, and likely for future years, but a healthy suspension of disbelief and it can be entertaining.SPOILERS: From the title, "Echelon" is the name of a broad, powerful, sophisticated program that has access to every camera, database, phone conversation, basically capable of seeing and listening to everyone everywhere. It was sending out the messages without any human knowledge. The "recommendations" were made using very sophisticated probability analyses, and designed to get the user as an ally. The ultimate goal was for Echelon to migrate itself to a different computer at a different location, in Nebraska, so it would be able to upgrade itself, and then become even more powerful, and that needed human help. At the last second Max was able to get it to stop itself, as he reminded Echelon its purpose was to act in the best interest of mankind and when it pulled up news reports at Max's request then shut itself down as following its own programmed purpose.