Running head: LIFE (2017)
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[Title Here, up to 12 Words, on One to Two Lines]
Adam Ghalem
Lynn University
LIFE (2017)
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[Title Here, up to 12 Words, on One to Two Lines]
LIFE is a film directed by Daniel Espinosa and produced by David Ellison and Dana
Goldberg. The film Life was released on March 24, 2017, and the distribution rights of the film
were assigned to Sony Pictures. According to D'Alessandro (2016), the release date was moved
up to avoid competition from a movie of the same genre titled Aliens: covenant. The film Life
demonstrates how characters react when uncovering the first evidence of life on Mars.
Throughout the film, the characters are being used to show how people would react in unknown
circumstances and how that might affect humanity in general. The special effects that are used in
the film also make it more exciting and give the film more suspense. The film depicts the human
curiosity when faced with unexpected and unfamiliar circumstances.
Life is a sci-fi horror movie that talks partly about the meaning of life (Tiffany & Grush,
2017). The film also illustrates a violent space creature named Calvin. The creature was initially
small, but it grew rapidly. The violent creature caused chaos onboard the ISS. Calvin was
referred to as a new form of life whose main objective was to destroy human life. The creature
held onto life and eventually was causing more damage to everything and everyone. Upon
discovering its objective, the crew put in all efforts and tried to fight the creature to no success.
Ultimately, Calvin attacked the crew and killed them. From this illustration, it is obvious that the
quality of human life is often threatened by incomprehensible forces (Tiffany & Grush, 2017).
Some people have criticized the film for its poor execution; nonetheless, the plot was
well-articulated and executed (Debruge, 2017). The plot revealed the violent nature of the
creature that was initially protected by the astronauts. Therefore, violence is among the central
themes in the film. The violence centers on the strength of the creature. Calvin possessed
immense strength that it overwhelmed the majority of the crew, leaving only two behind. The
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film illustrated acts of violence when Calvin killed crew members. Initially, Calvin became
violent and crushed Hugh's right hand. The creature then devoured a lab rat by absorbing it, and
this made it increase in size (D'Alessandro, 2016). Also, the creature was feeding on one of
Rory's legs, and this caused his untimely death. It eventually entered his mouth and devoured
him from the inside, thereby killing the him, and making the creature grow in size.
The significant theme of the film revolves around the human quality of curiosity. Indeed,
curiosity is one of the essential traits any human being could possess. The six-member crew
astronauts aboard the International Space Station were on a mission to retrieve a soil sample
from Mars and were headed to Earth. Hugh Derry, the biologist, discovered and revived a
dormant cell from the soil sample. He was very interested by the cell, which grew rapidly into a
multi-celled organism. Hugh's curiosity was heightened, and he started playing around with the
cell (D'Alessandro, 2016). The cell twitched as he moved his fingers around, with the cell’s
intelligence also increasing. Human curiosity leads them to explore new circumstances unaware
of the dangers that it might cause. Calvin had caused extinction on Mars, and it was also
threatening the lives of all humans on Earth.
The film demonstrated its ability to outline the quality of life at some point (Robey,
2017). The film is about the decisions human beings make for their survival. On the other hand,
Hugh conducted random experiments on the creature. There were occasions where Hugh changes
oxygen and temperature levels in the box to awaken the creature. Hugh was protecting the
creature's life at all costs, oblivious to the danger posed by the creature. High and other crew
members watched the creature grow into “all muscle, all brain, and all eye” (Robey, 2017). The
astronauts were less suspicious about what the little creature from Mars could do on human life.
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The astronauts' decision to keep the creatures on board the ISS was one of the wrong decisions to
have ever been made while in the line of duty.
Most humans hold their lives in high regard. They frequently go out of their means to
ensure their survival. The quality of human life is one of the most important aspects (Kenny,
2017). Life outlined that people valued their lives, and they would fight all odds to survive. This
is illustrated in the film when the crew tried to burn Calvin, a creature that was undermining their
quality of life. Life on Mars was affected by the presence of the creature. Similarly, the quality of
life on Earth was soon to be threatened by the presence of the creature. One of the surviving
astronauts tried to warn his rescuers not to open the enclosed pod that had Calvin. However, the
rescuers opened the pod, and the rest is history (Kenny, 2017). Back on the ISS, the crew fought
extremely hard for their safety, however, the creature overpowered them and took away their life.
Curiosity can make people explore new things to unimagined lengths. Nonetheless, the
crews’ curiosity was incomparable as they were eager to explore and learn all that was there to
learn. In the early scenes of the movie, Dr. Jordan looked amazed by the tiny baby alien. He
whispered to his colleagues that “its curiosity outweighs its fear...” (Jaafar, 2015). This statement
carried the central theme. Curiosity made them protect the life form from mass, and the results
were catastrophic. Life was an enjoyable movie, and it fulfilled its horror part. The movie also
warns views about the dangers of curiosity.
None of the dreadful events would have occurred if the astronauts had not revived
Calvin. The revival of the creature set into motion events that the astronauts could not
comprehend. Life takes views through the tense scenes where the astronauts fell prey curiosity,
making them escape the creature's clutches in a whisker (Gerritsen, 2017). The astronauts'
curiosity made them nurture the creature wholeheartedly to study its movements and behavior.
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The astronauts discovered that Calvin had an adaptable nerve system, and it possessed great
strength to the extent that it overpowered the crew and killed the majority of them. Calvin caused
too much chaos and terror for the crew, all because of their curious nature. If only they had not
awakened Calvin, they would not have been met by the terrible ordeal they all went through.
Life is one of those movies that bring some sort of scientific excitement to the viewers.
The film was at its scariest when the creature became least predictable and attacked the crew.
According to Fuster (2017), the movie surpassed all other movies released on the same day. The
film was rated even highly among critics. Others claimed that Life was quite identical to one film
known as Aliens.
The film demonstrates how human mistakes can lead to a quick downfall. It was humanly
wrong for the astronauts to carry with them a creature that they did not know about in the same
traveling vessel. The glaring human mistake in life gives the film a lift off the moment of
cowardice that made the forget their top-level training in regards to tackling catastrophic events.
Rebecca Ferguson was a security expert who did everything by the book, including the deadly
crisis (Gerritsen, 2017). The film received a warm reception among the views who rated the film
quite high. The clear and well-illustrated scenes in the movie would draw the attention of sci-fi
lovers.
Life tried the fact that it had borrowed several aspects from other movies. The film
joyfully paid homage to old and new science fiction films (Alexander, 2017). The film was well
crafted, and it provides an entertaining ride for the entire audience. Life was released only a few
months ahead of another classic sci-fi film Alien: covenant. It was anticipated that the film would
be have welcoming support from sci-fi fans in the United States and beyond. It was clear that the
film was set on an ISS stationed above the Earth. Many speculated that Life had borrowed scenes
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from the movie Spiderman 3 (Alexander, 2017). Upon its release, however, the film did not have
any scene from Venom: Spiderman. It was hugely speculated that Life could be a sequel of
Venom: Spiderman movie, but this was not the case. This is because one of film’s casts, Rory
Adams, had a contract with Deadpool, and according to Couch (2017), Rory could not be
allowed to play a role in Venom’s sequel.
The film demonstrated resilience and the willingness to put up with harsh conditions to
achieve their intended missions. Some of the crew had spent so much time in space that their life
depended on it. Jake Gyllenhaal spent a total of 473 days in space, and this was because of the
mission he was sent to accomplish. At some point, Dr. Miranda tells Jake that "Your atrophy is
accelerated and you're close to your radiation limit” (Gerritsen, 2017) Miranda was of the view
that Jake needed to go back to Earth because he was super ill. On the other hand, Jake liked it
better in space.
Jake dislikes returning to Earth because he was once involved in a war that left him
traumatized. This simply highlights the extent to which humans can go to achieve their dreams
and set objectives in their lives. The crew had spent several months waiting for the return of the
research pod that had been sent to Mars. On the return voyage, the pod had suffered damage, and
this forced the crew to seize the capsule with the use of a robotic arm (Couch, 2017). Their
resilience bore fruits as they were able to discover a creature that enabled them to learn that
indeed, there is life beyond the planet. This scene showed their hard work, resilience, and team
effort to accomplish the assigned tasks.
Life is one of those movies that a person does not have to take forever to understand the
film's plot. The movie has got a few twists and turns; however, it is quite understandable. Life is
rather straightforward except for a few scenes. As the view opens up, viewers are introduced to
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the crew who were trying to catch the pod (Fuster, 2017). This part is not so significant, yet, if
the team failed to catch the pod, then there could be no storyline. The pod contains Martial soil
and in the soil is a single celled creature of Martian origin. This part keeps viewers on their toes
in anticipation of the events that would follow next.
In the film, a person can blame the lab accident for the aggressiveness of the Martian
creature. This is because, after the creature was revived, all was well, but when the lab accident
occurred, it interfered with the atmospheric conditions, and such a move turned the creature
violent. Human error is indeed to blame for the incident which destroyed the humans. It was the
careless mistake of the crew that offset the creature into action. Immediately after the accident,
Calvin was completely transformed and started some sort of its 'mission attack' on the astronauts.
Had human error been curbed, then the crew would have perhaps encountered different turns of
events while aboard the ISS.
In the film, the aliens are represented as violent creatures. The single-celled creature from
Mars was initially small and peaceful. As time progressed, the creature became entirely smart
and intelligent. The crew knew this, and so did the viewers. A single accident spanned the alien
into violent motion. The Martial alien attacked the crew members indiscriminately and without
any doe of mercy or compassion. The alien went to the extent of feeding on the astronaut's leg. If
this was not pure evil, then it's hard to describe what that scene was. It was evident that Hugh's
move to utilize electricity to revive the creature was wrong. Because the electricity seemingly
upset the creature, and it broke one of Hugh's hands (Fuster, 2017). Roy rushed to Hugh's aid,
but the alien turned against him and devoured Roy from the inside out. The alien was very active,
and it attacked at every opportunity it got. It is important to note that the alien was not affected
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by flame. Therefore, viewers could run a conclusion that Martial aliens are cannot be destroyed
when it comes to Earthly fire.
Another important aspect humans learn about the Martial alien is that it feeds on weird
things. Other than feeding on a human, the alien in the movie consumed the coolant. After the
ship had lost connectivity to Earth, Sho decided to send out an SOS call to Earth. After that,
Katerina stepped out of the ship to ensure that the antenna was in proper working conditions.
Nonetheless, she realized that something was missing. The alien had consumed the coolant as
food. The realization shifted Katerina’s reaction because she then came to terms with the idea
that the alien was not up to any good (Debruge, 2017). The Martial alien would not stop at any
cost until all the crew is dead and gone. The humans' reaction was that of disbelief, shock, and
anger. They were shocked at how the tiny creature increased in size at such an alarming rate.
Also, they were in disbelief that they had saved an alien that would, later on, threaten their
existence on the ship.
The astronauts' were indeed angered by the aggressiveness of the alien, and they did
everything humanly possible to end the alien's life to no avail. Katerina risked her life to save the
rest of the crew. Afterwards, Calvin made a way to re-enter the ship and continue with its
mission. Humans were extremely angered, and they tried all means to get rid of the alien. The
alien was continually growing larger by the minute (Debruge, 2017). Without a doubt, the
human's reaction to the alien was filled with regret. If only the crew had not revived the alien,
then they would not have to have such negative reactions towards the Martial aliens. Human
curiosity nonetheless made the astronauts become the prey to their own mistakes.
A significant message to society is to control their level of curiosity. The society should
control curiosity. If the crew had not been extra curious, misery would have spared them. At
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times, society is curious to know those things that seem unfamiliar to them. Although it is good
to question the existence of things whose existence people are unaware of, the curiosity ought to
be regulated to control any unintended misfortunes to the society (Debruge, 2017). The film
sends a clear message to society to avoid looking into the unknown and mind their business.
The film has emphasized the need for a team effort. Collectivist societies are bound to
achieve the greater good for the greatest population. The crew put in relentless but coordinated
efforts in fighting off the Martial creature. The team spirit and effort was seen when two of the
crew members escaped from the claws of the creature. Two lives were spared, and the astronauts
had really fought for their lives, but unfortunately, the lives were lost. Individualism affects the
efforts of the team or society as a whole. Most of today's industrialized societies embrace the
collectivist spirit. Therefore, the movie is trying to show that team work is the key to solving
many things.
Also, society should value the quality of human life. This entails that society should fight
off any alien that undermines the quality of life. Human life is viewed as sacred, and no one
holds the right to take away any life. Just like in the movie, Calvin did not have the right to
attack the crew, but it did anyway (D'Alessandro, 2016). The crew tried to neutralize the creature
they had once saved. From the society, they should eliminate anything that threatens the
existence of humankind. Occasionally, human error is to blame for the loss of many lives.
Society should protect the lives of its members and ensure total peace in the society.
When Life was released, some members of the public speculated that the film was based
on the book titled Gravity by Tess Gerritsen (Gerritsen, 2017). Tess explained that once the film
was showing in theaters, huge numbers of her fan emailed her enquiring whether or not Life was
based on Gravity. Tess lacked a conclusive answer as she could not tell whether the film was
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inspired by her book and if the similarities between the movie and her book were mere
coincidences (Gerritsen, 2017). Fundamentally, life had a lot of similarities, not just with the
Gravity but with the movie Aliens: covenant as well. All in all, the movie managed to surpass
great expectations, and it received great reception in the U.S and globally. Whether or not the
movie had similarities with other movies of books, the rumors remain unconfirmed.
Undoubtedly, Daniel Espinosa was a great choice as life's director. His experience made
it possible for life to achieve global success. Jaafar (2015) explained the rumors surrounding the
release date and where the movie would be set at the time. Among the many skilled directors,
Espinosa was the best choice for many reasons. His previous movies had been received warmly,
and his prior experience with some of the film's cast made it easy to have a good storyline.
Kenny (2017) outlines some of the decisions made by the crew onboard the ISS. Kenny noted
that the crews' decisions were made in haste, and they failed to consider the repercussions of the
decisions to save and keep the Martial creature with them.
Life provided great nail-biting and thrilling scientific experiences to the viewers (Robey,
2017). Robey is a film critic who held life's plot in high regard. The film used effective lighting
that made the film more appealing to the audience. Robey (2017) acknowledged that the film
was pretty modern even though people could mistake the film's title for an old movie. The film's
director perfected the use of techniques of instilling fear, anxiety, and suspense to the viewers.
The techniques used are more likely to move viewers to tears because of some of the unexpected
sad scenes in the film. Robey reviewed the film positively and encouraged viewers to watch the
movie.
In the film, the tilt shots technique was used. Tilt shots technique is one of the simplest
camera techniques to ever be used in films. At times, the simplicity of the technique makes it
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easy to display poorly executed outcomes. However, Life made great use of the tilt shots
technique to bring out great coordination and interesting action in the movie. The technique was
used in the film during one of the scenes when Hugh was attacked by the Martial creature
(Couch, 2017). The technique was also used to show how Calvin enlarged in size after feeding
on the lab rat and Rory.
Another film technique evident in the movie is the extreme close upshot. This technique
is used sparingly; it is saved for moments when one needs to increase the emotional intensity of a
scene in the film. There were many instances where the technique was used in life. For instance,
when Hugh's hand was grabbed and attacked by the Martial creature, there were several
emotions in the room. Some of the crew wanted to open the box to free Hugh's hand, but others
were against the idea as it would have freed Calvin (D'Alessandro, 2016). The technique was
used in the film when crews' faces were zoomed in to show their reactions once Calvin was let
loose. The technique was used effectively, and it set the mood of the film.
Indeed life depicts human curiosity when faced with unexpected and unfamiliar
circumstances. The six astronauts on the ISS were full of curiosity, and this led them to their
demise. The astronauts’ curiosity to revive and take care of the Martial alien ended up costing the
lives of most of the crew members. Only two survived, one of the survivors disappeared and was
lost into space. The other survivor mistakenly landed on Earth with the creature all because of
their curious. The impacts of their astronauts' decisions were disastrous. The mission was to
retrieve a soil sample from Mars at whatever cost. From the movie, people learn the importance
of fighting for human survival. From the film, society shows the importance of protecting and
looking out for each other. Finally, people learn that curiosity can sometimes have deadly
implications in the long run.
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References
Alexander, J. (2017). Spider-Man 3 footage is being used in the trailer for the upcoming space
movie, Life. Polygon. Retrieved October 18, 2019, from
https://www.polygon.com/2017/3/14/14926538/spider-man-3-footage-life-trailer
Couch, A. (2017). 'Life' Screenwriters Share Sequel Details and Offer 'Deadpool 2' Update. The
Hollywood reporter. Retrieved October 18, 2019, from
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/life-movie-sequel-spoilers-plot-sharedby-screenwriters-988776
D'Alessandro, A. (2016). Warner Bros. Makes 2017 Date Changes To 'King Arthur,' 'CHiPS,'
'Annabelle 2' & More. Deadline. Retrieved October 18, 2019, from
https://deadline.com/2016/12/warner-bros-makes-2017-schedule-changes-to-king-arthurchips-annabelle-2-more-1201865708/
Debruge, P. (2017). Film Review: 'Life.' Variety Media, LLC. Retrieved October 18, 2019, from
https://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/life-review-jake-gyllenhaal-1202011545/
Fuster, J. (March 21, 2017). "Can 'Power Rangers' Slay Disney's 'Beast' at the Box Office?
Retrieved October 18, 2019, from https://www.thewrap.com/can-power-rangers-slaydisneys-beast-box-office/
Gerritsen, T (2017). "Life," the movie — yes, it sounds like my novel "Gravity." Retrieved
October 18, 2019, from http://www.tessgerritsen.com/life-movie-yes-sounds-like-novelgravity/
Jaafar, A. (2015). Daniel Espinosa To Direct' Life' For David Ellison's Skydance. Deadline.
Retrieved October 18, 2019, from https://deadline.com/2015/11/daniel-espinosa-to-
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direct-life-david-ellison-skydance-terminator-mission-impossible-tom-cruise-jackreacher-star-trek-1201628859/
Kenny, G. (2017). Life. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved October 18, 2019, from
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/life-2017
Robey, T. (2017). Life review: Ryan Reynolds's nail-biting alien thriller shows signs of real
intelligence. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved October 18, 2019, from
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/life-review-ryan-reynoldss-nail-biting-alien-thrillershows/
Tiffany, K., & Grush, L. (2017). The fictional NASA in Life is run by a bunch of psychopaths
and idiots. The Verge. Retrieved October 18, 2019, from
https://www.theverge.com/2017/3/25/15047980/life-movie-space-science-iss-nasa-jakegyllenhaal
PERSUASIVE
PRESENTATION
Self & Society
DSSG 400
Present an oral and visual persuasive
presentation using:
Powerpoint
Keynote
Prezi
Film
ASSIGNMENT
On
one of the films from the list
What
type of aliens are in this film?
Persuade
TOPIC
the audience of their purpose.
1.
Brief summary of the plot
2.
What is the focus?
3.
Who are the main characters?
4.
Which key aspects most pertain to this film?
5.
A trailer or scene from the film.
INCLUDE
Self
Society
Social
Forces
Diversity
of Human Society
Which of these most pertains to this film?
COURSE IDEAS
An
oral and visual presentation
Using
power point, prezi, keynote, or film
Length
7 slides (minimum)
Include
all necessary components
Include
the title, director, and year of the
film
Conclusion
– end the presentation
References
page at end
FORMAT
1.
Content – persuasive, includes all
required components
2.
Visuals – includes graphics, images
3.
Creativity – interesting and engaging
4.
Originality – unique to you
5.
Presentation – prepared, practice, not
just read
GRADED ON:
6. Show the trailer for the film or a scene
7. Conclusion
8. Mechanics – correct grammar and
punctuation
9. Documentation – References at end
10. Submit outline and filmed presentation
GRADING -
Present
to class
Include
all elements
Be
prepared, Practice
Film
presentation in class
Submit
outline and film
PRESENTATION
DSSG 400 Presentation - Persuasive
1. Present an oral and visual presentation using Power point, Keynote, Prezi, or film.
2. Must submit an outline in Canvas with your recorded presentation.
3. Topic – on your film from the film list.
4. Be persuasive. What type of alien does this film exemplify? What is their purpose?
5. Be creative and original. Use critical thinking.
6. Include images and a trailer or scene from the film.
7. Include a Conclusion.
8. Include References at end.
9. Length - include all of the requirements, minimum of 7 slides.
10. Why is this film important? What did you think of it?
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