Earth to Echo
Why I Walked Out of This Movie
…A Christian Movie Review (Half of One)!
Earth to Echo is the first movie I’ve ever walked out of, and it was a PG movie with great actors (talented kids!) and a fun plot. The film tells the story of four kids who find a cute little robot alien (E.T. meets Wall-E with the adorableness of a thousand kittens), and the whole adventure is witnessed from their phone cameras and handheld camcorders. It’s a found footage shaky cam movie, but the shakiness is so relentless that at about 30 minutes into it I left to take a break and walk off the motion sickness, and then I re-entered the theater to continue watching. About 15 minutes later, I rushed out of the theater to the bathroom and almost threw up (thankfully, I didn’t). I didn’t go back into the movie. I walked groggily out of the theater, swaying on my heels a little, feeling intense motion sickness. It took awhile for me to return to normal before I could drive home. And apparently it’s not just me: in the news I read that a 10-year-old kid threw up while seeing this movie and other people have reported the same reaction.
If you have an iron stomach and you can get through Earth to Echo then you’re lucky because I was enjoying the plot, the acting, the special effects of the alien Echo (very cool — the audience in the theater loved his tiny little feet!), and every other element of the film other than the camera work — though the non-stop narration in the first 20 minutes of the movie was a little incessant. I wished I could’ve seen how the movie turned out. I was actually angry about it. If you’re ever prone to the slightest amount of motion sickness, do NOT go see this movie — or at least consider taking some motion sickness medicine beforehand. Or maybe just watch E.T., then Wall-E, then Super 8, in that order — it’s basically a blend of those three films. It had a fantastic nostalgic feel to it, like a Spielberg movie. It’s really a shame, frankly.
To anyone in Hollywood reading this: please don’t film movies using the found footage technique anymore — at least not to this extent. When Earth to Echo Nausea comes out on DVD, I might call YouTube to see if they can use their handy video stabilizer technology to remove all the shakiness for me. (I wish.) Or maybe I’ll watch it while riding a bike on a very bumpy road, and then the shakiness will seem normal? Hmmm…
Because I only saw 45 minutes of it, I am not offering any formal review, other than the parental guidance summary below based on what I did see. It seemed like a great family film — as far as being a clean PG movie — but only if your family enjoys bonding over the horrendous sensation of unbearable motion sickness that precedes vomiting.
Parental Guidance Issues at a Glance…(for the first half of the movie, the part I saw)
Sexual Content/Nudity: A teenage couple makes out at a house party.
Violence/Gore: Two kids fight (wrestling and pushing each other). An alien causes metal parts two fly around and destroy several rooms. No one is hurt.
Language: Some mild bathroom humor. There were no noticeable swear words in the first half of the movie.
Alcohol/Drug/Smoking Content: Teenagers are seen holding red dixie cups (with, presumably, alcohol) at a house party.
Frightening/Intense Content: When the kids first find the alien, it is presented in an intense, suspenseful, even a little frightening way. A boy stows away in a truck, and he is being taken to an unknown, frightening location, and he is so scared that he is crying. It is not meant for laughs; it is actually quite a serious, intense moment.
My husband and I took our 6 and 8 year old to see this and right at the end, my husband left to go throw up in the bathroom. He said the motion of the cameras made him sick.
Oh wow! I feel sorry for your husband. I left about half-way through, and just barely made it without throwing up. If I had stayed even a little longer to the end, I would have had the same fate as your husband. I was surprised how shaky it was. They need to put a warning on it about the motion sickness.
I walked out after 20 mins bc I was gonna throw up. The worst movie ever and I want my $10.25 and 20 mins of my life back!!!
Yeah, I felt the same way about wanting my money back. Movies are so expensive these days — and then making the audience sick in the process kind of adds insult to injury.
I had the same reaction. My husband had to drive the car home while he teased me for my sensitivity. So i was glad to find this article after googling to see if I wasnt alone. Ugh. What a cute film though. Wish I could have enjoyed it in its entirety. Unfortunately I closed my eyes half the time!
Yeah, don’t feel bad, this is the Earth to Echo Motion Sickness Support Group. I closed my eyes too at one point, just listening to the dialogue so I could understand how the plot was unfolding without having to watch. And, yeah, Echo was the most adorable alien I’ve seen in a movie — even more than Wall-E. Every time he was on-screen the theater audience was going, “Awwwww.”
Ushers were cleaning up from a little girl who threw up in the theater. My 9 year old left and threw up in the bathroom, and I stayed out with him as I wasn’t feeling too well. My wife and other son stayed, but were disappointed by the film in general.
While we waited for the movie to end, we sat outside with 3 others who were sick from the camera motion. It has been a long time since I walked out of a movie. The theater did give us some passes to come back for another movie.
Wow, your movie showing had a lot of people leaving the movie because of the motion sickness — what a mess (literally, in the case of the ushers having to clean up). That’s great that the theater gave you free passes to come back (good move on their part). I haven’t heard of many theaters doing that so far.
I was wondering if it was just me! I sat in the lobby while the rest of my family watched the movie. I lasted about 30 minutes before I couldn’t take it anymore. While I was waiting a father was bringing his little boy out of the movie as he was throwing up also.
Carrying a throwing up kid out of a theater does not sound fun! Feel bad for that father.
Worse movie ever.I took my 8 yr,5 yr and my Mom to see Earth too Echo. Everyone got motion sickness. My 8 yr old puked half way thru the movie all over the theater seat and on me too.
All over the theater seat?! Oh wow that is brutal.
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who this happened to! I felt like I was imagining things and I felt so bad when I told my husband I had to go, but I was starting to feel so sick. I was disappointed that we had spent the money and couldn’t finish the movie, but I couldn’t stay one minute more.
So glad I wasn’t the only one! I stayed but had to keep my eyes closed. I felt myself getting angry that I couldn’t stomach watching this movie. It was a cute movie sans the “virtual ride” effects. There should be a ” MP” warning attached, ” may puke” while watching!
Add us to your Support Group.
I was sick within the first 10 minutes.
My husband left the theater about 30 minutes in and threw up in the parking lot.
My 10 year old had to be carried out after an hour and just made it to the trash can in the hallway.
My mother made it all the way through, but almost passed out in the process.
My 6 year old thought he was fine, but got sick after we got home.
My 14 year old is fine and doesn’t understand what the heck just happened to everyone.
There is no reason whatsoever for this kind of film style… Especially without ample warning.
There goes $50….
Oh man, that’s terrible. Yeah it hurts knowing you spent $50 just to have such a miserable time as a family. I feel your pain.
Hello,
I took my 12 year old to see the evening showing of this film on 7/21/2014. I suffer from severe motion sickness. I looked up the film’s information prior to going to see the film and it did not mention anything about triggering motion sickness. I was able to view approximately 45 minutes of the film before I felt nausea and the urge to regurgitate. I left the movie and returned after about 10 minutes when the symptoms resided. I continued to watch the movie for an additional 10 minutes when the symptoms returned with a vengeance. I informed my child to stay and continue watching the film and I would be waiting just outside the theater. I notified the manager of the AMC Theater of what happened. I informed her, she needed to post warning signs this film may cause motion sickness and the information provided for the film did not state it may cause motion sickness. She agreed to do so but also went one step further and refunded me the price of my adult movie ticket since I was unable to sit through the entire film. Thumbs up to AMC Theaters.
I took the grands to see this cute movie and my poor 7 year old just threw up about a quarter way through it and We thought oh great stomach flu striks again but she was fine after her mom and dad came and got her and took her home and cleaned her up the poor baby. It did not dawn on me that it was motion sickness since myself or the others were not experiencin it at all. The manager of the theater gave us two free passed for another move. I thought that was very nice. 🙂
So glad I googled this. Thought I was crazy after experiencing the same thing at this movie. Thought it was the dang licorice (I shouldn’t have been eating
So disappointed by this movie. I had to leave halfway through because I couldn’t bear anymore of the horrible… jerkyness. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this movie to unless they DO have a stomach of iron…
Absolutely hated it, but unlike most of you i sat through the whole movie, but the kids liked it and that’s what matters.