Primer

Theatrical Release Date: 2004 10 08 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 794043784927

Studio: New Line Home Video

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Mild Violence, Adult Situations, Adult Language]

Summary: The debut feature from filmmaker Shane Carruth -- who wrote, directed, photographed, edited, scored, and stars -- Primer is a psychological sci-fi thriller about a group of four tech entrepreneurs. Toiling away in a garage, the quartet have successfully created error-checking systems for their clients. But their recent work seems to have created an unexpected and seemingly impossible side-effect. Suddenly, two members of the group realize they are in possession of a device that can double, or perhaps even quadruple, the space-time continuum of anything that enters it. What at first seems like a windfall of astronomical proportions eventually proves to be much more than they bargained for, as the duo attempt to manipulate time to their financial -- and emotional -- benefit. Also starring Casey Gooden, Anand Upadhyaya, and Carrie Crawford, Primer premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the coveted Grand Jury Prize for dramatic film. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

Category: Science Fiction

Awards: Film Presented – Toronto International Film Festival Best Debut Performance – Independent Spirit Awards Best Director – Independent Spirit Awards Best First Screenplay – Independent Spirit Awards Best Picture – Independent Spirit Awards Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic – Sundance Film Festival

Features: ccCommentary track by writer/director Shane Carruth
Cast and crew commentary track

Primer

Format: DVD

Release Date: 04/19/2005

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Alternate Wide Screen

Audio: DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 77 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Some of This You Know [3:34]
2. 8th Grade Physics [1:19]
3. Wooden Pencil [2:57]
4. Creating the Box [5:19]
5. Tell Me You're Hungry [1:58]
6. Feedback Loop [4:21]
7. Protein Buildup [5:00]
8. Parabola [3:38]
9. Not a Prank [4:45]
10. Abe's Day [5:17]
11. Exiting the Box [3:25]
12. What Would You Do? [3:48]
13. Keeping Secrets [3:06]
14. Is Hero Here? [5:54]
15. A Long Day [8:04]
16. How? [4:08]
17. Following the Script [5:41]
18. Don't Come Back [2:26]
19. Epilogue [:38]
20. End Credits [1:41]

Josh Ralske

There's a moment in Shane Carruth's impressive debut feature, Primer, that sums up the filmmaker's point-of-view quite nicely. It's not the line quoted in many reviews, where one addled engineer asks another, "Are you hungry? I haven't eaten since later this afternoon," although that line exemplifies Carruth's prickly wit. It takes place before the main characters' great, accidental discovery when two men discuss NASA's efforts to develop a pen that would work in zero gravity. After spending millions trying to work out the problem, the agency ended up using a simple pencil. Primer is the science-fiction film equivalent of that pencil, and the remarkable amount of bang the film gets for its buck is only one of its virtues. A less imaginative filmmaker with a big budget at his or her disposal would have started the film where Carruth ends Primer, a precarious moment when it seems the world is about to change. But Carruth is more interested in intimate moments of discovery, as the moral and philosophical implications of Abe (David Sullivan) and Aaron's (Carruth) invention reveal themselves. Because Carruth trusts his audience's intelligence, he allows us to share in these discoveries, rather than spelling everything out. Which is all well and good, to a point. But even the most attentive viewers may have trouble finding their bearings as the film opens with a quick flow of engineering jargon, and anyone who can follow the temporal twists and inversions of the film's final third probably deserves an engineering degree. Primer is a witty, well-shot, and convincingly acted science-fiction brain twister, leading one to suspect that on repeated viewings a rock solid narrative will reveal itself. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Shane Carruth  Director 
Shane Carruth  Producer 
Shane Carruth  Screenwriter 
Shane Carruth  Actor 
David Sullivan  Actor 
Casey Gooden  Actor 
Anand Upadhyaya  Actor 
Carrie Crawford  Actor 
Jay Butler  Actor 
John Carruth  Actor 
Juan Tapia  Actor 
Ashley Warren  Actor 
Samantha Thomson  Actor 
Chip Carruth  Actor 
Delaney Price  Actor 
Jack Pyland  Actor 
Keith Bradshaw  Actor 
Ashok Upadhyaya  Actor 
Brandon Blagg  Actor 
Jon Cook  Actor 
David Joyner  Actor 
Eric de Soualhat  Actor 

Country: USA