Posted on 11/18/2010 7:13:26 AM PST by Travis McGee
Film Synopsis: In the tranquil suburb of Excalibur Estates, ART, his wife GWEN, and their CHILDREN lead contented lives. Art cajoles with his neighbors,MERL and LANCE, then spends another quiet evening with his close-knit and loving family. They don’t notice news reports about an odd cosmic anomaly – an unusually bright star and a series of impending gamma-ray flares. Despite these strange warnings, Art prepares for another day at work.
At the office, the routines of daily life are interrupted when breaking news broadcasts a government press conference. Authorities describe recent cosmic activity from a type of super-dense star that has released a burst of gamma rays. This massive electromagnetic storm is heading toward Earth and will affect every part of the planet – disrupting electricity grids, cell phones, and every other modern convenience. As the government declares martial law in urban areas, requests to remain calm go unheeded as everyone in Art’s office panics and flees to get back home before the gamma rays cripple the planet’s infrastructure.
Art and Gwen struggle to get through the dangerously gridlocked traffic to reunite at home. When the catastrophe hits, there is little outward effect – the skies light up as the electricity and all communications are disabled indefinitely. Art and his family provide emotional support to one another, wondering what it is that is happening – some sort of end times? No one knows, but they are resolved to stick together as a family and a community.
The residents of Excalibur Estates awake to a very different world. As they survey their neighborhood, they learn that they must survive in a simpler lifestyle than they’d previously enjoyed. Merl, a former military man who has been prepared for such an event, is stocked up with supplies. The neighborhood falls into contentious chaos, conflicts arising particularly from the antisocial MORRIS. Art becomes an unexpected peacemaker as he takes a stand and gives an impassioned speech – imploring his peers to take charge of this situation and band together to turn their community into one that thrives despite this adversity. Art’s leadership inspires the residents of Excalibur to brainstorm, discuss how to manage their resources, and create their own list of rules for maintaining law and order in a world where those systems have disappeared.
The development buzzes with activity as they pool their skills and supplies, create stockpiles of food to be rationed, work out hunting and gardening systems, develop a defensive perimeter. Soon, they’re having fun and bonding in ways they never did when they were reliant on mindless entertainment – now they’re enjoying each other’s company in a more pure way than ever before.
Their peace is disrupted when they find that Morris has been stealing food. According to their rules, Morris is imprisoned. When he tries to escape, his sentence is lengthened. Meanwhile, Art, Lance, and Merl see a box of Red Cross supplies dropped a few miles away. They arm themselves and venture out. They are ambushed by THUGS but manage to escape, now aware that other neighborhoods haven’t fared as well. When Morris is released, he tries to attack Art’s family. Restraining his desire to kill Morris, Art banishes him from the community. The maligned Morris wanders to another town, run by THUGS. He negotiates his own survival by telling them about the wealth of supplies within Excalibur. These lowlifes send spies, which alerts Art, Merl, Lance, and the others to the possibility of attack. As Morris deceptively fuels the flames of hatred, the thugs arm themselves with makeshift weapons and launch a brutal invasion of Excalibur. Residents fight back to defend the prosperity they’ve built with their own blood, sweat, and tears. As the two villages clash, many good people are lost in the bloody, intense suburban war.
That sounds rather dirty.
Must see. When is it out?
Might hit a little close to home for my taste. Hmmm...
Looks quite a bit like the novel “Lights Out”
Excellent trailer.
The perfect plan would be to nuke your enemy such that your warheads land about 10 minutes before the cosmic event. Any retaliation by your enemy would be muted by the event, and then they would be back in the Stone Age.
Don’t put that plan past North Korea, etc.
just saying.
Thanks!
Guess this means Morris is The Bad Guy.
Is Sean Penn playing Morris?
Reminds me of the old bomb shelter days and the stories created. I fear this is on the horizon though.
As the tagline states: “Keep the Faith!”
bttt
Communism -- it can fix anything! It's not just for whole countries anymore, just ask your HOA!
looks interesting.
Apparently a massive solar flare hit North America just prior to the Civil War. It was so powerful that the embryonic power grid and telegraph infrastructure were fried. Extrapolating from the power of that solar event, scientists say that the same event today would lead to a “Lights Out” or “Remnants” scenario. And such massive solar events happen every century or two.
IOW, we're due. Maybe. Something to ponder.
Nope--that's too early. They will see the nukes coming, and launch themselves. Given the electronic nature of nukes, there is no "good" time to launch without getting nuked yourself.
English please
That's what I thought too. Thanks for the ping TM!
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