Are you craving an intense science fiction thriller that will leave you bewildered and amazed?  I have 4 movies just for you.

I LOVE movies that leave me going “What the #@*% just happened!?”  It’s so great to say that expression at the end of the movie, after they’ve just twisted something, and left you guessing at how the movie really ended.  It’s even better when you utter that phrase a dozen or so times throughout the film!

I like the way these mind benders make me think and challenge me to believe.  Even though I don’t understand what’s happening at the moment, I have to trust that all will be explained.  Unfortunately, there are a ton of movies that never pull through and give you definite clarification.  That’s understandable, it’s difficult to explain something that is impossible.  But when a movie makes you believe, and explains to you why you believe, and still leaves you going “What the #@*%!!??”  That’s what I call a mind blower.

 

The Butterfly Effect

The Butterfly Effect

Evan had a disturbing childhood.  He had frequent episodes while he was growing up where he completely blacked out, and can’t remember anything that happened during that episode.  Now in college, Evan discovers a way to relive the moments he blacked out as a child, but each time he does so, he alters his future, and the future of everyone he is close to.  As Evan relives the dreadful moments of his childhood, he tries to change things so that everyone will have a happy ending.  But he will pay a heavy price for playing God.

  • Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart
  • Rated: R for violence, sexual content, language and disturbing scenes.
  • Released: 2004

 

The Matrix

The Matrix

Computer programmer Thomas Anderson/malicious computer hacker Neo has a rude awakening, quite literally, when he is contacted by a legendary hacker named Morpheus.  Neo discovers that the human race has been overtaken by machines, and they control our minds with an artificial reality called The Matrix.  Neo joins the rebellion, and questions whether he is the person known in prophecies as “The One” that will end The Matrix, and rid the humans of the machines.

  • Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss
  • Rated: R for violence and language.
  • Released: 1999

 

12 Monkeys

12 Monkeys

Five billion people were killed by a virus in 1996.  By 2035 the few survivors live underground, below a frozen world ruled by animals.  James Cole is a convict that volunteers to be sent back in time to gather information about the origin of the virus, and bring back a sample for scientists in his time to study.  While in the past, he runs into a series of problems and a group of people that are strangely connected to the virus, and to him.  And the longer he is in the past, the more he is convinced that he is crazy, and the future he remembers is simply his imagination.

  • Starring: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt
  • Rated: R for language and violence.
  • Released: 1995

 

eXistenZ

eXistenZ

Allegra is a video game designer.  She designs games for an intense form of virtual reality, where players have a hole in their back, so that they can “plug in” to the game by connecting it to their spinal cord.  Things go terribly wrong during a trial run of the game, and Ted agrees to help Allegra test her game to see if it has been damaged.  As they enter the game together, reality becomes blurred, and it is soon impossible to determine whether or not they are still playing the game.

  • Starring: Jude Law, Jennifer Jason Leigh
  • Rated: R for violence, gore and language.
  • Released: 1999
  • You can rent eXistenZ at any movie store or Netflix.
  • You can purchase eXistenZ at Amazon.com or eBay.