Talk:The Anomaly

Ed Ricourt

This appears to be confusion with a different project called Anomaly: [1], [2] (note the date on the 2nd link, far too late to refer to this film). Yngvadottir (talk) 18:12, 16 November 2014 (UTC)

Parallel existences/lives

In one of their reverts, Bromy2004 has stated that the sources say "parallel lives", not "parallel existences" - I regard that as paraphrasing. The sources do not say anything about satellite control. Is there any source that does, or any reason not to paraphrase "parallel lives"? Paraphrasing is better than quotation, to avoid copyvio; summary is even better, but the sources I have found don't have overly long summaries of the film's plot anyway. Yngvadottir (talk) 07:09, 26 December 2014 (UTC)

Not sure if I'm doing this right: Having watched the movie based on the synopsis, it is crucially wrong. Spoilers: While I admit my description isn't any better, it is clearly not parallel existences. He (Ryan Reeve) does not live 2 existences. His body is taken over by technological mind control. When the solar flares interrupt the satellite communications, he gets ~10 minutes until the system resets, and thus the story exists. All other times his body is controlled by another, and he has no memory of it. Bromy2004 (talk) 01:48, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

I thought you might be basing it on having seen the film. The thing is, sources say "parallel lives" (and that's what it amounts to - he lives on a different track when he's under control and when he isn't), and I haven't found a source that talks about the satellites - so it should be left as a paraphrase of what the sources say. How the baddies achieve the parallel existences doesn't matter for summarising the plot. It's not a matter of avoiding spoilers - we don't - it's a matter of summarising sources. Yngvadottir (talk) 05:04, 27 December 2014 (UTC)

Again, the quote is "Ryan Reeve's..mind is switched repeatedly between two parallel existences" which isn't correct. Ryan Reeve only lives the 1. The doctor lives the his life and controls Ryan's body except when Ryan is. The one he has 10 minute gaps of. If its easier, I'll add a synopsis on IMDB and link that as a source.

That won't help. We don't reference things to IMDb precisely because anyone can add and change things there. The sources say "parallel lives" - can you find a source, such as an interview with the director or an official studio website, that provides more detail about the plot, from which a summary closer to what you are saying can be taken? (Right now the fact you find it inaccurate is a testament to how incomprehensible the critics found the plot.) Yngvadottir (talk) 13:01, 29 December 2014 (UTC)

There are a couple to do with mind control [3] and [4] and one to do with blackouts [5]. This one [6] is similar to #3 with references to experiencing consciousness for ~10 minutes Bromy 12:11, 30 December 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bromy2004 (talk • contribs)

Some of those are already in the article. The one source saying clearly that it's "parallel lives" is [7], which also talks about him trying to find out what he's been doing in the gaps. This, cited in the Reception section, speaks of him being "'reset' and whisked to another [dimension]". This, also cited in Reception, speaks of "jumping in and out of reality". Hence while keeping the mention of mind control that was already in the article, I felt "parallel existences" was the best way to summarise - especially since he's said to not be conscious except in those bursts, but does apparently do things during them. I'm going to move the mind control into that sentence, maybe that will make it more accurate in your view? Yngvadottir (talk) 23:04, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

I think we have to agree to disagree. While the current page is more closely related to the how it plays out in the film, it still isn't quite there, however I have yet to find a reference that accurately describes the situation. Bromy 13:28, 15 January 2015 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bromy2004 (talk • contribs)

I've just seen the film. Basically, this is semantics, or what precedence exists in sci-fi fiction reviews on what to call an existing trope. For example, within the Terminator series Ahnie is called either an android or a cyborg, while in fact he's the other thing out of the two by RL definitions, even if some sloppy reviews adopt the terminology from the films. What happens in this film here is that Ryan's body is remote-controlled by doctor Langham's mind, during which Ryan's mind is blanked and he has no memory of these episodes. What we see is only Ryan's side of things, as the times when Langham controls his body are not part of the film. For Ryan and us, it's just a hard cut between every episode, it's not like he's "somewhere else" or anything. As for the premise and how it plays out in the final product, I'd pretty much call it The Deaths of Ian Stone (2007) meets Source Code (2011), plus some of Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes (2009) for the silly fight scenes (other than those, the film wasn't that bad, actually).

Also, as for what I got from the film, the "anomaly" is not the "conspiracy", it's the fact that the satellite link is buggy, which results in Ryan regaining consciousness for 10 minutes at a time. The "conspiracy" in the film is that doctor Langham and his son are trying to turn all mankind into such remote-controlled puppets like Ryan by means of a virus in order to achieve world peace or something along those lines. --80.187.109.151 (talk) 17:13, 26 July 2015 (UTC)

No "external links" section?

Is there a reason for there being no "External links" section with a link to IMDB, and maybe other info? RenniePet (talk) 17:03, 19 March 2015 (UTC)