Cube film series

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The Cube film series is a series of three Canadian science fiction/horror films directed by Vincenzo Natali, Andrzej Sekula and Ernie Barbarash respectively.

The three movies are each based on the same premise; There is a gigantic, mechanical, cube-shaped structure (the purpose and origin of which is almost completely unknown) that is made up of lots of smaller cube-shaped rooms. Each of these rooms has 6 doors, one on each wall and one on the ceiling and one on the floor, which lead into adjacent, identical rooms. Some of these rooms are safe, while others are equipped with booby traps such as flamethrowers and razorwire which kill a person who enters the room (in some cases it is possible to detect a trap by throwing a boot into the room first).

In each case, a group of strangers wakes up in this mysterious structure, with no knowledge of how they got there or why they are there. In order to escape from the prison, however, they must band together and use their combined skills and talents to avoid the traps and navigate out of the maze, while also trying to solve the mystery of what the cube is and why they are in it. However, the pressure of being in the cube usually drives one of the characters insane, and they start killing the others.

Cube Zero was slightly different from the original two movies in that it also dealt with some people on the outside of the cube whose job it was to control the cube and oversee those within. It also attempted to answer some of the questions of the series.

Contents

[edit] The Cube film series

  • Cube (1997) the first movie follows a group of seven frightened strangers who find themselves trapped in a bizarre maze of cube-shaped rooms, with no memory of how they arrived there. Searching for a way out, they soon discover that many rooms contain lethal booby-traps, whilst others are safe. Initially the prisoners band together in attempt to escape, however as their stay becomes longer the prisoners begin to turn on each other as the stress of their imprisonment takes hold. Despite the film's low budget, it achieved moderate commercial success and has developed a cult following due to its surreal, Kafkaesque setting.
  • Cube 2: Hypercube (2002) is a departure from the original. The dusky, dingy rooms of the first film are replaced with high-tech, brightly-lit rooms, and the conventional technology of the original traps are replaced with ultra-tech threats based on abstract mathematics. A new group of prisoners quickly discover that, unlike the original Cube, the rooms in their prison appear to shift instantaneously. They realize they are inside a functioning tesseract in which gravity, space and time are distorted. This time the prisoners each have a connection to the cube's suggested creator.
  • Cube Zero (2004) is a prequel to Cube. Unlike the first two movies, which were limited to the prisoners' point of view, the film follows two characters, Eric Wynn and Dodd, who are bureaucrat/technicians observing the prisoners. Wynn finds himself caring about the fate of Cassandra Rains, a woman in the Cube, and decides to risk his job and his life to help her try to escape.

[edit] Prisoners details in each movie and traps

[edit] Cube

The prisoners in this movie are complete strangers with no apparent connection to each other or the cube itself, except for Worth who turns out to be a designer of the outer shell housing the cube, and possess some kind of skill or talent which if used together will assist in their escape. Each of the Prisoner's characters name is named after a famous Prison.

Name Occupation Gender Prison Connection Played by
Kazan Autistic Savant Male Kazan Prison (Russia) Andrew Miller
David Worth Architect Male Leavenworth Prison (USA) David Hewlett
Quentin Cop Male San Quentin State Prison (USA) Maurice Dean Wint
Leaven Math Student Female Leavenworth Prison (USA) Nicole de Boer
Dr. Helen Holloway Free Clinic Doctor Female Holloway Womens Prison (UK) Nicky Guadagni
Rennes Escape Expert Male Rennes Prison (France) Wayne Robson
Alderson Unknown Male Alderson Federal Prison Camp (USA) Julian Richings

Note: The character Kazan has similar traits to the character Wynn in Cube Zero.

Each interlocking door in this movie has a unique number.

Traps that feature in this movie are

  • Flame-throwers
  • Base-throwers
  • Swinging Dicer
  • Wire Twist
  • Retracting Spikes
  • The Cube itself

[edit] Cube 2: Hypercube

The prisoners in this movie are all connected to the IZON Corporation, likely to silence them.

Name Occupation Gender Played by
Kate Filmore Psychotherapist/Soldier Female Kari Matchett
Simon Grady Private Detective Male Geraint Wyn Davies
Sasha (Alexandra "Alex" Trusk) Computer Hacker Female Grace Lynn Kung
Rebecca "Becky" Young IZON Technician Female Greer Kent
Julia Attorney Female Lindsey Connell
Max Reisler Computer Game Designer Male Matthew Ferguson
Mrs. Paley Retired Theoretical Mathematician Female Barbara Gordon
Jerry Whitehall Engineer Male Neil Crone
Col. Thomas H. Maguire Colonel Male Bruce Gray
Dr. Phil Rosenzweig Scientist/Author (Nobel Prize Nominee) Male Andrew Scorer

Traps that feature in this movie are

  • The Expanding Tesseract
  • Rooms moving through Rooms
  • Multiplying Crystals
  • Variable Time Speeds
  • Gravity-defying Rooms

[edit] Cube Zero

The difference in this movie is that we see from the point of view of the Cube's observers, as well as the prisoners themselves.

Name Occupation Gender Played by
Eric Wynn Junior Cube Technician Male Zachary Bennett
Dodd Senior Cube Technician Male David Huband
Owen Senior Cube Technician Male Tony Munch
Chickliss Junior Cube Technician Male N/A
Cassandra Rains Political Protester Female Stephanie Moore
Robert P. Haskell Soldier Male Martin Roach
Meyerhold Unknown Male Mike 'Nug' Nahrgang
Jellico Unknown Female Terri Hawkes
Bartok Unknown Male Richard McMillan
Ryjkin Unknown Male Jasmin Geljo
Chandler Unknown Female Sandi Ross
Smith Unknown Male Dino Bellisario
McCaw Unknown Female Ashley James

Traps that feature in this movie are

  • Base shower
  • Flame-throwers
  • Liquid nitrogen-throwers
  • Swinging dicer
  • Retracting spikes
  • Bolts attached to ensnaring cables shot across room
  • Syringes on the floor containing flesh-eating virus
  • Intense soundwave speakers

[edit] See also

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Cube film series
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