Echelon Conspiracy

Watch enough movies and you start to notice patterns, coincidences, odd synchronicities. Watching Echelon Conspiracy, a thriller that played in less than 400 theaters on its release, comes to DVD with a plot where, if you hold it up to the light just right and squint, there's a strong resemblance to one of 2008's one-hundred-million-dollar blockbusters that was released just six months before -- a spacing too close to suggest that any deliberate plagiarism going on, just that two different writers heard something in the wires and the wind and the world. I can't name the film, of course, for fear of spoiling Echelon Conspiracy, but I will say that, with one exception, I liked how Echelon Conspiracy handled the central plot idea more than I liked how the big-money blockbuster did; whereas the multi-million-making version was bloated and a little silly in its excesses, Echelon Conspiracy stays relatively close to the ground.

Max Peterson (Shane West) is a blue-collar jet-setting high-tech hardware guy -- working with the computing equivalent of big iron, setting up a secure server in Thailand when we meet him. Preparing to check out of his hotel, he gets sent a package -- a new top-of-the-line cell phone. And he starts getting messages from an unknown sender who's always right, in some very interesting ways, which means that when the mystery texts recommend he head for Prague, he heads for Prague ... and follows the phone's hints and tips until he gets on the radar of both a Prague casino security head , John Reed (Ed Burns), and FBI man Dave Grant (Ving Rhames). Back Stateside, the head of the National Security Agency, Raymond Burke (Martin Sheen) is taking a special interest in Max's seemingly magical phone ... which is unusual, considering he's busy with trying to get an expansion of the NSA's powers rammed through congress. ...

Directed by Greg Marcks, Echelon Conspiracy has all the hallmarks of a B-movie; the best-known actor in it (Sheen) has the smallest number of scenes, the remainder of the cast is filled out with rising stars (West, Tamara Feldman) and stars who are, uh, not necessarily fading, but hardly as bright as they once were (Rhames and Burns), and the primary shooting location, Prague, is not only agreeably exotic but surprisingly economical. But just because a movie is a B-movie doesn’t mean it can't be a good movie, and there are a couple of nice scenes in Echelon Conspiracy that have the grit and punch of the Bourne movies, including an assault on an apartment and a nice, meaty car chase.

Echelon Conspiracy has smarts (thanks primarily to writers Kevin Elders and Michael Nitsberg), and while it may not have a block-rocking big budget finale, it has a couple of nice spins on its way to the final curtain. (If there's one problem with the script, it's how a tech-worker like Max would accept a magic phone sending him untraceable anonymous messages without getting immediately freaked out; then again, Max is a hardware guy, not a phone guy, it's a fairly quick ramp from the phone being interesting to the phone being threatening ... and you don't look a gift horse in the mouth until it bites, to mix a metaphor.)The DVD is appallingly vanilla, with nice picture and sound and nothing in terms of extras with the exception of some trailers for some other Paramount films -- including, ironically, the big-budget big-star vehicle that has a bigger, not-as-well-told version of the same basic plot. But if you're looking for a little globe-trotting conspiracy with a side of high-tech paranoia (and a little make-out session as a garnish), Echelon Conspiracy will satisfy far more than its modest appearance suggests.

Comments

[Fiirvoen]

Wow. That looks just like Johnny Galecki from Big Bang Theory and Roseanne.

[Ben]

I demand to know or at least surmise what this other 2008 movie is... is it Bourne Ultimatum?

[Dio Vannucci]

I have a feeling that the other movie starred Shia Lebeouf and was called Eagle Eye......

[Marlee]

Wow Ben really... did you not read this synopsis? Think Shia Labeouf.

[CJ]

Ben: I think the article refers to Eagle Eye which the plot is really close.

[Matt Bean]

Judging from the description, I'm guessing Eagle Eye.

[Matthew S.]

So the question is, which one was better?

[Ron]

I was thinking Eagle Eye from the start - I believe that has to be it.

[jerry]

echelon conspiracy - although low budget, was pretty damn cool. i would call it more of a documentary then fiction -- i liked it.

[Bill]

yeah....it was eagle eye....I figured this one was the knock off...so I like bells and whistles... :)

[Ben]

Eagle Eye was certainly the movie being compared to, but i agree, Echelon was actually more believable and had a "Hitman/Bond" international feel to it..

[chris]

Just another Deep Impact vs. Armageddon. Still, this one was so incredibly predictable and plenty of plot holes. Yes, it's supposed to instill fears of the watchful eye of Big Brother, but the story line is so far fetched. Reminds me of a not so popular Dan Brown novel that, thankfully, didn't make it to the silver screen.

[2nihon]

I'll definitely look at this one then. Eagle Eye started out with promise but then got stupid. This one sounds like it keeps its head on. Thanks for this review.

[Johnny B Good]

Eagle Eye sucked! Echelon therefore super sucks!!

[Echelon]

hey don't leave out National Treasure this nicolas cage movie hade parts with simular seens of spying thru another cell phone . Echelon is very well real live computer controled by various govts including ours. If your looking for more information just put Echelon in google and youl be knocked off your socks.

[-=Trans=-]

OK,
I rented/watched the film.
My take is job well done.
For a limited production it held my attention.
Predictable- yes. And, yea- it was a bit of a streatch on theory. But we don't have a problem with Bruce banner morphing into the Hulk-
So I would call this one Eagle eye meets War Games.
(stop slapping your forehead!)
You knew that final solution scenario was just a bit familiar, just couldn't quite put your finger on it....
Happy hunting- long live the Box!

[Rebecca]

I had higher hopes for this movie. But I should have clued in much closer on the fact that it was only released to 400 theaters. I didn't see "Eagle Eye;" so I can't compare the two movies. But I didn't enjoy "Echelon Conspiracy." For me, the storyline was too far-fetched to be enjoyable. The acting was "meh." Some weird jaundice-inducing lighting on the actors' faces while in the casino was distracting. And the action was too slow paced. The only part of the story I liked was Yuri.

[Livia]

Hey, Shia LeBeof starred in Eagle Eye. Haven't even seen a second of this film but Eagle Eye was the greatest film I've seen who starred Shia. Seems like a turkey movie, I might rent it but maybe I will see it when I'm in the mood for a crime movie!