M.I.T. professor John Koestler links a mysterious list of numbers from a time capsule to past and future disasters and sets out to prevent the ultimate catastrophe.M.I.T. professor John Koestler links a mysterious list of numbers from a time capsule to past and future disasters and sets out to prevent the ultimate catastrophe.M.I.T. professor John Koestler links a mysterious list of numbers from a time capsule to past and future disasters and sets out to prevent the ultimate catastrophe.
- Awards
- 1 win & 6 nominations
- Stacey
- (as Lesley-Anne Mitchell)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe school in the movie is William Dawes Elementary. William Dawes was one of the riders who, like Paul Revere, warned the minutemen that British troops were coming, just as a child at his namesake school was trying to warn people what was coming.
- GoofsWhen the police and teachers go searching for Lucinda in the school at night, they all use flashlights. They could have easily put the lights on instead, as nothing indicates a power outage.
- Quotes
John Koestler: I found evidence of a series of super-flares from a star in the outer-Pleiades's region.
Phil Bergman: Right. Ratings were off the chart.
John Koestler: We were both wrong. The numbers are a warning, but not just to me or any random group. They're a warning to everyone.
Phil Bergman: Okay. You're officially scaring the shit out of me right now.
John Koestler: The super-flare, in our own solar system. A 100 microtesla wave of radiation that would destroy our ozone layer, killing every living organism on the planet.
Phil Bergman: We have to let everyone know. We have to call the NOAA.
John Koestler: They already know. The announcement will come anytime now. I thought there was some purpose to all this. Why did I get this prediction if there's nothing I can do about it? How am I supposed to stop the end of the world?
- Crazy creditsThe opening credits start with numbers which become/decode into words and names.
- SoundtracksThe Planets: Op. 43: IV Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity
Written by Gustav Holst
The plot turns around John Koestler (Nicolas Cage), an MIT astrophysics nerd turned Indiana Jones when a time capsule is discovered at his young son Caleb's (Chandler Canterbury) school. Inside are drawings from students in 1959 predicting what things would be like in 2009 some 50 years later. The drawing that Caleb comes home with isn't a drawing at all but a series of seemingly random numbers. Koestler becomes obsessed with the numbers and their meaning or what they seem to mean. The whole thing shakes him to his scientific core and a quest has begun.
The film is very lucky to have director Alex Proyas from films such as Dark City which is his true geek film and critical acclaim as well as I, Robot and Garage Days. The visual and special effects are outstanding. It was surprising how much suspense was in the script (Ryan Douglas Pearson and Juliet Snowden) which gave the film a real thriller atmosphere which continues to build in tone as the mystery is unraveled.
I admit I went into this film expecting a rehash of National Treasure on a more global scale. The sci-fi aspect of the premise is very well thought out and told. The acting by co-stars (Chandler Canterbury, Rose Byrne and Lara Robinson) are solid performances and stand in complementary contrast to that of the tightly wound Nicolas Cage. The geek factor of Knowing is rather high with lots of number configurations and what-if scenarios which is great for the sci-fi fans. At times your brain may have to turn on in order to follow the film, but that is what made Knowing such a pleasant surprise to me.*
- treadwaywrites
- Mar 19, 2009
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Know1ng
- Filming locations
- Camberwell High School, Camberwell, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia(William Dawes Elementary)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $50,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $79,957,634
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $24,604,751
- Mar 22, 2009
- Gross worldwide
- $183,658,498
- Runtime2 hours 1 minute
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1