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Absolon

 Absolon
type
TVTItem
 Absolon
label
Absolon
 Absolon
page
Absolon
 Absolon
comment
Absolon is a 2003 Science Fiction/Thriller film, starring Christopher Lambert, Ron Perlman, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Kelly Brook, set in a Dystopian near future.In the year 2010, a plague known as "Neurological Degeneration Syndrome" (NDS) kills five billion people. A treatment medicine, Absolon, is eventually discovered, and a powerful Mega-Corp (also acting as both a world government and as much of the entire world economy), run by the mysterious "Murchison" (Pearlman), arises from the ashes of The Plague to distribute Absolon to what's left of humanity.Fast forward several years. Mankind is still dependent on Absolon, requiring daily injections to avoid dying of NDS. Detective Norman Scot (Lambert) is investigating the murder of Dr. Frederick Reyna, the scientist who created Absolon. In the course of his investigation, he meets World Justice Department Agent Walters (Diamond Phillips), who is strangely interested in the case, as well as Dr. Claire Whittaker (Brook), the woman in charge of the group that was funding Dr. Reyna's research.Scot discovers that Dr. Reyna was working on a cure for NDS and turns out he may have been killed to cover it up. As he digs deeper into the mystery, Scot is unwittingly tasked with carrying a part of the working cure for the plague in his own bloodstream and must find a second part of this cure in less than three days before the part already inside him turns deadly, and even Absolon itself may not be what it seems...A Direct to Video movie, Absolon was done on an estimated budget of $8 million, most of which must have gone to the cast, as there seems to have been precious little left over for anything else.
 Absolon
fetched
2023-11-09T01:04:33Z
 Absolon
parsed
2023-11-09T01:04:33Z
 Absolon
processingComment
Dropped link to PredatoryBigPharma: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
 Absolon
processingComment
Dropped link to ThePlague: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Absolon
processingUnknown
Predatory Big Pharma
 Absolon
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Absolon / int_19102429
type
Twist Ending
 Absolon / int_19102429
comment
Twist Ending: Not quite the end of the movie, but near the end it's revealed that... The Plague died out a long time ago. The cure that Scot gets is actually for Absolon. Absolon is effectively a highly addictive drug that alters the host's body chemistry, making the patient unable to live without it.
 Absolon / int_19102429
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1.0
 Absolon / int_19102429
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1.0
 Absolon
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Absolon / int_19102429
 Absolon / int_22cf536c
type
Chekhov's Gun
 Absolon / int_22cf536c
comment
Chekhov's Gun: The warrant Walters gives Scot in the beginning of the movie turns out to be a tracking device.
 Absolon / int_22cf536c
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1.0
 Absolon / int_22cf536c
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1.0
 Absolon
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Absolon / int_22cf536c
 Absolon / int_37d2818
type
Title In
 Absolon / int_37d2818
comment
Title In: After Scot is told he has three days to find the second half of the plague cure, a countdown clock begins appearing on screen to convey how much time he has left before the part of the cure already in his bloodstream would kill him.
 Absolon / int_37d2818
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 Absolon / int_37d2818
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Absolon / int_37d2818
 Absolon / int_3c5ae1a1
type
Schizo Tech
 Absolon / int_3c5ae1a1
comment
Schizo Tech: Holograms exist alongside technology that was dated when the film was made. Justified considering the state of the world.
 Absolon / int_3c5ae1a1
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1.0
 Absolon / int_3c5ae1a1
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 Absolon
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Absolon / int_3c5ae1a1
 Absolon / int_48b9731f
type
Paper-Thin Disguise
 Absolon / int_48b9731f
comment
Paper-Thin Disguise: Scot, while hiding from the bad guys, puts on a pair of slightly tinted glasses to hide himself.
 Absolon / int_48b9731f
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1.0
 Absolon / int_48b9731f
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1.0
 Absolon
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Absolon / int_48b9731f
 Absolon / int_496569e8
type
Race Against the Clock
 Absolon / int_496569e8
comment
Race Against the Clock: Once Scot is tasked with carrying part of the cure for the plague in his own bloodstream, he is told he has three days to find the second half of the formula, or else the part that is inside him will kill him.
 Absolon / int_496569e8
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1.0
 Absolon / int_496569e8
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 Absolon
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Absolon / int_496569e8
 Absolon / int_4a59e6f7
type
One Nation Under Copyright
 Absolon / int_4a59e6f7
comment
One Nation Under Copyright: Unified Pharmaceutical Corporation, the company which produces Absolon, basically controls the world government.
 Absolon / int_4a59e6f7
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1.0
 Absolon / int_4a59e6f7
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1.0
 Absolon
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Absolon / int_4a59e6f7
 Absolon / int_55f92df9
type
Wire Dilemma
 Absolon / int_55f92df9
comment
Wire Dilemma: Averted. Scot seems to magically know which wire to cut to stop the bomb.
 Absolon / int_55f92df9
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-1.0
 Absolon / int_55f92df9
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1.0
 Absolon
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Absolon / int_55f92df9
 Absolon / int_56b53152
type
Green Aesop
 Absolon / int_56b53152
comment
Green Aesop: The Plague was set loose upon the world due to the deforestation of the Amazon.
 Absolon / int_56b53152
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1.0
 Absolon / int_56b53152
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1.0
 Absolon
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Absolon / int_56b53152
 Absolon / int_74e9a5b1
type
Scavenger World
 Absolon / int_74e9a5b1
comment
Scavenger World: According to the Opening Scroll, the world is living off of pre-plague surplus, with Absolon being about the only thing actually produced. A downplayed example; the world doesn't look post-apocalyptic, more like a random sampling of the late 20th Century.
 Absolon / int_74e9a5b1
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1.0
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1.0
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Absolon / int_74e9a5b1
 Absolon / int_7f3e75b6
type
Look on My Works, Ye Mighty, and Despair
 Absolon / int_7f3e75b6
comment
Look on My Works, Ye Mighty, and Despair: The Opening Monologue is on this theme.
 Absolon / int_7f3e75b6
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1.0
 Absolon / int_7f3e75b6
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 Absolon
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Absolon / int_7f3e75b6
 Absolon / int_8a164766
type
Never Got to Say Goodbye
 Absolon / int_8a164766
comment
Never Got to Say Goodbye: Scot often listens to a saved voice mail of his wife saying she's going to visit her mother. It's the last thing she ever said to him.
 Absolon / int_8a164766
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1.0
 Absolon / int_8a164766
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Absolon / int_8a164766
 Absolon / int_8bb79fdf
type
Designated Girl Fight
 Absolon / int_8bb79fdf
comment
Designated Girl Fight: Claire and Walters' partner get into a brief fight, bludgeoning each other with giant wrenches.
 Absolon / int_8bb79fdf
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1.0
 Absolon / int_8bb79fdf
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1.0
 Absolon
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Absolon / int_8bb79fdf
 Absolon / int_91e894b4
type
Apocalypse How
 Absolon / int_91e894b4
comment
Apocalypse How: Five billion people die in The Plague, making it a Societal Collapse scenario.
 Absolon / int_91e894b4
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1.0
 Absolon / int_91e894b4
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 Absolon
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Absolon / int_91e894b4
 Absolon / int_9676e505
type
Phlebotinum Dependence
 Absolon / int_9676e505
comment
Phlebotinum Dependence: The remaining survivors of the NDS plague need regular doses of the Absolon drug due to Murchison's machinations.
 Absolon / int_9676e505
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1.0
 Absolon / int_9676e505
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1.0
 Absolon
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Absolon / int_9676e505
 Absolon / int_a1b0bde2
type
Revealing Cover-Up
 Absolon / int_a1b0bde2
comment
Revealing Cover Up: Murchison has Reyna killed in order to cover up the fact that Absolon dependency is something that needs to be cured.
 Absolon / int_a1b0bde2
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1.0
 Absolon / int_a1b0bde2
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1.0
 Absolon
hasFeature
Absolon / int_a1b0bde2
 Absolon / int_a32334b4
type
Canon Discontinuity
 Absolon / int_a32334b4
comment
Canon Discontinuity: The Opening Scroll and the rest of the movie seem to disagree on several key points, such as what caused The Plague and how long it's been since the world went to pieces.
 Absolon / int_a32334b4
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1.0
 Absolon / int_a32334b4
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 Absolon
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Absolon / int_a32334b4
 Absolon / int_a3912d0e
type
Sexy Discretion Shot
 Absolon / int_a3912d0e
comment
Sexy Discretion Shot: The camera fades to black when Claire and Scot make love.
 Absolon / int_a3912d0e
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1.0
 Absolon / int_a3912d0e
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Absolon / int_a3912d0e
 Absolon / int_a796d2a6
type
Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy
 Absolon / int_a796d2a6
comment
Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Walters and his men are incapable of hitting a target at point-blank range.
 Absolon / int_a796d2a6
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1.0
 Absolon / int_a796d2a6
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1.0
 Absolon
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Absolon / int_a796d2a6
 Absolon / int_a7ae597a
type
No New Fashions in the Future
 Absolon / int_a7ae597a
comment
No New Fashions in the Future: Not surprising considering it's only 20 Minutes into the Future. However, some characters have hair or clothes that are probably supposed to look futuristic, but wouldn't look out of place at a late-1990's/early-2000's Dance Club.
 Absolon / int_a7ae597a
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1.0
 Absolon / int_a7ae597a
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1.0
 Absolon
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Absolon / int_a7ae597a
 Absolon / int_aa8dcc21
type
MegaCorp
 Absolon / int_aa8dcc21
comment
Mega-Corp: One company produces Absolon. Unsurprisingly, they're rather powerful.
 Absolon / int_aa8dcc21
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1.0
 Absolon / int_aa8dcc21
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1.0
 Absolon
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Absolon / int_aa8dcc21
 Absolon / int_b151c937
type
The Mockbuster
 Absolon / int_b151c937
comment
The Mockbuster: The story premise and thematic elements of Absolon bear several stark similarities to the bigger budget 1995 science-fiction film Johnny Mnemonic, loosely based on the William Gibson short story of the same name. This is perhaps a little more than mere coincidence, seeing that the star of Absolon, Christopher Lambert, was once in the running for the lead role in Johnny Mnemonic (before the part went to Keanu Reeves). Johnny Mnemonic similarly takes place in an early-21st Century "near future" where half the world is infected by a plague called "Nerve Attenuation Syndrome" (NAS). Only one giant pharmaceutical company is selling expensive treatments to combat the plague, and the film's hero unwittingly finds himself carrying information on a permanent cure that must be delivered in a short period of time before it kills him.
 Absolon / int_b151c937
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 Absolon / int_b151c937
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 Absolon
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Absolon / int_b151c937
 Absolon / int_bc00493f
type
Precision F-Strike
 Absolon / int_bc00493f
comment
Precision F-Strike: Scot near the end of the movie.
 Absolon / int_bc00493f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Absolon / int_bc00493f
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1.0
 Absolon
hasFeature
Absolon / int_bc00493f
 Absolon / int_bca8900a
type
Government Drug Enforcement
 Absolon / int_bca8900a
comment
Government Drug Enforcement: People are paid in Absolon, which is measured in hours, meaning your wages are quite literally how long you have to live.
 Absolon / int_bca8900a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Absolon / int_bca8900a
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 Absolon
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Absolon / int_bca8900a
 Absolon / int_bcd27e37
type
Improbable Aiming Skills
 Absolon / int_bcd27e37
comment
Improbable Aiming Skills: Scot manages to shoot a man in the forehead, firing blind while hiding under a table. To the movie's credit, Scot looks somewhat surprised when he sees what he did.
 Absolon / int_bcd27e37
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1.0
 Absolon / int_bcd27e37
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 Absolon
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Absolon / int_bcd27e37
 Absolon / int_c75df49a
type
Shout-Out
 Absolon / int_c75df49a
comment
Shout-Out: Possibly not on purpose, but Scot's clothes look very much like the wardrobe of Conner MacLeod.
 Absolon / int_c75df49a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Absolon / int_c75df49a
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 Absolon
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Absolon / int_c75df49a
 Absolon / int_cbe687ab
type
Corrupt Corporate Executive
 Absolon / int_cbe687ab
comment
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Murchison, the head of Unified Pharmaceutical Corporation, manufactures a drug dependency among the global population for profit, and kills anyone who tries to reveal the truth.
 Absolon / int_cbe687ab
featureApplicability
1.0
 Absolon / int_cbe687ab
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Absolon / int_cbe687ab
 Absolon / int_d2a9f080
type
Opening Scroll
 Absolon / int_d2a9f080
comment
Opening Scroll: The Backstory is provided in text form, with the addition of stock footage.
 Absolon / int_d2a9f080
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1.0
 Absolon / int_d2a9f080
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Absolon / int_d2a9f080
 Absolon / int_dccf42c1
type
Our Graphics Will Suck in the Future
 Absolon / int_dccf42c1
comment
Our Graphics Will Suck in the Future: The CGI used in the GPS sequences in the movie don't look much better than what was used in Total Recall (1990), a movie that came out 13 years earlier.
 Absolon / int_dccf42c1
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 Absolon / int_dccf42c1
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Absolon / int_dccf42c1
 Absolon / int_e34541d
type
One World Order
 Absolon / int_e34541d
comment
One World Order: The governments of the world coalesced into this following the upheaval of society in the face of The Plague.
 Absolon / int_e34541d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Absolon / int_e34541d
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 Absolon
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Absolon / int_e34541d
 Absolon / int_ee73f471
type
Shadow Dictator
 Absolon / int_ee73f471
comment
Shadow Dictator: Murchison is the elusive leader of Unified Pharmaceutical Corporation, the corporation that runs the world.
 Absolon / int_ee73f471
featureApplicability
1.0
 Absolon / int_ee73f471
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 Absolon
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Absolon / int_ee73f471
 Absolon / int_f32d85ab
type
20 Minutes into the Future
 Absolon / int_f32d85ab
comment
20 Minutes into the Future: Dr. Reyna's autopsy lists the year as 2017.
 Absolon / int_f32d85ab
featureApplicability
1.0
 Absolon / int_f32d85ab
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 Absolon
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Absolon / int_f32d85ab
 Absolon / int_f458e883
type
Right Man in the Wrong Place
 Absolon / int_f458e883
comment
Right Man in the Wrong Place: Scot is given the cure because he happens to be a universal donor, and happened to be in the room when Dr. Reyna needed to hide it.
 Absolon / int_f458e883
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Absolon / int_f458e883
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Absolon

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Absolon
seeAlso
Absolon
 Absolon
hasFeature
Canadian Movies / int_c44a2f34
 Absolon
hasFeature
Conspiracy Thriller / int_c44a2f34
 Absolon
hasFeature
Government Drug Enforcement / int_c44a2f34
 Absolon
hasFeature
Predatory Big Pharma / int_c44a2f34
 Absolon
hasFeature
The Mockbuster / int_c44a2f34