The concept was actually pretty good. The acting wasn't bad. The movie did suffer due to some of the dialogue, and I'm not expert on cinema, but I suspect the directing and budget hurt it as well. I was shocked to see Liotta and Martin Scorsese, then I realized that the director was Cathy Scorsese. I can only assume a family member decided to break into directing and Martin and Ray gave them a little help. Hey, that's cool. I would do the same for my kids. Everyone wants their kids to be successful. In any event, it's a weird ride that comes together at the end... well, as much as a low-budget mediocre movie can pull that off. It wasn't the worst way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
20 Reviews
Amateur Hour.. and 50 minutes!
MohamedFawzy20 February 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I will assume this movie was some sort of a school project, and given that Cathy Scorsese is Martin Scorsese's daughter, and god knows who Kenneth M. Waddell is, but he must be related to him as well, and that would explain why a few known actors, Ray Liotta and Mr. Scorsese himself, are all appearing in this amateur piece.
Though I will never know how Martin Scorsese could've read this script and not suggest any changes to it, it all starts with the weak script dealing with the theme of (SPOILERS: AI and being in a simulation :SPOILERS), something that has been done a million times before, but fails badly at this incarnation because of the weak script, with no tangible plot and lame characters.
Now comes the production, yes, it's shot on what looks like HDV, yes the production value is mediocre, but that's understandable with a small budget, but what is not excusable is the horrible editing, CGI, directing and sound production, this is the worst sound editing and mixing I've ever heard in my life in a "professional" project, I've seen YouTube videos with better production, and I've seen CGI done by kids that were miles ahead of the pathetic stuff done in this movie.
Though I will never know how Martin Scorsese could've read this script and not suggest any changes to it, it all starts with the weak script dealing with the theme of (SPOILERS: AI and being in a simulation :SPOILERS), something that has been done a million times before, but fails badly at this incarnation because of the weak script, with no tangible plot and lame characters.
Now comes the production, yes, it's shot on what looks like HDV, yes the production value is mediocre, but that's understandable with a small budget, but what is not excusable is the horrible editing, CGI, directing and sound production, this is the worst sound editing and mixing I've ever heard in my life in a "professional" project, I've seen YouTube videos with better production, and I've seen CGI done by kids that were miles ahead of the pathetic stuff done in this movie.
Utterly confused
shieldfire15 November 2016
If it was only me, it would probably be OK. Then I could see this as some kind of surreal movie experiment. But it isn't unfortunately. This is about some college students (I think) go about their daily business and stumbling into "unusual" situations where they seem to gain supernatural powers. Maybe.
One reason this isn't very clear is that the plot is horrible. The weird, surreal things are laid one upon another from the start (and I mean start after the opening sequence) where people stop reacting, beat each other up, sell stolen stuff, bully one another for no apparent reason. And the characters "act" as this is all very normal. Then there is the "acting". It's horribly over the top on all accounts. Seriously, horribly bad including every cliché in an amateur directors "How-to manual" on directing. Including the goth group clad in black. :sighs: I guess it all somewhat is explained at the end, but even so - the explanation for everyones extremely erratic behaviour doesn't make much sense. Avoid if it's available for free on cable, run like mad in another direction if your significant other suggests you see it at a theatre.
One reason this isn't very clear is that the plot is horrible. The weird, surreal things are laid one upon another from the start (and I mean start after the opening sequence) where people stop reacting, beat each other up, sell stolen stuff, bully one another for no apparent reason. And the characters "act" as this is all very normal. Then there is the "acting". It's horribly over the top on all accounts. Seriously, horribly bad including every cliché in an amateur directors "How-to manual" on directing. Including the goth group clad in black. :sighs: I guess it all somewhat is explained at the end, but even so - the explanation for everyones extremely erratic behaviour doesn't make much sense. Avoid if it's available for free on cable, run like mad in another direction if your significant other suggests you see it at a theatre.
time wasters
thejobs-9796815 November 2019
This film is crap! 4 teenagers run around a school for an hour and a half screaming at each other "why me, why us". no time travel, no killers, no explanation! just a cheep rip off of the 13th floor and the matrix, really that's all you get. not even a decent ending. the only reason this got made was she's martin scorsese's daughter. 0 stars and not even a good sized asteroid!
DO NOT WATCH
bradleycr2 May 2019
I was HIGH and yet I hated it ...
abrarnadir-383-33545122 August 2022
Hands down THE worse movie I have ever seen in my life. Plot, direction, acting was Out Of This world (in a bad way) I do not write reviews ever nd this is not a review either, this is a Public Service message. I am bound by my Morals to let the rest of Human Race know about this movie and its affect on my DAZED hour.
NEXT.
NEXT.
I was not impressed...
Mehltretter18 July 2013
OK, so I have been a fan of Jesse McCartney since I was a kid. So I decided to check out his newer work in the acting industry. He kind of slid off my grid as I grew up. I kind of forgot about him. Recently I heard some of his newer music and I was very impressed. I also checked out his other movie Keith. I thought he did very well in that, very well. I only knew he did music, so I decided to explore his other achievements. I saw an interview on youtube of him talking about this interactive movie called Campus Life. I decided to check it out. I viewed Campus Life on the Jumpstreet website. I watched it 2 times to make sure I didn't forget or miss anything. The site was having issues as well. So here comes the review....(dun dun duuuunnnn...) I was not impressed with Campus Life. I love Jesse but this movie was a bad move. The acting was...odd...and the ending sucked. The effects were terrible as well. It was a movie I wish I never saw, I cringed as I watched, it was just bad. I won't let this get in the way of me continuing to support Jesse through his career, but I hope he doesn't pick up a small cheap low budget film like this again.
Boring
xconwombats5 February 2022
Took me two days to watch this.
Let me start off by saying I only came across this film because I'm really into Conor Leslie projects right now.
This film is terrible right off the bat. The CGI, VFX, screenwriting, cinematography, lighting, and acting are all absolutely atrocious. It feels like a bad CW/Lifetime made-for-TV film that should never have been released.
This film had potential, maybe if given a better cast, budget, and creative team.
Perhaps a TV series could have helped execute it better.
Conor Leslie did great with what she was given though.
Let me start off by saying I only came across this film because I'm really into Conor Leslie projects right now.
This film is terrible right off the bat. The CGI, VFX, screenwriting, cinematography, lighting, and acting are all absolutely atrocious. It feels like a bad CW/Lifetime made-for-TV film that should never have been released.
This film had potential, maybe if given a better cast, budget, and creative team.
Perhaps a TV series could have helped execute it better.
Conor Leslie did great with what she was given though.
Dire
mkh10217 February 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Just don't bother, the story line is useless, the actors terrible. There was no decent flow to the story line and loads left unanswered. Like why did arun have what he had in his cupboard? Who were the guys in black and why were they? Most of it made no sense at all and was complete drivel. I skipped a lot (which may have had some of the explanations but seriously just filling space now). SKIP IT you can never get the time lost on this movie back.
Fantastic Movie to be used for training at Film schools
smhl25 November 2020
Just like all the negative reviews mentioned, everything about it was all bad. I would think that those looking at a future in directing films, would find this movie useful, as this is a fantastic training 'case study' on things to avoid.
Seeing Ray Liotta in the movie plus having THE Martin Scorsese as your dad (director Cathy Scorsese father), I assumed the movie would pick up towards the end and it would make up for everything! Unfortunately, it didnt.
Why watch it even after all the negative reviews? The movie I ordered was called 'Time Shifters' released in 2020! After some google search, I found the 'real' name of the movie "Campus Code" and then read these reviews!
Weird to read that the movie name "Campus Life" in 2013 changed to "Campus Code" in 2015 but doesn't explain why it changed to "Time Shifters" in 2020?
This movie should forever be free, it really is an offense to ask anyone to pay to rent this movie.
Seeing Ray Liotta in the movie plus having THE Martin Scorsese as your dad (director Cathy Scorsese father), I assumed the movie would pick up towards the end and it would make up for everything! Unfortunately, it didnt.
Why watch it even after all the negative reviews? The movie I ordered was called 'Time Shifters' released in 2020! After some google search, I found the 'real' name of the movie "Campus Code" and then read these reviews!
Weird to read that the movie name "Campus Life" in 2013 changed to "Campus Code" in 2015 but doesn't explain why it changed to "Time Shifters" in 2020?
This movie should forever be free, it really is an offense to ask anyone to pay to rent this movie.
Better than most B movies
moorek19 March 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The people giving this movie bad reviews are not wrong. Your enjoyment of this movie will depend on if you enjoy B level movies with overall mediocre acting, direction and plotting. Having said that, I found the movie had enough elements that caught my attention that I watched it through.
ACTING. Overall the acting is only mediocre at best. None of them stand out. Some, like the goth-like guys, were just terrible. A few were wasted in their roles based on other work they've done. Jessica Alexandra Green is a much better actress than her minimal screen time gives her here.
When you've watched the whole movie and know the ending then some of the bad acting sort of fits. Like all the security guards. That's how they'd react in the game.
LOCATION. Dull campus but that fits the nature of the story.
EXTRAS. I liked that many of the people in the movie looked like they were hired from the student body. All shapes and sizes.
PLOT. People say there isn't a good plot and there are plotholes. They are correct but many of the plotholes are just like they would be in the game. Since we're only playing basically one day in the life of the game then there are things that we shouldn't know. Why do some characters need something signed by midnight? And how would they "take over"? Who was Jennifer? Why did Arun have his parents locked up? We aren't supposed to know those things in this movie. It would be like watching someone playing in the middle of a zombie game and not knowing how the virus spread; who the characters were; what motivated them to do what they do. You could argue it was also a cheap way out for the screen writers but I thought they gave it enough thought so they added things like doors that don't lead anywhere, blank books, computers that don't work, characters with limited or no interaction with the main characters.
I give the movie more credit because once we know what is happening and we see folks in the real world then that reflects back to things in the movie that we really didn't understand. We find out why Ari is so focused on making money. We understand why Arun doesn't want an arranged marriage and where his character is a painter. Most importantly we find out Izzzy's secret (that she's actually an avatar for a male) and why she doesn't remember that when she becomes "free".
It's not a movie I'll watch again but it was fun to watch the first time. It clearly set itself up for a sequel and I thought I'd watch it and it was only when this movie was over that I realized that it was filmed in 2015. I thought it was just released. So clearly there is not a sequel.
ACTING. Overall the acting is only mediocre at best. None of them stand out. Some, like the goth-like guys, were just terrible. A few were wasted in their roles based on other work they've done. Jessica Alexandra Green is a much better actress than her minimal screen time gives her here.
When you've watched the whole movie and know the ending then some of the bad acting sort of fits. Like all the security guards. That's how they'd react in the game.
LOCATION. Dull campus but that fits the nature of the story.
EXTRAS. I liked that many of the people in the movie looked like they were hired from the student body. All shapes and sizes.
PLOT. People say there isn't a good plot and there are plotholes. They are correct but many of the plotholes are just like they would be in the game. Since we're only playing basically one day in the life of the game then there are things that we shouldn't know. Why do some characters need something signed by midnight? And how would they "take over"? Who was Jennifer? Why did Arun have his parents locked up? We aren't supposed to know those things in this movie. It would be like watching someone playing in the middle of a zombie game and not knowing how the virus spread; who the characters were; what motivated them to do what they do. You could argue it was also a cheap way out for the screen writers but I thought they gave it enough thought so they added things like doors that don't lead anywhere, blank books, computers that don't work, characters with limited or no interaction with the main characters.
I give the movie more credit because once we know what is happening and we see folks in the real world then that reflects back to things in the movie that we really didn't understand. We find out why Ari is so focused on making money. We understand why Arun doesn't want an arranged marriage and where his character is a painter. Most importantly we find out Izzzy's secret (that she's actually an avatar for a male) and why she doesn't remember that when she becomes "free".
It's not a movie I'll watch again but it was fun to watch the first time. It clearly set itself up for a sequel and I thought I'd watch it and it was only when this movie was over that I realized that it was filmed in 2015. I thought it was just released. So clearly there is not a sequel.
Legitimately Life Changing
changboy11 June 2019
10 years ago, I was just a child, rotting away at the hands of the system. I dealt drugs, got arrested frequently, and almost ended up in jail. That's when I found this movie. After watching it, I was inspired. I was blind, but after watching this movie, this masterpiece, my eyes were open. Everything around me seemed better, clearer, more colorful. I stopped dealing drugs, stopped getting in trouble. I turned my life around, and all because of this movie. I graduated as valedictorian, and I now attend Harvard university. I highly recommend watching this movie, it changed my life and I owe everything to it's screenwriter, Michael Simon.
This movie absolutely makes sense while still not great.
barkbarkwoof17 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I saw many reviews talking about plot holes and character actions not making sense. I'm going to explain it for those who don't "get it.". These are absolutely spoilers.
The whole game is an MMO. The movie only breaks the wall at the end when we see the players. MMO games are open world the characters that are unresponsive are NPCs or avatars that are not being used. One user is Trans and plays Izzy also that's get secret etc. Somewhere along the way the four principle characters stop being played by thirty users but continue on. What is perceived by the programmers add a virus is in fact artificial intelligence.
The tool moderators user to kick off users that breach the TOS was used unsuccessfully on the new AI beings. In the end they decided that they needed to let the programmers know they exist and has conscious thought.
Lastly the group that makes the least sense are the greifers. IRL they don't make sense! They're usually kids that aren't interested in the game, just wrecking everyone else's game play. They're jerks. Once you know all this there are no loose ends, plot holes or the like.
The whole game is an MMO. The movie only breaks the wall at the end when we see the players. MMO games are open world the characters that are unresponsive are NPCs or avatars that are not being used. One user is Trans and plays Izzy also that's get secret etc. Somewhere along the way the four principle characters stop being played by thirty users but continue on. What is perceived by the programmers add a virus is in fact artificial intelligence.
The tool moderators user to kick off users that breach the TOS was used unsuccessfully on the new AI beings. In the end they decided that they needed to let the programmers know they exist and has conscious thought.
Lastly the group that makes the least sense are the greifers. IRL they don't make sense! They're usually kids that aren't interested in the game, just wrecking everyone else's game play. They're jerks. Once you know all this there are no loose ends, plot holes or the like.
Am I high?
krabwniefi9 February 2021
Had potential but failed in the end.
jlstoyka8 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I rarely write reviews.... however I had to write one for this movie to spare anyone i can from wasting their time watching this!!!
I really wanted to like this movie. It had potential and a somewhat unique plot line. It keeps you guessing for sure. Do they have special powers? Are they vampires? Are they aliens? Is it a social experiment?
When it was revealed.... some parts made sense, but other aspects made me go huh?
I did LOL at Izzys secret when it was revealed. (You had to read between the lines on that one haha)
Overall the acting wasn't bad. There were a few familiar faces among the cast.
The ending ruined the WHOLE movie. It made me feel i totally wasted my time even watching this. It wasn't a cliffhanger or anything fun like that.... just a dumb ending leaving the plot line unfinished. It's as if the writers realized the movie was too long, so instead of cutting bits and pieces throughout, they just cut off the ending.
Do not recommend.
I really wanted to like this movie. It had potential and a somewhat unique plot line. It keeps you guessing for sure. Do they have special powers? Are they vampires? Are they aliens? Is it a social experiment?
When it was revealed.... some parts made sense, but other aspects made me go huh?
I did LOL at Izzys secret when it was revealed. (You had to read between the lines on that one haha)
Overall the acting wasn't bad. There were a few familiar faces among the cast.
The ending ruined the WHOLE movie. It made me feel i totally wasted my time even watching this. It wasn't a cliffhanger or anything fun like that.... just a dumb ending leaving the plot line unfinished. It's as if the writers realized the movie was too long, so instead of cutting bits and pieces throughout, they just cut off the ending.
Do not recommend.
Lov it
jamesstalinhagen2 May 2019
Great
saraberry577198 June 2020
horrible reviewERS!
ralph-452684 April 2021
THIS IS SO GOOD!
andrasmarto2 May 2019
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