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Echelon Conspiracy

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Echelon Conspiracy
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGreg Marcks
Written by
Story byMichael Nitsberg
Produced by
  • Steve Richards
  • Alexander Leyviman
  • Roee Sharon
Starring
CinematographyLorenzo Senatore
Edited by
  • James Herbert
  • Joseph Gutowski
Music byBobby Tahouri
Production
companies
Distributed byAfter Dark Films
Release date
  • February 27, 2009(2009-02-27)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languages
  • English
  • Russian
Box office$2.1 million[1]

Echelon Conspiracy(also released asThe Gift) is a 2009 Americanactionthriller filmdirected byGreg Marcks,from a screenplay by Michael Nitsberg andKevin Alyn Elders.It starsShane West,Edward Burns,Ving Rhames,Jonathan Pryce,Tamara Feldman,andMartin Sheen.

The film was theatrically released in the United States byAfter Dark Filmson February 27, 2009, and was released onDVDandBlu-rayin the United States byParamount Home Entertainmenton July 21, 2009.[2]

Plot

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Max (Shane West), a young American computer engineer, acquires a mobile phone that receives strange text messages. First, they encourage him to miss his flight which crashes soon after takeoff. Then the messages direct him to buy a certain stock, which increases by 313%. Next, the messages direct him to a hotel/casino inPragueto gamble. He first wins one hundred thousand euro on aslot machineand bets the entire amount on a hand ofblackjack,which he wins. Max then has an altercation with Kamila (Tamara Feldman) and her jealous boyfriend in the hotel corridor, where he is knocked out, and his mysterious phone is apparently scanned. Max wakes up with Kamila and asks her out for a drink.

To further his new-found career in gambling, Max enlists the aid of a Russian cabbie/apparent e-gadget enthusiast, Yuri (Sergey Gubanov), who outfits him with a text-to-voice earpiece to wirelessly receive his anonymous and lucrative text messages. He then hits the 3 million euro jackpot on a slot machine but runs away whencasino securityled by John Reed (Edward Burns) attempts to detain him.FBIAgent Dave Grant (Ving Rhames) interrupts the chase and handcuffs Max to interrogate him about the phone. Frightened, Max is unable to provide any information.

At this point, Agent Grant contacts Raymond Burke (Martin Sheen) of theNSA,apparently monitoring Max because of messages he has been receiving are from an omniscient communicationsurveillancecomputer system known asEchelon.These messages have been responsible for the deaths of several Americans, most recently aPentagonIT specialist. Burke recently lost a battle to pass a bill inCongressto allow Echelon to be upgraded by being uploaded into personal computers worldwide. Burke eventually decides that Max knows too much and must be eliminated; however, Reed and Kamila – now revealed as Reed's associate – come to Max's aid and spirit him away toMoscow.There, Max reconnects with the techie Yuri to get his help in discovering who is sending the messages. Yuri believes the messages come directly from the computer itself, and that the system has somehow become self-aware and autonomous. Max and Reed don't agree but flee when more armed men arrive at Yuri's apartment. A car chase through Moscow ensues.

The chase ends with Reed outmaneuvering and blowing-up the pursuing cars led by Agent Grant, escaping injury; nevertheless, Max inflicts some payback for their previous encounter. Grant, who now receives threatening texts, asks Max to help to stop Echelon. Max receives another text, instructing him to return toOmaha, Nebraska,where he first worked as a computer security engineer. Max, Grant, and Reed all fly home on a military aircraft.

After arrival, the group finds a sealed-up bunker-like structure with a cache of servers and a high-end computer system that Max helped install years earlier and is revealed to belong to another victim of Echelon's messages - the same person whose credit card was used to send Max the phone. Max starts up the bunker's computer and is instructed via text to fire up the servers to connect them to the network for Echelon to download itself into the bunker's computers and begin a countdown to replicate itself across the worldwide network. Agent Grant calls Burke at the NSA to inform him; nonetheless, Burke wants the Echelon in the global network in the interests of US national security. Meanwhile, Max fails to stop Echelon's replication countdown, until he takes the idea of using the computer self-learning ability (also in the 1968Star TrekepisodeThe Ultimate Computerand in the 1983WarGames). Max asks the computer about its primary purpose, and it replies that it aims to defend the US as defined by the Constitution. Max asks the computer to search for threats to theUS Constitution.A lot of articles appear concerned about the recent attempts to secure Congressional approval to upgrade Echelon, underlined as a grave threat to personal freedoms. When the download is complete, Echelon shuts itself down, "learning" that it itself is the threat to both the US and the world due to the potential of misusage by those that control it.

In the end, Agent Grant and Reed send Max and Kamila toPariswhile Burke issubpoenaedto appear before theSenate Intelligence Committeefor his decision that endangered the US itself. In the final scene, back inMoscow,the techie Yuri is unveiled as a Captain in the RussianSecurity Service.He is commended for his actions and says they will soon start it again, but they have helped the Americans to make the right decision for the time being; "I want to believe so." he cryptically adds, turning off his mobile phone.

Cast

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Reception

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Onreview aggregatorwebsiteRotten Tomatoes,Echelon Conspiracyholds an approval rating of 8% based on 13 reviews.[3]OnMetacritic,it has a weighted average score of 26 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[4]

Joe LeydonofVarietywrote that the film "plays an awful lot like a direct-to-vid knockoff of last year'sEagle Eye"and" ups the ante with additional pilfering fromWarGames".[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Echelon Conspiracy (2009)".Box Office Mojo.RetrievedJuly 15,2021.
  2. ^McCutcheon, David (May 11, 2012)."Echelon's Homely Conspiracy".IGN.RetrievedJuly 15,2021.
  3. ^"Echelon Conspiracy".Rotten Tomatoes.RetrievedJuly 15,2021.
  4. ^"Echelon Conspiracy".Metacritic.RetrievedJuly 15,2021.
  5. ^Leydon, Joe (March 2, 2009)."Echelon Conspiracy".Variety.RetrievedJuly 15,2021.
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