The plot for both movies: There is a cyber terrorist who uses our own technology against us. The main character Jerry (or Max. Depending on which show you are watching) is contacted by cell phone and given directions that must be followed or he will die. The directions start small, but as the plot is revealed they escalate until Jerry (or Max) is the most wanted terrorist in the US. Jerry (or Max) must discover who is behind the phone calls to not only save his own life, but to stop the largest and most dangerous terrorist attack in the US.
Now here's a break down of each movie:
Eagle Eye stars Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan in a race-against-time thriller. Ryan and I weren't really that impressed with this show. I mean, it was okay, but we'd be okay never seeing it again. We felt they tried too hard. Too many special effects and not enough explanation of the story line. This movie tried too hard to have action and suspence at every turn. They did a good job giving us background on the characters, but not the reasoning for the phone calls or terrorist attacks. Maybe because Ryan and I watched this movie second of the two, we already knew the storyline, but there was no surprise for us.Something in this movie that is different from the other is the actual terrorist attack. The attack was against the whole Presidential cabinet and kind of far fetched. Like I said before, there wasn't a lot of explanation in this movie. I think in the beginning of the movie, that was the point, but later a good explanation was never given. Anyway we didn't really like it.
Echelon stars Shane West, Martin Sheen and Tamara Feldman. This movie was different from the beginning. The character starts out by getting text messages on how to win a lot of money, which ultimately gets him in trouble. It also happens around the world, not just in the US. But I felt because of the different start, we were able to get more of the plot all the way through the movie. Yes, this was a lower budget film and kind of flopped, but I liked it.The terrorist attack wasn't against the President in this movie, but it was against the whole US by taking away our privacy. But this felt more believable to me. I felt the reasoning behind the 'attack' was better explained, which helped me feel like there was more substance to this movie than just special effects. Okay, to be fair I guess it wasn't an attack like "Boom, boom" but was an attack against our freedoms (This was another way the movies differed). In this movie, they also give an explanation to why each person who is being used was chosen. Where as in Eagle Eye, I only understood why one person was chosen even though there were many others. It wasn't on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriller, like Eagle Eye is suppose to be, but they still had actions shots. I think because of the slower pace, they were also able to add some humor (always a plus). Overall, I liked it.
Eagle Eye vs. Echelon Conspiracy:
Ryan and I both agree that we liked Echelon Conspiracy better than Eagle Eye. Maybe this was because we saw Echelon first, but I don't really think so. Sometimes it's better to have low expectations and be pleasantly surprised, than to have high expectations and not get what you were hoping for. If you have a choice between these two similar movies, you know my suggestion!
If you have seen either, or both, of these movies I'd love to hear your thoughts.
