Not a great film. But then it does not deserve the relentless criticism. It is just clumsy and fails to really run anywhere.<br /><br />It is somewhat an allegorical film in the way some religiously derived films intend to be. The short comings in the plot are not that important and really no different to Moses opening up the Red Sea ('hey! in that Ten Commandments they couldn't have escaped the way they did').<br /><br />The Psychlos are an abstract factor which we often refer to in our society as the infamous Big Brother or International Corporations running wild. The human characters have to appear as they do so we can relate to them (no point in seeing futuristic cavemen). The Psychlos are ultimately back stabbing and self indulgent with little interest in human ideals such as common goals and even trust. An underlying philosophy is that of control (leverage), one element of the writings that this is derived from.<br /><br />What happens is the humans eventually bond together and compete (fight back against the bad guys) to achieve a common future with benefit for all mankind (or whats left of it).<br /><br />But they also use nuclear weapons (an apparent evil) and are ultimately protected by radioactivity and then gold (the basis of our monetarist ways). Elements of our current society that are so often criticised by those on the outside.<br /><br />After seeing this for the second time all (most) the way through I am beginning to warm to it. Yes it's poor but it also has some symbolism and is not that much worse than many other films I have seen.