The Maze Runner [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray/DVD] [SteelBook] [Only @ Best Buy] [2 Discs] [2014]

The Maze Runner was filled with twists and turns that kept things rolling. Thomas is deposited in a place where there are no females and it turns out that all his memories have been erased. He then learns that they are all trapped in a maze which requires him to join the group of "runners" to get a chance to escape. This film is based on the novel which was written by James Dashner. The screenplay was written by Noah Oppenheim, Grant Pierce Myers, and T.S. Nowlin. The film was directed by Wes Ball who known for his work on A Work in Progress and Beginners, but this is the first film that he has directed that is not a short. Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) wakes up in an old elevator with no memory of who he is other than his own name. He finds out that he was put in a place called The Glade which is a large outdoor space surrounded on all sides by 150 foot walls of stone. There are many other boys who have lived in the Glade for the past 3 years with no memory of how they got there or who sent them. Each day in the morning the walls open up to allow the boys to explore the enormous and complex MAZE that they say has taken them over 3 years to map out the entire thing. At night the walls seal the boys in to protect them from something called the Grievers which nobody has lived to tell what they look like. The maze is constantly shifting, and changing making it nearly impossible to solve. The only hope of escaping lie in the hands of what are known as the Maze Runners who search the shifting maze for an exit each day. Something sets off the balance of things in the Glades and the elevator makes an unscheduled delivery of the first girl Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) in the Glade's history, everything is thrown into chaos. Together, they must all embark on a quest to solve the riddle of the maze and reveal the chilling secret of who brought them there, and why. As apparently all teenage novels do now this one is right up the alley of the Hunger Games. At least that is what it reminded me of the most. With everyone in the Glades being sent there to survive, just like you are sent to the Hunger Games to be the last survivor. Granted in this you're not fighting each other you are "fighting" the maze, because to find your way out you must conquer the maze. Don't get me wrong though just because it is similar to that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the film because I did. This film kept me interested from the very first second when he was coming up the elevator and something was scaring him. They did an awesome job with the music for this film because there were some very suspenseful scenes that without that music would have just been a joke but I thought they did a wonderful job. The chemistry for the cast was great considering that it was such a large cast that was the main focus of the film. The actor that played Chuck (Blake Cooper) stole the film though. He is such a lovable character you feel bad that he is there and you for some reason just want to help him and take care of him. Then you have Minho played by Ki Hong Lee and he is the main Maze Runner who spends most of the time with Dylan's character and the two of them work magically together. They team up to find the exit and it really feels like they are a team in desperate search for a way out. **THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH HAS TO DO WITH THE ENDING SKIP IF YOU CHOOSE TO I DON'T GO INTO DETAILS BUT BE WARNED** ************************************************************************************ I will have to say one negative thing about this film but I can't give you details on it because it has to do with the ending. I DID NOT LIKE THE ENDING. I HATE when films set themselves up for sequels. I feel that every film should be its own unless you plan on doing all the films and are filming them all at once, otherwise give it a solid ending and not a crazy ending at that. Granted I did not read the book so I don't know if that is how it ended in the book but it was one of the most ridiculous endings that I have seen in a movie. ************************************************************************************ Overall I would have to give this film a B. It was really good and everyone did an amazing job in it, I just can't get past that ending. For some reason it is really bothering me to the point that I am dropping this film from an A- to a B. I would still highly suggest that you check out this film because it was good. Better than a lot of films I have seen. For more of my reviews go to www.blakeancell.com

I had no interest in seeing this movie as I mistakenly chaulked it up to being just another Hunger Games/Twilight/Divergent/what have you teen flick. While it does cater to that audience, I heard nothing but good things about the flick and eventually saw it. I just happened to be in Best Buy a week or so later and they still had one copy left of their original exclusive (standard blu ray/dvd with slipcover but included a prequel comic book) and I snatched it up. I've watched twice since buying it and still love it. Now, as far as the steelbook edition goes, unless you are an avid steelbook collector, it's not worth upgrading from the original release in my opinion. If you don't already own it then absolutely buy this edition as you can't buy the original best buy exclusive version any longer. But the most important thing to point out, and it may have been corrected, but I bought this steelbook despite already having the original best buy exclusive as the picture shows the steelbook to say "unrated directors cut". First off, there isn't a directors cut of the film. Second, the steelbook doesn't actually have this printed on it in the U.S. and lastly, the reason it's even pictured is because (and you can verify this with a simple Google search, when this film was released in the UK, the edited the film slightly to obtain a 13 rating over a 15 rating. Nothing of merit was cut, just some dialogue, a scream or two and a fraction of a second or two of thematic elements deemed too intense for a 13 rating over a 15 rating. But if you saw it, youd be hard pressed to even identify the edits. Having said that, when the film was released on blu ray in the UK, it was released "unrated" in the original United States theatrical version we all saw in the US. So nothing new for the US, just for the UK. But like I said, youd be hard pressed to even identify the diffrences. So if you don't own it, go ahead and buy this steelbook, it's great quality and nice artwork. But don't spend more money if you already own it hoping to find some extended version of the film because it doesn't exist if you saw it in a US theater.

This teen sci-fi opens with a terrified teenage boy trapped in a freight elevator hurtling skywards. His destination is The Glade, a field surrounded by massive concrete walls, and beyond the walls a constantly changing maze. Confused and suffering memory loss, he's welcomed by a group of teenage boys who all arrived the same way and live in the Maze. They don't know why they're there, all they know is there's no way out. It's an intriguing premise that keeps you guessing for most of the film. The young man slowly recalls his name, Thomas (O'Brien), but very little else, and it quickly becomes clear he's not quite the same as the other boys. He's not interested in playing by the rules that keep the fragile society in order, and he begins to have dreams that provide a glimpse of his previous life. Thomas believes his purpose is to find a way out of the Maze, and to do it he has to understand how the Maze works. Joining up with a Runner, Minho (Ki Hong Lee), who explores the maze, they avoid thunderous turning walls and large robotic spiders carrying deadly viruses in a series of thrilling action scenes. It's a clever set, well used by first-time feature film director Wes Ball. The big reveal, however, doesn't quite live up to what the build-up promises. This is partly because the answer is a stepping-stone to the next instalment of author James Dashner's young adult novels; and partly because after The Hunger Games and Divergent we're increasingly immune to the cruel things adults make teenagers do.

Yes, my teenage sons wanted to see this when it came out at the movie theater more than me (without any of us having read the young adult book series), but I was still interested from the sci-fi mystery and action angle. The fact that the cast is 90% youth is justifiable based on the plot (the same as Lord of the Flies with the marooning of boys), though less so in the later movies in the trilogy (come on, adults can't all be bad guys except for the token good guy supporting character; where's Mad Max in this post-apocalyptic world?!). The plot can plod along at times in the beginning and middle with it seemingly over-compensated for at the end which it exponentially accelerates to. But all that said, I found it entertaining in the end with enough variation within the trilogy (eg oasis, desert, then city settings, each with its corresponding minor literary conflicts) to be interesting, at least more interesting than the Divergent or Hunger Games series to me (which I never managed to wade through).

It's rare for a big movie studio to trust the future of a potential blockbuster franchise to a brand-new director. You'd imagine that there would be just too much at stake when it came to translating James Dashner's series of best-selling dystopian novels to the silver screen. But it's easy to see why Wes Ball got the job - with this one film, he graduates from short films to blockbuster movies with flair to spare. Indeed, The Maze Runner is such a cool, confident and thrilling blend of action beats and character work that it's hard to believe Ball has never before commandeered a full-length feature film. It's true that the narrative gets a little away from him by the end, making less sense as more secrets are revealed. But this is more a problem with the source material than Ball's own skills as a director.

The film is very-well paced, and has an understandable hero. He makes mistakes, but unlike his complacent friends, Thomas is determined to leave the Glade they are trapped in. The film throws around ideas of logical versus morals, and safety versus truth. The only reason it isn't five stars is because I heard that there are certain twists in the book series that requires more character time not seen in the movie in order to feel the emotional impact. However, since this is only the first movie, and because if one wanted the book, one should read it (as said by Neil Gaiman), we have yet too see what the following installments have in store. I am eager to see the sequel in fall, and I recommend this movie to anyone who wants action as well as a deep story.

This movie makes me think of Fringe, lost, with just a little bit of Jurassic Park and just a little bit of Call of Duty 4 Video game - depends on how you look at. I was waiting for the big T Rex to jump out lol. I like this movie up wished they had a true ending. Can you say sequel - lol. Also this movie could of shaved off about 30 to 40 minutes and still gave us the whole movie. In it to win I will go see the sequel hope they give us something more cooler than cheap looking spiders with scorpion tales, and boys on the verge of being me with secret pent up feeling towards one another. They throw a girl into the mix three years of what. She should of been in real trouble, and I'm not talking about from the spiders with tails.

Good, tense story. Got this before I saw the movie and glad I did. The movie didn't quite do it justice. The book seemed complete and the sequels didn't seem too interesting, but I eventually bought the next books after reading some reviews about them. Glad I did. The Maze Runner is a strong start to an exciting series. I didn't expect the ending to this book, but then this story is so unusual that the usual predictions for this type of story didn't work. If you've seen the movie, you should get the book. There is much more to the story than in the movie.