Pub.lished Movie Reviews
Tunnel Vision: An Unauthorized BART Ride (2023)
"Tunnel Vision: An Unauthorized BART Ride" is a strangely hypnotic and unexpectedly entertaining documentary.
BART is the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, the San Francisco Bay Area subway system. But, if you didn't already know that, this documentary is probably not for you.
The premise is simple and presumably low-budget.
Armed with a suction cup, a couple of GoPros (one was lost), and a good-natured sense of mischievousness, Woo fastened a video camera to the front of a BART train. He then rode the train for 90 minutes, where he hopped out, snagged his camera, and took the footage home.
The footage shows out-of-this-world scenes that only a handful of people ever witness first-hand. Through tunnels with their metal pipes and stained concrete walls, BART tunnels look like something out of a dystopian science fiction movie.
As the train travels 135 feet under the San Francisco Bay, the tunnel pulses rhythmically with an orange glow and a dull, grinding hum, a constantly modulating groan.
Alongside the train operator point-of-view footage, Woo narrates BART's history, interviews a train operator, and even speaks with state Sen. Scott Wiener about the system's funding crisis.
"SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"
- You are under the age of 17, due to some intense and potentially disturbing scenes
- You have a fear of or discomfort with trains and/or subways
- You are not comfortable with instances of law-breaking
- You are not interested in documentaries or real-life stories
- You do not enjoy films about urban exploration
Warning: The following may contain spoilers:
What's the deal with "Tunnel Vision: An Unauthorized BART Ride"? I mean, who knew a movie about public transportation could be so... riveting? It's like Seinfeld on tracks. But instead of a show about nothing, it's a movie about... well, nothing but a train ride.
First off, it's unauthorized, right? So, you're thinking, "Oh, this is going to be some intense, high-stakes, Mission Impossible-type drama!" But no. No Tom Cruise dangling from cables. No dramatic chase scenes. Just a guy, his BART ticket, and a seemingly endless tunnel. It's like they took the concept of a subway ride and said, "Let's make this as drawn out as possible!"
Then there's the title, "Tunnel Vision". It's like they're trying to warn us: "Hey, you know that exciting stuff you're expecting? Forget it. We're just going to stare at this tunnel for two hours." It's like watching paint dry, but at least with paint, you get a color change!
And let's talk about the characters. The lead character is the train... I think. It's got more screen time than any of the humans. And it doesn't even have a cool name like Thomas or anything. It's just "BART". Like in the Simpsons. But with way less character.
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