Goodbye World: It really is The End Of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI). A computer virus: "Goodbye World" brings down the internet, power systems, utilities. Civilisation is a very fragile thing. Its obvious that this cyber attack is coordinated as transport hubs are also bombed.A group of old college friends gather in Northern California where two of them own a ranch. Even in the local town order has broken down with the Sheriff driven out. Could one of this band of friends have an involvement in the downfall of technical society?This film is reminiscent of the Daybreak Series by John Barnes with its coordinated taking down of civilisation. Also, one scene in particular brings Larry Niven's Lucifer's Hammer to mind: one of the group is about to commit suicide when suddenly he hears ifs TEOTWAWKI.Intriguing film. 7/10.

When I first started watching the film, I was hooked by the concept of it all - the end of the world via mobile phones and people wiping out electronics and signals? Great!But then as the film progressed, it seemed to have nothing at all to do with the end of the world really. All the scenes were set in the woods at this point, and there was no real outside information about what was happening in the film. Come to think of it, the concept had a massive flaw that should have been noticed. How could it be the end of the world?Someone had created a 'virus' on a phone that sent a message saying 'Goodbye World' to everyone in their contacts, this happened to everyone on the planet, thus sending a message to everyone on the planet (who has a phone) - which therefore would have crashed the servers or networks. That's fair enough, that would have been fixed in a matter of days by people.Next, a bomb was planted on a truck with all shopping related items, ready to be distributed to the stores and it went off in a big city. Right, I get that - so they shut down the border and distribution for a few days or until they can trace who is sending the bombs in and planting them in trucks. What am I missing here? The end of the world? I think not.Great concept, bad film. The storyline wasn't explained too great and for me it seems like the film ended at the halfway point. What was happening outside the world, and more importantly, why?

The idea of a simple text messaging going around the world and overloading the network is great. It looked like it had real promise and would give the film makers a chance to explore a very different apocalypse setting.Unfortunately that is not the case and 90% of this film is just people smoking weed in the woods whilst babbling about entirely unrelated issues and drinking a seemingly inexhaustible supply of beer. The entire technological apocalypse idea takes a back seat so incredibly quickly that it might as well have not even been in the film.Yes suddenly losing communications, power and so on overnight probably would lead to people fighting in the streets. It likely would cause a rather dramatic collapse of society which the world may or may not recover from. None of these ideas are adequately looked at in any detail however and it really is just dull characters getting wasted in the woods. Ultimately it leaves you wondering what the hell the point in even making this film was.Waste of an hour and a half.

I watched this movie all the way through, only because the dialog was intelligent enough to keep me interested. It seems the writers were smart enough to include a lot of topical, class-conscious "Big Chill" type conversation between college-educated friends, and much of it was at least a little thought-provoking. And because this was mostly a drama, dialog ran throughout, and therefore, the movie seemed intelligent.But a good movie needs more than this. It needs credibility and likable characters. This movie lacked these.First of all, if it was indeed the "apocalypse" (the term most in the group admitted to), then why on earth are they acting as if nothing is happening, but a college reunion? Instead of panicking or at least stockpiling weapons and food and worrying about their neighbors, they just lock the cattle gate, then proceed to smoke pot, drink wine and whiskey, get nude in the hot tub, tell jokes and have a mini-talent show, and spend LOTS of one-on-one time talking about relationships and past issues. That's not credible during a national emergency. Worse, it is later discovered that 2 of the members in the group (including a young mother who is apparently a math genius) are entirely responsible for the national crisis! What do they do? Light up another fatty, and go hot-tubbing! We don't even get to know how the hosts are able to live and make their money, supporting a child. And what good is being a math genius in a country that is being overthrown? After two of the characters go into town for "supplies", they enter a heavily-armed shop where tomatoes are $40 each, and tampon boxes are $100 each. Never mind; they just throw everything in the bag, and narrowly escape with their lives, but neglect to mention the disturbing event to their peers when they get back. There's hardly anything credible happening in this movie.Secondly, none of the characters are heroic or likable in the least! They are all way too clever, witty, and ready to sleep with anyone who gets them alone. They trade insults and barbs, and really just reveal how selfish they are. They act oblivious to the fact that society is crumbling around them, which 2 of the group are responsible for, and love and friendship are interchangeable with at least 4 members of the group, bespeaking of the low moral character of the writers, who assume we should care for such irresponsible and selfish people, just because they are wealthy, white and educated. There is one character, a woman played by Gaby Hoffman, who does something heroic in the end, but it's too late. Her conformity to the party-atmosphere of the group, pot-smoking and general lack of responsible behavior, combined with the fact that 2 of the members of her group have thrown the entire country into chaos, completely contradict her patriotic pride, and straight-arrow claims. This impossible character is at least interesting to look at, due to Hoffman's striking face, but that's all. If the movie made the characters more likable, and there was a lot less partying and more stocking up on supplies and weapons, then it would be much better. 5 stars.