When I first saw the preview to this movie, (awhile back) I was really excited to see this movie at the theater, and then it was gone. I since bought the DVD about six or seven months ago and finally decided to watch it.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect other than it being a sci-fi movie and on a ship in outer-space. Other than that, that it was created by the same people who made the Resident Evil films. Should be good right? Well, it was on most levels but it lacked some intensity and action.
The actors delivered their lines well, and Ben Foster of 3:10 To Yuma who played Corporal Bower gave an outstanding performance.
I guess I maybe expected more something more like the Resident Evil films or closer to Aliens.
The movie is about a spaceship that launched from earth to save humanity. The planet had become so over populated that food, water, and space became scarce and the only way mankind would survive would be to repoplulate on another planet.
Here’s the funny thing; I read the back of the DVD cover and it said the ship was 500 miles from earth, but if you watch the featurettes it talks about the planet they are going to is 40 lightyears from earth. I think they meant to print 500 million miles from earth…
Anyhow, the movie is based around some survivors of this massive spaceship that is on it’s way to another planet to repopulate mankind and other species. Crew members are awaking from a hyper-sleep only to find themselves disoriented and lost not knowing who or where they are headed.
As the movie moves forward, the characters slowing begin to learn why and where they are going. In the mean time, there is another species that is on the ship savagely hunting and eating anything that is weak (humans).
We’re not really sure how these creatures came to be, but there is a hypothesis that they are partially human, and that they are the outcome of some genetic mutation derived from a treatment which was meant to help the humans adjust to the new world.
Throughout the movie there’s talk of pandorum, which is a symptom of being in space too long, where our minds begin to play tricks on our consciousness. Hallucination sets in, pretty soon you begin to think that everyone is out to get you.
The films set and imagery is really good, and characters are believable. I only wish there was more interaction (fighting/hunting) with the creatures.
It’s almost two movies in one, with Dennis Quaid‘s character Lt. Payton struggling with pandorum syndrome, and the balance of the crew trying to safely make their way to the reactor chamber to save the ship.
I won’t tell you much more because if I tell you either on of two things that are key to the movie, you’ll have no reason to watch it.
However, I can say that mankind is probably on the path that was depicted in this movie, so we’d better get our act together and get things right.