Pandorum
Product Description
Largely dismissed as yet another Alien carbon, the science-fiction/horror hybrid Pandorum exceeds the limits of that critique with an agreeable mix of atmospherics and high-voltage scares. Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid--two consistently watchable actors, and both well used here--are top-billed as a pair of space travelers who awake from lengthy hibernation with no idea who they are or how they got aboard a vast and seemingly empty spacecraft. Their exploration of the ship uncovers not only a handful of fellow humans, among them martial arts champ Cung Le and French scientist/requisite eye candy Antje Traue, but a host of feral mutants with unpleasant designs on them. Director Christian Alvert, who gained international acclaim among genre viewers with his thriller Antibodies, keeps viewers engaged and unsettled with shadow-steeped cinematography and elaborately creepy production design, though his own attention span, which can be charitably described as blink and you'll miss it, obscures the clashes between the human and monster cast. However, Alvert has a few twists up his sleeve for the finale--one inspired, the other, less so--which not only helps to smooth over any of Pandorum's rougher edges, but also indicates that he's a genre director to watch. --Paul Gaita
Stills from Pandorum (Click for larger image)
Stills from Pandorum (Click for larger image)
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★★★☆☆ Interesting addition to the sci-fi / horror mash up genre.
Well cast and believably brought to the screen, this movie suffers from straddling genre types somewhat, but the overall story arc is ultimately satisfying and the acting passes muster... even if some of the elements some overly reworked from other genre outings.
We open in a tense claustrophobic setting when Ben Foster awakes from a long cryogenic sleep, on board a spacecraft... he can't remember why he is there. He manages to wake up another crewmember, (Dennis Quaid) and together they try and find out just exactly what is going on. And something very, very odd and disturbing is clearly going on. Things are not working right, and there are noises and faint screaming sounds coming from the ship. The situation escalates from one of tense claustrophobia and unanswered questions, to some more routine genre elements of monsters (think The Rievers, from Serenity), chases and a race against time. There are certainly some tense moments, and perhaps a few mild scares, but this is not an out and out horror movie, despite the `Resident Evil' connection proudly displayed on the cover. It has some of the early creepiness of Event Horizon, but is not as disturbing. Neither does this feel like an effects driven sci-fi - it has a more characters-in-peril feel, in an old fashioned way. The ending is a satisfying resolution, but the movies undoing is the way the tone jerks uneasily from one style to the next along the way. From claustrophobic tension to running along corridors, a soupcon of resident evil style fighting `bad guys', token woman to grace the cover and a just a taste of something new to give it some credibility.. it's as if there were several different directions they could have taken it, and they tried to squeeze most of them in to draw in the widest audience. I liked it, but those expecting a movie conforming to any prior expectations based on tag-lines or producer connections, might well be disappointed.
Flawed then, but an interesting enough addition to the sci-fi catalogue.
We open in a tense claustrophobic setting when Ben Foster awakes from a long cryogenic sleep, on board a spacecraft... he can't remember why he is there. He manages to wake up another crewmember, (Dennis Quaid) and together they try and find out just exactly what is going on. And something very, very odd and disturbing is clearly going on. Things are not working right, and there are noises and faint screaming sounds coming from the ship. The situation escalates from one of tense claustrophobia and unanswered questions, to some more routine genre elements of monsters (think The Rievers, from Serenity), chases and a race against time. There are certainly some tense moments, and perhaps a few mild scares, but this is not an out and out horror movie, despite the `Resident Evil' connection proudly displayed on the cover. It has some of the early creepiness of Event Horizon, but is not as disturbing. Neither does this feel like an effects driven sci-fi - it has a more characters-in-peril feel, in an old fashioned way. The ending is a satisfying resolution, but the movies undoing is the way the tone jerks uneasily from one style to the next along the way. From claustrophobic tension to running along corridors, a soupcon of resident evil style fighting `bad guys', token woman to grace the cover and a just a taste of something new to give it some credibility.. it's as if there were several different directions they could have taken it, and they tried to squeeze most of them in to draw in the widest audience. I liked it, but those expecting a movie conforming to any prior expectations based on tag-lines or producer connections, might well be disappointed.
Flawed then, but an interesting enough addition to the sci-fi catalogue.
★★★★★ Great Movie
This movie reminds me why I should not listen to critics. I had the urge to buy it when I saw it in my local store. I resisted after reading the headlines of major critics' reviews and purchased it on demand instead. After finishing the movie I regretted it-only because I will now be gladly paying full price for it. I should have gone with my gut feeling and just bought it for the full 20 bucks.
You are either a fan of this genre or you or not. If you are then this is a must own. If you are not then it is still a quality rental. It was MUCH better than I expected.
You are either a fan of this genre or you or not. If you are then this is a must own. If you are not then it is still a quality rental. It was MUCH better than I expected.
★★★★★ Awesome movie
Pandorum kept me geting more and more intrested as the movie went on.Ben Foster played the role perfect.I give it 5 stars!!
★★★★★ Great Thriller worth watching
This is worth buying, I loved it in theatres so I had to buy it when it came out on Blu-Ray. Well worth the money spent on it.
★★★☆☆ Reaches for the stars...and ALMOST reaches them
Pandorum thematically looks a lot like Alien: Normal working schlubs are mysteriously awoken from hypersleep to deal with an alien anomaly. Unfortunately eclipsed by the more muscular Aliens, Alien combined working class vs. middle class tension with claustrophobia. After all, Ripley was just another hack doing her job and trying to get through the day - the fact that hypersleep put her at the mercy of corporate overseers isn't much different than the at-will employment contracts that everyone signs these days.
Pandorum takes this idea one step further. Our two protagonists, Bower (Ben Foster) and Payton (Dennis Quaid), awaken with no memory of who they are. They can't remember why they're on the ship, who reports to whom, or much else about the present. The one thing they do remember is their mission to colonize an Earth-like planet known as Tanis.
The cavernous ship, Elysium, serves as a series of set pieces for confrontations between the cannibals roaming the ship and human survivors. These survivors have been scrabbling so long that they no longer have a moral compass. In that regard Pandorum borrows elements established in Night of the Living Dead - the people you have to worry about aren't the zombies you can see but the allies you're locked in with.
The story unspools through Bower and Payton's flashbacks as they slowly regain their memories. The motivations that propel them at first are slowly stripped away, one by one, until they are left with nothing but their core values. The ending lays each character's true nature bare. In that regard Pandorum is refreshingly contained. It has an explanation for everything, if you listen closely enough.
Unfortunately Pandorum doesn't quite pull off all these elements successfully. The cannibals look a combination of pale ghouls mixed with punk-style outfits. Director Christian Alvart tries hard to make them move oddly by speeding up the film, which becomes obvious when human actors are also in the frame. Still, these ghouls aren't zombies at all - they breed, and it's that simple fact that makes them so unsettling.
The other survivors don't have much more personality: the tough chick Nadia (played by the nearly incomprehensible Antje Traue who has a thick accent), the mute but loyal warrior Manh (Cung Le, mute but loyal), and the crazy old guy Leland (Eddie Rouse injecting much-needed humor a little too late). Fortunately, Quaid and Foster do the heavy lifting. There's a lot of important exposition in Pandorum but it's unfortunately lost in the soundtrack and all the screeching.
The biggest challenge for Pandorum is to convince the audience that the protagonists are sane in an unfamiliar world. Because we don't know much about the universe, we don't really have a standard of sanity to judge them by. When certain Terrible Revelations (tm) are revealed it's not clear that this knowledge would drive someone insane.
The race to restart the Elysium's reactor before the entire ship dies shifts gears quickly to a series of staccato revelations. Your familiarity with sci-fi tropes will determine how surprising these revelations are. I guessed all of them, but then I watch a lot of sci-fi. Mixing zombie and science fiction tropes, Pandorum is a surprisingly intelligent film. Some choppy editing unfortunately prevents it from reaching its full potential.
Pandorum takes this idea one step further. Our two protagonists, Bower (Ben Foster) and Payton (Dennis Quaid), awaken with no memory of who they are. They can't remember why they're on the ship, who reports to whom, or much else about the present. The one thing they do remember is their mission to colonize an Earth-like planet known as Tanis.
The cavernous ship, Elysium, serves as a series of set pieces for confrontations between the cannibals roaming the ship and human survivors. These survivors have been scrabbling so long that they no longer have a moral compass. In that regard Pandorum borrows elements established in Night of the Living Dead - the people you have to worry about aren't the zombies you can see but the allies you're locked in with.
The story unspools through Bower and Payton's flashbacks as they slowly regain their memories. The motivations that propel them at first are slowly stripped away, one by one, until they are left with nothing but their core values. The ending lays each character's true nature bare. In that regard Pandorum is refreshingly contained. It has an explanation for everything, if you listen closely enough.
Unfortunately Pandorum doesn't quite pull off all these elements successfully. The cannibals look a combination of pale ghouls mixed with punk-style outfits. Director Christian Alvart tries hard to make them move oddly by speeding up the film, which becomes obvious when human actors are also in the frame. Still, these ghouls aren't zombies at all - they breed, and it's that simple fact that makes them so unsettling.
The other survivors don't have much more personality: the tough chick Nadia (played by the nearly incomprehensible Antje Traue who has a thick accent), the mute but loyal warrior Manh (Cung Le, mute but loyal), and the crazy old guy Leland (Eddie Rouse injecting much-needed humor a little too late). Fortunately, Quaid and Foster do the heavy lifting. There's a lot of important exposition in Pandorum but it's unfortunately lost in the soundtrack and all the screeching.
The biggest challenge for Pandorum is to convince the audience that the protagonists are sane in an unfamiliar world. Because we don't know much about the universe, we don't really have a standard of sanity to judge them by. When certain Terrible Revelations (tm) are revealed it's not clear that this knowledge would drive someone insane.
The race to restart the Elysium's reactor before the entire ship dies shifts gears quickly to a series of staccato revelations. Your familiarity with sci-fi tropes will determine how surprising these revelations are. I guessed all of them, but then I watch a lot of sci-fi. Mixing zombie and science fiction tropes, Pandorum is a surprisingly intelligent film. Some choppy editing unfortunately prevents it from reaching its full potential.
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