Friday
25Sep2009
Movie Review - 'Pandorum'
Friday, September 25, 2009 at 2:31AM | Pandorum
Starring Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, and Cam Gigandet  |
I'm not entirely certain it's a good thing, but Pandorum seems to rely on heavily on your
familiarity with movies of its kind. It's a mix of science fiction and suspense, the sort of
chemistry that has made for instant classics (Alien) and the mostly forgettable (Event
Horizon). And again, the film gives bonus points if you're steeped in this tradition.
While not wholly original, director Christian Alvart does a few things perfectly, and it's always
how the story is told more than what the story is that determines how good a film can be. But it's
still a bit of a fixer-upper.
The film features a storyline that would have fit Rod Serling's Twilight Zone: Two astronauts, Bower and Payton (Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid), wake up from that terrific fictional innovation that allows space travelers to nod off for years at a time without aging. There are always bugs to work out when movies use this device, and here, it renders each astronaut a blank slate.
The amnesia adds a layer to the mystery that awaits them. On a transport mission to the only other habitable planet in the universe, Bower and Payton can't find the rest of their crew. What happened to them and where did they go? How could they go anywhere? After all, this is a lone ship hurtling through the depths of space.
There is an inherent problem with mysteries, which, in part, this is at its most fundamental level: You will forever be trying to solve it, trying to outguess the characters. It's human nature. Therefore, some movies try to lead you one way or another so you guess the way the director and writer want you to guess. That makes twist endings easier to manufacture.
Colin Boyd | Permalink | in Dennis Quaid, Pandorum, Reviews, Sci-Fi | Print Article | Email Article | 11 Comments | Share Article
Reader Comments (11)
i thought the movie was creepy, the little kid monster and the monster, weird ending involving cam and dennis q. but the movie was pretty good, and the part with cam in the sleeper cell was funny.
ben foster did a good job. and cam gigandet was great and crazy, great stuff between cam gigandet and dennis q. the ending involving cam and dennis q. was weird and interesting.
there are plenty of good shots of the monsters u can see them.
OVERALL I WOULD GIVE PANDORUM A 7 OUT OF 10.
call the movie whatever but i have talked and read some people's thoughts on pandorum and they liked it as well.
i hate movie critics, IT'S AN OPINOION NOT A FACT, so why do the get paid to give their opinoion when everyone who watches movies gives their opinoions. I NEVER LISTEN TO MOVIE CRITICS, I HAVE LOVED MORE MOVIES THAT GET BAD REVIEWS AND HATED MOVIES THAT GET GOOD REVIEWS. SEE THE MOVIE AND MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND.
7/10good
well, why waste words. it's just done badly. has nothing to do with taste. very objective you can say that this movie (technically ... is it a movie at all? just because it can be projected on a screen...?) sucks.
Kim -
If you hate movie critics and encourage people to make up their own minds, why bother giving it a grade yourself, or in fact, saying anything about it at all? Incidentally, by definition, on a 1 - 10 scale, my Three Damn Dirty Apes is a 6/10 or a 7/10. Probably a 6, which means you liked it one more than me, whatever that means.
I just saw this film in theaters and it was an awesome sci-fi horror. I was completely entertained and will recommend it to all my friends who enjoy either science fiction or horror.
I am not a nervy person but Pandorum (2009) movie made me nerve as it depict uncommon movie plot with A-listed cast, Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster. I am much admiring this movie and the director Christian Alvart as he has used different key note rather than monsters and other goofy stuffs.
source
http://blog.80millionmoviesfree.com/in-theaters/watch-pandorum-online
Sorry to say that, but I still have to say in my mind Event Horizon surely better than this one. I think the problem just like you mentioned in this review, too many things but too few time to say .I'd rather like more focused and simpler. still this is a movie worthy you to see it.
I just saw it tonight. It wasn't scary, it wasn't involving, I'm actually still trying to figure out just what it was. I want my 7 bucks back.
I agree on the opinion that the movie should have a bit longer to flesh out some things. It had some very good horror moments, but it also left me scratching my head on some aspects of the survivors.
My personal rating on this is 7 out of 10. If it fleshed out some things more and fixed a plot hole or two, I probably would give it an 8.
I really loved this movie despite what critics say. I'm not one to scare easily: I watch top-notch horror movies by myself, in the dark, and it doesn't bother me. I thought the idea behind the movie was good, and while there is room for improvement the movie was not horrible. Pandorum has an official rating from me of an 8/10 as far as quality and captivation go.
Pandorum is one great big badass movie and I have to say it was fun to watch. It has some spectacularly disturbing moments. Dennis Quaid's presence in this production was particularly surprising. I think of him as a has-been from the 80's. (Maybe that's why he wound up in this one....) This is a pretty good flick and well worth a watch. In agreement with a prior user comment, I also give it a 7 out ot 10.
I just finished watching this movie and thought it was awesome. Ben Foster is amazing in this movie. Still not sure about what the hell it all ment but I thought it was not stop action and it kept you trying to figure out what in the hell was going on the whole time.
I give it a 9 out of 10
Apekayla