PANDORUM
[img]http://www.drafthouse.com/mason/admin/Images/pandorum_poster4.jpg[/img]
Well, what can i say about Pandorum. To be quite honest, i was actually surprised, after seeing all the negative reviews that it got. I mean, the plot itself, after the full realization of what was going on, was very impressive and original to say the least as far as twists go. The movie starts off with the first character (Ben Foster) who wakes up in an unkempt state, wondering what is happening due to slight memory loss because of the unusually long hypersleep he had endured, information gained almost immediately, just to clarify it's not a spoiler. The film goes on for a while longer, but not too long, just following him, watching him recoup in the seemingly empty ship until suddenly, a power surge of some kind happens and another pod releases, revealing Ben Fosters CO, Dennis Quaid. As the two figure out whats going, in a mostly dazed and confused state, right from the beggining the movie starts with it's psychological horror, making you question what really is lurking in the shadows and really makes you want to question what exactly happened to the ship and where everyone went. Soon enough, Ben has his first run in with a survivor, along with one of the "unknown" along board. Throughout the rest of the movie it focuses on Ben mainly venturing out, figuring out what happened to the ship and finally realizing that the situation is far more grave as problems with the reactor arise, while Quaid is in their initial pod point, communicating with Foster throughout the whole movie from a control deck.
I personnelly really liked it as a fan of scifi and horror as it contained alot of intense moments which had you holding your breath. One thing this movie was very good at though, unlike most, was keeping the characters just as informed as the viewers, so you'll honestly never be able to guess the ending like in other movies, because of how the movie might've failed and gave too much information away. As stated in the movie, there is a condition caused by deep space flying called Pandorum which is supposed to be brought on by overwhelmingly traumatic emotions and self paranoia which ideally makes a certain crew member lose his mind, constantly making you question which characters could have it and whether what their seeing is caused by it or exaggerated by this strange condition because they are unaware of whether they have it themselves or if it's really happening. I found that the main cast (or, of what WAS the main cast) was perfect. Dennis Quaid as the aged and experianced yet firm CO, Ben Foster as the not so timid but rather, more explorative and stand strong kind've character to take action along with various other characters which join the duo.
The acting was great all around, save for a character or two, as you could really see the emotions almost pouring out of them in various scenes, making their reactions seem very believable. Character development was kind've erratic but fit in well with the tone and atmosphere. There are no "stupid" moments where you tell the characters "not to do something" but rather the more, "im not sure" attitude that's been absent from many horror movies lately. The dialogue is also very good, as there are realistic lines within all the situations in the movie and your not constantly yelling at the characters for not doing something right.
I will say that the pace isn't consistent enough and it seems to speed up and slow down at parts scattered throughout the film and the time advances without the viewers knowing about it which can just be confusing. I just feel like they could've added another 15 or 20 minutes to the overall movie, but with it being an hour and 40 minutes long, i'd say it did a good job for what it had. One other thing i'll also point out is that some of the action scenes seem kind've jumbled, not nearly as bad as in AVP:R but bad enough to not be able to tell whats going on, not for all of them, but for some of them.
So it had good character development, a great script, great acting on most parts, a slightly original concept (not at all what the trailers make it seem) with some original twists, great atmosphere, great tone, and it really feels like a psychological horror from beginning to end. Theres not much else i didn't really like, apart from what i've already said.
Final Score: 8/10
Looked like a normal horror movie with a fucked up setting for me
thanks for the review
Is it more sci-fi or horror?
Is this basically another Event Horizon?
Still might watch it.
An enemy you can't see, the classic psychological horror theme.
[editline]05:07PM[/editline]
The trailer is terrible!
[QUOTE=MultiPurpose;17641337]An enemy you can't see, the classic psychological horror theme.
[editline]05:07PM[/editline]
The trailer is terrible![/QUOTE]
Erm, no, they CAN see the enemy, it's just a matter of survival and self paranoia that gives the movie it's edge because of how unnoticeable the side effects of Pandorum are, which means that threats come from all angles and you really cant let your guard down. Some of the twists in the movie almost blew my mind.
I like Ben Foster, he really goes the extra mile for his performances, too bad this movie looks horrible.
It looks a lot like Dead-Space to me. Might go see it with friends.
It looks good
Fooking prawns
[QUOTE=CanibalMonke;17643007]It looks a lot like Dead-Space to me. Might go see it with friends.[/QUOTE]
Which ripped off Event Horizon...
[QUOTE=jcallan;17643523]Which ripped off Event Horizon...[/QUOTE]
I loved Event Horizon, wish there were more films like it, this film got really bad reviews.
Event Horizon meets Dead Space.
Interesting.
Looks fucking cheesey as fuck,I mean come on the part in the trailer where the water is coming like a tsunami and he covers his head,that was fucking cheesey up my ass
[QUOTE=Skipan;17643589]Looks fucking cheesey as fuck,I mean come on the part in the trailer where the water is coming like a tsunami and he covers his head,that was fucking cheesey up my ass[/QUOTE]
I take it you didn't like having cheese in your butt?
I saw it
it was surprisingly decent.
[QUOTE=Skipan;17643589]I mean come on the part in the trailer where the water is coming like a tsunami and he covers his head,that was fucking cheesey up my ass[/QUOTE]
You have to see the movie to actually get the point of why that happened. And i don't see how it's cheesey, to me it just added more mystery behind what the plot had in mind.
I heard it's basically The Descent in space.
[QUOTE=Skipan;17643589]Looks fucking cheesey as fuck,I mean come on the part in the trailer where the water is coming like a tsunami and he covers his head,that was fucking cheesey up my ass[/QUOTE]
I took it as more of an energy wave akin to "The Woosh" in Stargate.
[QUOTE=pie_is_good;17643884]I heard it's basically The Descent in space.[/QUOTE]
Erm, i guess, if you want to relate them to the creatures in Pandorum, which aren't blind and actually use weapons and are incredibly fast and strong >.>
I'd say it's more along the lines of Alien + Ghosts of Mars.
more like santorum
I thought it was pretty good but very weird
[i]Pandorum - We're running out of fancy horror movie names[/i]
[QUOTE=wewt!;17644115][i]Pandorum - We're running out of fancy horror movie names[/i][/QUOTE]
I think its lame because it sounds like Panda
[QUOTE=wewt!;17644115][i]Pandorum - We're running out of fancy horror movie names[/i][/QUOTE]
Except the name is actually relative to the plot.
[QUOTE=bud389;17644161]Except the name is actually relative to the plot.[/QUOTE]
That was the impression I got from the title.
[QUOTE=Uberman77883;17643560]Event Horizon meets Dead Space.
Interesting.[/QUOTE]
You mean Event Horizon meets Event Horizon?
