Pandorum - Film Review
Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster star in this Menacing Sci-Fi Thriller
Sep 26, 2009
Although comparable to Alien or producer Paul W.S. Anderson’s Event Horizon, Pandorum is both a top-notch space horror and stylish psychological thriller, with an abundance of seat-jumping menace of its own. German director Christian Alvart creates a creepy tension that pulsates throughout the film. His casting of unknown supporting actors, with skilled performances, aids the unpredictability of the plot. Pandorum also benefits from a polished production, including special effects and music soundtrack.
The End of the World
Disoriented and suffering from memory loss, Bower (Ben Foster) has just awakened from deep hyper-sleep. The astronaut, from Earth’s Special Team 5, finds himself aboard the last passenger ship to leave Earth, after its overwhelming human population has consumed all its resources.
Payton (Dennis Quaid), his commanding officer, is also recovering from his suspended state. They no idea how long they have been asleep, or why their replacements, Special Team 6, are nowhere in sight. Together, they turn their collective focus on dealing their immediate situation. The massive spacecraft is losing power.
As a technical engineer, Bower volunteers to travel to the nuclear reactor that powers the ship, and reset it before the craft’s systems shut down. The engineer finds a way out of the close quarters imprisoning them through an overhead shaft. Along the way, he discovers the corpse of a fellow astronaut from his team.
Meanwhile, Payton remains, and tries to open the hyper-sleep chamber’s main door to the ship’s bridge. If he can reach the navigation center, he may be able to discover their location, and how to get to the craft’s final destination, the resource-rich planet of Tanis.
The Beginning of Fear
Along the path to the reactor, Bower comes across other ship passengers, who have become warrior-like in order to survive. First, he comes upon a hostile woman (Antje Traue), and, then, a less surly Chinese-speaking man (Cung Le). The skilled survivors are being hunted for food by vicious mutant humans, who have been genetically programmed to adapt to their future home planet.
While they have been able to stay alive by going it alone, Bower convinces them both to team up and join him to locate the reactor, so they can all be saved.
Back at the hyper-sleep chamber, Payton rescues other passenger, Gallo (Cam Gigandet), who had used the overhead shaft to find refuge. When Gallo notices Payton’s hand tremors, he suggests he’s suffering from Pandorum, a form of madness from prolonged space travel. Past cases of Pandorum have led to the massive murders of a ship’s entire crew; save the killer. But, Gallo’s own panicked behavior seems just as potentially psychotic.
The astronauts’ perilous journey not only involves fighting off the mutant killers, but also keeping insanity at bay.
The Cast and Crew from Pandorum
Pandorum stars Dennis Quaid (Vantage Point, The Express) and Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma, Alpha Dog), Cam Gigandet (Never Back Down, Twilight), Cung Le (Tekken, Fighting), and newcomer Antje Traue.
Directed by Christian Alvart. Screenplay written by Travis Milloy, from an original story by Christian Alvart and Travis Milloy. Cinematography by Wedigo Von Schultzendorff. Edited by Philipp Stahl. Production designed by Richard Bridgland. Costume design by Ivana Milos. Special effects supervised by Gerd Feuchter. Music composed by Florian Tessloff.
Produced by Paul W.S. Anderson, Jeremy Bolt and Robert Kulzer. Executive producers are Travis Milloy, Martin Moszokowicz and Dave Morrison. U.S. release by Overture Films.
(Running Time: 108 min)
(Rated: Rated R; for strong horror violence and language.)
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
