SYNOPSIS
On the spaceship Elysium, crewmembers Corporal Bower (Ben Foster) and Lt. Payton (Dennis Quaid) have awoken from hypersleep. The ship’s electricity is out of wack and they can’t communicate with the bridge. Actually, they cannot communicate with anyone, not single soul. They think they’re alone, the only members of the crew left alive on a ship full of pods containing the last remnants of the human race. They are wrong.
CRITIQUE
Pandorum is three quarters of a solid (if derivative) science fiction thriller and one quarter an annoying (and even more derivative) one. For much of the way director Christian Alvart crafts an undeniably unnerving thriller full of tension. He evokes the likes of Alien, Aliens, Event Horizon, Serenity and Sunshine, so much of the film clicking on all cylinders even if Travis Milloy’s screenplay (working from a story written by himself and Alvart) isn’t remotely original.
Unfortunately, the last portion of the film also ends up mimicking that thirdly mentioned motion picture, and while this one doesn’t fall to quite as many pieces as Paul W.S. Anderson’s (who is actually listed here as a producer) 1997 shocker that doesn’t make its final twists and less unappetizing. The movie sadly stops dead in its tracks, and it is only because I enjoyed that first 75-percent so thoroughly that I’m not ready to throw this one out with the bathwater.
And boy did I ever enjoy that first 75-percent. Sure I knew I’d seen much of this before; survivors trapped aboard a derelict spacecraft, odd creatures intent on eating them, a mission to restart a key piece of equipment before everything explodes, and while none of that is particularly original it was still delivered with enough flair and style that fact didn’t bother me one single bit. Alvart does a masterful job of creating tension, and even if the creatures reminded me a bit too much of the evildoers in John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars they still managed to get my pulse racing every time they made an appearance.
It helps to have actors the caliber of Foster and Quaid being the focal points here. The latter spends most of the film trapped in the same room as his hypersleep capsule yet still manages to craft a three-dimensional character I found quite interesting. Granted, the twist involving him and fellow actor Cam Gigandet (he mysteriously shows up about halfway through) isn’t that big of a shock, but Quaid still manages to sell it well enough I was more or less okay with it.
As for Foster, I’m really starting to love this guy. Not only was he great in 3:10 to Yuma, 30 Days of Night and Alpha Dog, his performance in 2009’s The Messenger was good enough it should have gotten him into the Best Actor conversation. While I’m not about to say what he does here is remotely Oscar worthy he still makes Bowen a dynamic and interesting character, watching his transformation from scared technician to man of bloody action one that’s easy to root for.
The producers behind this are the same ones behind the Resident Evil franchise and their influence over the film is more than a tiny bit obvious. By and large this isn’t a big deal until the martial arts one-on-one death matches begin and some of the survivors start wigging out like Edward Norton in Fight Club. If anything, had Alvart and Milloy kept things cerebral I think we’d be talking about something extraordinary. Instead, they let the movie devolve into silly action-heavy pyrotechnics that don’t exactly fit, making the final denouement more than a bit underwhelming.
But for those fond of these kinds of movies Pandorum for the most part gets the job done. It’s tense, nicely designed and shot, fantastically scored by Michl Britsch and solidly acted by its entire cast (especially Foster and Quaid). The action scenes, while occasionally silly (the last one between actor Cung Le and one of the creatures is a hyperkinetic hoot), are well staged, while early scenes of Bowen climbing through air ducts is suitably claustrophobic and tense. While not a great movie, for a good portion of its running time it’s still a very good one, and if not for that idiotic climax I’d be telling genre fans to skip renting the darn thing and pay the bucks for a purchase.
THE VIDEO
Pandorum is presented in 2.35:1/1080p on a 50GB disc. Got to give Overture Films and Anchor Bay credit here, especially considering just how dark this movie is (Wedigo von Schultzendorff’s cinematography oozes in blacks and fluorescent blues), this transfer exemplary.
THE AUDIO
The film is presented in English Dolby True HD 5.1 with optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
THE EXTRAS
Audio Commentary with Director Christian Alvart and Producer Jeremy Bolt – Really good, especially for those interested in how the film was made, the pair’s commentary informative without sounding professorial. Granted, their consistent talk of sequel gets annoying after a while. Really annoying.
The World of Elysium – Standard behind-the-scenes featurette that’s a bit longer and more in-depth then usual making it a tiny bit above average.
What Happened to Nadia’s Team – Short film chronicling what happened to a group of scientists aboard the Elysium. Plays more like a student film than anything else (and in this case that’s not a plus).
Flight Team Training Video – Odd fake video on how to prepare for your flight on the Elysium.
Still Galleries
Deleted and Alternate Scenes - More alternate scenes and extended scenes than actual deleted scenes, and it’s easy to see why much of the footage was excised as putting it back in would have ruined the film’s pacing.
Digital Copy
These extras are an odd collection with definite highs lows. Overall all, however, I give the studio props for at least being a little bit different.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Pandorum is a tense, thrilling and fun science fiction horror-action hybrid for the majority of its running time ultimately letdown by a silly final portion that’s undeniably disappointing. Still, for genre fans this Blu-ray makes for a great rental, but sadly that’s about as good as this one unfortunately gets.
