[Pandorum] makes no sense. It doesn't really try to by the end but nevertheless, it should be said up front so that nobody has any illusions about the film since its creators certainly didn't.
Pandorum (2009)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:66
Fresh:18
Rotten:48
Average Rating:4.2/10
Consensus: While it might prove somewhat satisfying for devout sci-fi fans, Pandorum's bloated, derivative plot ultimately leaves it drifting in space.
Australian Rating: TBC
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Australian Theatrical Release:
Oct 8, 2009 Wide
US Box Office: $10,261,085
Synopsis:
In Pandorum, actors, Dennis Quaid (Vantage Point, The Express) and Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma, Alpha Dog), join Cam Gigandet (Never Back Down, Twilight), Cung Le (Tekken, Fighting), newcomer Antje...
In Pandorum, actors, Dennis Quaid (Vantage Point, The Express) and Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma, Alpha Dog), join Cam Gigandet (Never Back Down, Twilight), Cung Le (Tekken, Fighting), newcomer Antje Traue and director Christian Alvart (Antibodies) to tell the terrifying story of two crew members stranded on a spacecraft who quickly realize they are not alone.
Two astronauts awaken in a hyper-sleep chamber aboard a seemingly abandoned spacecraft. It's pitch black, they are disoriented, and the only sound is a low rumble and creak from the belly of the spacecraft. They can't remember anything - who are they, what is their mission? The only way out of the chamber is a dark and narrow airshaft. Corporal Bower (Foster), the younger of the two, crawls inside, while the other, Lt. Payton (Quaid), stays behind for guidance on a radio transmitter. As Bower ventures deeper and deeper into the ship, he begins to uncover a terrifying reality. Slowly the spacecraft's shocking and deadly secrets come unraveled, and the astronauts realize that the survival of mankind hinges on their actions. --© Overture Films
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Cam Gigandet, Antje Traue
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Cam Gigandet, Antje Traue, Cung Le
Director: Christian Alvart
Director: Christian Alvart
Screenwriter: Travis Milloy
Studio: Overture
Reviews for Pandorum
It's Alien meets The Descent in the new film Pandorum. It's a case of been there, done that. But does Pandorum manage to do it better?
Action mayhem full of gibbering hominoids, hanging corpses and a few live stars.
Pandorum is dumb, noisy fun. Its flaws are inoffensive inasmuch as Alvart doesn’t give off Anderson’s noxious vibe of insincerity.
Pandorum's insistence on action sequence after action sequence, reveal after reveal, tension upon tension deadens the effect any of it might have had in a more gracefully developed narrative.
Pandorum is less a story than a prolonged bout of paranoid hysterics, exuberantly played out on metal gangplanks and inside Stygian tunnels. As such, it works just fine.
Probably the film's only real saving grace is Ben Foster, who tries hard in the lead, but doesn't have a heck of a lot to work with.
According to the press notes, pandorum means “Orbital Dysfunctional Syndrome”; whatever that is, by the end of the movie I was convinced I had caught it.
Riffing on Alien, Sunshine and Resident Evil, the German director Alvart finds an effective balance between action-excitement and psychological chills.
An appalling script is only one problem with this loud, chaotic sci-fi thriller. It's also directed in such a deliberately confusing way that it's not only impossible to follow the action, but it's impossible to care about the characters.
Alvart's cynicism about the current state of mankind helps make futuristic Pandorum interesting, but what makes it fun is his evident enthusiasm and talent for exploring the conventions of sci-fi films.
As always, Foster sells the hell out of his role but non-sci-fi fans may well themselves be driven mad long before the end.
Pandorum isn't all that bad. It's a perfectly middle-of-the-road genre flick not quite worthwhile enough to wholeheartedly recommend. And the creatures know kung-fu.
The sort of thing that makes you wish you were playing a video game instead.
Derivative but mostly just dull, what we have here is an entertainment blackhole able to suck all joy out of a trip to the cinema.
Director Christian Alvart and screenwriter Travis Malloy must have seen Aliens in the cradle, for they’ve digested it with love and delivered smart thrills that will please more than genre fans.
Latest News for Pandorum
September 24, 2009:
Stalked on a Spaceship! 10 Films Anticipating Pandorum
For critics, Pandorum has been like an alien in the ventilation shafts -- it's on the radar, heading towards them, but they just can't see it, no matter how hard they try. The... More...
September 24, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Surrogates Is A Passable Thriller
This week at the movies, we've got robot clones (Surrogates, starring Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell), artistic-minded freshmen (Fame, starring Kelsey Grammer and Megan... More...
September 22, 2009:
Dennis Quaid Talks Pandorum, G.I. Joe Sequel ![]()
Between trying to spark a space horror revival with "Pandorum," reminiscing about the lost cut of "Enemy Mine," and pledging his support for "G.I. Joe 2," Dennis Quaid had... More...
February 21, 2009:
Just another Event Horizon? ![]()
More...
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