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Pandorum

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Pandorum (2009)

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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 [More]

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

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1 - 4 of 6

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Reviews for Pandorum

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
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[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.

Full Review Source: New York Press | comment 1 Comment
10/02/09
Simon Abrams
Simon Abrams
New York Press

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?

Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment 1 Comment
09/26/09
Beth Accomando
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org

Provides some very intense, memorable chills.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
10/09/09
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Action mayhem full of gibbering hominoids, hanging corpses and a few live stars.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment 1 Comment
10/04/09
Nigel Andrews
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times

Pandorum is dumb, noisy fun. Its flaws are inoffensive inasmuch as Alvart doesn’t give off Anderson’s noxious vibe of insincerity.

Full Review Source: Little White Lies | comment Comment
10/04/09
Matt Bochenski
Matt Bochenski
Little White Lies

If sci-fi is your thing, you could do worse.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
09/25/09
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

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.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment 1 Comment
10/04/09
Catherine Bray
Catherine Bray
Channel 4 Film

follows Scott's Alien blueprint to a T but turns things up to 11

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
09/26/09
Keith Breese
Keith Breese
Filmcritic.com

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.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
10/04/09
Xan Brooks
Xan Brooks
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
09/25/09
Chris Bumbray
Chris Bumbray
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

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.

comment Comment
09/27/09
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Riffing on Alien, Sunshine and Resident Evil, the German director Alvart finds an effective balance between action-excitement and psychological chills.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
10/04/09
Tom Charity
Tom Charity
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
10/04/09
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

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.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment 3 Comments
09/25/09
Stephen Cole
Stephen Cole
Globe and Mail

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.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
09/27/09
Clark Collis
Clark Collis
Entertainment Weekly

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.

Full Review Source: Dread Central | comment 1 Comment
09/28/09
Uncle Creepy
Uncle Creepy
Dread Central

The sort of thing that makes you wish you were playing a video game instead.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
09/27/09
Cliff Doerksen
Cliff Doerksen
Chicago Reader

The finest interstellar horror in years.

Full Review Source: SFX Magazine | comment Comment
09/30/09
Richard Edwards
Richard Edwards
SFX Magazine

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.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment 2 Comments
10/04/09
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

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.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
09/25/09
Justine Elias
Justine Elias
Boston Globe
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; Australian critics are listed first)
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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 Opens in new window
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? Opens in new window
More...

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