Quaid and Foster spend far too much time trying to figure out what’s going on, but audiences are liable to respond only with a dispirited “Who cares?”
Comment
09/27/09
Pandorum (2009)
27
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:67
Fresh:18
Rotten:49
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... [More]
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Cam Gigandet, Antje Traue
Director: Christian Alvart
Reviews for Pandorum
Pandorum isn't all that bad, it just isn't good either. Fans of films like Event Horizon, Alien 3, and Resident Evil are sure to get their money worth, but I feel anyone outside of the "club" is sure to be disappointed. Watch with caution.
09/25/09
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.
09/25/09
The earsplitting soundtrack, nauseating camera work, and stroboscopic editing are a high price to pay for little reward.
09/30/09
Christian Alvart lays on the symbolism in this oppressive, captivating galactic thriller
09/25/09
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.
10/04/09
The sort of thing that makes you wish you were playing a video game instead.
09/27/09
Provides some very intense, memorable chills.
10/09/09
An intensely effective sci-fi chiller, mainly thanks to its canny set and sound design, and its constant, relentless sense of dread and tension.
10/09/09
Pandorum doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and is shot and edited in a way that only adds to the confusion. In space nobody can hear you scratching your head.
10/04/09
It might make a passable video game. Despite expensive production design, as a movie it is pretty much unwatchable.
10/04/09
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.
10/04/09
Cabin fever in space is a durable idea for horror, but the main feeling this one from the Resident Evil gang is likely to inspire is cosmic déjà vu.
10/02/09
Pandorum is neither schlocky enough to be an enjoyable genre flick, nor smart enough to provoke any original thoughts.
10/04/09
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.
09/28/09
By the time one of the creatures tosses a character a pipe and they proceed to martial arts fight, it's safe to presume that a shark has been jumped and there is no turning things around.
09/25/09
Take Ben Foster, have him walk slowly down a dark corridor and see something or someone in the distance, then either have him fall flat on his face, or get a butt-whippin'. Repeat approximately twenty times
09/25/09
Clenches its teeth grimly as it blunders through its overstuffed plot.
10/11/09
Pandorum is a hodge-podge of familiar sci-fi stuff, which feels as if it were adapted from a computer game.
10/04/09
Top CriticAs always, Foster sells the hell out of his role but non-sci-fi fans may well themselves be driven mad long before the end.
09/27/09
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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