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Movies / Upcoming / Pandorum
Pandorum

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Pandorum (2009)

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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... 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 date; Australian critics are listed first)
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full review at Movies for the Masses

Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses | comment Comment
12/10/09
Joseph Proimakis
Joseph Proimakis
Movies for the Masses

An unusually unpleasant and unwatchable sci-fi endeavor...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
11/01/09
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

Clenches its teeth grimly as it blunders through its overstuffed plot.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
10/11/09
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

too much of the film devolves into hectic action sequences that makes you feel like someone suddenly dropped you into a blender and turned out all the lights

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
10/10/09
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

An intensely effective sci-fi chiller, mainly thanks to its canny set and sound design, and its constant, relentless sense of dread and tension.

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

Provides some very intense, memorable chills.

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

flirts with greatness with an impressive first half filled with thrills and solid pacing but it stumbles in its more action-oriented second half.

Full Review Source: Gazette (MD) | comment 3 Comments
10/05/09
Jeffrey Lyles
Jeffrey Lyles
Gazette (MD)

Pandorum is a hodge-podge of familiar sci-fi stuff, which feels as if it were adapted from a computer game.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment 1 Comment
10/04/09
Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Alvart achieves a strong sense of scale, but characters and ideas are lost amid a mess of fight scenes that, oddly, look like outtakes from ‘The Descent’.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment 1 Comment
10/04/09
Nigel Floyd
Nigel Floyd
Time Out

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

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

Murky both literally and figuratively.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment 3 Comments
10/04/09
Philip French
Philip French
Observer [UK]

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

There are some well-executed sequences, but the story makes nothing but a mess of its borrowed ideas.

Full Review Source: Sunday Times (UK) | comment 1 Comment
10/04/09
Edward Porter
Edward Porter
Sunday Times (UK)

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

Pandorum is neither schlocky enough to be an enjoyable genre flick, nor smart enough to provoke any original thoughts.

Full Review Source: Digital Spy | comment 1 Comment
10/04/09
Mayer Nissim
Mayer Nissim
Digital Spy

It’s a competent if unoriginal adventure but you do wish Alvart had had the courage of his convictions to go with the Pandorum idea rather bowing to the pressure of convention and basically resetting The Descent in space.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
10/04/09
Tim Evans
Tim Evans
Sky Movies

After two hours in the dark with this loud but hollow hybrid, you’ll know “space madness”. In a good year for smart sci-fi, Pandorum lumbers and groans.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment 1 Comment
10/04/09
Kevin Harley
Kevin Harley
Total Film

It might make a passable video game. Despite expensive production design, as a movie it is pretty much unwatchable.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment 1 Comment
10/04/09
Christopher Tookey
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

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]
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; 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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