Pandorum
Anchor Bay
R1 DVD
Pandorum is an intriguing
and original science fiction horror film. It brings together a range of themes
and plays with its audience not allowing the viewer to gain a complete picture
of what has occurred to the crew of the ship Elysium right to the very end. You
are never sure who can be trusted and the suspense is sustained right through
the nearly two hours of the film.
Two
astronauts, Bower (Foster) and Payton (Quaid), wake up from an extended period
of suspended animation to find themselves alone with no memory of who they are
or their mission. As Bower begins to search the ship to find traces of its
supposed 60,000 passenger cargo, he begins to have flashes of memory and
realizes he is the ship’s technical office and a member of crew five. Both
astronauts also seem to have recollections about Pandorum,
a mental condition brought on by extended periods of suspended animation which
can cause severe paranoia, hallucinations and violent behaviour. The fact that
you are not quite sure what are real problems on-board Elysium
and what are symptoms of Pandorum adds to the
suspense of the film and gives it an extra edge.
Bower
soon realizes that the ships nuclear reactor is behaving in an irregular manner
and works his way towards it. However this is not as easy as it seems as he
finds himself stalked by deformed humanoid like creatures which seem to have
super human strength. These mutants are also cannibalistic and seem to have
infested the ship. As he encounters other survivors they battle their way to
the reactor and the terrible tale of the Elysium becomes known.
Planet
Earth, suffering from massive overpopulation and resource deprivation
dispatched the ship and its crew with a genetic library of earth animal and
vegetable species on a 100 year plus voyage to a Earth-like planet known as Tanis. Sometime into the
journey they receive a message that the Earth is in the midst of some sort of
disaster and then realize that the earth is no more. One of the flight crew
goes insane from the news developing Pandorum, he kills the other two crew members and decides to
transform the rest of the crew for his own entertainment. He manipulates the
genetic feeds to the crew members who are in suspended animation and then
unleashes them to do battle with each other. We now know the terrible origins
of the creatures on board. The story continued with some fascinating and
unexpected developments and certainly is one of the more intelligent sci fi horror films of recent times.
Pandorum brings together a
range of science fiction and horror concepts in a film which is beautiful made
with excellent special effects. The creatures, while a significant aspect of
the film, are not overplayed and the character development of all the major
figures in the film is solid. While Dennis Quaid has certainly had his share of
movie flops in recent years, he is excellent in his role on Payton and Ben
Foster as Bower is nothing short of superb.
The
plot is innovative with lots of unusual twists and turns, it will certainly
keep you on the edge of your seat to the very end and is highly recommended.
Reviews appear on the Synergy website with
a single cover image. In the digital and print edition, reviews appear with
multiple images and with expanded content. We recommend you download the free digital edition (or buy the print edition) to get the most from Synergy Magazine.
This review will appear in Volume 3 No. 3 of the digital and print
edition of Synergy Magazine.
If you came to this page directly (and
missed our menu), click here to go to the
front page of Synergy Magazine Website or use the following link: http://www.synergy-magazine.com