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Pandorum
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Anchor Bay Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (17th January 2010). |
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The Film
 I’ve always had a soft spot for sci-fi horror films. Being a huge fan of both genres, the marriage of the two has produced some timeless cinematic offspring, such as “Aliens (1986), arguable the pinnacle of the sub-genre. So, when I began to see previews for “Pandorum” (2009), it appeared to be a film tailored to my sensibilities. The trailers and advertising conveyed a stylish, yet dark and gritty space adventure steeped in horrific overtones and with a supporting cast of menacing creatures. However, for one reason or another, I never took the opportunity to catch it in theaters. The Earth has been dying for some time now, but there’s a chance the human race can survive when a planet, Thanis, is found that mirrors our own environment. NASA sends out the Elysium, a ship carrying tens of thousands of people, plant & animal specimens and supplies, intent on establishing a new colony. During the 123 year flight, an astronaut, Bower (Ben Foster) is prematurely awakened from suspended animation only to find that the ship has been taken over by humanoid creatures with a taste for flesh. He wakes up another member of the crew, Payton (Dennis Quaid), in an attempt to figure out where they are and what’s happening on board the vessel before everyone is killed. The film employs clichéd concepts, but does so in a well-executed manner. Films about Earth dying and our need to populate other worlds is nothing new, but I still had a moderately enjoyable time buying into the universe we’re given here. My biggest gripe with the movie is the creatures that have taken over the ship. Origin aside, they look and sound very much like the cave-creatures from “The Descent” (2005). In fact, if you want to make your viewing experience a little more fun, try pretending this is some umpteenth sequel to that film which has finally taken our underground flesh eaters into outer space. It’s kinda fun. Truth be told, this movie plays like “Event Horizon” (1997) and “The Descent” had a celluloid baby. Unfortunately, it isn’t quite as good as either. I was surprised to find out that this film was originally intended to be an ultra low-budget production that would be shot on video and go direct-to-DVD. However, the production team felt like they had something more here, and so this theatrical film eventually came to be. Some elements of the script are sharp, with wonderfully ambiguous scenes and ideas that force viewers to re-examine previous events in the film in an effort to gain understanding of what’s occurring here. I can appreciate a film that tries to make its audience think, especially when it’s a horror/sci-fi film. So often, these genres try to pander to the lowest common denominator of filmgoers with predictable scripts and paper-thin characters; this one at least makes an effort to rise above that level. I think what brought the film down for me was the direction. Christian Alvart seems to have had a difficult time deciding what kind of film he wanted to make. Cerebral sci-fi? Creature feature? Full-blown horror? A “Resident Evil” movie in space? I think his biggest mistake was taking the humanoids out of the shadows and giving us an all-too-revealing look at them. I didn’t dig the designs and, quite honestly, they came across as cheesy video game concoctions most of the time. Had they been relegated to being an unseen, horrific force contained within the ship’s shadows, I would have been far more unsettled. Instead, we get Ben Foster fighting the lead singer of Gwar. I’d be remiss to not give some major credit to Ben Foster. He’s impressed me with some great roles in films like “30 Days of Night” (2007), “3:10 to Yuma” (2007), “X-Men: The Last Stand” (2006) and, though lesser known, “Freaks and Geeks” (1999-2000). What I like most about him as an actor is his ability to disappear into character. He’s had a hand in some major film production, yet I’m willing to bet most people wouldn’t know his name or face. That should soon change once he gets the right role, because he has some commendable talent that shouldn’t be getting overlooked. In the end, even though the filmmakers try their best to inject some semblance of new life into this film, it ultimately feels too derivative of similar works to stand on its own. The story strives to be more than what it is, but the film can’t keep up the plot, reducing much of it to a déjà vu feeling that we’ve already seen all of this done before, only better. But, if you’re a fan of films cut from this cloth, you could certainly do worse.
Video
The film takes place in the black abyss of space, and the austere trappings of a behemoth spaceship, so much of the picture relies on shadows and dim lighting. The Blu-ray’s 2.35:1 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encoded image does well with these conditions, producing a dark image that retains a gritty, hollow appearance but doesn’t give up images hidden within the shadows. Fine detail is only obvious during some of the more luminous scenes, such as those in the control room. Most of the film is steely grays and pitch blacks, and they look deep and rich. Some scenes were a little too dark, while others came off more like a drab gray than a rich black. Actors’ faces reveal a good amount of grime and detail. This is hardly demo material; nothing pops off the screen. But for an image that is so incredibly dark, this transfer certainly looks solid.
Audio
More impressive is the film’s English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound track mixed at 48kHz/24-bit. The movie makes the most of the surround speakers, utilizing them frequently throughout to create an immersive experience inside the massive ship. The LFE track provides some deep bass rumblings during some of the larger action sequences, especially at the end when we reach the reactor. Directionality is great, with pans moving across all the speakers in an effort to better engage viewers’ auditory senses. A good soundtrack can go a long way in increasing the enjoyment of films, and this track assisted in that respect here. The disc also includes a Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 mono with subtitles in English for the hearing impaired and Spanish.
Extras
Even though “Pandorum” was a bomb at the box office, it hardly fizzles here on Blu-ray. This 2-disc set serves up some worthwhile features, including an audio commentary, a few featurettes, deleted & alternate scenes, still galleries, trailers and a digital copy. DISC ONE: The audio commentary with director Christian Alvart and producer Jeremy Bolt isn’t the liveliest of tracks. The duo speaks at length about the genesis of the project which began life as two different scripts that were eventually amalgamated into the one seen here. They divulge some good technical details on the shooting of the film as well. It’s a decent listen for those who enjoyed the film, but hardly what I’d consider to be an essential track. “The World of Elysium: Behind-the-Scenes” (1080p) is a featurette which runs for 13 minutes and 57 seconds. Typical making-of piece, we get a look at director Alvart calling the shots, the application of some creature make-up effects and some interviews with the cast & crew. “What Happened to Nadia’s Team?” (1080p) is a short video diary featurette which runs for 4 minutes and 30 seconds. This explains what happens to the team Nadia was on after they awoke. If it’s any kind of clue, they aren’t in the feature film. “Flight Team Training Video” (1080i) is a faux promotional short featurette which runs for 2 minutes and 46 seconds. My favorite bonus feature, this short is a video for recruits, and looks like it came right out of a Paul Verhoeven film. A number of deleted and alternate scenes are available for the following, presented in 1080p/24fps: - “Bower Wakes Up” runs for 1 minute and 34 seconds, this is an alternate take of Bower’s premature awakening. - “Bower Opens Food Compartment” runs for 1 minute and 21 seconds, Bower eats and drinks before waking up Payton. - “Bower’s Report” runs for 1 minute and 57 seconds, Bower gives a report on the ship to Payton after he is woken up. - “Payton” runs for 1 minute and 10 seconds, Payton goes to investigate some strange sounds he hears. - “Big Vault” runs for 2 minutes and 12 seconds, extra footage inside the film’s vault of specimens. - “Leland’s Tank Part 1” runs for 2 minutes and 58 seconds, an alternate take of Leland’s introduction to the leading trio. - “Leland’s Tank Part 3” runs for 2 minutes and 51 seconds, shots of the group in Leland’s tank are intercut with a story about what happened on the ship. - “Leland’s Tank Part 3, Version 2” runs for 1 minute and 41 seconds, this is an alternate take of the previous scene. - “Bower & Leland” runs for 3 minutes and 1 second, this is an alternate take of Bower talking Leland out of killing him. - “Payton & Gallo” runs for 1 minute and 16 seconds, the two have an argument. - “Bower Breakdown” runs for 1 minute and 56 seconds, Bower tells a story about what prompted him to enlist. - “They are Breeding” runs for 39 seconds, we see a couple of creatures mating. - “Bower & Nadia at Reactor” runs for 35 seconds, this is a pre-visualization shot of Bower and Nadia escaping the reactor explosion. - “Waking up in Hell” runs for 23 seconds, this is just a quick extension of some dialogue. - “Payton & Gallo” runs for 1 minute and 5 seconds, this is a slight extension of the ending which could have set up a very obvious sequel. There are 4 still galleries for the following: - “Models & Monsters” contains 42 images. - “Designs & Drawings” contains 75 images. - “On-Set” contains 56 images. - “Turbine Pit Sequence Storyboards” contains 8 images. The film’s theatrical trailer (1080p) runs for 2 minutes and 19 seconds. Finally, there are some “Also on Blu-ray” bonus trailer previews for the following, all presented in 1080p: - “Law Abiding Citizen” runs for 2 minutes and 27 seconds. - “The Men Who Stare At Goats” runs for 2 minutes and 23 seconds. - “Capitalism: A Love Story” runs for 2 minutes. - “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” runs for 1 minute and 47 seconds. - “Party Down” runs for 2 minutes and 2 seconds. - “Blu-ray Trailer Reel” promo runs for 1 minute and 26 seconds. DISC TWO: This is a digital copy for Windows devices only.
Packaging
The 2-disc set comes housed in a standard blue amaray case with the discs housed opposite each other a hub.
Overall
It offers up some interesting concepts and tries hard to break out of the genre mold, but “Pandorum” winds up a hodgepodge of ideas that never quite gel good enough to give the film a solid backbone. Fans of science fiction and horror will find this worth a watch, at the least. Audio/video quality are both solid, so that’s a step in the right direction. I’m curious to see more of what happens after they land on Thanis, but the film’s poor performance has assured we’ll see no sequels.
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