Rorschach01's Pandorum Review

Rorschach01's Pandorum Review

Was the new Dennis Quaid/Ben Foster Sci-Fi movie as good as it looked?

Review Opinion
By MarkCassidy - Oct 05, 2009 02:10 PM EST
Filed Under: Sci-Fi

Short answer, no. No, it bloody was not. In fact, Pandorum may be one of the worst Sci Fi movies I have ever seen.

I wasn't even going to bother with this review, but if I can get any of you to save a few quid and give this crap a miss then it will be worth it.

So as we know from the pretty good looking trailer, the movie begins with Corporal Bower (Ben Foster) waking from hyper-sleep completely disorientated and with no memory of why or how he came to be on the ship, the Elysium. Soon after Lt. Payton (Dennis Quaid) wakes up in the same state. The two men decide to search the seemingly abandoned and pitch black ship for some clue as to their mission and current predicament. Bower crawls into an air shaft to go explore while Payton stays behind to guide him via radio transmitter. Bower realizes they are not alone when he comes across first some corpses, then a warrior chick that seems to belong in a different movie, and finally some pale, vicious creatures that are intent on making a meal of him. And at this point thats exactly what director Christian Alvart does to his movie.

Pandorum rips off pretty much every space set sci fi movie you could possibly think of. Alien, Event Horizon, Serenity...then Predator and The Descent for good measure. This could have been forgivable if the movie was in any way good, but its not. The increasingly convulted and ridiculous plot eventually just gives up and goes bat shit crazy, probably figuring that if anyone is still watching they won't mind anyway! All of the action is dimly lit and so badly shot that its nearly impossible to tell whats happening or to whom. The title refers to a kind of hallucination-inducing outer-space delirium, which is integrated into a couple of sign posted and silly plot twists as we are never sure if Bower or indeed Payton are suffering from the symptoms or not. The performances are not awful, and Foster and Quaid in particular do their best, but their is no saving this movie.

A promising enough opening and one or two moments approaching tension as well as the solid leads are all that keep this from one star city. It gets one and a half instead:)

1 1/2 out of 5

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Galvatron
Galvatron - 10/5/2009, 3:03 PM
I whole heartedly disagree Ror. I saw this movie this past weekend and it had plenty of unique sci-fi concepts. While it was definately not a 5 star movie, its far from a 1 star, your harsh dude. Go see Zombieland, its a lot of fun.
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 10/5/2009, 3:03 PM
Ive seen the TRAILER looks [frick]ing cool!!! : D

Okay QUESTION,,,, is it worst than WHITEOUT???
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 10/5/2009, 3:04 PM
GALVATRON @ I'm gonna watch ZOMBIELAND, looks funny as [frick] dude!
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 10/5/2009, 3:13 PM
What were thos original concepts then Galvatron? Because you name me one moment from that movie and i'll tell you a better movie that has done it before. I dont think im harsh at all, check out some other reviews online for harsh!
StrangerX
StrangerX - 10/5/2009, 3:16 PM
I'll wait for this to come out on tv.
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 10/5/2009, 3:27 PM
Well i give the trailer 5 out of 5!!!

Bet that was the best bits then lol! : D

Strangemann @ Cowabunga dude!!!
CrookedJaw
CrookedJaw - 10/5/2009, 3:42 PM
That's crazy! I thought it was a good movie! twists and turns, good action, a big twist in the end, good movie, I say, go see it, then say what you think, but give it a chance
HeckYeah
HeckYeah - 10/5/2009, 3:48 PM
I Knew It...........They should of got Ryan Renolds....just kiddin
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 10/5/2009, 3:55 PM
HECK YEAH! RYAN REYNOLDS!!! ; D


Damn if HOLLYWOOD wants to make the best ever sci-fi epic fantasy ever to hit the screen!

One word =

WARHAMMER 40 000!!!

The next LOTRS!!! ; )
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 10/5/2009, 4:06 PM
Gtrman @ Your a star dude!!
Phinehas
Phinehas - 10/5/2009, 4:16 PM
Movies that fail to launch, almost never take off again with a reboot. Dennis Quaid can't seem to get a break anymore. Especially when it comes to Outer space films. Anyone see Enemy Mine? Not a bad concept with a good budget. Unfortuneately, it didn't have one. Too bad, Mr. Quaid.
JoshWilding
JoshWilding - 10/5/2009, 4:19 PM
I've read a lot of reviews saying that Ben Foster's performance was bad which I find hard to believe believe from what I've seen him in so far.

I was thinking about seeing this but I probably wont bother. Still i bet its not half as disappointing as Sunshine was (at least for me anyway!)
StephenStrange
StephenStrange - 10/5/2009, 4:37 PM
well poo.. Thanks for the heads up Rorschach. There's no way Im seeing that crap now.

It sounds awful.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 10/5/2009, 4:43 PM
Josh, Sunshine is a masterpiece compared to this! I actually really liked that..another one Pandorum rips off! And Foster is good in it, its just hard to tell underneath all the shit that comes out of his mouth!

Kev, sure it was disappointing but it was still an awful movie no matter how you slice it. Isn't a horror movie supposed to be frightening? Creepy? Tense? It also makes absolutely no sense. I cant talk about how without giving it away but think about the "twist" and think about when we first see Dennis Quaids character..doesn't add up does it?
Joe6Pack74
Joe6Pack74 - 10/5/2009, 4:47 PM
They have not made a great horror movie since "Bloodsucking Freaks". Best horror movie ever.
JoshWilding
JoshWilding - 10/5/2009, 4:57 PM
ROR: I thought Sunshine was really good up (and it was shaping up to be one of my favourite movies ever as the tension continued to build) until the end where it suddenly turned into almost a generic horror movie where the direction was suddenly so messy and so strange I couldnt tell what the hell was going on half the time! I personally thought it was a really awful decision to not properly show the villain - I mean just keep him in the shadosw rather than use all those messed up and bewildering camera angles! Still, great review - I think I'll wait until this movie makes its way into the bargain bin fro £3, lol! Oh, and if you get chance, check out my Daredevil poll under Fan Fic! :)
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 10/5/2009, 4:57 PM
I like ENEMY MINE!!!

Number21 @ Cheers for that dude, i'll check it out!
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 10/5/2009, 4:59 PM
I've got SUNSHINE on DVD ain't bothered watching it yet though.

A great sci-fi horror to watch is = EVENT HORIZON!!!
KeepItReal
KeepItReal - 10/5/2009, 5:11 PM
dennis quad needs to quit. he's old. I havent seen gi joe but he looks too old for that too.
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 10/5/2009, 5:15 PM
KEEP @ DVD is out November the 3RD! BUY IT! ; D

I still say the best ever SCI-FI movie has yet to be made (Excluding STAR WARS).

WARHAMMER 40 000!!!


KeepItReal
KeepItReal - 10/5/2009, 5:18 PM
awesome! will do thanks! ;)
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 10/5/2009, 5:35 PM
Cool, check out NEWS for my GI JOE article!
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 10/5/2009, 5:37 PM
@Josh, yeah the end did get a bit silly..but i forgave it because of the great performances and script. It managed to be original..which is hard for a sci fi movie i know, but like i said, that wasn't the only reason i hated Pandorum.

I loved Enemy Mine when i was younger! Haven't seen it in years. I actually really like Quaid, he just makes some very dodgy movies
lalosuper3001
lalosuper3001 - 10/5/2009, 5:37 PM
What are u talking about??? This movie was awesome! I especially liked the part where The Doctor and Donna see each other from opposite windows and have a mime conversation while the bad guys are watching. Ha, ha! Hillarious... oh, wait... that's another movie. Never mind. This movie is really lame...
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 10/5/2009, 5:41 PM
@ ror

well that sucks. they don't make enough space horror movies. the previews made it look like it had a event horizon / dead space feel to it. so i'm disapointed to hear it blows. i'll watch it on on demand, or hbo, i guess.
superdog
superdog - 10/5/2009, 5:56 PM
Jason X was the last good space horror movie

Josh/ror@ is sunshine the onenwith cilian Murphy and chris Evans? Exploding star then some wierd deforemd monster dude at the end trying to kill everyone? If so I agree with u, I didn't get that monster shit at the end at all.
BillyBlack
BillyBlack - 10/5/2009, 5:59 PM
Sunshine was awesome. I didn't care that it got all crazy in the end, they lead you up to that with all the sunshine psychosis talk. Might've jumped the rails a lil bit, but totally forgivable.

Enemy Mine is the jam!

Lou Gosset with child!!
Betty
Betty - 10/5/2009, 6:11 PM
Josh-- I'm with you on Sunshine. I love Boyle and a lot of actors in that film. It was more like the middle-end it kinda started to suck for me. Have you watched the extra features? Yikes!
ASSASSIN666
ASSASSIN666 - 10/5/2009, 6:11 PM
Well thanks to this review that's another one I won't be seeing, thanks for the heads up.
bsprecher
bsprecher - 10/5/2009, 6:37 PM
I wasn't crazy about it either, but I literally walked out of Surrogates and into Pandorum, so I thought it was good by comparison...

...definitely rips a bunch of other movies, though. AND, I guessed the "surprise" ending.

So...I guess I didn't like it after all. But, still better than Surrogates, Halloween 2, GI Joe...
Minotauro
Minotauro - 10/5/2009, 6:48 PM
Nice Review Ror, But most of the nation doesn't agree with you!! XD
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 10/5/2009, 6:53 PM
Yeah your right, 2 out of all of these posts disagree, and it gets 24% on Rotten Tomatoes. But i guess the nation loves it!

Brent, I dunno man. Not that those movies you mention are good, but at least they make a modicum of sense!
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 10/5/2009, 7:12 PM
BRENT @ GI JOE was good entertainment!! ; D

Damn, SURROGATES is worst than PANDORUM, im seeing that 2morro lol.
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 10/5/2009, 7:13 PM
DOG @ I luv JASON X!!!

Though i really liked FREDDY VS JASON too!

Damn the reboot, damn reboots in general lol!

KnG
KnG - 10/5/2009, 7:14 PM
Good movie not great comparable to Aliens. Good concept only bad part was the Quaid stuff. But off topic if u guys a lookin for a good flix watch FAQ About Time Travel
KnG
KnG - 10/5/2009, 7:16 PM
OH yeah @Lee777 Surrogates might as well be a I Robot reboot nothing new there same old bot flix but
Cook
Cook - 10/5/2009, 7:19 PM
The trailer of this film has reminded me of another film I saw that I would suggest to people. It's called Eden Log. fairly similar situation. Man wakes up under ground doesn't know where he is blah blah blah, mutants running around but the difference is I really liked Eden Log. It's an Indy and I think it's French but not to sure. I watched it at the bar I hang out at with subtles. Anyway I think it is worth everyones time to check it out. As for Pandorum as usual Hollywoods lets me down again. By the way there is a Goth bar in My town of Austin called Elysium.
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