"A deadly virus attacks the crew of a Saturn space station."
Here's a weird film. When a flesh-eating virus nearly kills everyone in a space station, a scientist (Bryan Cranston/Dr. Frank Darden.) gets the idea to combat it with a metamorphic virus that can shapeshift and take on biological forms.
Meanwhile, a shipwrecked mercenary (Commander Krieger/Marc Singer.) and his robot companion help investigate the murders going on at the station, trying to restore power to his own ship. Great use of puppets, and music.
My only complaint is, they keep shooting at the creature, after saying several times that bullets can't hurt it. Other than that, a decent sci-fi horror/mystery. It keeps you guessing how they'll defeat the creature. Watch it if you have time.
“The expendable crew of a corporate space vessel must stop a murderous shape-shifting alien organism that somehow got on board.”
“The corpses have disappeared, leaving everything - even their underwear – behind!” Dular says, after his crew members have been eaten by an alien virus. I mean, it is a good mystery, but probably ruined by early anime dubbing. All the dialogue sounds so choppy and fast as they struggle to sync their lip movements. Other than that, it's pretty much John Carpenter's The Thing mixed with the futuristic setting of Ridley Scott's Alien.
See, there's a cat brought on board by Nancy. Quickly, everyone around the cat dies, and there are reports of an alien virus getting through the air ducts. What's discovered later is that the virus was carried by the cat because humans are “expendable”. So, the Syncam Corporation (who owns the ship.) is probably just evil. Why else kill an experienced crew with a Computerized Animal-shaped Technological robot? (Cat, get it?)
Anyway, you should probably skip this one. But, but I did find it enjoyable in terms of action. The mystery is given away in the title. The choppy English dubbing is way too distracting, and the plot doesn't actually make much sense, other than they're trying to mix Alien and The Thing. Just enjoy the crew getting picked apart by the alien/C.A.T.
The 1980s were an ambitious time for Japanese anime, especially as it expanded overseas and took on American influences. It is at least enjoyable if you turn your brain off, and accept it as a relic of its own time. There are interesting ideas sci-fi discussed such as cryogenics, relativity, and how the crew only ages 1 year every 20 Earth years. But, these details never pan out to anything, and only a few members survive as it rushes to horrific ending.
“A malfunction in a sleeping pod on a spacecraft traveling to a distant colony planet wakes one passenger 90 years early.”
Jim (Chris Pratt) is on a luxury colony spaceship when it wakes him up 90 years too early. At first, he has fun, lives off the ship's supplies and plays basketball, but after a while, his loneliness becomes too much. After discussion with a robotic bartender, he decides to wake up one passenger.
Considering others, he ultimately selects Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence). He lies to her and tells her that the malfunction woke them both up. They begin a romance, but Aurora eventually finds out the truth. And that the malfunction is sending them hurtling towards the sun!
From here, it becomes an ordinary space thriller. I do appreciate the movie investigating old school sci-fi ideas like isolation, but that's all it addresses. Aurora's character development is cut short in favor of a big action-packed climax. There was some controversy about this, so whether or not you enjoy the movie will depend on whether you want an old school sci-fi adventure, or need closure on ethical problems presented in the film.
For my part, I was just glad to see a good space adventure. You just have to accept that it's more about what isolation does to people in space than if Jim should've told Aurora the truth. Their romance is almost incidental: a consequence of isolation.
I will grant though, that the disaster plot seems out of left field. Perhaps if Jim's big lie were really taken to task, we could almost have a different, more interesting movie. But, as it is, I still liked it as a space thriller. Watch it if you can.
"In the distant future, mankind has forsaken global wars for battles of single combat. The world has been divided into two opposing super powers, with each side represented by trained champions."
Mech combat movie with weird models and special effects! Space battles! Representing the US ("The Market") is Achilles. Against him his rival Alexander from "The Confederation" (USSR) in a spider tank. Winner takes Alaska, and its natural resources! It's cheesy robot goodness.
I can’t say I blame Sandra Bullock’s character for hating space. In this movie, everything bad happens to her. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the movie, it’s just non-stop disaster movie action. This movie doesn’t give you time to breathe! And when it does, something else goes wrong. I don’t know, I just wish Hollywood could make space cool again without overdoing the explosions.
George Clooney is in the film for about 20 mins. Then, there’s not enough oxygen between the two astronauts, and well, one has to go. First, the space junk hits Hubble, then the International Space Station, then a Russian rocket. Everywhere she (Dr. Stone) goes space tries to kill her. One of the things I thought the movie did well was use 3D. I certainly got dizzy!
One disaster after another sort of stretches credibility. I’m no physicist, but I highly doubt that the fire in the I.S.S. lab would’ve followed Dr. Stone’s exact path. But, you have to love that everything just turns into a giant fireball conveniently shaped for fitting through doors. Pretty much every second of the movie after the debris hits is Sandra Bullock freaking out and screaming: “What do I do? What do I do?” Even the quiet moments are chock-full of ham-fisted symbolism, such as when she sheds her space suit and goes into the fetal position abroad the I.S.S.
In one scene, it’s made to seem like George Clooney (Matt Kowalsky) returns. (Mild spoilers.) The movie continually raises your hopes, and then lets you down. Initially, these twists were cool, but by the 3rd time they get tiresome. I can’t stress enough that I did like the movie. It’s a Hollywood disaster movie. And it should be treated as such.
Nonetheless, it used 3D effectively, which is rare. On the other hand, it is a heavy-handed mess. I’ve always been a big fan of sci-fi and space movies, and while many of the dangers here seem plausible, it’s so exaggerated as to be almost laughable. Take your breaths while you can. This movie just might make you hate space.
Perhaps the most sci-fi aspect of this film is that America still seems to be invested in NASA. I hope one day it returns to manned space missions, but I certainly don’t hope for anything that happens here! Thrilling as it was, Gravity just leaves you floating around in emptiness and despair. Kind of like in space! I give it a solid 4/5. But, I needed more oxygen afterwards! Ha!
