The film actually starts off OK, with some nice production design that may be extremely derivative of ALIEN, and countless other sci-fi films, but was still pleasing to the eye. For the first twenty minutes or so, I actually thought I might like PANDORUM, but then we get the kung-fu zombies and the film goes right down the drain… read more [Joblo] Before seeing PANDORUM, all you to need to know are the basics: a small crew of deep space travelers (including Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster) are awakened from hypersleep (echoing the early moments of ALIEN), with little knowledge of their mission and the dangers that await. Without going into a long critical analysis (you can read Mike’s take later in the week) or storyline giveaways, I can tell you that PANDORUM is a fever dream mash-up of sci-fi, horror and mystery that will keep you guessing till the action-packed finish… read more [Fangoria]
The first thirty minutes almost dare you to theater hop. It’s not until other survivors are found–increasingly insane of course, but capable of kicking monster ass–that the action really ramps up. After that, it turns out to be not the worst end-of-the-world/trapped-with-really-gross-and-really-hungry-creatures/guess-which-human-cast-member-is-a-secret-bad-guy rip off of Alien 3, Resident Evil, Event Horizon and Spaceballs that you’ve ever seen. It’s just not the best one, either. But if your ongoing happiness in life means a steady diet of This Sort of Thing, here’s some more of it… read more [Pandorum Review by Dave White, movies.com] Wearing his Ridley Scott cape, Alvart aims for a coolly stylish look to “Pandorum,” with hard cinematography, steamy hallways, and strange light sources joining together to add a layer of menace to the tale. Ostensibly a monster movie, “Pandorum” is better off as an obvious haunted house experience, with liberal usage of shock jumps and gore to keep viewers on their toes, but it never terrifies. There are a few futuristic touches that keep things interesting, but the majority of the film is Bower dodging ghouls, running around the cavernous ship on the hunt for power. At least with the mutants, “Pandorum” is numbingly predictable. Once it goes inside the mind, it just gets embarrassing… read more [This is Braindom] Pandorum doesn’t exactly go that route, but it certainly provides you a couple of avenues to travel down trying to unravel the story. But there are other events that take our attention away from the most direct path. We’ve got mutants, terrible, terrible mutants, and the space madness that often corrupts even the strongest wills out here in the middle of nowhere… read more [Get The Big Picture]
As expected, the performance of Ben Foster as Bower was impeccable. The role was a challenging one. A role that called on the performer to convince an audience of complete bewilderment, confusion, fear, intensity, bravery, terror and excitement all at the same time without going overboard on any of them. When Foster’s character wakes up completely unaware of who he is or where he is, he conveys it perfectly, and continues to do so throughout the movie. I’ve got to confess that despite the fact that I still believe Dennis Quaid is a better actor than Foster, he stumbles a bit through the movie and doesn’t come across nearly as convincing as Foster does… read more [The Movie Blog] Unlike most movies that throw a doomsday scenario at us, Pandorum has an interesting take on “life as we now know it” thanks to German filmmaker Christian Alvart. The Elysia is obviously a microcosm of long-gone Earth, and something very much like pandorum has contaminated the planet’s air for centuries… read more [The Globe And Mail]
“Pandorum” offered some good special effects, some nice gore and death scenes, decent acting and a pretty decent script surprising. Not for the Claustrophobic or anyone afraid of the dark…there are many “Jump scares” in this film. Not too bad for the start of our favorite holiday which is just around the corner! Enjoy!… read more [Horror-Movies.ca] Pandorum – Official Dennis Quaid Interview: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WhlOo68jEY[/youtube] Pandorum Featurette:
Second best SF-Movie in 2009 …
Y’know it’s easy to find cliches in ANYTHING. In actuality are Jurassic park and Avatar super innovative when you view them under an over critical microscope? Nope.
This movie was good and had a surprise twist I did not see coming which had nothing to do with one of the crew members being the bad guy.