Pandorum
| release date | September 25 2009 |
| studio | Overture Films |
| director | Christian Alvart |
| writer | Travis Malloy |
| starring | Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Wotan Wilke Möhring, André M. Hennicke, Antje Traue, Cam Gigandet, Norman Reedus, Asia Luna Mohmand |
| rating | R |
| tagline | Don't fear the end of the world... |
| site | pandorummovie.com |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
14 Comments
my friends and I all enjoyed this. Its fun
Think BD could have given it a bit higher score. I though it was at least worthy of a seven in my opinion.
Pandorum scared me a lot last night. Been a while since I saw a movie that made me jump so much. It truly wasn’t what I expected. The alien shots were frantic and disturbing – which was pretty cool and a pleasant surprise. I’m a fan of Ben Foster and wasn’t disappointed with his performance. The new girl Antje Traue is great too – subdued and unleashed at the same time. I really like her. It was really dark on screen and made the film even creepier and claustrophobic. I recommend seeing it with your friends.
I’ve seen this before….but WHERE…oh yeah, The Descent. This movie was interesting but omg it was like de javu the entire time. I am not hardcore downing it, but yeah, I think the monsters were sorta like Descent wannabee’s and the story was just a little to close to The Descent. Interesting concept and ending? Yes…Original..NO
I thought this was really good. It was like the descent in outer space. Very good.
Well, the movie really didn’t bring anything new or frightening to the genre and is a cross between the films Sunshine, Alien, Moon and The Descent, it sure was entertaining and intriguing enough for me to not walk out. I thought the beginning was very slow moving but once the creatures are revealed the film picks up big time w/ a bunch of @ss kicking and human munching that should satisfy fans of the genre. Ben Foster is the only one that stands out performance wise and his character was the only likable one and one worth rooting for, I also like Antje Traue who plays Nadia but her character is very similar to Alice in the Resident Evil films but I didn’t mind it because she kicked some major @ss. There were some creepy, tense moments here and there but I really didn’t find anything all that scary but there were some decent twists along the way with a pretty cool ending that was satisfying. Overall if you are looking for the next The Descent, Alien or even Resident Evil or what I was hoping for Event Horizon look elsewhere but if you are diehard sci-fi/fantasy/horror mix fans there are some things you will enjoy and appreciate in this just nothing groundbreaking. Worthy of a rental!
This is a case of a movie with a great concept and horrible execution. The story is choppy and predictable and the characters are undeveloped archetypes from every other movie of this genre. A perfect example of how poorly written and thought out Pandorum is: the main character asks the female character, of course the super tough super smart geneticist, what the creatures chasing them are. Her response is that she never stayed around long enough to find out but then three minutes later she has piece everything together. Another character knows things that logically he would never know and tells them in a this stupid four year old like way, very reminiscent of the kids explaining their story to Max in Beyond Thunderdome. The bottom line is if you’re going to have such an unoriginal concept for a movie you need to do it well and this movie is not done well.
great sci fi movie
I had fun with this movie.I seen some major flaws but overall a fun flick.Still something about it turned me off.It was jumpy is about the best aspect.The acting was good.But the film is drug out!BAD!!!! It needed to be atleast 20 minutes shorter.But yea I can see where people think it was like The Descent.Although that film blew this film away!
If Alien & The Descent had a baby, this would be it. It was a good film. I was completely satisfied.
This had the potential to be a great sci-fi horror flick, but to me it lacked in the horror department. The creatures were not scary or original at all. They looked like a mix between the descent creatures and extras in doomsday. The story was also a tad predictable. The only thing that saved it was Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid.
Way too slow and boring. Bad pacing. Copuld of been so much more. Only if it were like the previews made it out to be.
First the trailers are so miss-leading I thought they gave away the whole movie. I was wrong.
Now the movie, it’s a cross between, descent, event, and knowing (one part and you’ll know what I mean if you saw the movie)
The first half of the movie was decent, it was to damn dark to see what was happening you couldn’t make out the creatures they were to damn fast and everything. ANd then the last half of the movie is what makes it good. There are no name actors in the film expect quaid and foster who both do a great job, they explain what pandorum is, and the ending leaves you with a huge mind fuck. I felt like I was becoming a little case of the pandorum coming down. HA!
there wasn’t much gore at all, a few bloody scenes but nothing like we been seeing, its not that kind of film. Its suppose to play on your fears. Is it a good movie yeah its okay. It’s cliche as hell, but what isn’t these days. its worth the money deft, and its a fun movie that really fucks with your mind.
i enjoyed it
Love the concept albeit I can understand why come people would criticize. I completely enjoyed every minute of this movie watching experience so I cannot complain.
Alright honestly we have seen this all before with such films as Event Horizon, Alien, Descent and even a little of The Cube, but you know what theres nothing wrong with that because we need more R rated sc-fi horror out there. The problem with this film is that doen’t end up doing much from seperating itself from it’s other genre counsins. This isn’t a bad film by any means, but aside from the bleak, gritty look and errie atmoshpere theres not much here to like. Most of the action sequences are so poorly lighted that you can’t tell what’s going on and sadly this movie is another casuality of the constant Hollywood trend of SHAKY CAMERA. Seriously so much crap is happening at once that it almost becomes a giant blur. However the strong lead performance by the always great Ben Foster and a decent peformance out the hit or miss Dennis Quaid are still able to make this a somewhat solid sci-fi horor that worth atleast checking out once.
This was MUCH better than I expected it to be. It’s funny, the official review says if you like Event Horizon, Alien 3, and Resident Evil you will like this movie… and I LOVED all three of those movies (especially Alien 3 and Event Horizon)…
It’s just a really well done “turn your brain off” sci-fi horror with pretty damn cool creatures and a bunch of fun mind twisting shit toward the end. Ben Foster was amazing as usual and I thought the lead girl was incredibly hot!! Surprisingly too Quaid was actually pretty good – much better than his last few movies (im looking at you GI Joe)
The only flaws I thought were A> the ending “twist” is extremely predictable and I guessed it about 1/4 through the movie. and B> as the official review stated, they showed WAY too much of the creatures… although i thought they were well done, they definitely would have been a lot SCARIER if shown far far less. Totally reminded me of the Orcs from lord of the rings mixed with the dudes from Doomsday.
Also being Canadian I was extremely surprised by the 14A rating… I have no idea how this was not 18A as it was R in the states. Do not let the rating fool you, it’s got a bunch of nice little gory scenes and some twisted shit with the monsters.
Check it out!!
This film was so much better than I expected. The film is so dark, atmospheric and absolutely terrifying. It classically builds suspense and tension in the vein of Alien as out characters awake not knowing their situation and move through tight infinitely dark corridors. thecreatures themselves looks great and the film is really well made. It also features good performances from Foster and Gigandet who are absolutely gorgeous as well. If I had one gripe it would be the execution of Pandorum itslef, it seemed a bit confusing to me in the films fantastically twisted finale. But this is a great film people you should check it out think Event Horizon meets the descent meets ghosts of mars. it’s hot!
i just thought it was mediocre, it wasn’t a bad film by any stretch of the imagination but at the same time i wasnt blown away by it. I thought alverts direction became irritating using minimal lighting for everything, i didnt like the look of the creatures they just seemed overly cgi and like something out of I Am Legend to me.
Ben Foster and Denis Quaid however where fantastic and sadly the only real ray of light from the film. The ending was a bit stupid and so blatently stolen from Planet of The Apes and an incredibly convenient way to save our heroes and have a happy ending, i just wished alvert had the balls to end his movie proberly.
On the whole not terrible by any stretch of the imagination but not even in the same league as Event Horizon.
it was scary and fun
I swear to god, the only reason why i ever blogged on this site is to find really good horror movies, and so far all it led me to was dogshit, and they gave this movie a shit review, to me this movie took event horizon alien and descent mixed em and got event horizon on speed : pandorum. Sic movie.
this was a good movie i enjoyed it.
it was just too long and alot of part could have been cut out.
This was a really pleasant surprise. It looked good, solid plot, the claustrophobia factor was fairly intense in a couple of scenes and it even had a bit of gore. I liked that it had an old school sci-fi feel. I miss that in most sci-fi movies out today. The creatures weren’t bad but the weakest link in my opinion. Solidly good film!
This movie may entertain the sci-fi fan members, because of its similarity to the Alien franchise. However, the “aliens” have much different traits that are unlike the classic Aliens from the 1980′s franchise, but are creepy to me nonetheless. Directed by Christian Alvart a German/American does a great job of telling a very unique space story in my opinion.
Set in the very distance future in space two crew members Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster awake from a super long hyper sleep and in order to survive they must first discern what has happened to the “mother ship” Elysuim an its few and far between occupants who have been awake and surviving mutant creatures with very fast reflexes. Throughout this film you become knowledgeable of the disorder pandorum, which can leave you suffering from hallucinations and delusion, so the main characters are rediscovering themselves and do not always trust what is on their minds.
This film’s casting was “spot on” and I always enjoy veteran Dennis Quaid and the very young up-in-coming Ben Foster who dazzled me in 3:10 to Yuma. I feel his character Bower has the most physical part to play and the only female lead is a first rate kick butt mutant killer.
This movie really makes you think about the future of the earth and what preparations our government might be planning if we continue down the path of our fossil fuel dependence and how the green house effects our depleting our ozone. I am definitely not a scientist, but I do read and keep informed on the environment. And some audiences my not ever care about that part of the plot, its just what I took away from this film.
The mystique and scares where really mostly weak in nature but the killing sequences are rock solid and therefore hard core science fiction fans will not be scared by any means. But, the atmosphere was pretty dark and the story held my attention to the not so surprising end. So I do not recommend sleeping in space for too long and trust no one not even yourself.
This movie is way better that its reviews! But still it’s no classic.
If you enjoyed The Descent, Event Horizon, Doom and Resident Evil, then you will enjoy this movie! It has a simple, yet interesting plot that keeps you interested. The action is good
There are “simple” dilemmas close to the ones seen in a movie as Cube. So this movie is by no means original; I’ll know what I mean then you see several scenes that are identical to scenes in The Descent!
Still this movie works for SCI-FI action horror movie fans. It is really a monster movie with elements of survival horror. Its a corny good time. Definitely worth checking out.
cool movie!!!
This was a very sick movie but I liked it.
Even thought they showed the creatures a lot more than I wanted, the movie is bad ass.
This looks bad-ass and kick-ass and Cam Gigandet
and Ben Foster are hot as hell both very brilliant and fine actors!
great story, great actors, but unfortunately too long and in the middle a bit boring
Its not scary but it does have an awesome plot and good acting. Any sci-fi fans will find the plot really interesting, especially the revelation at the end. Reccomended for Sci-fi + Sci-fi / Horror fans, but straight up horror fans with no sci-fi interest will probably be dissapointed.
Much better movie than often given credit for. Great sets, interesting monsters and some nice twists. Maybe not as scary as it could have been, but the atmosphere, acting and story more than made up for it. Most of all I liked some of the ideas at play here, it made me think about it afterwards which is often more than your average movie does.
Pandorum was just released on DVD, so buy it if you liked it. Let the studios know that it was better than the box office numbers show. We need more movie like this being made and the only way it’ll happen is if we support them now!
The Descent in space is basically what this is. Except it sux.
I like this movie
Excellent set designs, great atmosphere, decent acting. It’s an amalgam of many well known sci fi horror movies and it works. It’s a good mindfuck too. Part of the reason that it works is that besides the monsters, what happens in the movie is believable. The movie is Sci Fi… for now.
I agree with the ‘official review’. The way the creatures are shot make this film look cheap. Also, the makeup on the creatures is terrible. There is a scene towards the end where they show one up close and you can see the mask. This could have been a good movie.
This was a pretty good sci-hor film. Good acting,good pacing and action. overall a entertaining film with a good story.
For a sci-fi/horror hyrbid that joins the ranks of films like Aliens and Event Horizon, Pandorum has some big shoes to fill.
Someone, perhaps on this site, mentioned how much the movie evoked imagery taken from the Descent, particularly with the creatures showcased in this story. This is a fairly accurate comparison, from the way these things move and sound, to their dubious evolutionary development.
While Pandorum kept me entertained throughout, I never felt it reach that point where it transcended from good, to great. Where the tension went into overdrive and induced some dread, fear or true suspense. While it had a handful of jump moments, by and large I watched this movie in the dark and never even thought of hitting the pause button. So while I was entertained, the film didn’t engender any feelings of dread or anxiety in me, for me the benchmark of a truly successful horror film.
Still for a friday evening in or a date movie, Pandorum will suffice. It does offer a few interesting twists on the concepts of the end of the Earth, re-colonization of the population like Noah and the Ark, with just a touch of the psychological effects of intense isolation and a lack of any concept of time.
I recommend this movie as a rental more than anything.
Pandorum is a film that’s neither bad or good, which is the problem. The acting is decent, the atmosphere is very gritty and claustrophobic, and some nice suspense. But it gets lost in a slow pace, a convoluted premise, and its uninteresting first half. Pandorum is always intriguing, but it’s never involving. Its pacing is so slow, that it’s moderate one hour and forty eight running time, feels double its length. Although, it has some good factors. I thought the performers were well developed, it had a very intriguing concept, and I liked that it was very dark and gritty, the way horror films should be. I’d say it’s worth a rental because the last horror film in space was probably Alien: Resurrection.
ehhhhhh i wasnt impressed i expected alot better and it was to fast pace for me
I absolutely love this movie. It has everything you could possibly want: Sci-fi, horror, action, fighting, weapons, gore, monsters…the list goes on and on. This movie holds your interest from the start. The Director did an excellent job of using real sets and make up monster effects which adds a tremendous sense of realism to the scenes. I’ll take real effects over CG FX any day! This movie is definitely worth buying and will keep you thinking about well after you’ve seen it. Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid are brilliant actors. Great film!
$40 million for this crap ??? .
Pandorum was entertaining enough, but I’m really tired of watching these movies that make me feel like I’m inside a video game instead of a movie. I never gave a damn about any of the characters, and the story had more holes in it than swiss cheese. There was absolutely no story behind what was going on, other than perhaps Bower’s character… a little. And the action scenes were edited so herky jerky that it was difficult to watch and follow at times. I don’t understand the comparison to the Descent at all. This isn’t a terrible movie. It’s just not that good.
Totally lost interest after the first hour. The action was just ok (the double-speed of the action scenes really wrecks them), and the creatures are actually very similar to the ones in Descent (just like other reviews have noted). The story drags in the middle, and I mean drags to a halt (in one extended scene especially). Too much ‘splainin’, Lucy! Some TLC could have made this a beast instead of a bore–too bad….it gave me the shakes of pandorum instead. Average sci-fi at best.
First point, definitely agree with the similarity between creatures here and in the Descent.
I was interested in the first half, kind of feeling the who science fiction horror kind of combo, but it got a little old. Overall I liked the idea, and the actors, it just could have been executed better. Still a decent movie.
It was worth the watch nothing amazing though
Very good. It is much better than what some of these other reviews say. The Descent creatures look nothing like these creatures. Just because they are both pale does not mean Pandorum copied The Descent.
Really enjoyed this movie! I loved the atmosphere, The pacing, the actors and the creatures.The movie takes you on a creepy journey as you try to figure out, how the lead characters got to the point they are at.This movie dosen’t break any new ground, but it is an entertaining film just the same.
I thought it was a alright movie, didn’t love it didn’t hate it. I just thought it was okay.
good suspense and story witha twist end. Still nothing special, it could have been better. At first I thought it was dead space.
I expected a lot better,this movie was kinda bad.
this movie was better than aliens and predator!:) which is good:), reall impressive acting and story and creative kills:)
Twas a pretty good movie.
I liked the clausterphobic(spelling?) feel of it.
Really don’t get how most sites have less than stellar reviews for this, one of the best sci-fi films in the past 10 years.
Its like a bad acid trip except you want another hit!
A fun Sci-Fi flick with cool gore and crazy mutant creatures.Not the best acting but still worth the watch.The Twist is easy to figure out but the movie is still enjoyable.
Usually I write long, slightly overblown rants about why or why not I liked or didn’t like something but Pandorum is just so bad I can’t be bothered summoning the words to describe it. Please take this as a warning, Pandorum maybe one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. Only watch it if you happen to be wondering what water board torture might be like. The people I really feel sorry for amid the apocalypse that is Pandorum is the design and FX folk who have done a great job. Shame their capable work is housing for a huge stinking cinematic turd like Pandorum.
pretty good for a resident evil film type movie, i thought it was like ghosts of mars (the creatures) it has a great hit right near the end and has some great action, worth a rent
Excellent film. I loved seeing Dennis Quaid as a bad guy and the creatures – nice.
The only qualm I have is the same as I usually have – the sped up kill scenes with the creatures. I always have a problem with creatures being sped up like that.
I did however like the fact they ate their own. That was more disturbing than them eating the one’s who just woke up!
Over all – a decent film. I really liked it but I couldn’t help but feel it could have been better.
Great watch though.
You know that the Descent did not create the concept of humans devolving into man-eating monsters, right? The Time Machine and Lurking Fear beat them to it. The creatures are another Morlock rehash like with vampires.
Anyway I thought it was a good but flawed film and it could have been better. Made alot of referrences to old scifi TV shows that even predate Alien like the Ark In Space and The Starlost along with Greek and Christian mythology.
A fascinating and creative story, but there’s so much going on it becomes mind boggling at times.
Wow. This was better than I thought it was gonna be. Awesome sci-fi horror, with good scares and even some fights. Special effects were good, but not excessive. Plot was admirable, and Dennis Quaid surprised me with his ability to act well in a horror film. I strongly recommend this one
Generic “we’re not alone” spaceship flick with knock off Descent-style creatures that are annoyingly sped up in a way that makes them look like bad stop motion figurines. I almost turned it off when they showed the first creature and probably should have. Not absolutely terrible, but its been done many times before and much better.
I love this movie; it was amusing, interesting, had good acting, and had Norman Reedus (Mmm <3)!
There aren’t enough good sci-fi movies out there and this one is a pretty lazy attempt. It offers nothing new to the genre and manages to not even be fun to watch.