Pandorum (2009)

Two crew members are stranded on a spacecraft and quickly - and horrifically - realize they are not alone. Two astronauts awaken in a hyper-sleep chamber aboard a seemingly abandoned spacecraft. It's pitch black, they are disoriented, and the only sound is a low rumble and creak from the belly of the ship. They can't remember anything: Who are they? What is their mission? With Lt. Payton staying behind to guide him via radio transmitter, Cpl. Bower ventures deep into the ship and begins to uncover a terrifying reality. Slowly the spacecraft's shocking, deadly secrets are revealed...and the astronauts find their own survival is more important than they could ever have imagined.


If you think about the long term effects of global warming, and the idea of other earth like planets in the universe, added to the fragile survival of the human race, this a great movie that sparks your imagination. The film begins with a man waking up from a hyper-sleep. Because he's been asleep for so long, he has amnesia. The audience learns as he does about the gigantic, warehouse-like ship that is actually a shuttle for the remaining human race. Earth at this point, has killed off the human population entirely. Thousands of people, animal and plant specimens are being transported to a planet 40 light years away. It was supposed to be a 145 year trip, and the humans on board aren't sure how long it's been. Because the ship is nuclear powered, the reactor is about to shut down, and the lead character (Ben Foster) is trained to keep the reactor working. On his way to the reactor, he meets a scientist and farmer. They both have to engage with highly evolved (or devolved?), cannibalistic humans that hunt and eat the humans that are automatically waking up from hyper sleep. All of this story line is hard to discern from the first viewing. If you watch it again, with the behind-the-scenes featurette on the film, it makes the movie easier to understand. It has some truly heart pounding moments, and you have to appreciate that this film was filmed with as little CGI as possible. Most scenes have backdrops that are highly elaborate sets, and the indigenous ship-cannibals are played by very athletic dancers under some amazing make-up. It's worth a viewing, if you're imaginative enough to appreciate it.


****/*****


4/5 Stars