DVD Reviews

Pandorum – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll Jan 21, 2010, 11:43 GMT

In Pandorum, Dennis Quaid (Vantage Point, The Express) and Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma, Alpha Dog) join Cam Gigandet (Never Back Down, Twilight), Cung Le (Tekken, Fighting), newcomer Antje Traue, and director Christian Alvart (Antibodies) to tell the terrifying story of two crew members stranded on a spacecraft who quickly – and horrifically – realize they are not alone. Two astronauts awaken in a hyper-sleep chamber aboard a seemingly abandoned ...more

Borrowing a little bit of this sci-fi film here and a little bit of that sci-fi movie there is the formula of Pandorum. The results occasionally succeed, but familiarity breeds contempt and a rushed feel to the end.

In the far future, Earth is doomed so mankind builds the massive starship Elysium. The goal of the Elysium is to travel to a far off planet called Tanis - which is the only other planet in the galaxy that has Earth-like qualities. This voyage is to last 123 years.

Corp. Bower (Ben Foster) is awakened from his hyper-sleep hibernation confused and suffering from memory loss. He pieces together that he’s part of a three man flight team who pilot the ship in two year shifts. The ship is dark, the door to the rest of the ship and the bridge is locked, and the reactor seems to be malfunctioning and going to shut down to add to Bower’s woes.

Lt. Payton (Dennis Quaid) is also soon reawakened and stays in the secondary command chamber to guide Bower through the maze of service shafts to get to the other side of the locked door to let them into the rest of the ship to restart the reactor.

However, Bower finds that the ship has been taken over by cannibalistic primitives and that he may be suffering the effects of pandorum – a form of insanity brought on by long hyper-sleeps.

Pandorum provides me with a predicament. There are some things that I liked about the film, but then there are aspects that didn’t go so well. It doesn’t help that the film uses themes and predicaments that have been seen by movie going audiences in 2001, Alien, Sunshine, the Black Hole, and a whole host of other science fiction films.

The film is well realized in its visual execution, special effects, and performances, but you can’t get over that feeling of déjà vu. The results are murky as are some of the events that feel rushed at the finale.

I wondered if the funds were drying up since the CGI at the end seems dodgier compared to other effects shots in the film.

The plot, which I will not detail too much as to avoid spoiling it for you, is an interesting one but by the big reveal I had a few unanswered questions and I would’ve liked that reveal a bit more fleshed out as I felt it was quickly dealt with.

Foster and Quaid really do well in their roles, the ship is well realized as most of the effects are, but in the end you are still hungry.

Pandorum is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a commentary by director Christian Alvart and producer Jeremy Bolt.

The 14 minute “World of Elysium” is a behind-the-scenes look, the 4 minute “What happened to Nadia’s team” looks at just that, and there’s also a 3 minute “Flight team training video.” Next are 27 minutes of deleted and alternative scenes, still galleries, the 2 minute theatrical trailer, and previews of other Anchor Bay products.

Pandorum has interest but by the time the final credits roll there are enough familiarities that you feel like you’ve seen the movie several times over. It’s a nice sci-fi snack if you’re in a forgiving mood, but those looking for a full meal will find it lacking.