Event Horizon

BACK COVER SYNOPSIS: The year is 2047. Years earlier, the pioneering research vessel Event Horizon vanished without a trace. Now a signal from it has been detected, and the United States Aerospace Command responds. Hurtling toward the signal's source area, fearless captain (Laurence Fishburne), his elite crew and the lost ship's designer (Sam Neill). Their mission: find and salvage the state-of-the-art spacecraft. What they find is state-of-the-art interstellar terror. What they must salvage are their own lives, because someone or something is ready to ensare them in a new dimension of unimaginable fear.

FILM REVIEW: I feel that "Event Horizon" is severely underrated. The film wasn't successful at the box office, but I was actually lucky enough to catch it at the cinema when it was in it's first run before it disappeared quickly thereafter. Aside from a dreadful ending, this film contains some of the most deeply atmospheric and terrifying moments put in to a sci-fi/thriller for quite some time. Production design is first rate - all the ships feel and look very real and capture a very strong science-fiction feel (kind of the way the early Alien films did - but obviously not as good as those). It's actually a decent directing job by Paul Anderson (the director of such 'classics' as "Mortal Kombat" and "Soldier"... enough said). It's a shame this film didn't get the recognition it deserved, but at least on DVD format, it can still be enjoyed for what it is - a chilling, terrifying haunted house film set on a spaceship with some superb sci-fi images and production design.
There are some high quality actors in this film and they mostly do a decent job but nothing remarkable. This film is more about the terror and the production design. Laurence Fishburne is particularly good, as are most of the crew. Sam Neill is a bit of a let down - he just doesn't ever seem comfortable or natural, especially as he becomes the personification of evil on the ship by film's end. Maybe the material just didn't work him. The music is chilling and well composed... except for the opening and end credits which has a bizarre techno dance beat which is completely out of whack with the rest of the film (what was going on there?!). There's an attempt to go into Exorcist territory in some moments, particularly towards the end, and there's a bit of blood spilt. I'm not a fan of the latter but it should please the horror buffs.
I've already said it but I'll say it again; this film has a dreadful ending. After a fabulous build-up of tension and anxiety (combined with some very atmospheric space scenes), it turns out that the terror comes from the spaceship having gone to hell and back. That's it. The ship could have gone anywhere in the universe and it goes to hell. How original. Maybe some people will go for it but I felt it wasn't interesting enough (and definitely not original), and when the big reveal is made, it's so overblown, over-acted and over the top that it's kind of silly. A good, solid ending is a must for a film and it's amazing that this unimaginative, overblown ending still doesn't manage to kill the film. The rest of the film is of high quality and absolutely worth the ride.
A very solid, quality film that delivers on almost every aspect of the sci-fi, thriller and horror genres.

TECHNICAL REVIEW: The transfer for this film is fairly good, with some rich images faithfully transferred to the DVD format. It could have been better. It's not good to see film scratches on a DVD transfer but for the most part they're limited. The audio is very good, creating a very effective atmosphere of terror. Overall, the technical aspects to this disc are very reasonable.

EXTRAS REVIEW: Only a theatrical trailer, some different language soundtracks and subtitles. Pitiful in a nutshell.

BOTTOM LINE: Don't buy this version unless it's under five bucks, otherwise buy the Collector's Edition which has a more extensive range of extras - a must have for sci-fi fans.

FILM RATING: 7.5/10 -- EXTRAS RATING: 1/10 -- OVERALL DVD RATING: 7/10 

Todd Murphy <br />
http://www.allaboutmovies.net

Don’t you hate it when a good title is wasted? Say it out loud: “Event Horizon”. Come on, do it. Louder, with an ominous Christopher Lee voice. Hey, fuck the people downstairs. Just do it. See? Doesn’t it sound awesome? 

How did they fuck up a movie with this title?

Okay, okay. It’s not that bad. It might have been directed by the mediocre Paul W. S. Anderson, but it has got its merits. The premise, for example, is interesting. A ship called “Event Horizon” (I was a bit bummed the movie wasn’t about a black hole after all) has re-appeared in Neptune, after vanishing for ten years. A crew is assembled to dock with the ship and investigate it, along with the original engineer of the ship, Dr. Weir (Sam Neill).

The first minutes of the movie work well. I was surprised to see Anderson doing his job properly for such a relatively long time, even if he tripped with a dumb camera movement or two. The initial dream sequence where the camera dives into the Event Horizon and explores its rooms is well-filmed and a good start for the movie. I also like how Dr. Weir explains what a wormhole is, despite the dumb cheap joke with an adult magazine.

The film’s orbit starts decaying (oooh, clever!) when they reach the Horizon and the movie performs its first thrust into Science’s rectum: the Event Horizon is orbiting within Neptune’s upper atmosphere. There is a reason the “upper atmosphere” isn’t called “orbit”: becauseyou can’t fucking orbit within it. So, basically, the Event Horizon and the protagonists’ ship is apparently capable of floating indefinitely. Well, okay, if that’s the worst the movie can do… I can accept that. Or I could, if it was.

So, when they enter the ship, the artificial gravity is turned off (I’ve given up requesting movies actually try to explain artificial gravity) and objects are floating around eerily. That’s when Anderson proves incapable of resisting the chance to make an object – especially liquid – stylishly drift past inches from the camera, with a soft “vush!” sound. This is made even more ridiculous due to movie’s CGI being laughablybad, with the drops of liquid looking opaque and artificial. The miniature and green screen effects are far superior and help build the atmosphere, along with a surprisingly competent art direction.

But again, Anderson, along with screenwriter Philip Eisner, throws good ideas down the shitter by choosing to use cliches instead – like characters being scared by other characters who can’t seem to, you know, make some noise to announce their presence to an unsuspecting, potentially scareable friend. Or sudden orchestra hits when something startling happens. Or, worst of all, characters noticing a strange noise somewhere and off they go to check it out, usually calling out someone’s name until they’re met with a) painful, gory death or b) an illusion followed by a) painful, gory death b) being relieved at finding a friend, which is promptly followed by painful, gory death.

Which isn’t to say there aren’t some good sequences. Namely, the one where a crewmember finds himself without a suit in an airlock about to open is acceptably intense (and the shot of the character desperately trying to keep his eyes within his sockets is very good). And the quiet moment where the captain (Laurence Fishburne) and the doctor (Jason Isaacs) talk to each other, and the captain tells him of how he lost a crewmember is one of the few moments of actual character development.

But these sequences are promptly counter-balanced by the unbelievable moment that makes Science’s rectum bleed profusely: when someone is blown off the upper atmosphere of Neptune and into space (apparently, Eisner and Anderson believe it’s easy to just leave a planet) and uses his jetpack to return to Neptune’s atmosphere. Worst of all, he finds the ship again, which they went through so much trouble to find in the first place, with the proper instruments and radar. Did I mention that, when he returns with the jetpack, he does so shouting “Here I come, motherfuckeeeeeeeeeeeeers!”?

Yeah.

Anyway, it’s on the third act “Event Horizon” crashes into the ocean after a failed re-entry attempt (okay, I’ll stop with the clever astronomical analogies now), when the movie’s villain, instead of being scary, turns out to be absolutely hilarious (“The ship brought me back”. Yeah, y’know, just like that) and Anderson’s attempts to make him frightening are even funnier, with extreme close-ups and zooms. Anderson, though, deserves credit for not backing down on the use of violence – “Event Horizon” is an adequately violent film. Sadly, the director would eventually bend over to the MPAA on “Alien vs. Predator”.
But something has to be admitted: “Event Horizon” is a fun movie. It’s remarkably stupid, with cardboard characters and painful dialogue – but it’s fun. Maybe that’s just because I’m a sucker for astronomy, and a single shot of Neptune’s upper atmosphere is enough to make me smile. But make no mistake: “Event Horizon” is GARBAGE. But amusing garbage, with one or two concepts that could have worked. And it’s Paul W. S. Anderson’s best movie. Isn’t that sad?

Written by André Navarro on January 13th 2009 

http://andrenavarro.wordpress.com/

Last updated: 2009-12-21 04:20:38 by andre_navarro

I love science fiction films, especially those that take place in space.

Here we have a science fiction film taking place at space. Event Horizon that was released in 1997 deals with a crew sent to the course of the planet Neptune after recieving a signal from a lost spacecraft sent to space years ago and which contact with it was lost.

Well, no surprises when it comes to the plot. It is very simple and easy to comprehend. A spacecraft sent after a signal they recieve and once they reach that lost spacecraft broadcasting the signal, the mystery begins, or should I say hell begins?

Aside from Sam Neill’s good character acting, I found other characters dull and not was not too much impressed.

The film is not bad, it’s not a big hit but it’s a good flick. It reminds me a lot of the horror writer H.P Lovecraft, only the story takes place in space. Strange things begin to happen to the crew members once they come in contact with the lost ship, or to be correct, with the special contact the ship holds. A huge metallic object reminding you of a scary meat grinder...later to be discovered as a gate to hell and back.

This science fiction film has some good scenes in it too, I won’t tell you exactly what the scenes involve so I won’t ruin the plot but let’s say the makeup is pretty good and convincing, I wouldn’t recomend eating while watching the film.

Watching the film in a dark and quiet enviornment helps a lot deliver the mystery and the horror that unflds during the film. It won’t scare you a lot, but it is not a bad film at all, maybe for the first time you could see what happens when you visit hell...or hell visits you.

If you are a science fiction and horror fans, go see this film, it won’t do you any harm and it’s always good seeing good acting by Sam Neill. If you’re not...well, I suggest a different film to start with.

Jessie