Supernova

Rating:
Summary: Too Many Cooks.
Review: Ultimately this film is not as good as it could have been, but it does have things to recommend it so don't be fooled by some of the other reviews. Yes, the plot does have echoes of Alien but Walter Hill wrote and produced Alien, and if people would care to take note Alien has more in common stylistically with the films of Walter Hill than any of Ridley Scott's subsequent output.

The Camera, Sound and Lighting are all excellent, as are the special effects. The problems with the film stem mostly from the editing, resulting in poor character development and slow pacing. This can be attributed to production problems during and after the shoot. Walter Hill took over from another director shortly after filming began and when he was not given additional funding to add scenes he removed himself from the production process altogether. Francis Ford Coppola was then drafted in to edit the film whereupon Hill stated he would put his name back on the film if the cut met with his approval. Obviously it didn't.

A fine cast is assembled here and whilst none could be accused of being A-list most have proven themselves as fine actors in the past. The premise of the film has our cast aboard a sort of intergalactic breakdown service. They answer distress calls and all have defined roles within that. They answer a distress call from what appears to be an abandoned mining colony and immediately things are not right. The call is directly to the ship and the caller is Angela Basset's ex, apparently not a nice man, but when they arrive it appears it is from his son and he has some sort of alien artifact. The rest you can guess. Where films like this distinguish themselves is in the detail and the style and Supernova has plenty of both if you pay attention.

Hints as to how much better the film could have been can be found in the deleted scenes. Here we can see where some of the character development went as well as some of the tension. The deleted scenes also hint at a slightly different style with the audience as more casual observer than participant. Gripes about poor plot development or sparse dialogue seem to be ignoring the origins of this film. Sci-Fi thrillers are hardly renowned for their storylines, you can write the plots of the Alien movies on the back of a stamp. And as for dialogue, well personally I prefer a film that doesn't breastfeed me. Learn to pay attention to the visuals. This is a film after all, not a book or a radio play.

Okay so the film is still a failure but at least its an ambitious one that treats its audience with some respect, rather than the contempt that we have come to expect.

Not for everyone because of the unusually slow pace but worthwhile if you are interested in making films and want an easy film to dissect where they went wrong.

Rating:
Summary: it's bad, but it isn't even funny
Review: What's the biggest crime? a bad movie you can't even laugh at.
Normally when you go to the cinema, buy or rent a [bad] movie, the least you can expect it is to be funny! This movie attempts to be serious sci-fi, but serious as in dull, boring.... it just takes ages for this movie to start, because it attempts to introduce the main characters with long, awkwardly written scenes. We are introduced to the whole wooden crew and the dreadfully pedestrian production design. More than a spaceship it looks like someone's attic... the only decent futuristic set seems to be the cryogenic hybernation chamber. There's also the strangest robot you'll ever see in a movie, just look at the way it walks, bouncing stupidly with each step.
well, they receive a distress call (thank god, something at last that will stop the pointless character un-development), and so they all pop into the cryogenic pods wetting their pants because hyperspace jumps usually turn these people into lasagna... and so, that's what happens to the ship's captain (the actor probably was lucky his character died so early in the movie).
they arrive at some asteroid that is being pulled by gravity into a blue giant. As it usually happens with adventure flicks with zero plot, it all suddenly becomes the standard hazard and disaster movie, as the ship struggles to find stable orbit. After ages of boring blabber and some impecable CGI, that crisis passes, only to have a seemingly rogue shuttlecraft crash into their ship (boy do they have a bad day with collissions!)
onboard the shuttle they find the bad guy and a cosmic doomsday weapon which conveniently, also happens to rejuvenate and mutate humans. This sounds much better written than what you get in the movie, believe me! what you get is more blabber, pointless sex scenes and then silly deaths..
I won't give away the ending just in case you really want to suffer this garbage to the bitter end...
The only high point in this disaster is the good CGI, but that's about it. Don't expect any kind of suspense, or emotion, or metaphysical insight, or whatever.....

Rating:
Summary: What did i just watch?!?! ...Warning....Don't watch it!
Review: Now everyone has seen Ridley Scott's spectacular, reviding movie called Alien, that i have seen many times and enjoyed it like it was the first time watching it. This wannabe alien movie is soo contrived with idiot lines with acting so lost and out of wack, plus no plot from what i can tell. Was there even a script for this..this piece of crapola? I think the actors were stiff, even james spader, who were probably told to adlib on the 'what if' notion if this was real. In fact, i think if it was adlib, it would of been better. Some wannabe writer wrote this script over a drinks of jack daniels and was approve by someone without going over it. I'm shock the actors didn't complain when going reading the script. The camera shots were horrendous, the lighting was awful. Nothing about this movie is good. NOTHING! Maybe that why the directer didn't put his real name on this movie, since i doubt if there was any direction during the making of this this joke of a movie. STAY AWAY FROM IT!! Don't be fooled by the movie covers, which is the only good thing about it. Man, my head hurts just thinking about this one which i seen long ago. If i had purchased this movie, i would of immediately burn it so others wouldn't have to suffer watching it. I've seen bad movies but i haven't seen a movie this bad since ...umm, okay this one takes the cake for all time worst ever.

Rating:
Summary: I must have been on something when I bought this video
Review: The fact that this film tanked at the box office should have been a warning to me when I was thinking about buying it on video, but being the huge James Spader fan that I am, I just had to buy it, and I must say that I was very disappointed in it. I thought that James Spader and Angela Bassett did a good job with what they had to work with, but in general the plot was so thin and the rest of the acting was so bad that I almost wanted to find a way to tape over it. Spader and Bassett might be Supernova's saving graces, but as far as I'm concerned the rest of this turkey is MST3K material.

Alan Smithee, anyone?

Rating:
Summary: Uhhh.....what?
Review: I won't even mention the plot of the movie in my review because I'm not really sure what that plot is. This movie is not just badly written or acted, not that I could tell. This movie is so poorly made I can't figure out if it is poorly acted or written because I could not even follow the picture. It has to set the record for number of cuts per minute, because every second or two the camera angle changes. Everything is chronically underlit, in some scenes where (I guess) important details are being passed the only light is from the instrumentation and dials and things. Nothing was on screen long enough to discern what it was. I didn't even figure out the little chase scene until after I figured out the couple of shots of a woman looking scared and some, uhh....dude (they never said who he was, and he was the big villain of the movie!) looking scary means chase in the Supernova universe. I want my hour and a half back.

Rating:
Summary: Buff Spader!!!!
Review: Okay, okay, so the movie [is a little bad], and the dialogue is atrociously stilted.....still, James Spader in full buffed up, muscular mode is worth the cost of the dvd!! I just wish Angela Bassett had lightened up considerably. She seemed so stiff and uncomfortable.

Rating:
Summary: can it get any worse?
Review: no it cant. this is by far the strangest stupidest movie to ever come on earth. lets see too sum up the plot. an vessel is flying through outer space when a warning shows up. the guy they pick up ends up being tottally evil and kills evertone on the crew except two specific people. doe something funner like watch your mouse spin through his wheel but please dont rent this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Corman lives!
Review: This is the sort of movie we would expect to see from Roger Corman, had he been given 60 mil to make a [movie]. Wait. I take that back. Even Roger Corman would make a better movie because he doesn't take himself so seriously.

One of the hallmarks of bad science fiction is inconsistency of concepts within the movie. SciFi can get away with bad science to some degree as long as the bad science remains consistent throughout the movie. Italian scifi flicks are notorious for changing the parameters of the story mid-stream without expanantion. Supernova also falls victim to this error. At one time the mysterious device is discovered by the ship's computer to be a booby trap. Its purpose is to be discovered by a spacefaring race and then taken home where it detonates, destroying the discoverers and eliminating competition for the aliens who invented it. Yet by the end of the movie it is now device that is going to "burn up" the entire physical universe. This is insanely illogical, but also completely inconsistent.

The best use of Supernova would be as a training ground for would-be film-makers (and veteran directors who should know better) in how NOT to make a SciFi movie.

Rating:
Summary: Thomas Lee's Supernova
Review: Thomas Lee (Walter Hill) delivers an astounding sci-fi actioner that was unfairly ignored at the box office, and has received an undeserved rep in critics' circles.

A medical ship receives a distress call from a collapsing moon. A strange man from Angela Bassett's past comes aboard, carrying a mysterious object that can change the course of man and space.

James Spader plays a formerly drug addicted pilot who must take command of the ship. He gives an incredible performance in a role normally reserved for the steroid experiments we call action stars today. Bassett is also good, reminding you she should have won the Oscar for "What's Love Got To Do With It". Wilson Cruz is also good as the assistant with a special relationship with the computer. Lou Diamond Phillips, Robin Tunney, and especially Robert Forster do not register much in their screen time.

The film went thorough plenty of post-production problems, and I can only imagine what would have happened if Hill had stayed around, but this is still fantastic science fiction.

A word about the special effects: Holy Hubble! The effects here, even on the small TV I have, were incredible! Digital Domain really outdid themselves, creating a totally believable new world...

Rating:
Summary: Good start but fell flat
Review: I'm a big fan of sci-fi, but this didn't wet my appetite like I wanted. This movie started out with a very good premise, however it fell short along the way. The special FX were great. The concept of the hyper jump was very original. Basically you have a space hospital on patrol in deep space that picks up a homicidal killer with an alien nuke from a strange moon. So far so good. The only weak links in the cast are Wilson Cruz and Peter Facinelli. The robot had more personality the Cruz did playing Benjamin. James Spader was very different from his "Star gate" roll. One flaw was trying to build too much tension too soon. Let the story build. Once again this is a Hollywood showboat of all FX and little story.
Over all it was ok, not great, but not total bomb ether.