Rating: Summary: Hell is Other People's Memories Review: Most critics who trash this film for being cliched, confusing and full of over-the-top violence overlook its most basic topic: memory. Traumatic memory itself can be all of these things, and this film is a fast and loose representation of what traumatic memory looks like in the bloody raw. Like the films "Solaris" and "Hellraiser" from which it borrows, "Event Horizon" takes the viewer through a manic and terrifying ride into the past. But this isn't the neat and orderly past of documented human history -- it's the messy, sloppy, out of control past that lurks in every troubled individual human psyche. Also like "Solaris" and "Hellraiser," this film suggests that while human beings are usually incapable of controlling their worst or most frightening memories (such as the suicide or abandonment of a loved one in this film), alien or demonic beings ARE. Like Pinhead, the space vessel in this film asks its human victims to do nothing more than think upon their own darkest memories and to imagine how dark the memories of other people might be. It then makes these memories come alive with a vengeance, literally. This film isn't as theoretically frightening as "Hellraiser" and not as sublime as "Solaris," but it's gorier, more gruesome, and more unapologetic. You gotta love it. Or else it's gonna come get you.
Rating: Summary: Relax Review: Relax people this is not the worst movie ever. True, it is not Casablanca, but it never was intended to be. Take it for what it's worth and enjoy. Sam Neil is also a very underestimated actor.
Rating: Summary: Oh my Review: ok.. first of all.. the trailor for it was completely misleading. I do not watch horror movies but my boyfriend was wanting to see it. Convinced me that it was a space thriller and not in any means a horror movie because that is what he believed it to be. I watched the first 5 minutes of it and spent the rest of the movie with my head burried in his shoulder crying, since we had paid for it at the theatre we didn't leave. I didn't sleep for several nights and I didn't even watch any of it. It even scared him and he doesn't scare easily. Point is.. if you are an avid horror movie watcher.. go for it, it's definently for you. If you aren't. DON'T! Very disturbing movie.
Rating: Summary: Creepy and Beautiful, But That's All Review: I really looked forward to seeing this movie on the big screen. The idea of a lost ship showing up years later - and empty - has tremendous possibility. The previews and commercials convinced me that it had a good cast and high quality special effects.How can they come so close to making a great movie but end up so far off? The cast is great, the music is excellent, the special effects are great, the cinematography is great, but was the screen-writer on cold medicine while he wrote this? Sam Neill's character is sometimes clearly good, sometimes thoroughly evil, sometimes a good man tempted by evil, sometimes a good man possessed by evil, and sometimes an evil man who has been masquerading as good. It was like the screen-writer kept changing his mind about what he wanted to do with the character, but never bothered to go back and edit the story into consistency every time he changed his mind. If I had been Sam Neill, I think I would have said, "Make up your mind about this character or I'm walking." When the central character is inconsistent in his nature and becomes undefinable, a story is lost. Quelle domage! What a disappointment. If you buy this or rent it, watch it and listen to the music, but block out the dialogue and forget trying to make it make sense, because it will refuse.
Rating: Summary: Two movies for the plot of none Review: Event Horizon can be viewed as two different movies, one fairly awful, the other simply tired. It offers thrills and spills aplenty, but the viewer in search of intelligent life is sure to be disappointed. The actors do the best they can with what they have--"Now, when we drop these 500 gallons of red water on you, you look surprised, okay?""Sure, but what's my motivation?""Uh, it's supposed to be blood from outer space!" but they don't have much to go on. The first film is science fiction of a sort which I think, in spite of the comments of some reviewers here, will drive hard core sci-fi fans to distraction. Within 30 seconds of the film opening, there is water dripping from a faucet on a space-station in orbit. One character smokes cigarettes (yes, on an interplanetary rescue ship) in the open and the smoke mysteriously billows around him just as if there were gravity. Now, granted, later on we see that we have developed anti-gravity, but there are more inconsistencies. Our intrepid heros end up in the orbit of Neptune, but there is some apparent turbulence in space, and space-clouds, and a lightening storm which no one seems to think is at all unusual in a vaccum. They receive a distress call from the haunted ship, but Earth technology in 2047 doesn't allow them to cut out the high frequency interference enough to understand the message clearly--this in spite of the fact that I could do it at home on my Mac today in a matter of minutes. By 2047 we've apparently developed enough technology to create gravity, contain a black hole, and warp space-time--we must have let our audio technology lapse as we put all our resources into physics--something had to give, I guess. With regularity explosions make noise in a vaccum, and even though we get computer-graphic-created liquid globules in zero-gee, we never get zero-gee gas venting. Oh, yeah, and in 2047 kids are apparently still wearing the same kind of bulky coats they wear now. Design and fabric technology must have had to take a backseat to physics, too. Beyond the setting, there is really nothing else that is sci-fi about this movie. The premise, interesting as it could have been, exists simply to deliver the second film, a slasher/horror film along the lines of Nightmare on Elm Street. And if you like Freddy Krueger, you are likely to enjoy Event Horizon. The special effects (loads of gore, watery blood splashing in hundreds of gallons, Krueger-like makeup for Sam Neill and supporting ghosties) are neither bad nor exceptional. We get the explanation that all these apparitions are supernatural, so just like Freddy Krueger they don't have to look real. This kind of nonsense may make you jump, but there's nothing really intriguing about it. The suspense derives solely from the whims of the director and his minions, and not from the storyline itself. If literally anything can happen, why don't more imaginative things happen? We've seen the stripey face horror makeup before, we've seen the buckets of blood, we've seen the eye in the middle of the palm....oh, wait, maybe real horror of hell is that it's boring! The only person involved in this film with imagination was the set-designer, who created some pretty terrific looks, especially for the gravity drive. As others have noted, there were many allusions to the look of other films (most notably Alien and 2001), but there was enough new in the design to be interesting. However, if set-design is the only thing of merit, probably the movie is worth giving a pass.
Rating: Summary: scary as hell Review: You can say whatever you want about this movie but if you watch it late at night with no lights you aint geeting no sleep.
Rating: Summary: Mix "Alien" with "The Shinning" and you'll get the idea. Review: "Event Horizon" was an Unexpected Pleasure. It had a Great Story, Terrific Cast, Wonderful Direction and it is Genuinely Creepy in many parts. Sam Neill and Lawrence Fishburn lead the Thespian charge as two of the men sent to retrieve the lost Event Horizon Research Shuttle. Retrieval becomes Unnecessary when the entire crew seem to have deserted, or worse. (that is not a Spoiler, the Trailer gives away that information) Sam and Lawrence are at each others throats most of the film and it's always fun to see Two Great Actors go Head to Head. Jason Isaacs, Joely Richardson and Sean Pertwee give Exceptional Supporting Performances, Isaacs and Pertwee Especially. Both have since proved themselves as Even better actors (Isaacs is in "The Patriot" and "Divorcing Jack". Pertwee is in "Soldier" and "Love, Honour and Obey") and have become two of my Favourite Supporting Actors. The Sets are also very cool, much like the Original "Alien". (there is even a scene in the Air Ducts like in "Alien", and It had me on edge for the rest of the film) The Directing is also very cool, Maximum thrills from a Minimal Story. There are some Awe-inspiring shots that will have your Chin on the floor (eg, The Upside Down Zoom in on Sam at the base, The Crippling Explosion on board the "Lewis and Clark") . Critics and Audiences seem to agree that the Ending of "Event Horizon" is far to Strange to be Satisfying, but that was what I liked about it... It was Unexpected, I didn't see it coming. I also didn't expect the film to be such a Classic, but it is. See for yourself.
Rating: Summary: Original in its UN originality Review: This movie is a hybrid of so many different films its embarrassing. Its like a cross between Alien (they even duplicated several shots from this one- such as the female officer coming up the ladder just like Ripley did in Alien...), Dune (folding space), The Shining (the alive ship/dwelling), Hellraiser, the Exorcist, The Abyss, Aliens (Fishburn's character reminds me alot of Sgt. Apone), The Black Hole (for obvious reasons) and possibly Star Wars/Star Trek influenced alot of the visuals. I like this film, but it isnt the best sci fi film ever made. The characters are one dimensional, and speak mostly in cliches and inane one liners. The CG look a bit dated now (eg- the floating debris in the corridor looked incredibly fake), but as others have said this kind of adds to the campy, cheesy sci-fi value of the film that actually makes it entertaining. I like watching this film occasionally, but i wont rate it higher than 2 stars because thats all that it deserves. Its just not that great of a movie, but ironically, thats what makes it entertaining (Plan 9 from outer space syndrome i guess). Plus, it's always awesome to see Sam Neill play this kind of character, that being a complete wack-o. I do think that the premise was pretty unique...a man-made two-way gateway to "hell" If they wouldnt have tried to copy every other sci-fi film and exerted a little more effort, or heck, imagination, this would have been a really cool film. Definitely for the hard core sci-fi geek only though.
Rating: Summary: Great visuals, scare factor. Ultimately disappointing Review: After seeing the trailer for this film we anxiously awaited its theater debut. OK, so the shock, gore and B-Sci-Fi Cheeze value is superb but the film ultimately becomes ridiculous, pointless and disappointing. There are much better films to see and I certainly would not purchase this one. If you must see it, go ahead and rent it. I can't image wanting to bother watching it twice.
Rating: Summary: the worst film ever made Review: I think that "Event Horizon" could very well be the worst movie ever to be made in the history of film. I'd give it zero starts if possible. Now, I certainly haven't seen every movie ever made, but of the films I have seen, this is easily the movie that I hate the most. It starts off promisingly, and then just rapidly takes a nosedive into the sewage that it came from. I think the reason it is so bad is because it has the potential to be good. Scenes are set up tensely, and then just end up ......... Kathleen Quinlan's part with that dude in that air tent thing? It starts to get creepy, and then it ...... The ending? ....... An affront to movie watchers everywhere. I try to be forgiving, but this one sins far too much.
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