Event Horizon

Paramount Pictures

present a Golar Production in association with Impact Pictures

of

 a Paul W.S. Anderson film

EVENT HORIZON

starring

Lawrence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan and Joely Richardson.

******************

Here's a trailer

Without wishing to give too much away, for those who have not seen this and may let their curiosity get the better of them, this is a UK/USA production made on an estimated budget (according to Internet Movie Database) of $50,000,000 and as far as the look of the thing is concerned the money was used well; would that one could say the same for the content.

Seven years after disappearing on its maiden flight, the deep-space research vessel 'Event Horizon' reappears in orbit around Neptune.  Unfortunately, the ship's revolutionary faster-than-light 'gravity' drive (which works by folding space by means of creating a black hole... er... I think...) has taken the ship to somewhere it really shouldn't have been and it's brought something back that it really, really should have left behind.

As we are helpfully informed, there were eighteen people aboard the ship.  Some of them may still be alive and thus need rescuing so to this end, a rescue vessel, the 'Lewis and Clark' is dispatched, crewed by Fishburne (a chance to see him when he was still slim) and a crew of walking stereotypes.

I can just imagine a meeting...

Producer: "Okay, let's go through the list of the crew: we've got...

the tough, by-the-book but basically decent Captain (Miller: Lawrence Fishburne)

 the no-nonsense one (Lieutenant Starck: Joely Richardson),

the rough diamond (Pilot Smith: Sean Pertwee),

the caring medic (Medical Technician Peters: Kathleen Quinlan),

 the rookie kid (Engineer Ensign Justin: Jack Noseworthy),

and the intellectual one (Trauma Doctor D.J.: Jason Isaacs).  That's great, that's everyone... oh, no, not quite: we need the token black dude.  Where's the token black dude?"

Assistant: "We got him: we got Fishburne."

Producer "No, the token black dude".

Assistant: "Oh, man..."

Rescue Technician Cooper (Richard T. Jones) is duly added to the list.

For technical advice the crew take with them the ship's designer, Dr. Weir (Sam Neill).  In keeping with the casting policy set out above, Weir is a classic 'mad, mad, they said I was mad but I will show them bwahahahahaha' scientist.

When we first see him, on what we discover to be a space-station, he is woken up and begins looking at photographs of his wife who has, for reasons that do not become clear, committed suicide.  This scene follows on immediately from a scene in which we witness the Event Horizon in orbit around Neptune... the camera takes us on board... abandoned items float around... before long a lacerated body, its mouth frozen in a scream, floats towards the camera.  All this may or may not be a nightmare of Weir's... sadly this is by no means the only unanswered question.

This film is so derivative that you have to remind yourself that you haven't already seen it, so numerous are the references to other films (Alien, The Black Hole, 2001. 2010, The Shining, Dune and Hellraiser, to name but seven).

 Nothing that happens really makes any sense: when Fishburne and Co. first encounter the ship it is in the upper cloud layers of Neptune, the better to give a dramatic approach.  From then on it remains in orbit.  How it manages to move itself around with no power is not explained.

As for plot, well, there isn't much.  From hereon in we are served a fairly relentless stream of hallucinations, death, an unintentionally funny recording of what happened when the crew activated the gravity drive (mutilation and - apparent - death), explosions, death, buried memories, blood, gore and death.

Where has the ship been?  The implication is that it's been to hell and back but we are never told this.  What has it brought back?  No idea.  What happened to the crew?  Are they dead?  If so how come there are life-signs all over the ship?

Before the Lewis and Clark sets off, we discover that Peters is going to miss her handicapped son's birthday: this information sets things up for some shock moments later on.

In fact, shock is the operative word here.  Everything is designed for maximum shock value with no regard to whether or not anything makes any sense at all.

Come the end, Weir is thoroughly possessed by the ship.  Miller disposes of him by blowing out a window  but his spirit returns and takes over the aforementioned body.  'Weir' attempts to take the ship to... wherever... and Miller attempts to stop him.  Finally Miller sacrifices himself by hitting the destruct button and only Starck and Cooper escape in the front portion of the ship.

The script squeezes in what is meant to be a final shock, but it really does not come as a huge surprise when Starck wakes up and hallucinates that Weir is part of the rescue team.  Unsurprisingly she then loses it completely and has to be sedated

Yes, I know I said I wouldn't give too much away but this film truly deserves to be missed.

1 out of 10.