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Pandorum

EMAILPRINTOverture Films

Pandorum reviews
28
7.8 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 13 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 93 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Horror  |  Sci-fi  |  Suspense/Thriller

Written by: Travis Milloy

Directed by: Christian Alvart

Release Date:
Theatrical: September 25, 2009
DVD: January 19, 2010

Running Time: minutes, Color

Origin: USA | Germany

Summary

RATING: R for strong horror violence and language

Starring Ben Foster, Dennis Quaid, Cam Gigandet, Antje Traue, Cung Le, Eddie Rouse, and Norman Reedus

Two crew members wake up on an abandoned spacecraft with no idea who they are, how long they've been asleep, or what their mission is. The two soon discover they're actually not alone - and the reality of their situation is more horrifying than they could have imagined. (Overture Films)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole

Handsomely mounted, emotionally involving sci-fi movies don't often show up in the darkened galaxies of our theatre chains. So Alvart's English-language debut is definitely a film you want to catch on the big screen. Just don't sit too close, lest you end up with a dose of pandorum.

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75

Boston Globe Justine Elias

Pandorum is a dark, disquieting dream worth watching out for.

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58

Entertainment Weekly Clark Collis

How brazenly can one film rip off "Alien," "I Am Legend," and, somewhat oddly, "The Poseidon Adventure"?

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40

LA Weekly Michelle Orange

Director Christian Alvart clearly attended horror’s new paint-shaker school of direction (motto: shaky = scary!), but the script’s twisty, end-of-the-world intrigue saves this otherwise leaden film from total self-destruction.

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33

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Throw out the presence of Dennis Quaid, and the new science-fiction/horror snoozer Pandorum could easily pass for a Roger Corman cheapie.

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30

Variety Rob Nelson

Special effects are none too convincing, while sound effects are of the cheaply jolting variety favored by producer Paul W.S. Anderson in his films as director ("Resident Evil," "Event Horizon"). Other tech credits are, like the pic as a whole, lazily derivative.

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30

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

Claustrophobic, tedious sci-fi thriller.

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30

The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis

According to the press notes, pandorum means “Orbital Dysfunctional Syndrome”; whatever that is, by the end of the movie I was convinced I had caught it.

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30

Los Angeles Times Glenn Whipp

Keeps its audience in the dark -- literally and figuratively -- far too long to be of much use besides as a patience-trying exercise in reference spotting.

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30

Chicago Reader Cliff Doerksen

The sort of thing that makes you wish you were playing a video game instead.

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20

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

The movie soon turns into only a production-designed run-and-chase game, and our curiosity about what happened to Earth and the crew is teased and teased again until the movie’s big letdown of a reveal.

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20

Time Out New York Keith Uhlich

This is hackwork of the highest order, lacking in all poetry and barely comprehensible aurally or visually.

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0

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

In all fairness, the sheer, overwhelming mediocrity of everything about Pandorum – Travis Milloy's hackneyed, ultra-derivative script, Alvart's plodding pacing and dull direction, even the eventual crimson tide of gore that duly arrives just in time to keep audience members over the age of 13 from dozing off – may well constitute a new breed of horror: In space, no one can hear you snore.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 93 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Chris K. gave it a1:
Luckily a martial arts hottie has survived in the sewers of a space ship alone surrounded by zombie aliens. I usually like this stuff but plot too dumb to watch.

Santa S gave it a10:
Excellent film ! Real gem in SF from European director following Verhoeven, Kubrick, Tarkovsky - of course American mediocre viewer needs Spielberg or Cameron to give positive grade for SF film.

James F. gave it an8:
Reviewers tend to band together for fear of looking stupid to go against some of the bigger reviewers it seems. This is not a bad film, well paced and entertaining. Maybe it does borrow from other films out there, but does retain enough to be distinctive, and what films these days haven't been done before in some other such way

Todd C. gave it an8:
I'm somewhat surprised to see a really, really bad review for this movie by the Critics. Maybe 50%, but not as low as 28%. It's like Equilibrium; there's great potential. Don't take this movie as a professional, high-budgeted movie. I will say that this movie would be enjoyable to certain types of people, and based on User Reviews, majority say it's pretty good. If you like survival horror, then this movie might just be for you! Also might be enjoyed by sci-fi fans. And for those Xbox360/PS3 gamers who have Dead Space, this movie is like that (I've noticed that someone else in the User Review mentioned the game too!), but with less shooting and more running away, trying to survive, from man-eating humans. Yes, the main characters are being chased by....humans, or more like humans who evolved to survive inside the ship. I would like to mention for those who can withstand watching horror movies and games, it is not very scary, but more suspenseful, more "on-the-edge-of-your-seat" type of movie. So I hope if you do watch it, you love survival and not looking for hardcore horror. I guess it's just how I am, but I like the feeling when the characters have no clue where they are, what they are supposed to do, and they're stuck, trying to figure what is going on, like the game Myst. Yes, it does take patience to finally know the whole scenario. But I liked the plot. Here's a small summary about the movie (I'll try not to spoil) : The main character, Bower, and his Lt., Payton, are awakened in their space ship. After awakening from hypersleep (a long hibernation), they realized the Flight Crew # 5 was not there to greet them (Bower and Payton are Flight Crew # 6, I believe). Flight Crews rotate command of the ship. All non-active flight crew members go back to hypersleep. Bower and Payton became suspicious after realizing that the ship seems to be having problems, especially with the power supply. There was no response from the bridge (command center/navigations/cockpit) and from Flight Crew # 5 (who were supposed to greet Bower and Payton), and thus must investigate what is going on. On Bower's way to the source of the ship's power supply, he discovers these weird humanoids, and they are definitely hostile creatures. From there, he must try to stay alive, while figuring out what happened. He meets a few other survivors, and will sometimes recall some memories that he forgotten (due to temporary amnesia from hypersleep) which will reveal why he was part of the flight crew, why the ship was built, and where the ship was heading (it's main objective of voyage). Though survival horror movies have had a very common storyline (Main character must figure where he/she is, main character must survive, main character kills some enemies, main character is the only survivor, The End.), it is unique compared to others that I watched. I don't know, just give it a try and watch it!

John S. gave it a10:
To hell with the critics. Awesome movie!

Oz E gave it a9:
Wow, I'm amazed this film has had such bad reviews. I loved this movie, I thought it was like a mixture of two of my favourite movies - Event Horizon and The Decent. If you liked either of those movies you will love Pandorum. An awesome piece of Hard Sci Fi. Forget about those stuffy critic reviews sci fi fans will love it.

Katlyn J. gave it a9:
although it started out slowly, it soon caught my attention and I have to say, I enjoyed this movie a lot.

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