Film Review: EVENT HORIZON (1997)

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Running time: 93 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18

Genre: Sci-Fi/Horror/Mystery
UK Release date: 22^nd August 1997

Watched on DVD Friday 18^th November 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I remember being impressed with this film when I first saw it way back in the late 1990’s. It’s one of those that, once you’ve seen it, it keeps coming back to you. I have been meaning to watch it again for some time now and so I though now being as good time as any I popped it in the DVD player, turned the sound up and let her rip! I wasn’t disappointed; it’s every bit as good as I remember, right down to the pumping ‘Prodigy’ track that runs over the closing credits. I will give you my take on it after this very brief summary.

The experimental spaceship, The Event Horizon, has been missing for seven years after it left the solar system bound for Proxima Centuri. After its beacon is detected in the vicinity of Neptune, a rescue mission is launched. A specialist crew is sent out along with Dr. William Weir, the man who designed the ship. The crew consists of; Captain Miller, Peters, the Med Tech, Lt. Starck, Cooper, Justin, D.J. and Smith. Dr. Weir is haunted with memories of his dead wife, who had recently committed suicide. None of them are prepared for what they find when they reach the, now deserted, Event Horizon. The experimental drive had taken it to places beyond understanding… and it hadn’t come back alone. I will leave it there or the Spoiler Police will be signing me up for another trip.

A very well made film with some really excellent effects. Great performances all round; everyone did a very professional job and made the story believable. So, special praise goes to; Laurence Fishburne as Captain Miller, Sam Neill as Dr. William Weir, Kathleen Quinlan as Peters and Joely Richardson as Lt. Starck. Honourable mentions go to; Richard T. Jones as Cooper, Jack Noseworthy as Justin, Jason Isaacs (hello to him) as D.J. and Sean Pertwee as Smith.

I must admit I really like this film, how it’s got such a low rating on Rotten Tomatoes I will never know! Yes, the plot is a little complicated but I did find it truly scary and there a very few films I can say that about these days. To me I think it’s probably the best space horror since the Alien films… and it’s certainly better than Alien 4! I haven’t read what the professional critics have to say on it, but I will stick to my guns and say it’s a very underrated Sci-Fi Horror that deserves better recognition… Recommended.

My Score: 7.7/10

IMDb Score: 6.4/10 (based on 54,832 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0083658/

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 23/100 (based on 35 reviews [No Consensus] counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/event_horizon/

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Miller: Mr. Cooper!
Cooper: Skipper!
Miller: Ion Drive in 10 minutes.
Cooper: Ooh! It's time to play Spam in a Can!

Dr. Weir: What was made public about the Event Horizon - that she was a deep space research vessel, that her reactor went critical, and that the ship blew up - none of that is true. The Event Horizon is the culmination of a secret government project to create a spacecraft capable of faster-than-light flight.
Smith: Uhm, excuse me. See, you can't actually do that.

Miller: Vacate! I want off this ship!
Dr. Weir: You can't leave. She won't let you.
Miller: You just get your gear and get back on the Lewis and Clark, Doctor, or you'll find yourself walkin' home.
Dr. Weir: I am home.

LINKS:
Official Site (German): http://movies.uip.de/event_horizon/
Trailer:

Film Review: GREEN ZONE (2010)

Director: Paul Greengrass
Running time: 115 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Thriller/Action/Adventure/War
UK release date 12th March 2010

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 29th January 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This film has had a bit of a slating by certain critics and I know it didn’t go down too well with many in the USA. Given all this controversy I decided it might be worth a viewing and I can see how it might get certain sections of society a bit riled up. What I saw was an entertaining film, a work of fiction based on recent events in Iraq. But more of what I think later, here’s a brief summary first (summary haters please search that building for WMDs while I write the next paragraph).

Roy Miller is a soldier tasked with investigating sites identified as holding Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) soon after the invasion of Iraq. After coming up empty each time he begins to question the validity of sources used to obtain this information. The top brass aren’t interested and just fob him off but a CIA operative, Martin Brown, is sympathetic to his dilemma. Whilst investigating a site (& coming up empty yet again) an Iraqi civilian approaches Miller’s unit and tells him that he has seen some ex-republican guard commanders meeting at a house nearby. This civilian ‘Freddy’ is brought along as an interpreter and they set off to intercept the meeting. Capturing one of the insurgents, they find out that a General Al Rawi was attending. Miller takes a notebook from the prisoner before a Special Forces unit, lead by Briggs, intercepts and takes the prisoner away. The notebook Miller has taken has the key to finding the General and others, with much darker, political, agenda’s would like to get hold of him for their own means. I’ll leave it there as I don’t want to give the whole plot away.

There have been several films made on the subject of this conflict, but this one stands out as one that questions the reasons for the war in the first place. The US government are portrayed as very uncaring and only out to cover up anything that might make them look bad in the eyes of the world. Yes, it’s all very political! Decent performances all round; Matt Damon did a decent job as Miller and Brendan Gleeson was pretty good as Martin Brown. Honourable mentions also go to; Greg Kinnear as Clark Poundstone, “Hello” to Jason Isaacs, with a tremendous moustache, as Briggs and Amy Ryan as journalist Lawrie Dayne. I also thought that Khalid Abdalla was excellent at the Iraqi civilian, Freddy.

Now, as I’ve already said this film is very political, but it is also a very good thriller with a lot of action thrown in for good measure. As a piece of entertainment I found it very adequate although I could see the plot being a bit over-complicated for some. At the end of the day I thought it was an entertaining thriller set against the aftermath of the Iraq war that asks some tough questions of those that brought the war about in the first place. Recommended.

My score: 7.1/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0947810/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1202804-green_zone/
Official Site: http://www.greenzonemovie.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi447415577/