I watched the 2009 suspenseful science fiction horror movie”Pandorum” on Netflix DVD. It is definitely for true science fiction fans and did not do well at the box office. It is a British-German film directed by Christian Alvart a German filmmaker and screenwriter.
It seems human overpopulation has depleted the Earth’s resources so as a last-ditch effort they launch an ark with 60,000 people to colonize an Earth-like planet, Tanis. Everyone is placed in hypersleep and a rotating crew is awakened on a timed schedule to operate the vessel.
Something has gone wrong and two flight crew members are awakened in an improper emergence sequence, leaving them with partial amnesia. Payton stays in place to work the failing ship’s computer while Bower strikes out on a mission, finding some help and mostly horror, to search for the ship’s failing reactor.
Cast
- Dennis Quaid as Lieutenant Payton/Older Corporal Gallo- The Ship’s Lieutenant and captain, later revealed to be Corporal Gallo – (born April 9, 1954) The Long Riders, Gorp, Caveman, Stripes, Jaws 3-D, The Right Stuff, Dreamscape, Enemy Mine, Innerspace, Great Balls of Fire!, Dragonheart, Any Given Sunday, Frequency, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Legion, Footloose, Pandorum
- Ben Foster as Corporal Bower- The ship’s Corporal and presumed head mechanical engineer – (born October 29, 1980) The Punisher, Hostage, Alpha Dog, X-Men: The Last Stand, 3:10 to Yuma, Pandorum, The Mechanic, Contraband, Hell or High Water, Warcraft, Inferno, The Contractor, TV episodes of Flash Forward, Six Feet Under
- Cam Gigandet as Younger Corporal Gallo- A Corporal who went insane and killed his team, and believed himself to be Payton throughout most of the movie – (born August 16, 1982) Twilight, Pandorum, Priest, Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden, Turbo, The Magnificent Seven, TV episodes of The Young and the Restless, Jack & Bobby, The O.C., Reckless, Ice
- Antje Traue as Nadia- The Ship’s environmentalist, who teams with Bower – (born 18 January 1981) Pandorum, Man of Steel, Seventh Son
- Cung Le as Manh- an Agricultural Farmer, who teams with Bower and Nadia – (born May 25, 1972) Pandorum, Tekken, Puncture Wounds, Security, TV episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger, NCIS: Los Angeles, Into the Badlands, Hawaii Five-0
- Eddie Rouse as Leland- the mentally unstable cook who has resorted to cannibalism – (July 2, 1954 – December 7, 2014) Pandorum, TV episodes of Westworld
- André Hennicke as Hunter Leader- leader of the Hunters – (born September 21, 1958) Antibodies, Pandorum, Alien Invasion: S.U.M.1, The Girl and the Spider
- Norman Reedus as Shepard- a mechanic whom Bower encounters – (born January 6, 1969) Mimic, 8mm, The Boondock Saints, Blade II, Octane, Cadillac Records, Pandorum, The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, Iron Man: Rise of Technovore, Vacation, Alien Invasion: S.U.M.1, TV episodes of Charmed, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Hawaii Five-0, The Walking Dead (Daryl)
- Wotan Wilke Möhring as Young Bower’s Father – (born 23 May 1967) a German actor. Pandorum
- Niels-Bruno Schmidt as Insane Officer Eden – (born 1975) German movie and TV actor, Pandorum
Filming took place at Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam, Germany in August 2008. It was the first film in a proposed trilogy, but it is doubtful the sequels will ever see the light of day due to the first film’s low box-office performance.
Ben Foster insisted on eating live insects instead of using special F/X or dead ones. The name of the ship, ‘Elysium’, means a place or state of perfect happiness.
In Greek mythology, the preferred heroes of the gods were transported to Elysium, their final resting place at the end of the Earth. This is a figurative interpretation of the journey to Tanis, the Earth-like planet considered to be the paradise for the “chosen”.
Pandorum supposedly refers to Orbital Dysfunctional Syndrome. It is a psychotic break that takes place amongst ship’s captains when they become convinced a mission is cursed, essentially a descent into madness brought on by the pressures of life in space impinging on an individual’s sense of paranoia. This is a completely fictional condition.
The time date of Elysium is 923 years of traveling. Time date on Earth, February 8, 3097 which means they launched in 2174. I like this movie and thought it was a well-done science fiction story. Love the ending. I’ll give it 4 out of 5 stars.
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