pittsburghmuggle
Since: Jan, 2010
03/09/2011 00:00:00
"The reactor has been running for decades, and Bower wakes up within an hour of the catastrophic failure? That's...rather convenient."
Fridge Brilliance: Payton knew the reactor was going to blow but didn't know how to fix it. He set the computer to awaken Bower - then put himself into hypersleep until Bower was up.
"Freedom is not a license for chaos" -Norton Juster's The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics
callsignecho
Since: Oct, 2009
03/09/2011 00:00:00
^ Nice. Good entry for the WMG page.
Screaming along at mach .2 with my hair on fire.
OneDeviousBastard
Since: Dec, 1969
04/24/2011 00:00:00
Machinery would ignite during random bursts of power as the reactor was trying to reconnect which explained why the ship would shudder occasionally and would randomly power up equipment and wake up passengers. This was stated at the beginning of the movie.
callsignecho
Since: Oct, 2009
09/01/2011 00:00:00
^ Yes. So? I'm not sure what your point is.
Screaming along at mach .2 with my hair on fire.Leave a Comment:
Should have been B-rate, but it's not
LOVED IT. I love Ben Foster's character, and I think Dennis Quaid was born to play this part. One warning: PAY ATTENTION. This is one of those everything-adds-up-at-the-end thrillers, and you will miss out on the best cookies if you don't watch carefully.
Just to satisfy the snarky, I will include these points:
There, now that's out of the way, let me outline why this movie rocks. First, the tone. The TENSION was SO VERY TENSE. The fluctuating power, the flickering lights, the greasy engineering rooms and—OH GOD AN ALIEN THING...SPINES...OILY BLACK EYES...PALE...THE TEETH OH GOD...
My second favorite thing about the movie was Ben Foster. I have no idea how he did this, but he managed to convey two traits that I would have thought impossible to combine. He's The Determinator, for sure, but there's no steely-eyed heroic gaze, no posturing, no cocky one-liners. He's terrified. But he's still going to get to that reactor and restart it, and not For Great Justice or for a Dead Little Sister or even For Science. I think it's just because it's his job. His adherence to duty when the whole freaking world has gone mad is so endearing, it's almost heartbreaking.
Thirdly, Dennis Quaid. He is so reassuring and steady in the role of Payton, I would have voted for him for president. He was totally the man you want at Mission Control when you are climbing around a ship with carnivorous aliens and No OSHA Compliance. And then later, when he is introduced to Gallo...ooh the interplay between the two is just so deliciously paranoid schizophrenic, it's riveting.
I believe this movie is a worthy successor to the Alien franchise. Yes, I think it's that good.