Debug

The computer system of a spaceship develops delusions of grandeur and starts murdering the crew. Where have we heard that one before? Oh yeah, HAL 9000 in Arthur C. Clarke's "2001..." Well guess what, 2001 has come and gone, and to date only 12 men have walked on the Moon, not only in the last century but in the last Millennium. Unsurprisingly, this story is said have been inspired by the aforementioned novel or the film based on it. Is there anything in "Debug" we haven't seen before? Not really, there is not much of a plot, nor even a side-plot, even the love interest that might be expected to develop on a spaceship where guys and gals are confined together doesn't materialise, unless one counts a bit of light banter as a love interest. Seriously, does "Debug" have anything to offer? Well, if you like bright lights and mild special effects you might find something of interest here, but if you are a "Dr Who" fan with an IQ over 70, you can forget even that.

When I saw this I was a little skeptical at first. But after watching it all the way through I can honestly say its damn good movie. Im not very pleased with the ending but yea...its an ending just the same. Didn't want this super bad ass AI to die. But yea. Its a low budget film BUT it doesn't show all that much. If you didn't mind the appearance of say... Jason X for instance... you wont have to worry about the visuals of this film. Its decent though not like ultra fantastic but who cares about that anyway. As long as its watchable and actually worth a damn. This film is. We got this team of people stuck on a ship in space. It turns out that during their search for something there an evil AI traps them on the ship and wants to kill them all. This AI is part computer and HUMAN. It bonded...making it capable of terrible things. Its awesome! And YES...the AI is Momoa. Its so good. Kal Drogo as an evil AI. Its priceless guys. If you're a Momoa fan.. WATCH THIS. you wont be disappointed. I know I wasn't. But Momoa aside...this film is good. the acting is decent. Story is intriguing though sorta simplistic. The visuals are not rough on the eyes. Its not slow moving nor too rushed which is GREAT. It keeps a steady and respectable phase. I feel the cast could have been better. But never mind that...thats just my personal opinion. All in all guys this is a decent and definitely entertaining Sci Fi / Horror movie. It actually reminded me A LOT about Paul W.S Andersons Event Horizon...just a new age version sorta. Love it. The ending is not much to my liking as I mentioned. The main character in the film. The bad ass chick becomes the new AI on the ship and Momoa dies out. Good lives...evil dies... life goes on....meh. Not very satisfying but just the same guys... its an ending. Could have been better but whatever. I liked the rest of the film very much. A solid 6 out of 10. Not more than that. That would be overestimating it. 6 = good and entertaining. Exactly what this is. If you like to sit down... put your feet up...and watch a respectable and calm sci fi horror with some fun features like Jason Momoa as an evil AI. Kicking ass. Then THIS film will definitely not disappoint. Khal Drogo as an evil AI... genius Hewlett. Seriously...

The problem with the movie was that it was ultimately boring. The characters were cardboard, the story predictable and uninteresting. Yet it wasn't a totally bad film, considering high production value and decent acting. The white interiors with white light coming from everywhere and sharp font texts reminiscent of the iPhone design and the impossibly beautiful actors did not help what was supposed to be a horror environment. So when it fails on the horror level and on the story level, you can't have a good movie. Bottom line: this film had all the resources and potential to be a good sci-fi movie, but they went in the direction of mass produced horror scripts instead, which makes no sense from a creative perspective. It's like a rogue program trying to pass up as real art.

This one stars really bad and you can tell that the budget will be an important factor but with time it gets better and once you get used to the image, you can start checking out the plot. Is it anything like Hackers? A ship with a Evil mind going on a killing spree and the only way to stop it is to fight a program with another better program, hackers doing what they do best, some visual effects here and there, a little blood, no scares, ah and if you are a girl a lot of Momoa. So no, not much to do with real hacking, just a half decent horror scifi, I've seen better, I've seen worse, I would never recommend Debug to anyone tho. It's just a production, a way for the people involved in the making of it to show what they are capable of and try to snatch a bigger project in the near future. I wish them all good luck, I think they can do more! Debug is better than Stranded per example but it ain't no Event Horizon either. I gave it a 4. Cheers!

The Good Bits 1.Firstly, when watching this you have to remember this is a low budget movie. It's never going to have the slick VFX of blockbusters like the new Star Trek films. That said, I think both the VFX and SFX were really good. I totally bought that these people were in deep space on a ship. The id chips and the personal visual displays were particularly good. 2.You can tell Jason Momoa is having a good time playing the bad guy - and he does a solid job. Adrian Holmes also puts in a good performance as the corrupt warden in charge of the group. 3. The opening 20-30 minutes are well paced and set up the story well. The first part of the film creates an unsettlingly clinical atmosphere that unfortunately is not sustained throughout the film. The ending wraps things off nicely and feels like a satisfactory conclusion for the audience. The Not So Good Bits 1. Characterisation. I felt if you removed several of the debug crew from the film it would not affect the plot in any way e.g. the characters Samson Connoly and Lara Riley felt like they were extraneous. 2. The fact that all but one of the female characters stripped down to their underwear, for generally unknown and spurious reasons, while none of the men so much as rolled up their sleeves. It made this film feel like, despite it's futuristic storyline, the writing belongs to history bin.

The highlight of the movie is watching Sidney Leeder's character flirt, tease, and taunt other crew. She's one of the few characters that has some depth, motivation, and sense of fun. Jason Momoa wasn't bad as a menacing AI, but he wasn't a character to empathize with - or even to love to hate. He ultimately had the 2 dimensional motivation of an AI following his programming, but with a maniacal murder streak. Without a truly 3 dimensional villain, he may as well be a glitchy computer or one with a loose wire. He seems to want to kill and torture... just because. Senseless violence is boring. Some CGI was really entertaining. The best parts being those that blend into the scenes - like e-mail in their heads up displays. Parts of the ship were well done. The exterior shots were very well done. Honestly, I think I'd have enjoyed the movie more without the killer AI - just fleshing out the prisoner characters' backgrounds and interactions more and their frustrations with the limitations of their freedoms. The movie is like a bad episode of Outer Limits where we get little exposition and narrative followed by mindless violence / action sequences meant perhaps to visually impress, but utterly lacking substance. Just having Momoa on a monitor talking was more menacing and entertaining than the whole opening sequence of the movie. David Hewlett is one of my favorite actors. I applaud his effort in writing and directing a full length film. It's better than many made- for-TV Syfy channel craptastic flicks of the month. I think with some work, we could see this again in another form with more well rounded characters and a better story arc for the "heroes" and villain. I wouldn't recommend the movie, but there are worse ways to spend your time. I'd describe it as having elements of Cube, Jason X, and Hackers. I'm hoping this was a proof of concept flick to show that David Hewlett is ready to take the helm of something larger.

this is the worst movie i have ever seen. and i like the actor that directed this movie, he has been in some awesome movies. but maybe he should stick to acting, no offence. but i do mean offence though because this is literally the worst movie i have ever seen in my life, and I've seen superman 3. i don't understand how they could have made a movie so bad to be honest. I'm speechless. I'm speechless that there was a talented creative person at the helm of the worst movie i have ever literally seen in my life. this movie is only better than watching paint dry. whats wrong with it? everything. acting is the worst i have ever seen, the music is the worst i have ever heard, the cinematography, if you can call it that, is atrocious. and when i say the worst i have ever seen or heard, that is precisely what i mean here. watching this film is like watching a film on a high dose of acid, or when you try to watch TV after smoking copious amounts of crack. if you want to feel like you lost your mind, go ahead, watch this movie, it will give you a glimpse into what its like to be insane or on heavy dose of insanity inducing drugs. i am not joking at all, either.

This movie starts out bad, and unsurprisingly, gets worse from there. The acting is amateurish, the special effects are rudimentary, and the plot is contrived and better handled in films such as "Event Horizon". Even as a fan of Jason Momoa, I still found myself wondering how anyone thought this movie was a good idea, as it was just so basic in terms of size and scope. The one area where it could have been something special (the FX and Gore) was edited, so that you never actually saw the deaths but the after effects, which is a cop out if I ever saw one. The only good thing about this film would have to be the design of the ship itself. Everything else? Incredibly mundane and bland, just like the rest of the movie. A horrible vision of a horrible future, this movie would have been truly something special had it been handled by a competent and talent team. Avoid, as I should have.

This is one of the best on-a-shoestring-budget films I have seen in a while. The CGI isn't bad, the acting is solid and their is plenty of action. All that said this movie isn't a great way to spend two hours. With a lot of indie films you can not only forgive dodgy effects but delight in them, they are somehow part of it. Debugs slickness actually works against it, the few dodgy elements like the ludicrously clean cut bad guy and the odd flickery greenscreen-work stick out like sore thumbs. Instead of a friendly, grungy production this has a distinct whiff of corporate Hollywood about it, which again makes it harder to love. The story is straight out of a Twilight Zone episode, nothing special. Actors mainly do OK, predictably the beautiful ladies get down to their vest and pants before the bad guy comes after them. I had no doubt who was going to make it out alive but to be honest I didn't really care. A very good effort but Nothing special.

8 of 10. A dystopia setup for young, attractive, anti-system hackers to attempt to overcome. A virtual reality sci-fi set in space on a spaceship that needs, fittingly, debugging. The debugging, to add a further twist, is being done by hackers convicted as criminals who are serving there sentences as a combination of community service and separation/imprisonment from the rest of civilization. Space science fiction is essentially a virtual experience at this point, so combining it with computers, hacking, and virtual reality makes it more immersive and you have to wonder whether the characters are real or virtual. Throw in some criminals and an out of control bio-AI that's been setup by the military, and you have the horror element. This isn't a Star Trek space fantasy sci-fi, an alien fantasy, or a time travel fable. One of the missing elements is why there are ships in space at all, what purpose if any they're serving society. That's left to the imagination, but the ending has a smooth, unforced sequel setup for filling in more of the future it happens in.