Supernova

source: Supernova

SUPERNOVA (2000) * James Spader, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, Lou Diamond Phillips, Peter Facinelli, Robin Tunney, Wilson Cruz. Sci-fi yawner about a medical rescue expedition that unwittingly becomes a target for an alien lifeforce that wants to take over the universe, yadda yadda yadda. Boring beyond belief and worst yet incomprehensible. Directed by Walter Hill (who used the Alan Smithee-like alias, Thomas Lee) who lost control of his movie when MGM interfered and had it re-edited by its executive producer Francis Ford Coppola (!) to an indecipherable mess; they both know better!

This movie must be viewed as a major dissapointment. You'll wonder where you've seen this plot before, and better! You can see the next step coming before anyone in the cast, and it isn't that exciting. James Spader and Angela Basset turn out good performances with this lame material, but the rest of the cast is unnoteworthy, especially the "bad guy". Good special effects are not unique to good movies, as we've seen over and over again in the past. And the effects here are not even that good, who designed the sets anyway? Despite some interesting moments and a few good performances, this movie never gets beyond the lame plot and contrived devices. Stay away from this Supernova.

A transcendently bad script (which vaguely recalls Aliens or Event Horizon or Virus etc.) renders this movie unwatchable. Spader and the rest of the cast passably act through bad dialogue, no plot and some okay-but-not-great special effects. Suspension of disbelief was non-existent for me (esp. my disbelief that this movie was actually made and released). All in all I believe most folks associated with this project (except the fx guys/girls) will do well to strike it from their resume.

How do you review a film no one cared about in production and post production. The film is clearly a mess of visionary filmmakers, but the studio was the central problem. Walter Hill was a solid choice, but was second guessed by the studio and replaced. You can see inspired moments, but forced recuts drag the film. It's a messy film with no real reason for existing. Spader is very good in a very bad film, it's a shame. The DC version will probably never see the light of day, but you never know.

O, that Y2K had caused the end of civilization (and Hollywood along with it) so that this movie would never be released.. never before has a movie been -so- predictable and -so- bad at the same time. It wasn't even worth going to for the eye candy - the effects were repetetive, probably based on the premise of "if it worked once, it'll work again"... This is one that will doubtless be on many a critic's "Worst Movie of 2000" list. Don't waste your time, money, energy or brain cells on this one.

Wow. i saw this movie last night for 2 bucks at a bargain theater. guess what? I want my money and time back. This is one of those movies that is so poorly done, you don't know whether to blame the actor the writers, the director, or all three. I saw many people walk out this movie. I only stuck around in hopes that it's somehow redeem itself at the end. surprise surprise, it didn't.

There are four main assets to a great sci-fi flick. Great acting, superb visional effects, suspense, and a great written plot. Alien, Matrix, and Terminator all have these wonderful qualities. Without a great written plot the movie is a fluke. Special effects are not but cotton-candy when there is not plot. What a waste of talent, money, and time. **1/2 of ***** stars

The coming attractions for this movie made it seem as interesting as such entertaining modern sci-fi deep-space films as Event Horizon or Sphere. However, Superonva failed to meet these expectations. It was one of the few movies I've seen where leaving the theater mid-film was a real consideration. Supernova lacks the sort of intriguing plot that is required in such an outer space science fiction film. While some of the scenes look great, they seem as if they could be clips of a movie with an actual plot. Maybe the film had been longer, but was shortened. Also, the control panels of the space ship and some other elements look like they were taken out of a 20-year-old film. Maybe this movie would have been interesting and innovative had it been released that long ago when some of these science-fiction ideas had not already been created and would be unable to be copied to create a film that is definitely not worth $8. Maybe about $2.75

I quite enjoyed Supernova without being entirely sure why. The good points include decent performances, especially from James Spader (who I usually cordially dislike), an interesting premise, and an unbloated running time. The bad points include a rather more leisurely unrolling of story than is strictly necessary, a willingness to dump characters just as they get established, and an over dependence on jargon-based maguffins to make the story work. Also, contrary to some opinions, I found the special effects less than wonderful: the Nightingale, for instance, always looked like a digital effect with insufficient passes to render it in sufficient detail to be convincing. However, there is sufficient here to hold the attention of the average sci-fi fan, and Robin Tunney's impressive bosom racks up a star on its own (pun intended).