Event Horizon

Give this to the makers of Event Horizon: as wholesale rip-offs of Alien go, this one is remarkably thorough. Laconic captain...check. Mysterious search-and-rescue operation...check. Advance team member returning in a catatonic state...check. Crew member who may be working for the other side...check. Judiciously spaced deaths of the rest of the crew members...double-check. The only original twist is that the object of the search-and-rescue operation isn't a deadly alien, but an experimental spacecraft which seems to cause intense, hallucinatory visions which make everyone intent on tearing out their own organs or the organs of fellow crew members (all rendered, of course, in gloriously graphic detail). While the premise begins with the intriguing idea that evil can work on us most effectively through our own demons, director Paul Anderson opts every time to drown psychology in buckets of blood. Event Horizon does boast some genuinely impressive technical credits, including imaginative production design by Joseph Bennett, but that doesn't explain what a cast this talented (including Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, and Kathleen Quinlan) saw in a plot this derivative. Alien was a memorable film which launched careers; Event Horizon is the kind of re-cycled nonsense which can end them. Not recommended. (S. Renshaw)[DVD Review—Apr. 18, 2006—Paramount, 2 discs, 95 min., R, $39.95—Making its first appearance on DVD, 1997's Event Horizon (Special Collector's Edition) features a good transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. DVD extras include audio commentary by director Paul Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt, a 103-minute “making-of” documentary, three deleted/extended scenes with optional commentary (10 min.), “The Point of No Return” production featurette (8 min.), a storyboard montage for an un-filmed scene and conceptual art (7 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a patent rip-off of a better film.][Blu-ray Review—Jan. 20, 2009—Paramount, 95 min., R, $29.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1997's Event Horizon sports a good transfer and a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. Blu-ray extras are identical to the previous DVD release, including audio commentary by director Paul Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt, a 103-minute “making-of” documentary, three deleted/extended scenes with optional commentary (10 min.), “The Point of No Return” production featurette (8 min.), a storyboard montage for an un-filmed scene and conceptual art (7 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: although it looks nice on Blu-ray, this is still an awful sci-fi flick.]