One of the most wonderful things about the art of cinema is how it provides a snapshot of our society. Dramas shows us how we cry; comedies what we found as funny. With the action flicks there is a gauge of the level special effects have achieved. For the science fiction we get a reminder of what we once dreamed about that now is moving towards reality. A topic that was considered beyond the realm of reality will a few short years later be common place. Sci-Fi movies provide a trail of what frontiers we are pursuing. In the fifties everything was about radiation and the use of atomic energy. Now the same tales are written using genetic manipulation as the culprit. Just over a decade ago space stories were popular again. The new discoveries in cosmic research had opened connections between matter on the miniscule quantum level and the vastness of the universe. One such object that heightened the interest of scientists and Sci-Fi fans alike was the discovery of black holes. This was popularized by the book by Stephen Hawking ‘A Brief History of Time’. Basically these are stars that have collapsed to such a small size that the matter becomes unbelievably dense. Its gravitation is so great that not even light can escape its grasp. Theories have abounded as to what it would be like to pass through a black hole. Some think that you would wind up in a different time or location or even dimension. Since there is no concert proof for any such opinions it leaves the conjecture up to the fertile minds of science fiction writers. One of the films from back then that took on such a theory was ‘Event Horizon’ by Paul W.S. Anderson. Many long time fans of Sci-Fi had high hopes when we saw that title. There is a fantastic series of novels by one of the legends of the genre, Frederik Pohl, called ‘Beyond the Blue Event Horizon’. Much to our dismay this story has nothing to do with that novel. After getting over the initial disappointment it was possible to consider this film on its own merits. Admittedly it is not the greatest member of the genre. It fails to reach its full potential at several places. What it does provide is a reasonably passable flick that has its share of entertainment value. Some Sci-Fi movies are intended to make you think. With this one take the opposite tack; shut off your mind and consider this a ride at some amusement park. The movie has been out on DVD for a couple of years now. Most major studios, Paramount included, has been going back to re-issue older films on the high definition format of Blu-ray. This is one of them. Since this is a visually oriented film the higher resolution works out great.

The story was written by Philip Eisner. At the time this was his first time as a screenwriter. He subsequently went on to a couple of other Sci-Fi scripts including ‘Fire Starter 2’ and ‘The Mutant Chronicles’’. The trouble with the screenplay is its indecision as to what type of story it wants to be. At times it tries to be a straightforward Sci-Fi then it attempts to morph into a Gothic horror tale set in space. Since the later was already perfected by ‘Alien’ the screenplay had a high bar to reach with this aspect. It is this vacillation between genres that dilutes the story and loses the focus of the film. If the story had chosen a direction and stuck with it the results would have been a lot better. The idea of using a deserted space ship in lieu of the traditional haunted house for a horror flick is genius. It affords the writer the necessary plot device of isolating the potential victims from any source of help. The tag line from ‘Alien’ sums it up nicely ‘in space no one can hear you scream’. I know of some people who have made watching this flick into a drinking game where you take a drink every time you see something borrowed from a classic horror flick. This can not be recommended since you will wind up with a dangerous blood alcohol level. This is reinforced by the way the characters are presented. They appear to be isolated in time with no past to speak of. This makes them interchangeable with characters from any of several dozen similar flicks. What was needed is some back stories to help provide a foundation for the audience to identify with.

The film was directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. After he exploded on the Hollywood scene with his second film, ‘Mortal Kombat’ he was the wunderkind of the business. He was one of the first directors to successfully bring a popular video game to the screen. He would follow up with a couple of other games to flick endeavors such as ‘Resident Evil’ and ‘Alien versus Predator’. Without a solid script to work from Anderson has little left but to provide one shock scene after another. There are reports that he had to cut back a lot just to bring this movie in with an R rating. As it was shown the film is a bloodbath; more so than the typical science fiction faire. The pace is a bit uneven here. Anderson tries to make room for some pseudo scientific exposition that only serves to muddle the plot even more.

In 2040 the space ship ‘Event Horizon’ took off to investigate an anomaly at the edge of the solar system. It disappeared without a trace. Seven years later the ship reappears as mysteriously as it disappeared and a mission was mounted to discover what happened. The ‘Lewis and Clark’ was launched with Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne) in command. For technical advice the designer of the "Event Horizon’, Dr. William Weir (Sam Neill) is also on board. It turns out that Weir invented a secret gravity drive that would create a black hole allowing a ship to travel beneath normal space and time. He tells the crew that only one transmission had been received by the ill fated ship; screams and one phrase in Latin, ‘Save Me’. When they get to the original ship the mystery deepens with the discovery of some strange life signs. Medical Technician Peters (Kathleen Quinlan) finds a frozen corpse on the bridge; both of his eyes had been burnt out. Soon the rest of the crew of the Lewis and Clark are experiencing hallucinations based on their most dreaded fears.

This film does have a top notch cast that help to provide some degree of fun. The film is visually interesting which is great to demonstrate the enhanced abilities of the Blu-ray format. The film looks great. The level of detail is unbelievable. The Dolby True HD audio will shake your living room. This is a fun popcorn flick but it could have been a lot better.