Supernova (2000)

The Science Fiction genre has produced some excellent pieces of cinema over the years – films such as “2001”, “Planet Of The Apes”, “Blade Runner” and “The Matrix”. However, although it's produced a fair number of cinematic gems it is also a favourite genre of the b-movie producer, and is therefore host to a disproportionate amount of cinematic garbage. When first conceived, it's possible that Supernova's backers intended to make a film in the first category, however the end result definitely belongs with the b-movies.

It is rarely a good sign when one of the people involved in a movie doesn't his name to be attached to the film. This is especially true when that person is the director – Walter Hill's reaction to interference from the movie company was to hide behind pseudonym Thomas Lee (apparently the infamous 'Alan Smithee' pseudonym is now too well know). However, even if the studio did mess with the movie, it's difficult to imagine that the director's cut would have been much better.

The premise has some potential – a search and rescue patrol answers a distress call sent out by a mysterious young man, Karl Larson (Peter Facinelli) who is stranded on a moon in orbit around a dying star. His behaviour is eccentric, and the crew soon grow suspicious, particularly new pilot Nick Vanzant (James Spader). The mystery deepens when they discover he is trying to conceal a mysterious alien artifact of unknown purpose. It quickly becomes clear that Larson is highly dangerous and the crew would be well-advised to get out of the star system as quickly as possible, unfortunately their ship was damaged in the interstellar jump and it will take time to repair.

The premise contains plenty of science fiction clichés, but despite its unoriginality it could have been turned into a decent science fiction film. Unfortunately, the execution is severely lacking, and the script is abysmal. The characters are tedious stereotypes, the dialogue is sometimes embarrassingly bad and the turgid plot twists are taking straight from the Big Book Of B-Movie Plotting.

One of the few things that the film got right is the fairly nice CGI special effects, indeed they're the only clue that this movie had a blockbuster-sized budget of $60 Million. The interstellar jump is a particularly shiny effect, although the titular supernova is moderately impressive as well.

Unfortunately, the actors get out-shone by the special effects. This is perhaps more the fault of the awful script than the acting, but even so the performances are not good. Spader's hero is possibly the best effort, elsewhere Angela Basset is annoying as the ship's feisty chief medic and Lou Diamond Phillips adds another two-dimensional character to his long, long list of bad movie choices – even if this is a work of art compared to his previous film “Bats”.

In summary, a poor attempt at a science fiction film. It offers a small amount of entertainment, but the second-rate acting and third-rate script mean that it's probably not worth the effort of watching.

Rating : 4 / 10

Click here to buy the DVD at Amazon.co.uk

All content ©2003 William Marnoch.

Comments? Agree/Disagree with the Reviews? Suggestions? Random Ramblings? Whatever you might want to say, feel free to e-mail me at william@wmarnoch.freeserve.co.uk .