Pandorum is a hodge-podge of familiar sci-fi stuff, which feels as if it were adapted from a computer game.
Pandorum (2009)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:66
Fresh:18
Rotten:48
Average Rating:4.2/10
Consensus: While it might prove somewhat satisfying for devout sci-fi fans, Pandorum's bloated, derivative plot ultimately leaves it drifting in space.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for strong horror violence and language.
Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy
Theatrical Release:02-10-2009
Synopsis:
In Pandorum, actors, Dennis Quaid (Vantage Point, The Express) and Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma, Alpha Dog), join Cam Gigandet (Never Back Down, Twilight), Cung Le (Tekken, Fighting), newcomer Antje...
In Pandorum, actors, Dennis Quaid (Vantage Point, The Express) and Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma, Alpha Dog), join Cam Gigandet (Never Back Down, Twilight), Cung Le (Tekken, Fighting), newcomer Antje Traue and director Christian Alvart (Antibodies) to tell the terrifying story of two crew members stranded on a spacecraft who quickly realize they are not alone.
Two astronauts awaken in a hyper-sleep chamber aboard a seemingly abandoned spacecraft. It's pitch black, they are disoriented, and the only sound is a low rumble and creak from the belly of the spacecraft. They can't remember anything - who are they, what is their mission? The only way out of the chamber is a dark and narrow airshaft. Corporal Bower (Foster), the younger of the two, crawls inside, while the other, Lt. Payton (Quaid), stays behind for guidance on a radio transmitter. As Bower ventures deeper and deeper into the ship, he begins to uncover a terrifying reality. Slowly the spacecraft's shocking and deadly secrets come unraveled, and the astronauts realize that the survival of mankind hinges on their actions. --© Overture Films
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Cam Gigandet, Antje Traue
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Cam Gigandet, Antje Traue, Cung Le
Director: Christian Alvart
Director: Christian Alvart
Screenwriter: Travis Milloy
Studio: Overture
Reviews for Pandorum
Alvart achieves a strong sense of scale, but characters and ideas are lost amid a mess of fight scenes that, oddly, look like outtakes from ‘The Descent’.
Pandorum's insistence on action sequence after action sequence, reveal after reveal, tension upon tension deadens the effect any of it might have had in a more gracefully developed narrative.
Pandorum is less a story than a prolonged bout of paranoid hysterics, exuberantly played out on metal gangplanks and inside Stygian tunnels. As such, it works just fine.
Riffing on Alien, Sunshine and Resident Evil, the German director Alvart finds an effective balance between action-excitement and psychological chills.
There are some well-executed sequences, but the story makes nothing but a mess of its borrowed ideas.
Pandorum is dumb, noisy fun. Its flaws are inoffensive inasmuch as Alvart doesn’t give off Anderson’s noxious vibe of insincerity.
Pandorum is neither schlocky enough to be an enjoyable genre flick, nor smart enough to provoke any original thoughts.
It’s a competent if unoriginal adventure but you do wish Alvart had had the courage of his convictions to go with the Pandorum idea rather bowing to the pressure of convention and basically resetting The Descent in space.
After two hours in the dark with this loud but hollow hybrid, you’ll know “space madness”. In a good year for smart sci-fi, Pandorum lumbers and groans.
It might make a passable video game. Despite expensive production design, as a movie it is pretty much unwatchable.
Derivative but mostly just dull, what we have here is an entertainment blackhole able to suck all joy out of a trip to the cinema.
Do yourself a favour and keep the lid of Pandorum's box firmly closed.
Action mayhem full of gibbering hominoids, hanging corpses and a few live stars.
Some scary moments, but its final half-hour is a right old mess, and the title is doomed never to be remembered.
Pandorum doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and is shot and edited in a way that only adds to the confusion. In space nobody can hear you scratching your head.
An appalling script is only one problem with this loud, chaotic sci-fi thriller. It's also directed in such a deliberately confusing way that it's not only impossible to follow the action, but it's impossible to care about the characters.
Paul WS Anderson rains down another cinematic crapstorm with Pandorum, a confused, unfocused (sometimes literally) attempt to make an ideas-driven but mainstream sci-fi flick.
Pandorum squanders its excellent premise and the result is a disappointing, barely coherent mess.
Latest News for Pandorum
September 24, 2009:
Stalked on a Spaceship! 10 Films Anticipating Pandorum
For critics, Pandorum has been like an alien in the ventilation shafts -- it's on the radar, heading towards them, but they just can't see it, no matter how hard they try. The... More...
September 24, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Surrogates Is A Passable Thriller
This week at the movies, we've got robot clones (Surrogates, starring Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell), artistic-minded freshmen (Fame, starring Kelsey Grammer and Megan... More...
September 22, 2009:
Dennis Quaid Talks Pandorum, G.I. Joe Sequel ![]()
Between trying to spark a space horror revival with "Pandorum," reminiscing about the lost cut of "Enemy Mine," and pledging his support for "G.I. Joe 2," Dennis Quaid had... More...
February 21, 2009:
Just another Event Horizon? ![]()
More...
More Movies
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie | Date |
|---|---|---|
| | The Descent: Part 2 | 04/12 |
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Fresh Links
Featured

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.



Top Critic

