Watchable, but forgettable.Can great acting keep a film from being an ultimate failure? With a inspiration-less plot, Pandorum is a sci-fi thriller that is able to overcome predictable plot twists to be an effective science fiction film.
Earth's resources are at dangerously low levels as overpopulation fuels world-wide war. After a space probe discovers a planet called Tanis containing a sustainable atmosphere, a sleeper ship Elysium embarks on a 123-year voyage to the planet. Corporal Bower (Ben Foster) awakes from a lengthy hibernation module to find himself alone and with heavy memory loss. Within one hour Lieutenant Payton (Dennis Quaid) also awakes with much of the same memory loss.
Unable to contact the bridge, Bower crawls through the air ducts to reach other areas of the ship. Payton stays in contact with Bower through radio and brings up a discussion of psychological condition called Pandorum. This condition can surface during extended space-flight and hyper-sleep, much like the sleep that Bower and Payton awoke from. Bower encounters dead bodies and fast-moving mutated humanoid creatures. After befriending two rogue survivors, Bower continues to reach the ship's reactor to get the ship to a stable, working condition.
Forgotten Conspiracy Thriller from 1974.
