IN THE MAIN, SCI-FI `EVENT' IS TYPICAL HORROR.Byline: Amy Dawes Daily News Film Critic Call it the anti-``Contact.'' For it's not a vision of heaven that travelers to deep space discover in the sci-fi thriller ``Event Horizon,'' but a vision of hell. And it's not the big questions about the universe that the makers of this high-tech scream machine would have us ponder, but the narrow, routine ones that typically animate horror movies: Will they get out of this alive? Are they really going to go back in there again? Can it get any gorier than this? In ``Event Horizon,' adrenaline junkie junkie Popular health A popular term for a person, usually an IV narcotic abusing addict, whose life is disorganized vis-á-vis family and societal structure, whose existence revolves around obtaining–often through theft, prostitution or other illicit Paul Anderson, the youthful British director who turned a video game, ``Mortal Kombat Mortal Kombat (commonly abbreviated as MK) is a popular series of fighting games created originally by the Midway Manufacturing Company. Mortal Kombat ,'' into a box-office bonanza for New Line, takes on a deep-space spookfest, based on an original screenplay by first-time writer Philip Eisner, about a salvage crew that sets out to recover a legendary lost space station. The ship, powered by a device called a gravity drive that enables it to travel faster than the speed of light, disappeared without a trace years earlier. Once boarded, it's apparent that all the crew members died under horrifying circumstances and that the ship is inhabited not by a monster, but by a malevolent, all-encompassing spirit of evil. Unspeakable evil. It's apparent to anyone intelligent enough to draw breath that the intruding crew, led by Capt. Miller (Laurence Fishburne Laurence John Fishburne III[1] (born July 30 1961) is an American Academy Award-nominated, Emmy- and Tony Award-winning actor of screen and stage, as well as playwright, director, and producer. ) and Dr. Weir (Sam Neill), the mad scientist who designed the gravity drive, is going to suffer a most unpleasant fate unless they get their space-age carcasses out of there at warp speed warp speed n. Informal An extremely rapid speed or state of activity: "A young pronghorn antelope teased a yearling wolf, shifting into warp speed and leaving the wolf in the dust when it tried to pursue" , but for the reasons endemic to horror movies, they dilly-dally around until some of them are dead. The movie begins crisply, with our sympathies engaged by the top-notch cast and our appetite for spectacle and wonder stoked stoked adj. Slang 1. Exhilarated or excited. 2. Being or feeling high or intoxicated, especially from a drug. by its very classy, sophisticated production design. But it soon descends into horror movie cliches that undercut the high-toned parameters it first established. Supposedly disciplined scientific minds succumb to emotional manipulation of the most obvious and sentimental kind. Dr. Weir's scientific verve is traded in for psychotic personal ambition. The movie's ``gateway to another dimension'' yields no evil greater than banality in the form of rivers of blood, maggots and other shock effects borrowed from Earthbound earth·bound also earth-bound adj. 1. Fastened in or to the soil: earthbound roots. 2. a. movies like ``The Haunting'' and ``The Shining.'' Anderson, who also created a good-looking special effects special effects, in motion pictures, cinematographic techniques that create illusions in the audience's minds as well as the illusions created using these techniques. vehicle in the mindless ``Mortal Kombat,'' seems to have more energy for the style of a thing than its substance. For all its terseness, nasty vigor and willingness to shock, ``Event Horizon'' is ultimately more numbing than exhilarating. It collapses in on itself, devoid of the oxygen of expansive ideas. Still, the actors manage to elevate the tone considerably from the norm, with Fishburne (``Othello,'' ``What's Love Got to Do With It'') smartly cast in a brisk, energetic turn as the crew leader. Joely Richardson Joely Kim Richardson (born 9 January 1965) is an English actress. Biography Early life Richardson was born in London to a theatrical family, the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and late director Tony Richardson, the granddaughter of Sir Michael Redgrave , Richard T. Jones Richard Timothy Jones (born January 16, 1972) is an American actor. Jones was born in Kobe, Japan and raised in Carson, California. He is the son of Lorene, a computer analyst, and Clarence Jones, a professional baseball player and the hitting instructor for the Cleveland and Jack Noseworthy also stand out. THE FACTS The film: ``Event Horizon'' (R; violence, gore). The stars: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan Kathleen Denise Quinlan (born November 19, 1954) is an Academy Award-nominated American actress, mostly seen on television and in motion pictures. Biography Personal life , Joely Richardson, Richard T. Jones, Jack Noseworthy, Jason Isaacs, Sean Pertwee. Behind the scenes: Directed by Paul Anderson. Written by Philip Eisner. Produced by Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin and Jeremy Bolt. Released by Paramount Pictures. Running time: One hour, 45 minutes. Playing: Citywide Our rating: Two and One Half Stars. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Crew members Cooper (Richard T. Jones), left, and Starck (Joely Richardson) take orders from Capt. Miller (Laurence Fishburne) in ``Event Horizon.'' |
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