Blu Monday: Pandorum Blu Ray Review

Bowers (Ben Foster) awakens from prolonged hybernation to find himself alone (at the moment!) in the bowels of the colonization spaceship, Elysium. Shortly after Bowers cleans up a bit and regains some of his memory, he is joined by his commanding officer Payton (Dennis Quaid) who has also been brought back to consciousness. As the two explore the dark twisting corridors of the Elysium they find other people, both living and dead, as well as a deadly breed of mutants. As the survivors struggle to unravel the mysteries of what happened, where they are and how to resuscitate the transport vessel, they discover that some of them may be suffering from Pandorum, which is apparently the space travel version of cabin fever.

Pandorum does a good job at moving forward while incrementally providing the background story at the same time. Well placed flashbacks and restored memories provide snapshots of the past and keep the viewer engaged in the plight of the flight crew. The storyline does draw heavily from sci fi stock as well as from some video games and horror stories. Gore is slimy and realistic, dotting the interior of the Elysium much like the Nostromos in Aliens or the sets of Event Horizon. While the story is a bit light in weight, the pacing and atmosphere definitely offset it, leaving the viewer often feeling apprehension and sometimes confusion as to what will happen next. I often felt like I was watching a buddy play Dead Space or some such game as the movie flowed from encounter to encounter with hints of storyline in between fights.

I have always liked Dennis Quaid and I found it fun to see him putting himself out there in a role that is different from the myriad of past characters he has portrayed. Payton is easily the most memorable character to come out of Pandorum and Quaid displays that he is easily the best person for the role. Ben Foster also creates a likeable hero in Bowers, who has to think on his feet to escape death and figure out what has happened.

The video for the Pandorum blu ray is provided in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 in 1080p. Now aside from some glowsticks that the crew must have packed in case a rave broke out on Tanis, there is not a lot of color range to the film. The oppressive dungeon like feel of the ship is portrayed through lots of dark colors, especially gray. When colors do poke through they are slightly muted but otherwise look fine. Details are solid in closeups of control panels and in the glows of the ship’s inner workings. There is a great amount of grain which also adds to the atmosphere rather than hindering it. Overall this is an extremely dark film that blu ray handles quite well.

The 24-bit Dolby TrueHD soundtrack that accompanies the Pandorum blu ray was one of the highlights of my viewing. The ambiance is fantastic, filling the room with eerie clangs and scurrying sounds and creating the feeling that the mutants are lurking just out of view in your living room. Dialogue takes a bit of a hit as some characters tend to speak low, rendering some dialogue almost unintelligible. Overall, this is a fantastic track that really rachets up the tension in the film.

The Pandorum blu ray features a commentary track hosted by director Christian Alvert and producer Jeremy Bolt. The duo have some good chemistry and interact well throughout the viewing. The pair never delve too deeply into technical details but provide a lot of interesting background anectdotes that keep the pace of the commentary flowing well. The World of Elysian is a 14 minute making of featurette that is a little too brief to do more than pierce the surface of the production’s details. A few stories are repeated from the commentary track but overall it is an interesting watch. As with many new releases, Pandorum does not skimp on the deleted scenes. They fill 28 minutes with extended scenes, such as Bower reconnecting with reality and mutants doing stuff that we really could just leave to our imagination. I found some of the cut material interesting but there was nothing that added much to the finished cut. Also included are a few hundred stills from the movie, ranging from concept drawings to finished stills. Rounding out the extras is a 5 minute short entitled What Happened to Nadia’s Team? and a simulated flight team training film. Nadia’s team was ravenged by the mutants…there I saved you 5 minutes. The training video is the better of the pair but at a runtime of under 10 minutes you can watch both and judge for yourself.

Pandorum is a very well done Blu Ray presentation that takes a fairly basic premise and creates a creepy, tense experience largely on the strength of the atmosphere and special effects utilized. Certain aspects such as the look of the spacecraft and the claustrophobic feel recall such science fiction films as Eden Log, Event Horizon and the Alien Franchise as well as video games such as Dead Space and Unreal. Overall the story and presentation is unique and unsettling and will keep fans of science fiction and horror entertained.

Recommended for Sci Fi afficionados and gamers

Special Features:

Commentary Track featuring Director Christian Alvart and Producer Jeremy Bolt
The World of Elysium: Behind the scenes featurette
What Happened to Nadia’s Team
Flight Team Training Video

Pandorum is available on DVD and Blu Ray beginning on January 19th, 2010, courtesy of Anchor Bay/Starz Home Entertainment.

Want your own Blu Ray of Pandorum for free? Enter our giveaway here! We will chose a winner on January 19th, so don’t wait!