Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Virtuality is a television series pilot written and produced by Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica) that aired last Summer on FOX though never received a pickup for series.  It follows the crew of a deep space mission headed to the Epsilon Eridani star system on a journey that will take ten years. Their day to day activities on the ship are recorded and transmitted back to Earth where viewers watch them on television, reality series-style. In addition, each crew member has a virtual reality module that they can use as an escape from the rigors of deep space travel. However, a glitch in the programming has lead to several bad experiences in the virtual world, and they consider switching off the system for the duration of the mission. This glitch seems to extend beyond that, though, and ultimately leads to the death of one of the crew members which points toward a potentially subversive plot unfolding on the ship. So essentially, Virtuality gives us hard science fiction meets reality television meets the Star Trek holodecks meets murder mystery meets a conspiracy story arc.

If that description makes this two hour movie sound like an odd mish-mash of ideas and genres, then you are following right along with me. Ronald D. Moore did a good job of turning the iconic Battlestar Galactica franchise upside down and he apparently wanted to keep heads spinning with this venture as well. I have to admit that half way through Virtuality I felt like his eclectic, genre-splicing movie was a bit more than I could stomach, though I stuck it out and by the end he had finally won me over.

It is filmed very much like a realty series, with the jerky, hand-held camera flitting about trying to catch the quibbles among each of the crew members along with separate “confessional” pieces directed at the camera. And really, the characters seem like some of the standard Reality TV types that  producers cobble together to generate the required amount of friction that draws viewers to the shows (and for that matter, parts of the interior of the ship resemble those super-sleek apartments where MTV’s The Real World often boards its participants). This aspect of the series can be a bit disconcerting to non-Reality TV fans, but at the same time you have to admit that there is a hint of authenticity to the way that the people interact with one another.

Adding the virtual reality system to the mix of course draws immediate comparisons to the holodecks of the Star Trek franchise (right down to its tendency toward malfunction). However, Virtuality takes a very different approach with this gimmick. Each person wears a virtual reality visor that lets them see and experience this cyber-world, though it is not physically “real” like Trek’s holodecks. And to what extent this virtual reality engages all five senses is not made completely clear in the pilot. The participants seem to fully experience the situations in their mind, including sexual encounters, but we don’t know just how real it feels to them. Still, having such a system on a long, daunting voyage makes a lot of sense.

Which leads to the next part of this movie that I really appreciate. Moore takes a very realistic, scientifically accurate approach toward space travel (including no sound in space!). So often, space travel in television and movies follows whichever physical laws that the writers feel like acknowledging at any given point in time (or simply no laws at all). Virtuality on the other hand tries to portray life and travel in space as accurately as possible. So even if you dislike all of the other aspects of this movie, you have to at least appreciate this rare attempt to give viewers a more accurate portrayal of what it would be like to travel in deep space (last Summer’s failed Science Fiction series Defying Gravity also did a good job with this).

As far as the cast, they all seem to fit quite well in each of their respective roles. Nikolaj Coster Waldau (of 2008’s New Amsterdam), stands out as the captain of the ship and the one person who can keep this collection of oddballs from ending up at each other’s throats. The rest of the cast include an assortment of actors that you’ve seen in guest slots or supporting roles in various television shows and movies and will have you saying “where did I see that person before”? Among the standouts we have Clea Duvall from Carnivale and James D’Arcy from Master and Commander.

Ultimately, this movie seems somewhat unapproachable at first and a bit difficult to digest. But if you think about it, that could easily describe Battlestar Galactica at times. As I mentioned, at first I didn’t like it, then I did, then after re-watching it on DVD I liked it even more.

Virtuality was intended to proceed into a series, but unfortunately FOX chose to pass on it.  To some extent I might understand their thinking because of the density of the movie, but I really would have loved to have seen a follow-up movie or two.  Now that it has made it to DVD, those who missed it on its original airing (which was quite a lot as it barely managed to attract 2 million viewers) have a chance to finally catch it.  Those looking for intelligent, engaging, hard Science Fiction should definitely find something to like in this movie.  And any fan of the genre should at least give it a look to enjoy its unique, radical departure from the more standard, mundane fare delivered by the broadcast networks.

Buy Virtuality and Defying Gravity on DVD from Amazon.com:

By John J. Joex

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!

Would you believe me if I told you there is an excellent Science Fiction, nay Speculative Fiction, movie out there with absolutely no special effects and which involves nothing more than people sitting around and talking? Well I’m telling you it’s true, and The Man from Earth is that movie.

The script for this film came from the late Jerome Bixby who dictated its final pages from his deathbed to his son Emerson Bixby. Some may recognize Jerome Bixby as a Science Fiction writer who penned many short stories in the genre and who also wrote several Star Trek: TOS episodes (“Requiem for Methuselah”, “Day of the Dove”, “By Any Other Name”, “Mirror, Mirror”), had one of his short stories adapted into the infamous “It’s a Good Life” Twilight Zone episode, and who co-wrote the story for The Fantastic Voyage. Thus, this movie has some pedigree from a veteran of the genre who knew how to write Science Fiction in the days when writers could not always rely on special effects to carry the story.

The premise for The Man from Earth is simple: a university professor, John Oldman, is departing from his job and he gathers several of his most trusted colleagues to tell them that he has lived since the days of Cro-Magnon man, 14,000 years past. Some are intrigued by his claim while others find it ludicrous, and the movie documents their conversations—and knock-down, drag-out arguments—over one night’s time. That’s it. No monsters, aliens, space travel, time machines, explosions, or any of the other standards that you would expect from a Science Fiction movie. Just talking and the back-and-forth exchange of ideas, theories, and speculations.

Sound like a snooze fest? That’s exactly what it’s not. The movie grabs you almost right away with its intriguing premise which you may be skeptical about at first, but you want to find out more. And that’s exactly the way the other characters in the movie feel, and they help propel the action forward as they mirror the viewer’s inner conflicts over John Oldman’s claims that he has lived over fourteen millennia. The top-notch cast aids in keeping the movie lively as well. There are several faces among the actors that should be familiar to Science Fiction and Fantasy fans including William Katt (Ralph Hinkley from The Greatest American Hero), John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox from Star Trek: Enterprise), Tony Todd (a slew of supporting and guest appearances in movies and television, particularly in the Star Trek revivals), and Richard Riehle (also a frequent guest star, especially across several of the Star Trek shows, as well as Tom Smykowski from Office Space). The other characters at first go along with John’s “what-if” scenario because they believe they are indulging him as he works out the concept of a potential novel. As the night progresses, some start to become more invested in his assertion while others get impatient with his line of reasoning. Then, the movie throw’s us a curve (major spoilers to follow).

After some questioning, John reveals that he was an important person from history, and his revelation and its implications turn this into a completely different movie. The Man from Earth starts out as a “what-if” discourse on the implications of a person who had lived through all of human history. The revelation, however, makes us rethink the past and perhaps even our very core beliefs. This curve ball is a bit jarring and may turn some viewers off from the movie. I have to admit that I had some difficulty digesting it at first. But the more I thought about it, this turn of events really raised the movie to the next level and caused it to resonate with me for several days and ponder its implications. And you can’t ask much more than that from a movie in the Science Fiction genre, or any genre for that matter.

This movie succeeds with the ideas it puts forth which cause the viewer to think long and hard about their perception of history. And it does this by way of an excellent script and a superb cast, and without a special effects crew in site. Sure, there are plenty of blockbusters that will be assaulting the theaters this Summer season, and we will all go and enjoy the escapist entertainment they provide, exploding on the screens with the latest special effects technology. But if you want an excellent Science Fiction movie that lives and dies by its story, script, and actors then be sure to plop The Man from Earth into your DVD player after you return from the theater.

Buy Jerome Bixby’s The Man from Earth now from Amazon.com:

By Carl Lawrence

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Few sequels live up to, let alone surpass, the bar established by the original work they stem from, and sadly The Descent: Part 2 is no exception when it comes to bucking that trend. Only rarely are we fortunate enough to get a picture like The Dark Knight that really knocks our socks off, and I say that as someone who was never really a big Batman fan to begin with prior to the release of that obviously superior sequel to its less popular predecessor Batman Begins. Of course it’s not even fair to compare The Descent: Part 2 to The Dark Knight unless one is doing so strictly in the sense of both films being sequels to a prior original work. I’m usually skeptical about sequels as are most people for the obvious reason that most of the time they just don’t measure up to what spawned them. Directors don’t take the time; writers seem to have an attitude that they can’t top the original, and usually Hollywood only entertains the notion of producing one for the sake of making another quick buck, and with combined attitudes of that nature, it’s no wonder that we’re often left feeling disappointed. (Note however that this film was actually shot and produced in Britain by Celador Films, a foreign company.) And even when more money is pumped into a sequel in hopes of making it better, such as in the case of 28 Weeks Later, often it still doesn’t seem to work out.

That said, The Descent: Part 2 isn’t entirely awful, and the writers do make a notable attempt at giving the film an ending that feels mostly consistent with how the initial film ended, which I suppose is to their credit. If there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s when the first picture in a series ends off leaving us satisfied, only to have a cheap knock-off sequel come along and negate the outcome of that prior movie. (Think American Psycho 2 and Hostel 2 and you’ll know precisely what I’m talking about.)

The Descent: Part 2 picks up right where The Descent left off, which also isn’t at all unusual for a sequel. In fact, it’s pretty routine. In the first film, the way things left off in the Unrated Cut (the only version I’ve seen to date), I was left with the impression that Sarah was never getting out of the previously unexplored cavernous tunnels that claimed the lives of her friends—that she was stuck there permanently. I thought that was the meaning behind the imagery of her dead daughter handing her a birthday cake at the end. This was her new life—period, perhaps also as a consequence of betraying her friend Juno in hopes of saving herself. As the second movie opens, however, we see that she has made it out of there after all, with what looked like a dream ending in the first film actually being the reality of her situation instead. She’s left with no memory of what happened as a result of the horrific trauma she experienced in the caves, which is plausible given the circumstances. Prior to this break in the case, the authorities have found nothing while still in the midst of a two-day search. When the Sheriff gets word of Sarah’s recovery while at one of the locations being checked, he heads straight to the hospital along with his deputy. Juno’s father is a Senator, adding to the pressing nature of finding the women and solving the mystery of what happened to them. Interestingly enough, however, even after two days of nonstop searching, including helicopter flyovers, the authorities never manage to find the cars that were left at the entry to the cave system seen in the first film. Instead they’re drawn to a long abandoned mining facility, believing this to be the next logical place for them to look.

It defies reason that this small team comprised of the Sheriff, his deputy, a few professional cave dwellers, and finally Sarah, who is fetched from the hospital the very same day after being given a sedative by her doctor, would not want more manpower before descending into the mining shaft with no real backup. It’s also difficult to believe that Sarah would allow herself to be taken down there again without any protest despite the sedative she was given earlier and her memory still being blocked. One would think that even on a subconscious level she would still be aware of the danger involved, and once down there, naturally, her memory begins to return. The writing leading up to this point really isn’t that great, as it all smacks of a cheesy, hackneyed setup just to get the characters, and Sarah especially, down into the underground cavernous maze again for more carnage and mayhem to ensue. What follows is what one would expect: a bloody, disgusting mess. I think the first film did a much better job of leading the audience there however, as it was more carefully scripted, paced, and directed, with a seemingly more generous budget to boot to make it all worthwhile in the end. The overall production values just seem to be lacking here in contrast unfortunately, although if there’s one thing this film does have going for it at least, it’s a climax that manages to put viewers in touch with the tense and frenzied creepiness of the original, even if only for a short while. It also makes it look as though there was actually a way out of the caverns all along however, which seemed like a virtual impossibility in the first movie. I question that decision because it leaves the creatures with a way out of their habitat and into our world, and seemingly negates that aspect of the claustrophobic mystique that really served the original film so well. But it’s worth renting –in spite of its drawbacks, there’s still some fun to be had in the watching of it nonetheless. So grab some popcorn and enjoy it on the basis of what it does stand to offer.

Buy the First and Second Movies from Amazon.com: