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Last night I watched The Cold Equations (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115921/)

Plot - A spaceship pilot, Lt. John Barton is sent on an emergency recuse mission to deliver medical supplied.  His ship is small, light, and expendable and only carries enough fuel to safely bring  the ship down based on the correct weight.  A stowaway aboard the ship, Marilyn Cross,  throws of the weight of the ship, which means the ship will crash when it reaches it's destination.  When radioing for help, he is told that no options are possible and he must throw the stowaway out an airlock.  Instead, he decides to try to save her and work out another solution.  But as time passes, the weight neededto be removed from the ship is higher.

What I Liked - This was written by the sme guy whoe wrote The Colony (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0146403/) and it works out well the same way.  With a minimal production budget to put into sets and special effects, most of the story, most of the tension is done with dialog, acting, and pacing.  The acting by the two principles is a step up from The Colony and while it's nothing great, it's good enough to sell the story.  I thought the best part of the movie was when Lt Burton first finds Cross, with her attitude of "hey, no big deal" versus his sinking realization of what has happened and the consequences and available actions.  All of the 'action' takes place in the conversations between the two principle actors as they fight against the inevitable point of no return when the stowaway will *have* to be thown off the ship

What I Didn't Like - Like "The Colony", the biggest problem with this one is that the surrounding story is pretty weak and illogical.  Why Cross stowed away, why Burton's ship of origin cannot send a rescue, what the medical emergency is about, and the ending and resolution are all pretty nonbelievable.  you sorta have to suspend disbelief a bit and just go with the tension on the ship and take it as a give and ignore *why* they are there.  Accept it and move on.  Also, Cross was more than a little annoying at occasions.

Overall - A decent movie with good writing for the most part (what happens 'works', why it happens doesn't really) good acting, lot of tension and good pacing.  Looks like an extended espisode of The Outer Limits or something; a Sci-Fi Special sorta movie, but more intelligent than your average "CG Monster Movie starring Dean Cain".



Post Edited (06-10-05 11:09)