Distributed by
Pioneer LDCE

Cat.no: PLFEB 37371

Cert: 18

Running time: 92 minutes

Sides: 2 (CLV)

Year: 1997

Pressing: 1998

Chapters: 18 (9/8+1)

Sound: Dolby Surround

Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic Panavision)

Price: £24.99

Extras : Theatrical trailers for "Primal Fear" and "Virtuosity"

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Director:

Paul Anderson (Mortal Kombat, Shopping)

Producers:

Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Kevin and Jeremy Bolt

Screenplay:

Philip Eisner

Music:

Michael Kamen

Cast:

Miller: Laurence Fishburne (Boyz N The Hood, Deep Cover, Fled, Higher Learning, Just Cause, What's Love Got To Do With It)
Weir: Sam Neill (Dead Calm, Death In Brunswick, Enigma, The Hunt For Red October, In The Mouth Of Madness, The Jungle Book (live action), Jurassic Park, Memoirs Of An Invisible Man, Omen III, The Piano, Sirens, Until The End Of The World)
Peters: Kathleen Quinlan (Airport '77, The Doors, Sunset)
Starck: Joely Richardson (Shining Through)
Cooper: Richard T. Jones
Justin: Jack Noseworthy (Barb Wire)
D.J.: Jason Isaacs (Armageddon, Dangerous Lady)
Smith: Sean Pertwee (Blue Juice, I.D., Shopping, TV: "Cadfael", "A Touch Of Frost")
Burning Man: Noah Huntley (TV: "Emmerdale")

Event Horizon starts where the above prologue ends. A signal from the aforementioned craft has been detected and the United States Aerospace Command responds. Hurtling toward the signal's source are a fearless captain (Laurence Fishburne), his elite crew and the lost ship's designer (Sam Neill).

Their mission: find and salvage the state-of-the-art spacecraft. Before reaching the ship, Sam Neill tells the crew of the rescue ship, Lewis & Clark, about the Event Horizon's most important feature - a gravity drive, which enables the ship to pass from one point of time and space to another instantaneously by briefly joining these two points up for long enough to pass through. Naturally this is met with scorn, but as events begin to turn the shape of pear everything gets as bizarre as is possibly imaginable...and then some.

The film has been dubbed '"The Shining" in space', which gives you a fair description of some of the problems the crew are due to face, although it borrows elements from a number of films including that one, Alien, Hellraiser, Poltergeist and many other sci-fi or supernatural thrillers. There are, however, a few plot-holes and silly moments throughout the film, such as the crew's periodical hallucinations all of which serve to create the strange spectacle on display.

All of the cast are not the sort of people you'd normally associate with sci-fi nonsense, but they do well to carry the material from start to finish even if it isn't designed to make perfect sense.

The stand-out cast members are Sam Neill and to say his character has a hidden agenda is an understatement; plus British actors Joely Richardson - who provides what babe quotient there is - and Sean Pertwee, who thinks everything can be carried out with a cocky attitude.

Also in the cast are Jason Isaacs who features in the summer 1998 hit Armageddon as one of those boffins who knows 'everything about everything' in a five-minute potted version of his role here, while TV soap opera Emmerdale's Noah Huntley has a cameeo as "Burning Man" (!)

The picture quality of the disc is excellent. Sharp detail and vivid colours bring the special effects, be they models or CGI, to life and the widescreen framing of 2.35:1 replicates the original theatrical ratio. Quite how anyone is able to make sense of such a weird film in fullscreen format is beyond belief.

The sound is also perfect. Explosions aplenty, dramatic ambience, Michael Kamen's score, plus The Prodigy's "Funky Shit" all blend together to provide an aural assault on the senses. At first I didn't think that The Prodigy or the fast-paced opening music fitted in well with the film, but then following Shopping and Mortal Kombat, director Paul Anderson was never known for his subtlety.

The disc needs more chapters with only 17 spread throughout the film itself. In keeping with many a Pioneer title from either the Paramount or Universal stable, there are trailers in the final chapter, but not for the film you've just been watching. The trailers are for Virtuosity and Primal Fear - a couple of odd choices since these were released, respectively, in May and June 1997.

Overall, not only is this a very entertaining film, but also an audio-visual treat and one which provides good demo material to show to your friends. In the opinion of this reviewer, it's a must-buy.

FILM	 		: ****
PICTURE QUALITY		: *****
SOUND QUALITY		: *****
EXTRAS			: *
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OVERALL			: ***½

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1998.