Terminal Voyage (1994)

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

The jacket says 2178. This was not a bad movie. I will agree it was like 10 little indians in theme but they didn't pursue the deaths enough to determine if sabotage was involved. Nor did we ever find out who did it. But it must have been the android.However, the movie was believable as was the acting. I didn't care for the drug addict doctor nor was an escape pod for only 2 believable or reasonable. Nor was the ending expected. That comment was BS.It was disappointing that they never reached their destination.I will agree with the comment about the absurdity of an underground bunker on Alcatraz island near the Goldengate bridge. Not a logical place for this.I am disappointed that I could not fully hear the comment on the holographic phone except for mention of everything gone & Nostradamus. But the full comment was indiscernible. Without closed captioning, we may never know his full comment.I could have done without the virtual reality & nudity on them. Those were a waste of time better used for improved story instead. I didn't buy the film to see their virtual reality trips. There was a short lived TV series or pilot very similar with virtual reality & deaths on a space craft. Someone was killing everyone via virtual reality. That series was really bad. I have it somewhere.Kids don't need to see nudity fantasies & drug addict shoot ups to escape problems. Neither were necessary. It is rated R as a result which killed their main audience from watching it. It showed a lack of faith in the movie by the Director or whomever came up with the idea to insert scenes like that. I also would have liked to have seen more about the new planet and more ship & crew functions between the deaths instead of back to back.But still is worth watching for adults. It was a B++ above all other B movies. The acting & sets & story were quite believable. Nothing cheesy even without expensive effects.

Quite different in tone from most films produced by Concorde, "Star Quest" follows a group of stranded space explorers towards disorder and self-destruction. There are only a handful of sets as most the scenes take place on the spacecraft, with a few v.r. sequences that - believe it or not - were actually filmed for this movie (unlike other Corman recycle jobs), plus various shots of the craft's exterior thrown in. The acting is also bumped up a bit from the usual B expectations, Emma Samms, Cliff De Young, and Ming-Na being the standouts. Lisa Boyle makes a nice cameo as a v.r. fantasy girl. All in all, a decent sort of extended "Outer Limits" episode with a nihilistic feel and lingering ending.

While it is not the best movie ever made, nor the best done, I think it's still an enjoyable movie. The acting, while a bit sheltered by medicore scripting, is superb. Ming Na does very well as the doctor, and Emma Samms and Brenda Bakke do quite well also. And of course, being the ever popular De Young fan, Cliff did very well, minus the bad accent. All in all, I would suggest this movie to most people, so long as you don't watch it with kids.

First, you start with Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians." A crew is on a star ship and they start being killed off one by one. Add some cheap cliches to attempt to make the characters seem real, like giving the doctor a drug problem (Why is the one character who should be aware of the dangers of drug abuse and is acutely aware there is a limited supply for everyone on board the one who succumbs to it?). Put in the characters behaving by the numbers, saying things like, "We have a mission to uphold"). The movie is so obvious with its plot twists, you start hoping that it's just trying to throw you off, and you see something other than you are expecting. Not at all. In fact, the big surprise plot twist in the film's final act, as well as the "ironic" ending, aren't that surprising or shocking. You watch the movie, wondering what would have happened if they'd tried a little harder.