Alien Cargo (1999)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Did you people see the same film I saw?

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Up 'till the end of the first quarter hour of this movie I thought,"Oh God, sexy post-adolescents in space . . ." However, after that, I was really surprised at how much I was drawn into these characters' dilemma. The unexpected tensions between the main characters and even secondary ones made them seem real (as it did in "Night of the Living Dead"). The effects were good enough and because the drama was so good, it didn't rely on the special effects to prop it up. I enjoyed it more than the effect- heavy "Alien Resurrection", which I viewed the same day. That movie didn't have the element of human pathos, and I found it rather pointless. This movie is good for mature audiences. If you are into hyper video games and need things to blow up, gore and slobbering monsters this may disappoint you

Read the other reviews for plot lines and spoilers, this one is an analysis of the mechanics of the movie.On the plus side, the title doesn't mean a guy in a phony rubber suit. On the negative, the pacing is a little too slow for me to pay a great deal of attention, regardless of how intelligent the script turned out to be, although, as another poster has mentioned, it seems to lack a third act, or a payoff.Netter Digital, the gang responsible for the effects work on "Babylon 5", turn in a satisfactory job on the SSS-17, a clunky boxy space cargo ship, but a better set of effects on the deep space exploration vessel, The Dolphin. Attention to a lot of detail, concepts of what a corporation will do to minimize costs in the future world of Solar System mining and transport of goods and raw materials, a couple of decent actors handling the script (which, as I mentioned isn't too shabby), contribute to a surprising change of pace, regardless of a downer ending (I don't know if something else would have happened, that it would have become anti-climactic).All in all, better than a lot of straight to vid sci-fi. I just wish it had been done just a little better.

There wasn't anything notably unique about this movie, but it still retained the scifi allure. The plot isn't as predictable as it could be and the special effects, although sparse, were well done. The acting was acceptable not exceptional. Overall this is a good movie to watch once when you have the time.

It's a lazy Saturday and I'm at home, not expecting to find anything worth watching on the tube when I stumbled upon this movie. I have to say that I was very surprised by this film. It's really pretty good. The problem with a lot of sci-fi pictures today is that they fail to create a believable fantasy world. Bad sci-fi flicks suffer from gaping plot holes or scientific impossibilities that anyone who paid attention to 4th grade science could figure out. This film doesn't suffer from such ailments. The writer and director painted a believable picture of a future where humans live on Earth, Mars, and mine the moons of Saturn and interplanetary shipping of cargo is a high pay / high risk job. The two lead characters awake from hyper-sleep 10 months past their scheduled date only to discover that the ship has been ravaged by the two members of the previous shift... both of whom are missing. The suspense starts from there continues to build for remainder of the film. It was pretty suspenseful flick. A lot of that is due to excellent acting jobs by Missy Crider (Frailty, Powder, the TV series The Others) and Jason London (The Rage: Carrie 2, Safe Passage) and a script by Carla Jean Wagner that didn't sacrifice accuracy for an abundant amount of official sounding techno-babble. Put the acting and writing together and you actually end up caring about the lead characters. If this movie a larger budget for props and special effects, it could have ranked up there with films like Alien, or Blade Runner. The ending isn't typical, which only adds to the class of this film. The only problem I can see with the flick are the external CGI shots of the ships... they are good for television, but still obviously generated by computer. Regardless, I still recommend this film. Enjoy!