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DVD Atlantis Down
 Run time: 95 min Rating: 5.5 Genres: Sci-Fi Director: Max Bartoli Writers: Max Bartoli, Doug Burch Stars: Silvia Baldassini, Eric Baskerville, Doug Burch |
| Storyline 2025 – The Shuttle Program has been privatized and the shuttle Atlantis relegated to glorified taxi between space stations. Its crew is on a routine mission, conducting experiments – little do they know – they are the experiment. Written by Max Bartoli |
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| Plot Keywords: space, atlantis, spaceship, space shuttle, space adventure | |
| Details: Country: USA Release Date: 1 October 2011 (USA) |
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| Box Office Budget: $1,000,000 (estimated) |
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DVD Atlantis Down
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4 comments
Atlantis Down is a thoughtful and energetic sci-fi suspense thriller reminiscent of Twilight Zone meets Lost that delivers topflight production value worthy of a much bigger studio. Atlantis Down moves along smartly, tying the viewer to a shuttle crew trying to explain the inexplicable. A talented ensemble turns in a collectively compelling performance highlighted by the 11th hour appearance of the savvy veteran Michael Rooker. Rooker's intense performance brings the story to an unsettling surprise ending. As good as the story, cast, and special effects are; the artful camera work is the real star here. The startlingly convincing special effects and diverse locations portray a desperate and claustrophobic experience both in the shuttle and in the'experiment'. The audience feels the desolation, desperation, and dismay as the crew grapples with a seemingly unsolvable and deadly enigma. This is an independent film with a big studio feel that is loaded with surprises that is fully worth experiencing.
The dialog seemed very ad-libed. Sort of as if the director didn't have any more than an outline to work with and asked the actors to ad-lib emotions. "Give me Paranoid. OK, now give me Anger". I don't think the writer or director have any sociology interest because the actions and reactions of the actors did not fit with normal human actions and reactions. It's as if a child, without the benefit of years of watching human interactions, had written the dialog. The emotions of what the actors were going through did not fit the action at the time.
Character development is missing. Generic black guy, generic white woman, generic young guy, etc. No build up of back stories. No relationships. Nothing to make you feel that you know the characters and if you don't know the characters, why would you care what happens to them?
Atlantis Down seems to be a story coaxed out of a child by a parent. "And then what happened?" "And then?" "and after that, what happened?"
I don't get why some reviewers are complaining that the film is hard to follow or to understand. I had no trouble following its narrative. The filmmaker has achieved something incredibly remarkable here: not only this film has profound meanings but its technical level is unique for an independent project. The visuals are beautiful, the music and the editing are great. Each element of this film was really incredibly well put together. The story unfolds constantly keeping you wondering what's going to happen next. Usually the CGI would mean nothing if the story wasn't good, but in this case the story is good and makes this one of the best indie films have seen so far. Kudos to the cast and crew for this achievement
When I went to see Atlantis Down (which is still playing in Portsmouth, Virginia) I had no real expectations. I had read on the net it was a small and ambitious independent film, but I was not ready to see what I saw. Atlantis Down tells the story of the crew of the shuttle Atlantis being forced to face an alien entity who likes to mess around with them. The movie has a ton of incredible CGI (I'm still wondering how much it all costs), great music and a pace that keeps you on the edge of your sit for the whole duration of the story.
Michael Rooker gives an amazing performance in this movie. I strongly recommend to everyone to go to see it.