Virus never decides what kind of movie it wants to be. Thriller, Sci-fi, horror, action, farce, comedy? Which is it? You can have Thriller, but you can't have dead-pan one liners and hysterical over acting Russians. OR can you? The only way to make this movie watchable is to make a drinking game out of it: Every time someone says a terrible cliché like "If we play our cards right." or "Get your asses up here." or "We gotta get off this ship." or "I need medical attention." then you drink. Believe me, you will be plastered by the beginning of the second act. At one point a character learns they are all in imminent peril and she says, "We need to get off this ship." Wow!
And another line that will haunt me is when William Baldwin says, "You point that gun at me one more time..."
and Sutherland says, "Or what?"
And William Baldwin pauses. Sweat drips from his forehead. All eyes are upon him. Tension is palpable. Baldwin says, "Think about it." and walks away.
That, my friends, is some damn fine writing.
But the production design and animatronics are very very good, which makes me wonder how this script was left in tact. This is what happens when there is enough money for a tug boat and a government ship, but not enough for a script rewrite. One or the other. So the producers chose the tug boat and the ship and prayed the translation into Hungarian for the European DVD release would make up for the fact every other line makes you think the writer learned English from watching Streets of San Francisco reruns. But the writer also produced, so maybe he is a little in love with his craptastic writing. It wouldn't be the first case of vanity screen writing.
I watched it all despite commercials but I wouldn't hesitate to turn it off the next time.
And another line that will haunt me is when William Baldwin says, "You point that gun at me one more time..."
and Sutherland says, "Or what?"
And William Baldwin pauses. Sweat drips from his forehead. All eyes are upon him. Tension is palpable. Baldwin says, "Think about it." and walks away.
That, my friends, is some damn fine writing.
But the production design and animatronics are very very good, which makes me wonder how this script was left in tact. This is what happens when there is enough money for a tug boat and a government ship, but not enough for a script rewrite. One or the other. So the producers chose the tug boat and the ship and prayed the translation into Hungarian for the European DVD release would make up for the fact every other line makes you think the writer learned English from watching Streets of San Francisco reruns. But the writer also produced, so maybe he is a little in love with his craptastic writing. It wouldn't be the first case of vanity screen writing.
I watched it all despite commercials but I wouldn't hesitate to turn it off the next time.