Enigma (I) (2009) User Reviews

Surprised by the Average Rating

[prodbabies · 4/10 · 15 September 2013]

I watched this on Amazon because I like Sci-Fi and the premise seemed decent and IMDb had an 8.0 rating (although only 53 votes at the time). Although I know how IMDb early votes are usually high, because they are mostly from those whom worked on the film, I figured it might be decent anyway.

I was wrong! It was a tough 40+ minutes, especially in the beginning. The acting was poor overall and the dialogue contrived. Did not expect very good SFX cause it was a short, but was surprised that they did not even use lighting well in the scenes.

The story and premise I thought might be good turned out to be mundane.

My advice, ignore the rating on IMDb, and only watch if you are extremely bored, like experimental stuff, or have seen EVERYTHING else and just want something you have not seen. Otherwise skip it!

One day... someone associated with this film... will get mucho kudos.

[aegiswiz-accede · 6/10 · 9 November 2013]

OK, you've already read enough to decide to watch this or not. First, I want to thank all the actors who participated in this obviously short indie movie. And the director for using every ounce of good acting in these folks. They didn't fail you. Put it all in a jar, shake it up, it's no one's fault it's murky.

The commander at the start of the movie caused me to see Captain Sheridan of Babylon 5. When we're bringing in the Scotty person... they're actually from Firefly, not Star Trek.

OK, the Scotty boy went to see the obviously alien prisoner and had an explosive device that exploded causing quite a ship-wide catastrophe.

Now this confused me A LOT. Bang and everyone is still there? Wait, wait, watch, wait... hey.... maybe that boom thing was a remote control because no one around it suffered a boom. But the ship sure did.

I'm going to give it 3 stars. Start with 5, knock off one for being shorter than most TV episodes. Knock off another for confusion and worrisome acting. The "special effects"....ah... did someone pay the Babylon 5 make up guy some money? We do have a dangerous and sexy alien.

There are the sexy skills fighting of Jennifer Garner (ala Alias) but in a Babylon 5 decked out type of alien make-up.... who can essentially kick ass. Just like they straight-out-told-you about the time of the "prisoner transfer". (Good make up job!) I have a few questions though. Why did the Firefly "Scotty" go bozo? Well, never-mind.... lots of questions.

This movie may have been a really cool episode of a really good science fiction series where there are plenty of episodes before and after this one. This one, credit where credit is due, does conclude. It didn't make me say, "Oh, yeah, now I get it!" but it was a conclusion that may spark some fun ideas... not unlike Alien with Sigorney Weaver. Her real name is Susan, lets stop this Siggy nonsense.

If you have an hour until dinner and you can get this on your 10 inch tablet in your kitchen... and you don't mind missing everything as you toss the salad while the casserole is cooking. Good call. You won't "get it" any better than I did but you'll feel like you got in a movie while making dinner.

Never-mind that it isn't really "movie" length. I have been unfair a bit though. While I could criticize this thing until the cows come home, I don't feel like I wasted any of my time. I think who ever put this together with (I hear) a limited budget, is someone who has the basics down on how to tell a story in film. I think one day they will be widely recognized. But not for this one.

Pretty forgettable

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 30 January 2016]

"Enigma" is a 7-year-old 42-minute short film that got a bit of a boost recently as it was made by the Shumway brothers and one of them is an Academy Awards nominee this year for his special effects work on "The Revenant". But back to this film here: It is really generic sci-fi work. The story is not too good and same goes for the acting. Really nothing to keep you interested, let alone on the edge of your seat. The only thing somewhat memorable here were the non-human creatures, the good one and the evil ones, so the film's special effects are also the movie's biggest strength here. Not enough though to let me recommend this one. Thumbs down.

Watching paint dry would be more exciting

[douglasjeffreys-688-703001 · 3/10 · 26 April 2014]

I watched this because in the blurb on Amazon Prime it mentioned "Winner 20+ festival awards". I really don't know how it won any awards unless the other nominees were horrible. First, anyone with at least a third grade education knows there is no sound in space, yet anytime a scene went to an exterior shot of ships in space there were loud engine sound effects. That alone is a deal breaker. The plot was nothing new. The acting was wooden and contrived. The dialogue was simplistic and boring. The fight scenes were poorly shot and apparently choreographed by someone who has never, ever used a firearm or seen actual hand-to-hand combat. The story was confusing at best. Imagine missing the first and third acts of something like "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and trying to make sense of it after viewing only the second act. With an estimated budget of $50,000 it is clear they spent it on sets and some special effects, because if they spent any of it on writing, directing, acting and choreography, they are due a large refund. Save yourself the 42 minutes and do something more entertaining like watching the grass grow.

An Odd TV Eposide-Like Space Mystery

[tabuno · 5/10 · 11 January 2019]

26 May 2017. The storyline had potential. But the decent but not spectacular special effects especially of the overcrowded space ship opening, the unconvincing guard detail, the dumb outdated brig lock, the out of place too-cute Baby Groot-like character (a faint relative to Guardians of the Galaxy), and a strange unexplained martial arts fight scene, all but distract from the telling of the story. The too short length film of a serious small Serenity (2005) like crew wannabe, Alien (1979) darkened creepy copy scenes along with its the mad scientist element, and belated The Thing (1982) aspect movie twist make for a less than an average Outer Limits sci fi television episode.

Not a classic, but not bad

[fgamez-06809 · 6/10 · 13 November 2022]

The shortness of the film precludes much character development but it's hard for me to get bored in 40 minutes. Special effects were ok as was the acting. The story was interesting enough though one wondered why they transport such a dangerous entity on a decrepit spacecraft. But that's explained somewhat. I often marvel at the one star and ten star ratings that films receive. There are lots of terrible movies out there, this one holds your interest at least. It's probably a 5 but credit for being such low budget but not being garbage. And there is a bit of a twist at the end which gives it an extra star for me.

Quick, Simple, and Enjoyable

[yarow12 · 9/10 · 2 July 2014]

For a forty-three minute film, this is very well paced. There is only a single scene where some viewers might say "Get to the action already." Fortunately, this scene is short and used for necessary character (and ship) development.

Speaking of scenes, there's a fight scene that was nice to watch if not slightly crowbarred in (Wait, what? Oh, it's a fight scene), and props to everyone involved for doing a jump scare that I failed to see coming.

Right off the bat, this appears to be a low budget movie with actors who will be much better with two more years of experience. Upon accepting this, I found the movie very enjoyable and having a rabbit hole of a story that has the most important and interesting parts carefully revealed during the last ten minutes.

I would like to see Enigma's universe expanded upon with novels or comics someday. There's clearly something there that is only hinted at during the movie. Anyone who enjoys analyzing stories will definitely like the ending, not that it's vague. It just presents something unexpected and interesting without wasting fifteen minutes thoroughly explaining it.

I can hear my mother now asking me to explain what the ending meant. If you're that type of person, I would recommend watching this with someone who doesn't mind explaining endings to you. Not to say that it's complicated, though. Some people--my mother included--might walk away with a few questions burning their brain.

"Captain, We're Not Equipped For This!"...

[azathothpwiggins · 11 October 2021]

The Genesis is an enormous spaceship with a small crew, who find themselves transporting an extremely dangerous alien criminal. Having already killed 200 people, she arrives chained, and is locked into a holding cell with two armed guards posted outside.

The overconfident Captain thinks that everything will be routine. It turns out that she's wrong.

ENIGMA is a low-budget, short sci-fi thriller. The SFX are better than expected, the story is interesting, and the alien nemesis is formidable. A nice twist at the end brings everything into focus.

Short and sweet...