It's a mix of John Carpenter's The Thing, Event Horizon, and Aliens, with a smattering of Prometheus...
Prometheus, if only because the Search and Rescue team foolishly remove their helmets and protective gear when they know that a deadly, unidentified and powerful contagion or contaminant is present ("purged air" be damned). Being such an "elite" unit, this was simply a plot contrivance so that the whole team could be exposed and thus become infected.
The beginning of the film was hectic and frenzied, the middle rather dull and repetitive, and the ending (whichever interpretation you choose) was either feel-good silliness or just silly.
Many of the effects are passable, bad CGI was kept to a minimum, and the sets are reasonably well done on what must've been a very small budget (a lot of dark hallways and flexible plastic drainage pipes, blinking lights, dangling wires and steam, lots and lots of steam. One of the strangest parts of the set are the monochromatic computer screens from the mid 1980s, as well as a few other pieces of equipment which were obsolete by the end of the 20th Century). Many of the props (most notably their weaponry) are terrible, they're obviously just several pieces of plastic glued together.
All of the aforementioned issues can be easily overlooked when the story, characters, and acting are interesting and engaging. They were not. Not. At. All. The dialogue and acting are horrible; it's either stiff, wooden, and unnatural or ridiculously over-the-top, obnoxious scenery chewing. Those are your two choices. The story was hackneyed and filled with nonsensical technobabble and tremendously stupid decisions (all made just to serve the "plot"); it was very often a chore to sit through long stretches of the film.
Also, annoying shaky cam, jump cuts, and frenetic editing are still alive and well in the 23rd century.
And that just about does it.
I'm trying to think of other films that were either stolen from (or to be kind, that this film was an "homage" to)?
Pandorum is another one that comes to mind....
Prometheus, if only because the Search and Rescue team foolishly remove their helmets and protective gear when they know that a deadly, unidentified and powerful contagion or contaminant is present ("purged air" be damned). Being such an "elite" unit, this was simply a plot contrivance so that the whole team could be exposed and thus become infected.
The beginning of the film was hectic and frenzied, the middle rather dull and repetitive, and the ending (whichever interpretation you choose) was either feel-good silliness or just silly.
Many of the effects are passable, bad CGI was kept to a minimum, and the sets are reasonably well done on what must've been a very small budget (a lot of dark hallways and flexible plastic drainage pipes, blinking lights, dangling wires and steam, lots and lots of steam. One of the strangest parts of the set are the monochromatic computer screens from the mid 1980s, as well as a few other pieces of equipment which were obsolete by the end of the 20th Century). Many of the props (most notably their weaponry) are terrible, they're obviously just several pieces of plastic glued together.
All of the aforementioned issues can be easily overlooked when the story, characters, and acting are interesting and engaging. They were not. Not. At. All. The dialogue and acting are horrible; it's either stiff, wooden, and unnatural or ridiculously over-the-top, obnoxious scenery chewing. Those are your two choices. The story was hackneyed and filled with nonsensical technobabble and tremendously stupid decisions (all made just to serve the "plot"); it was very often a chore to sit through long stretches of the film.
Also, annoying shaky cam, jump cuts, and frenetic editing are still alive and well in the 23rd century.
And that just about does it.
I'm trying to think of other films that were either stolen from (or to be kind, that this film was an "homage" to)?
Pandorum is another one that comes to mind....