Yes, you have to get past the micro-budget effects and flat acting, but I did find myself enjoying it and hoping that the "to be continued" happens.
I watched this feature late night, after a more polished but completely forgettable SF film, appearing as a random "watch next" suggestion. The trailer reminded me heavily of the Traveller TTRPG setting, so I started watching to see if this was someone's campaign put into motion.
You see, it has a coherent story, believable behavior, and some nice well thought out action. It doesn't rely on flukes or coincidences - other than one that makes this a story rather than a non-event. So many SF and action films end up relying these to prop up lazy writing.
I was definitely left with the impression that this film was set in a larger universe. The team had a story they wanted to tell, and just went ahead and told it as well as they could afford.
Micro-budget films can be much more polished than this, to be sure. Think of "Iron Sky" and it's precursors (Prik series?). But remember how many year some of these took.
And yes, it does feel like someone's Traveller campaign - which wouldn't be a bad thing.
I watched this feature late night, after a more polished but completely forgettable SF film, appearing as a random "watch next" suggestion. The trailer reminded me heavily of the Traveller TTRPG setting, so I started watching to see if this was someone's campaign put into motion.
You see, it has a coherent story, believable behavior, and some nice well thought out action. It doesn't rely on flukes or coincidences - other than one that makes this a story rather than a non-event. So many SF and action films end up relying these to prop up lazy writing.
I was definitely left with the impression that this film was set in a larger universe. The team had a story they wanted to tell, and just went ahead and told it as well as they could afford.
Micro-budget films can be much more polished than this, to be sure. Think of "Iron Sky" and it's precursors (Prik series?). But remember how many year some of these took.
And yes, it does feel like someone's Traveller campaign - which wouldn't be a bad thing.