Europa Report (2013) User Reviews

Better than the other reviews would let on

[shawn4004 · 7/10 · 30 June 2013]

I liked this movie. It was a good sci-fi flick, but based in a believable near-future world. The voyage is captured by stationary cameras throughout the ship and a story is patched together from them. The acting was very good. There admittedly wasn't much in the way of character development, but I didn't notice it. The whole film I was hoping the story would move forward faster and faster to the end, to find out what, if anything, was discovered, and the fate of the crew.

Mostly what I liked about it was that it wasn't over-the-top storytelling, nor was it over-the-top with special effects. It used them only to tell the story that needed to be told and weren't overused. One reviewer chastised the special effects as being poor, but I disagree. They were believable. Bad is the crap they make for the Science Fiction Channel.

This movie may not appeal to everyone precisely because it's not over-the-top. It was simple, with building tension throughout the film and a good ending. There weren't monsters and aliens everywhere, there was a distinct Hitchcocian feel to it.

Very good; well worth watching.

A unique, realistic and a gripping Sci Fi movie

[Mizbar · 6/10 · 29 June 2013]

As a science/space enthusiast, I found this movie to be really interesting and enjoyed it. I think all the viewers who like these types of plots would enjoy it, but the directorial approach may be annoying to some viewers. The shaky statics videos and limited angels of camera view might not be too popular. There wasn't any character development or focus on the characters, it was pretty straight forward. The documentary style used was reasonable. The best thing about this movie was it was a low budget indie movie which did a wonderful job. A lot could have been better. Humans traveling to space and land on Europa, a moon in Jupiter, that itself is a reason to watch it, Do not expect a typical Hollywood style movie. However this movie takes a very realistic approach to present the complex space mission depicting the psychological and the physical strains on the astronauts.

Recommended for at least one viewing

[kuarinofu · 7/10 · 9 August 2019]

While Europa Report isn't mind-blowing and doesn't bring any groundbreaking ideas to the table, it is still watchable at least once. This is a situation when you make the most of what you have. A good budget sci-fi.

The performances are ok, the story is a basic sci-fi one, CGI is very noticeable but they tried, I think I even spotted a couple of good sets and a good matte painting.

The story works mostly because of the characters, which are relatable and imperfect. Their motives and deeds are understandable.

While the pseudo-documentary style opens new options and provides for interesting scenes, they never do anything creative with it besides some fast cut-ins for you to spot. My biggest complaint is that sometimes it gets overly sentimental and somewhat tells you to feel the same, which just doesn't work with the style they've established.

A good one-time sci-fi watch if you thought you've seen it all and if you are desperately looking for good low budget ones.

More authentic than most space movies

[Miles-10 · 7/10 · 7 August 2022]

"Europa Report" is relatively authentic in its details about the large, icy moon of Jupiter called Europa, But it is not perfect, and it will strike many viewers as, at first, slow and claustrophobic. After all, as one of the astronauts observes, the space inside the ship is extremely limited even while the space outside is vast.

That said, I recommend "Europa Report" for being sufficiently adventurous while not making the intelligent viewer cringe over obviously fake science. In fact, it is a horror movie made more horrifying by the plausibility that, just as there are dangers in nature here on earth, there might be equal or worse horrors lurking on the many moons and planets we have yet to explore.

There are some tropes here that are similar to those of other space movies, but many that are different, too. No, crew members do not become infected with an alien bug that makes them kill each other. Yes, they argue, but it is mostly about taking chances versus safety. The crew cooperates, and they take care of each other in admirable ways--if ultimately futile ones.

There are however, several don't-go-down-those-stairs moments. ("Actually walking on the surface of Europa was always a question mark," says one astronaut as the crew is about to vote on whether one of the scientist-astronauts should go outside.)

The scene that confused me most was the one about the attempted repair of the communications system; I thought they were all in the lander on Europa's surface, but apparently they left two astronauts on the orbiter high above the surface. Anyway, that is the first genuinely scary scene. There are subsequently some more scary scenes including the ending.

For those who do not know. Europa is Jupiter's fourth largest moon (Jupiter has well over 80 moons and moonlets), and it is one of three big Jovian moons that have liquids on their surfaces. In fact, Europa has an all-ice surface with nothing much other than a salt-water ocean beneath that ice. While the surface of this planet-sized moon is absolute zero degrees (utterly frozen), its innermost core is molten hot so that the salty ocean between the hot core and cold surface is relatively warm--warm enough that some of the creatures in earth's oceans would probably be able to live in Europa's ocean. So, does Europa have life of its own? That is what the astronauts in "Europa Report" want to find out.

There are some scientific quibbles: Although the movie acknowledges that radiation is a huge problem, it seems rather cavalier about it. (Europa is pretty close to Jupiter and is hit by 5.40 Sv of radiation a day; as I understand it, that quickly translates into deadly exposure.)

Another problem is that the movie assumes that the surface of Europa is rough but relatively flat; yet recent data suggests that the icy surface is made up of huge, closely interspersed ice-spikes; making landing a ship there similar to throwing a tennis ball at the sole of a boot cleated with sharp metal spikes.

Many advocates of a mission to Europa insist that we should send robots, not people. However, the filmmakers should be forgiven because danger to robots would not be as exciting as danger to humans. "Europa Report" gives us a crew of diverse humans who turn out to be relatable (if somewhat generic), who are nevertheless admirable in their determination and bravery.

A mildly scary film which should have been terrifying

[bluejays-88045 · 6/10 · 14 February 2022]

Here is some context about Europa for you: it is a tiny, as in tiny, ice ball located 390 million miles away from Earth. It has essentially no atmosphere and a temperature of -260 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees colder than Mars gets at night). It is one of the most dangerous places in space with a radiation level 1,800 times that of earth on its surface. As has been pointed out before, sending humans to this moon without extreme protection is suicide.

I think this film could have captured the sheer terror of deep space, the deadly environment of Europa, and the possible deadliness of whatever creatures it may, or may not, contain if it ditched the found footage motif entirely. I never liked the found footage format it just never seemed as frightening and in your face scary as experiencing it "live". It's like watching a youtube video of the scary thing instead of being in the scary thing.

Another drawback of the found footage is we lose a wider view of the environment, a big problem here because you want the audience to see Europa and the massive nearby Jupiter. I think I saw more of both in the movie's poster than I did in the actual film. The film loses a few stars for these reasons.

On the other hand, the movie earns some kudos for fairly good acting, reasonably realistic portrayal of astronauts, some stressful and frightening moments, and a generally intriguing look at what could be lurking out there in space. If only it wasn't found footage.

A Potentially Great Sci Fi Movie That Became A Disjointed, Jumbled Mess

[tabuno · 6/10 · 16 January 2019]

31 July 2013. Jumbled, disjointed. This chaotic but visually compelling sci fi movie is about a space attempt to one of Jupiter's moons. Europa has the look and production value of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien and the more recent Love (2011) about survival in space. However it tries too hard being classy. The use of voice-over is unnecessary and excessive. Attempts at the Blair Witch Project documentary approach is uneasily combined with the more stark Kubrick photography. Finally the flash back and flash forwards leave the audience spinning in confusion and disorientation.

If only the director had just simplified and shot the movie in the traditional linear footage like the 50s Forbidden Planet or even First Space on Venus, this movie had the potential to be a great. It had the look some of the best space visuals of any sci fi movie to date. It had serious intention, but the sounds in space and no space-time lag in communications between the space craft and Mission control are real major technical flaws for a movie like this. It had had poor editing making it confusing almost to the point of being unwatchable. Some of the dialogue and space craft activity were penetrating and appealingly jargon-oriented really capturing the ambiance of real space exploration but at other times seemed just too banal, used for impressing an uneducated audience that in these days seems a pretty sad commentary of how the producers or director thought of its audience. The non-linear, broken time flow made the movie into a hodge-podge of scenes that only made sense to the editor or director. The revealed reason for the communication lost, scenes that the audience was subjected to twice wouldn't have been unpredictable as described, it would have been monitored and not unexpected. This seems to be just a convenient script device that only weakens the storyline. Another problem was the strangely edited debate scene about going out exploring which was literally broken in half and completed after another completely different scene was inserted. The approach landing scene was visually amazing, but there wasn't enough of the close up of the landing to be brilliantly, dazzlingly and later one of the Mission specialists gets to look out at a close up of a fantastic landscape while the audience only get to see the specialist looking out the window and only later does the audience get to see what the specialist saw after the fact. Finally even as fantastic as the visual photography and set design and landscape design were, there were too many photographic style changes that prevented this movie from flowing smoothly nor allowing the story to become an intimate compelling close up personal story for the audience. Instead the photographic changes became a background distraction.

In one of the major crises scenes its power was taken away by too much previous random, almost pretentious space banter and not enough film time devoted to building up this crucial scene. Nevertheless it was one of the best scenes of the movie, well done both visually and sound wise. Another great scene was the disembarkation from the space craft that was so authentic and visceral, though too much of the 2001 movie helmet-face shot was used instead of allowing the audience to have an extended personal experience of wonderful out of this world landscape shots. Why there was only one space explorer out there seems odd too. Even this great sequence seemed off when there was a little amount of sample time left then suddenly became time to leave then mysteriously all the crew's concern over radiation levels seems to disappear and miraculously there's more time to explore further creating a bewildering sense of incongruity with the script plot outline overtaking the consistency and believability of the story. Even later there is a final face shot but not of what the astronaut was looking at creating more of a disconcerting unnecessary puzzle. At some point two thirds the way through the movie the continuing anomalies that keep piling up in juxtaposition of the overall tone and presentation of this movie. The more authentic and believable, documentary tone of this movie is in contradiction to the number of calamities that befall this space voyage making it more of a stretch to suspend judgment of its theatrical veracity. Instead of focusing on extended scenes of great potency to captivate the audience, the script and director have chosen quantity over sustained quality, allowing the film's integrity to grow dangerously thin. It's almost as if there were at least two or more short films occurring in this movie. The film also eventually becomes more unclear as to what is supposedly recorded film that the audience is seeing and what is just the movie presentation itself that supposedly wasn't recorded but was shot to help fill in important details for the audience, just more distracting, off-putting film experiences. 2010 (1984) a follow up to 2001 with its own voyage to Jupiter had similar events occur in respect to Europa Report but which Europa was able to exceed in the space adventure depiction of its story but also fell short compared to 2010 in its overall movie presentation and storyline coherence. Perhaps the greatest mistake was the use of the flashback technique which in fact became at least two different flashbacks destroying some of the mystery and unknown of first discovery as if the audience was really only getting a compilation of a report instead of being able to be apart of this amazing visually dazzling space adventure themselves.

Overall, this movie of really great potential and visual photographic power and narrative style is similar to Moon (2009) but became even more of a great disappointment with its poor editing and scene selection that only serve to create a massive jumble of confusion, difficult to follow and comprehend and enjoy. If only that director had stayed with a simple presentation this would have been a great cinematic achievement.

NASA docu-drama

[astell-1 · 8/10 · 3 July 2013]

Imagine NASA making a documentary about a hypothetical exploration of Jupiter's moon, Europa. Now add elements of high drama to make the documentary a little more entertaining. Et voilà! Europa Report.

In many respects this film reminded me of 2010:The Year We Make Contact: It has much of the feel of 2001 but the decision making, along with the science, is less credible than 2001. So that's about the same as 2010. The film is based on our actual scientific knowledge of Europa which is a big plus for the film.

Europa Report is presented as a retrospective assessment by a mission controller on Earth. It is well done but somewhat flat and predictable. The attempts at drama are equally flat and predictable.

So how to sum up? Europa Report is a well crafted movie and you can easily imagine this is an actual space mission. It makes a refreshing change from space soap operas and silly adventure films like Armageddon. However it will appeal most to scientists, engineers, teachers and those with a genuine interest in space exploration. If all you want is another episode of Star Wars you should look elsewhere, but personally I kinda liked this movie. Of course I'm an engineer.

From a Sci Fi Aficionado - Amazing potential falls short

[exavia · 1/10 · 7 November 2013]

I would happily classify myself as a movie buff, an enthusiast, a collector and a Sci Fi/Fantasy addict.

Europa Report started interestingly and in my opinion started with great potential. I love the movie being shot from the internal fixed cameras of the ship, the pseudo-documentary style of the movie including key "as close to science" realities as any non-scientific writer could jot down on paper.

I was engrossed in this movie from start to about half way through, what started to kill it for me was this - Ask any rock climber what the most important thing to do when climbing. I'll answer - make sure you tie off.

The first disaster this ship faced was the EVA with the two engineers. I guarantee that both Astronauts would have been tied off independently to the ship (possibly multiple hook up points) and as a back up to each other with a possible tertiary backup.

Any ship designed to travel an extensive space voyage would have, ALL important systems like communication panels located on the internals of the ship. Any mission designed for a 4 year round trip would have 5, 10, 20 backups to deal with problems.

My other gripe is even Astronauts watch Sci Fi movies like the rest of us. They've seen movies like Alien, Space Odyssey, Sunshine, Pitch Black. So when you see strange lights glowing in the distance that move mere hours after your probe got eaten, don't go near it! Use probes!

My last point is this, when a ship is about to take off the engineer usually does a systems check and purge. Fuel lines freezing....come on seriously! Like your sensors wouldn't tell you they were frozen. I've known modified cars with fuel line sensors more advanced than what Europa One had.

Suspend disbelief if you choose to watch this show.

Europa Report is an Absolute Delight

[abhishek2048 · 7/10 · 28 September 2013]

Being a Science fiction fan, I went to the Screening of Europa Delight with High Hopes.

To say the least, I was not at all Disappointed. Rather, the film really intrigued me. I was very happy to see fresh faces in the cast and pleasantly surprised to see Michael Nyqvist (The Millennium series).

Mild Spoilers Ahead

The movie revolves around a group of astronauts who leave earth in an attempt to find life on one of Jupiter's moons. We get to see the actual trip their emotions, experiences, feelings, frustrations and sacrifices.

To say more would be giving away the plot, but the movie has a great heart and the characters are fresh and full of life. Their love for the work they do and their passion is clearly evident from their eyes expressions and actions.

Add to it a marvel cinematography, brilliant narration crisp editing, and delightful performances and what you get is 95 minutes of breathtaking action and thrill.

The movie had a lasting impact on me several hours after it had ended. It made me wonder - Who are we, How did we come here, what lies beyond in the unknown universe.

How far would you go in your quest for the truth. Do you have it in you to risk it all for this cause? :)

Accomplishes it's goals

[purpix1 · 7/10 · 7 July 2013]

Without being too critical, it is an indie low budget film after all, this movie I believe accomplishes it's goals. Similar in style to 2001 Space Odyssey, Europa Report benefits from NASA involvement to accurately portray a manned mission to the outer reaches of our solar system. With the possible discovery of life on another planet (or in this case Europa, a moon of Jupiter) as the underlying theme, the film is played out mainly through video reports recorded by the crew of the spaceship Europa One.

Don't expect too much in the way of character development, however, you do come to feel for the members of the crew as they encounter plausible technical and mechanical problems, as well as the isolation of deep space, throughout their journey.

With some interesting and sometimes beautiful visual aspects, and a story-line that doesn't try to do too much, Europa Report delivers in it's attempt to provide a technically correct but ultimately suspenseful ride.

A movie for true sci-fi fans

[juffin777 · 10/10 · 30 June 2013]

If you are a true sci-fi fan, you should see this movie. It doesn't have a lot of visual effects, star cast or action. What it does have is realism, scientific character and honest human emotions. It tells a simple story of astronauts doing their job, willing to make sacrifices for science and not being dramatic about it. The plot and characters are believable, and realistic style of the film creates suspense much better than any cheap effects and tricks. This movie is made in a true spirit of sci-fi genre. Perhaps, it doesn't deserve a 10, but it should definitely have a higher score than something like "Prometheus". After all let us not forget about 'science' in 'science fiction'.

The next low-budget space classic

[dan181818 · 7/10 · 12 July 2013]

For many years we have seen expensive Hollywood movies where space exploration was showed at a Hollywood side: fancy graphics, unrealistic spaceships and unrealistic physics, the worst example was Mission to Mars. However, this movie is unique. First, it was made on a shoestring budget. Second, it makes everything mysterious by not showing us enough and makes us wonder what the ship looks like, etc. It really makes it look like you are viewing recovered footage from a mission to Europa. And third, the movie aims at showing how people behave, the psychological and scientific challenges, the will of people to sacrifice themselves for knowledge. It really makes us want to goto Europa and search for the unknown. I have been saving a 10/10 rating for exactly this kind of movie. And if you get bored for 10 minutes, please don't switch the movie off, just keep watching, you won't regret it.

Hokus

[chaos-rampant · 31 July 2013]

This is being celebrated among some scifi viewers because it gets the science right, well mostly.. We're at least a hundred years from any such mission, and robots would be the first to probe new environments. Quibbles aside, I am firmly behind a film that uses space as more than an excuse for explosions and empires, the same stuff we have down here, but actually explores what it means to be there.

But how about getting right the science of cinematic space?

I was watching the Pale Blue Dot photograph for endless minutes the other day, amazing if you can situate the eye to 'feel' being there. That one simple, crude image carries so much more power than the more spectacular renderings of graphics artists: for one reason only, the vastness of real space leading to the eye. So ideally in a movie like this, every tool must be calibrated to beam us to a real space.

They got it wrong here for my taste. Specifically, the filmmakers don't know how to use the 'found footage' mode: the whole reason of using this quick short-hand is that it allows you to heighten our placement in narrative space and time, establishing a concrete moment. But they ruin this, utterly ruin, by splicing in the flow interviews with talking heads from outside the timeline, and all sorts of cute editing effects, multicamera screens and so on that could not be of the moment. This ruins time.

On matters of cinematic space, we'd need a concrete architecture of orientation: vivid placement of where the ship is, what extends outside, where astronauts are going to work on the wing, etc. Everything that 2001 gets so right. Don't think I am using the Kubrick film to belittle this in some way; it's just underlying mechanics of space. These are a mess here. How does the Russian grouch who's fixing something on the orbiter find himself back in the landing scuttle with the rest? Puzzling.

A single moment best illustrates the failures in the handling of both space and time. A solar flare causes equipment to malfunction at one point, a usual contrivance so we can have some mechanical tension as they run to fix things. My point is that we're meant to be on one of Jupiter's moons, wholly invested in the mission, the discovery of new worlds. And we actually see the solar flare!

Everything I thought it would be

[mrichardson-69503 · 7/10 · 29 November 2015]

I'm a huge fan of sci-fi thrillers and this movie didn't disappoint. I've always loved astronomy and Europa was an interest of mine as of late. I did wish, however, that they had more in the special effects department but the movie was still good nonetheless. I recommend it highly, especially if you're a fan of science fiction. It had the right amount of suspense and it appealed to the kid in me. I've always wondered what if and this movie showed me what could happen and to keep on dreaming.

It honestly deserves more than 10 stars but there were some flaws. I wished they could've elaborated more as I was expecting to see more of what they found. That would've had me on the edge of my seat! A little more detail and it would've been perfect. It came insanely close, though.

Good movie, fine acting, weak screenplay

[mim84 · 7/10 · 22 July 2014]

I liked Europa Report, acting was good but screenplay was bad.

when you watch a fantasy Sci-Fi movie like In-Time or Avatar or Inception you don't expect to know strong reason for every things, sit on sofa and enjoy. But realistic Sci-Fi movie shouldn't reverse obvious things. Secure communications and safe explorer are base on space travels and scientists estimate possible happening.

In Europa Report the astronauts don't have any plan for hydrazine except shouting, fearing and leave their coworker in space! After that they continue mission without any communication. They go to Jupiter and land but they don't want to walk on moon of Jupiter and vote for it, so why they do leave the Earth? Their spacecraft is without exploration rover for elementary experiment.

Europa Report is good but it could be awesome.

Finally found-footage put to good use.

[Sergeant_Tibbs · 7/10 · 10 August 2013]

I've never bothered to buy into any of the films from the found-footage craze. I can't believe interesting characters or story could be formed around the style. It's too limited, forced and by nature rough. Cloverfield was interesting due to its first person nature and big budget and Rec was an hour or so I won't get back. It's fascinating to finally find a film that puts the style into good use. Here it's believable and the editing makes the film thrilling rather than cheap. Besides talking heads scenes where characters talk to the camera, Europa Report has a pretty good script that doesn't really need the found-footage style to bring it out. It's great to have a sci-fi film with real sets too. However, while character motivations are convincing, only few get the spotlight and shine with it, particularly Sharlto Copley who still has that sparkle in his eye of being delighted he's in movies. The film still has its problems with a confusing first act and an unsatisfying ending, it's a relative success compared to its ugly cousins.

7/10

I think any sci fi fan will think this is good stuff.

[seanrodgers32 · 8/10 · 1 July 2013]

I loved the movie, mostly because it dealt with topics that I am very interested in. Space exploration is just.. Awesome. I think this movie was aimed in a very great direction and was executed well; however, in areas it seemed to show that it was lacking power of a bigger budget. At other times that is not the case at all, As there are many great visual scenes, and a fantastic conclusion.

I think the acting was very unexpectedly good, not a single person was a bit unbelievable or annoying or anything like that.

The story is great, and is very much intelligently woven with modern theories and discoveries in science.

There is one thing I will say in a somewhat negative vein. There are certain kinds of scenes that I wish they did way more of, like outside on the planet. Not that they don't do it enough, but you can never have enough of that.

I highly recommend this to any sci fi/ space fanatics

It is one of my favorite movies in the last couple years.

Hope you enjoy it.

Syfy without too much Syfy

[nptoomey · 7/10 · 2 July 2013]

Enjoyable low budget film. There are some nice attempts at high resolution effects that actually work well with the absence of ,in other words, high quality production value. You'll definitely appreciate the medium-high level name actors in the film that bump this into a in- between level of budgeted films. Without going into too much detail about the plot of the movie, it bounces between future and "present" a little confusing in the first 30 minutes but once you get accustomed to it, it doesn't bother you. It is no Space Odyssey... yet it is a sort of Space Odyssey. The only way to know what I mean, is to watch it yourself!

Found Footage?!?! Really!?! What a shame...

[jmack175 · 1/10 · 26 March 2014]

If you're going to make a movie with such awesome subject matter, why turn it into a gimmicky found footage film, and SEVERELY limit what you can show? Hey viewer, want to see some awesome sweeping shots of Europa and Jupiter? NO!!! Want to see cool shots from the surface on an EVA walk outside the module? NO!!! Instead we get stationary cams inside/outside the crew module, with the crew in the background muttering to themselves.

This movie could have been a spectacular sci-fi film about something that is a real possibility, but nope, sorry, we get a stupid Hollywood trend.

Oh, and sticking with the found footage trend, whatever you think will be encountered on Europa won't seem like much in the end because, keeping with the found footage trend, we barely see it.

But don't worry, the found footage is inter-spliced with interviews/narration that are horribly acted - and now we're watching some sort of... documentary? What a horrible waste. And Sharlto Copley was a waste in this movie. He had very little screen time and didn't really do anything. It almost felt like he was an afterthought...

An excellent space drama

[rokr · 9/10 · 3 July 2013]

Not every sci-fi movie is an action-packed super-hero popcorn flick. Luckily! And Europa Report shines among those, lately rather rare examples.

Europa Report follows the line of a documentary and does that so successfully that I, throughout the movie, kept forgetting that humans actually have not yet landed on Europa. While the search for extraterrestrial is in fact the focus of the mission, it is not the focus of this movie, but rather human behavior and psychology, the magic of exploration and the steps we are ready to take for something that is larger than individual life.

The story flows beautifully and, yes, with time-jumps demands full attention from the viewer. And as a consequence also delivers a great deal of excitement and enjoyment. Have the last minute or so of "the storyteller's" explanation and commentaries not came across a bit patronizing and unnecessary, somewhat spoiling the spirit of this pretty intelligent movie, I would consider giving it a 10.

I definitely recommend to all the science, space exploration and old- school-sci-fi fans. And for those after Ironman and the Avengers - probably not a movie for you.

Good, low-key science fiction thriller

[johnklem · 7/10 · 23 September 2013]

For almost all of its 90 minute running time, Europa Report maintains an utterly credible tension. It's clear from the start that it won't end well, at least not for its protagonists but the precise nature of the disaster remains elegantly out of sight. Instead the film revels in the real awe that the fictional mission inspires, the sense that this voyage has the potential to change our world. And here's the point, changing and saving are very different goals. There have been a dozen, a hundred films about saving the world. From rogue asteroids, from oversized apes, from vampires and zombies and assorted demons. But at the back of the mind of every intelligent viewer lurks the question: do I really want to extend the status quo? Europa Report elicits a different question: how might the discovery of life beyond the earth affect our view of ourselves and our place in the universe? There are no stars here, beyond those that inhabit the cosmos, just ordinary people.

An enjoyable film

[Gordon-11 · 2 December 2013]

This film tells the story of an imaginary NASA space mission to Europa, a satellite of Jupiter. The six astronauts search for possible lifeforms on the satellite, but the mission is jeopardised as they lose contact with the Earth.

The film is made in a minimalistic manner, with most scenes occurring inside the small space station. The story unfolds using a non-linear sequence, but fortunately it is not confusing, as each time the time frame jumps, there is a clock explaining the time. The film is thrilling and engaging, and the story is quite believable (especially I just visited the Kennedy Space Centre a few days ago!). I enjoyed watching it. The surprise for me is the appearance of Daniel Wu, the famous Hong Kong heartthrob. He has a large part in the film, and he does it well.

A straining, awkward sci-fi venture that rises above its low budget just enough to survive

[secondtake · 6/10 · 21 November 2013]

Europa Report (2013)

This is another in a string of interesting movies that make space real and a bit gritty. I'm not thinking so much of "Gravity" which does that in a super slick way, but movies like "Moon" and others for all their flaws. There's something really appealing about being out there somewhere and having it feel not like a fantasy (there are lots and lots of those movies) but a realistic place. Fiction, but realistic.

And at times "Europa Report" is brilliant. Sometimes fascinating, quite well acted, and sometimes a bit awkward in the story line and script, we are drawn into this spaceship as if we might be one of the crew. Landing on a moon of Jupiter in a search for life, this crew has to do hands-on tests to see if there are traces of organic activity.

Right away, however, things go wrong, even before getting to their target. This adds suspense, for sure, though it doesn't quite seem realistic as it grinds on. What does seem realistic is the acting, so you swallow the improbable plot and the unlikely decisions (and the clumsy dialog) and go with the expressive angst, humor, and straight up traits of the actors.

Eventually the low budget bones of the enterprise really force the issue. (It's a shame but understandable that movies about spaceships, from "Plan 9" to "Marooned," are awful partly because the set and setting requirements are so extreme. This one was shot entirely in Brooklyn.) When the ship lands on the moon and they start to make measurements, the reactions and the special effects are slim. To a large extent, everything alien and weird is shown through video monitors (the whole movie is actually a recording of sorts being viewed after the fact), and so obscurity becomes normal and expected.

This kind of avoidance of the real effects and real dangers occurs in other spots where the power keeps going off, then coming on, then going off. So naturally things happen in the dark and they don't have to show us. The problem with this short cut is you don't quite get sucked in. And since you're already slightly put off by the clunky edges here and there, it drags the movie down.

However, all those reservations said, it was still watchable. And enjoyable. Again, the overall premise holds water, and the acting, gritty and plain as it is, works well.

Feeling Spaces, Loneliness and hopeless

[zurrani · 7/10 · 27 November 2013]

This movie satisfied my sci-fi interest. The story is fitted with almost everything in movie (characters, technology, scene, passion to unknown). There is no exaggerated character and less technologic open door. The unhappy ending is often inevitable in this stories. The important thing is how, how it continiues and end in unhappiness, what it gives to you about what you feel at the end.

There is a story teller at the beginning of movie (Someone on charge of the crew, in the control center). It is obviously is lived and story is ended and you are living again to see what happened and how. Your curiosity level is always high about details you don't know.

You could guess the dying turn a little but it is not important to story. Story is in front of the characters.

If you like sci-fi and space movies, you will enjoy it...

Great Looking Movie, Great Concept, but Misses Some Elements

[sahamh · 7/10 · 10 July 2013]

This film is written by Philip Gelatt and directed by Sebastián Cordero; who both are new to me. I was excited for this since the teaser and trailer looked interesting to me, but it didn't quietly meet my expectations.

I start with the story, the premise is a spaceship with 6 crew members is being sent to Europa, one of the Jupiter's moons which it is pretty much an island of ice and the crew is supposed to find any signs of life on it. Such a mission is actually in process currently; they're building and engineering the spaceship, but obviously without sending any crews. The second act has some gripping moments and these moments continue on to the final act, and in my opinion it has a satisfying ending. However, there's this particular moment or scene in the second act that doesn't make sense to me and it bothers me a lot. Then regarding the directing, the style of the movie is pretty much a "found footage" film, and I honestly think he does a wonderful job to make the film pretty realistic and scientifically correct, and his visual effect team has done a great job for a low budget film to make those pictures beautiful and believable. However, I believe the chemistry and emotion between the characters are lacking, I don't know if it comes from the script or directing or even editing, but this definitely hurts the film. Another problem that hurts the film is the time jumping when they're on Europa, I think this should've been shown in a better way; scientifically it's correct but it's represented not too well. Also for some, this can be a boring film; there are a lot exterior shots of space, some fast forwarding images, and the gripping moments happen almost halfway of the movie. About the suspense moments, they remind me of Alien, they're not as good as that but the style of it is similar. So if that style bores you, then definitely this will be boring to you. The soundtrack is fine and so are the performances, but I think the performances could have been better if the characters were bonded better.

Overall, I liked it, but I was expecting a better film, I even wanted to like it more than Moon. Even though the ending satisfied me (maybe because it reminded me of Doktor Sleepless comic book) but I liked Moon a lot more. This is a little bit of an artsy, found footage, sci-fi film, and so there some slow moments, I'd say if you wouldn't like the first 25 minutes, you wouldn't like the rest. Therefore, it won't hurt to rent it, so I give it 7/10.