Europa Report, Michael Nyqvist & Sharlto Copley Sci-fi film

There is nothing better than some good old fashioned sci-fi that puts ideas above spectacle. The trailer is only 30 seconds long but it's far more intriguing than most 2 minute spectacle filled ones. It's one of the most atmospheric and suggestive trailers I've seen in a long time and hints at a hell of a lot. Little is know about the film but early speculation is that the story will follow a crew assigned to investigate one of Jupiter's moons find something living beneath the surface.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV1uBlXMyuQ

The film will be available on demand in the US on June 27th and sadly there is no UK release planned yet.

missingtime

Now, that's how trailers should be.

pixelburp

Huh, typical: you're waiting ages for a proper, hard Sci-Fi film to come along, and then two appear at once. Between this and Cuaron's Gravity, looks like anyone who likes their Science Romance with a dash of reality will be well served. My previous comments about the other film seem apt here too; there looks to be a strong sense of the endless void that is outer-space.

Not sure how I feel about the 'found footage' approach mind you, ain't the greatest fan of that well-worn concept. Nor am I immediately keen on the idea that the antagonist would be alien, but sure we'll see how it plays.

Goldstein

pixelburp wrote: »

Huh, typical: you're waiting ages for a proper, hard Sci-Fi film to come along, and then two appear at once. Between this and Cuaron's Gravity, looks like anyone who likes their Science Romance with a dash of reality will be well served. My previous comments about the other film seem apt here too; there looks to be a strong sense of the endless void that is outer-space.

Not sure how I feel about the 'found footage' approach mind you, ain't the greatest fan of that well-worn concept. Nor am I immediately keen on the idea that the antagonist would be alien, but sure we'll see how it plays.

Not forgetting Elysium. And then on related branches of the genre there's Riddick and Pacific Rim both of which warrant increasing optimism. We're blessed this year with proper science fiction to get excited about. Keeping my fingers crossed in spite of Cruise's recent choices that All You Need is Kill can join the club. I'm a sucker for time travel so hoping against hope that it's more original and better written than Oblivion. 2013 might keep those "worst year ever" threads at bay for a while! I really hope they all do extremely well commercially and hold their own against Hollywood's safe, poorly written, generic money makers.

Very happy to see Bear McCreary of BSG & Walking Dead fame composing the score for The Europa Report too. Great group of talented people they've gathered together.

After Earth / Ender's Game / Oblivion / Star Trek

Vs

Elysium / Gravity / The Europa Report / Riddick / Pacific Rim

DING DING!

paddy kerins

Goldstein wrote: »

Not forgetting Elysium. And then on related branches of the genre there's Riddick and Pacific Rim both of which warrant increasing optimism. We're blessed this year with proper science fiction to get excited about. Keeping my fingers crossed in spite of Cruise's recent choices that All You Need is Kill can join the club. I'm a sucker for time travel so hoping against hope that it's more original and better written than Oblivion. 2013 might keep those "worst year ever" threads at bay for a while! I really hope they all do extremely well commercially and hold their own against Hollywood's safe, poorly written, generic money makers.

Very happy to see Bear McCreary of BSG & Walking Dead fame composing the score for The Europa Report too. Great group of talented people they've gathered together.

After Earth / Ender's Game / Oblivion / Star Trek

Vs

Elysium / Gravity / The Europa Report / Riddick / Pacific Rim

DING DING!

Wouldn't really call Riddick or Pacific Rim hard sci-fi

Goldstein

paddy kerins wrote: »

Wouldn't really call Riddick or Pacific Rim hard sci-fi

They're not but they don't have to be hard to be good sci-fi.

Galvasean

I'm liking this resurgence of 'hard' sci-fi. I think Moon really got the ball rolling in 2009. I know it only broke even commercially, but it really sowed the seeds of interest. The success of Prometheus really shows that there's an appetite for sci-fi that's a little harder thematically than 'and then the aliens invaded'.

Anyone looking for a visually beautiful sci-fi tale should check out Love. Don't let the Angers and Airwaves tag put you off as it's a breathtaking piece of cinema that was made for less than the catering budget of a Hollywood blockbuster. It's available on Netflix US atm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiYmAixzpMg

Bipolar Joe

Deleted User wrote: »

Anyone looking for a visually beautiful sci-fi tale should check out Love. Don't let the Angers and Airwaves tag put you off as it's a breathtaking piece of cinema that was made for less than the catering budget of a Hollywood blockbuster. It's available on Netflix US atm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiYmAixzpMg

YES TIMES A THOUSAND! I've been trying to get people I know who like sci-fi (Moon and 2001 in particular) to watch Love. Phenomenal film which makes you feel alone just watching it. Granted, I was alone, but the crushing loneliness of the character just presses upon you. I've never felt like that watching a movie.

pixelburp

A proper trailer has come out for this, outlining the general plot and goings-on when they get to Europa:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhdRYk1Y8VA

pixelburp

I see another thread was started about this film; just bumping this one as the film's out now for US iTunes, with a limited cinema run in America from Aug 2. No idea if it'll get a release over here though; would love if it appeared on Netflix.

The Bear McCreary music sounds fantastic tbh; some clips are below to give a sense of how the 'found footage' approach works. Nothing overtly spoilery, but watch at your own discretion of course

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br7NA6lbtOA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Xs-iPgm_k

Immolation

Europa Report 2013

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/europa_report/

Interesting cast, Sharito Copely, Michael Enqvist, in a found footage Journey to the Planets type quest.
Enjoyable enough, probably a bit too realistic if that's a complaint, sometimes felt you were watching a Discovery Science documentary, this is not an Aliens or Armageddon type spectacle.
Some daft decision making & plot holes aside it's enjoyable enough if like me you like science documentaries.

Overall, 6.5/10

One thing annoyed me though

You come the whole way to Europa & only bring one underwater probe ????? daft

expectationlost

stupid astronauts are stupid

, all these claims of scientific accuracy are for nothing if then choose to ignore it to conjure up some plots points, the spaceman drifting out into space is great image but all astronauts now have maneuvering thrusters on their suits, i don't believe that hadn't studied a way to deal with getting that toxic chemical on their suits before they left, and then yerone walks out onto unstable ice without a rope.... :rolleyes:

pixelburp

Not much of a review for those who haven't seen if it's all spoiler-text :rolleyes: So is the film any good, outside of astronaut stupidity?

expectationlost

no because the writer wrote them to be stupid, film = v disappointing

TerrorFirmer

I thought it was solid. Not overwhelming by any means but engaging enough for its run time. Can't help but feel that they overdid the teasing as to what was unfolding just a little given the somewhat lackluster ending. But overall entirely competent and definitely a 7/10 for me.

pixelburp

I managed to catch this in the end & whilst its modest budget and scope made things feel a little underwhelming in places (it kinda pales in comparison with footage already released from Cuaróns Gravity), it was still broadly entertaining. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys sci-fi with more grounding in reality; Sunshine would be about the closest genetic match to this film if one was looking for comparisons.

I guess what was most underwhelming was that for all the build-up and premise, the actual pay-off

once they reached Europa, and the inevitable problems occur,

was quite tame. The climax felt hurried and didn't really amount to anything - perhaps the scriptwriters didn't really know how to tie everything off and just defaulted to

everyone dying, in two cases the victims just disappearing off-screen

The 'Found Footage' format kinda worked: the shoulder cameras on the EVA suits helped maintain a tension between the claustrophobia of the suits & the infinity of space, although I didn't see the point in jumping back and forth along the footage - it didn't really add anything to the narrative.

Mickeroo

Watched it on Netflix lastnight. Really enjoyed it, though not a masterpiece by any stretch.

Some of the stuff in spoiler text above is justified I suppose although

it wasn't just unstable ice, it was a giant octopus pulling them under unstable ice so the rope wouldn't have done much good. I agree about the lack of a several back up probes though. The main problem I had was it made no sense for the animal to evolve to hunt for prey on the surface of the ice when the moon had no life living above the ice. That's a bit nitpicky though and I would still consider the film within the realm of hard sci-fi.

Fysh

I too saw this via Netflix and am puzzled as to why it's getting no release over here so far - it's not a masterpiece but it's decent enough and I can imagine some sequences would be great on a big screen. The soundtrack was pretty good too.

I could have done without the over-reliance on the Idiot Ball or Inexplicable Bad Planning to allow for plot progression, as per the points in spoiler text. I had hoped that Sunshine would have helped draw a line under that kind of writing. Still, those frustrations don't stop it being worth a watch - they're what stops a good film being great.

the_monkey

I got to see this last night- very decent flick apart from the final scene - as said already

what the hell would this squid eat when there are no people on the ice ? - ie 99.999999999999% of the time

Doodah7

Remarkable coincidence as I too watched this last night! Really enjoyed the film. It managed to convey the sheer scale of space, the loneliness, the danger etc. very well. One criticism I have is that the movie would have worked just as well without all the chopping and changing of the timeline which simply ended up being annoying.

the_monkey

Yep, and with Interstellar around the corner it's really gotten me in the mood for more Sci Fi --- must give Sunshine a watch ...