Supernova (film)
Encyclopedia
Supernova is a 2000 science fiction
horror film
, from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
/United Artists
. The film was written by David C. Wilson, William Malone and Daniel Chuba and directed by Walter Hill, credited as "Thomas Lee
." "Thomas Lee" was chosen as a directorial pseudonym for release, as the name Alan Smithee
had become too well-known as a badge of a film being disowned by its makers.
Originally developed in 1988 by director William Malone
as "Dead Star" with paintings by H. R. Giger
and a plot that had been called "Hellraiser
in outer space." Jack Sholder
was hired for substantial uncredited reshoots, and Francis Ford Coppola
brought in for editing purposes. Various sources suggest that little of Hill's work remains in the theatrical cut of the film. The film shares several plot similarities with the film Event Horizon
released in 1997.
The cast featured James Spader
, Angela Bassett
, Robert Forster
, Lou Diamond Phillips
, Peter Facinelli
, Robin Tunney
, and Wilson Cruz
. This film was shot by cinematographer Lloyd Ahern and scored by composers David C. Williams
and Burkhard Dallwitz.
patrol of a medical ship in deep space in the early 22nd century and its six-member crew which includes captain and pilot A.J. Marley (Robert Forster
), co-pilot Nick Vanzant (James Spader
), medical officer Kaela Evers (Angela Bassett
), medical technician Yerzy Penalosa (Lou Diamond Phillips
), search and rescue paramedic Danika Lund (Robin Tunney
), and computer technician Benjamin Sotomejor (Wilson Cruz
). Aboard their vessel, the Nightingale 229, they receive an emergency distress signal coming from an ice mining operation on the moon Titan 37, over 3000 light years away.
The crew answers the call and "dimension jumps", arriving in the path of Titan 37's debris cloud, some of which damages the ship and causes the loss of 82% of its maneuvering fuel. Worse still, Titan 37 orbits a blue giant
, and its high gravity field will pull the ship to the point where it will be incinerated in 17 hours, 12 minutes - which happens to be almost the same amount of time that the Nightingale will need to recharge its jump drive, their only possible hope for escape. With only an 11-minute window for error, the crew soon find themselves in danger from the disturbing young man (Peter Facinelli
) they rescue, and the mysterious alien artifact he has smuggled aboard. This artifact is analyzed by the ship's computer and is said to contain "Ninth Dimensional Matter".
It is ultimately discovered that the young man who called for rescue is actually "Karl Larson", an old former lover of Kaela's (it is implied they had an abusive relationship). Karl came into contact with the ninth dimensional matter after recovering the artifact, and it somehow enabled him to acquire super strength, supernatural healing abilities, and made him younger (such that Kaela did not recognize him). Karl murders most of the crew except Kaela, and strands Nick on the mining platform. Karl unsuccessfully attempts to romantically reconcile with Kaela. Nick finds his way back to the medical ship through a rescue pod left on the mining platform, and a battle ensues between Nick and Karl. Karl is ultimately killed using explosives placed near the alien artifact which Karl was obsessed with retrieving. The explosion ejects the artifact into space, hurtling it towards the blue giant.
With moments left before the "dimension jump" activates, Kaela and Nick place themselves into the only remaining "dimensional stabilization chamber" (Karl had destroyed all but one) which is the only thing that enables human beings to survive the ship's dimensional jump drive. The pods are only meant to hold one person, however - two subjects might be genetically mixed during the dimensional jump. Before Nick and Kaela enter the only remaining pod, the computer warns them that the 9th dimensional matter is reacting with the gravity of the blue giant sun and will cause a 9th dimensional reaction that will spread in all directions, such that the reaction's resulting supernova
will reach Earth within 51 years. The computer hypothesizes that the reaction will either destroy life on Earth or "enable humankind to achieve a new level of existence". Just before the blue giant supernovas, the ship engages in a dimensional jump which brings Nick and Kaela back to Earth. As a result of their being in the same pod, Kaela is now pregnant with Nick's child, and the two of them each have one eye of the other person's original eye color.
, for example, gives it a mere 10% rating. A New York Times reviewer called it "light on originality and low on suspense though high on design and special effects." On Metacritic
, which uses an average of critics' reviews, the film holds a 19/100, indicating "overwhelming dislike".
, opening with a mere $5,778,639 in its opening weekend; by the end of its run, the film only grossed $14,828,081 worldwide on a $90 million budget.
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
, from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
/United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
. The film was written by David C. Wilson, William Malone and Daniel Chuba and directed by Walter Hill, credited as "Thomas Lee
Alan Smithee
Alan Smithee was an official pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a project, coined in 1968. Until its use was formally discontinued in 2000, it was the sole pseudonym used by members of the Directors Guild of America when a director dissatisfied with the final product proved to...
." "Thomas Lee" was chosen as a directorial pseudonym for release, as the name Alan Smithee
Alan Smithee
Alan Smithee was an official pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a project, coined in 1968. Until its use was formally discontinued in 2000, it was the sole pseudonym used by members of the Directors Guild of America when a director dissatisfied with the final product proved to...
had become too well-known as a badge of a film being disowned by its makers.
Originally developed in 1988 by director William Malone
William Malone (director)
William Malone is an American horror filmmaker who directed such films as the 1999 remake of House on Haunted Hill, Scared to Death and FeardotCom.-History:...
as "Dead Star" with paintings by H. R. Giger
H. R. Giger
Hans Rudolf "Ruedi" Giger is a Swiss surrealist painter, sculptor, and set designer. He won an Academy Award for Best Achievement for Visual Effects for his design work on the film Alien.-Early life:...
and a plot that had been called "Hellraiser
Hellraiser
Hellraiser is a 1987 British and American horror film based upon the novella The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker, who also wrote the screenplay and directed the film. Hellraiser explores themes of sadomasochism and morality under duress and fear. The film spawned a series of sequels...
in outer space." Jack Sholder
Jack Sholder
Jack Sholder is a director, best known for his work in the horror film genre, notably Alone in the Dark, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, The Hidden, and Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies.In the DVD commentary of The Hidden Jack Sholder states that his favorite film director is Jean...
was hired for substantial uncredited reshoots, and Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
brought in for editing purposes. Various sources suggest that little of Hill's work remains in the theatrical cut of the film. The film shares several plot similarities with the film Event Horizon
Event Horizon (film)
Event Horizon is a 1997 science fantasy horror film. The screenplay was written by Philip Eisner and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. The film stars Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill...
released in 1997.
The cast featured James Spader
James Spader
James Todd Spader is an American actor best known for his eccentric roles in movies such as Pretty in Pink, Less Than Zero, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Crash, Stargate, and Secretary...
, Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett
Angela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, including singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as Betty Shabazz in the films Malcolm X and...
, Robert Forster
Robert Forster
Robert Forster is an American actor, best known for his roles as John Cassellis in Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool, and as Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, the latter of which gained him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.- Early life :Forster was born Robert Wallace...
, Lou Diamond Phillips
Lou Diamond Phillips
Lou Diamond Phillips is an American film, television, and stage actor and director. His breakthrough came when he starred in the film La Bamba. He earned a supporting actor Golden Globe Award nomination for his role in Stand and Deliver and a Tony Award nomination for his role in The King and I...
, Peter Facinelli
Peter Facinelli
Peter Facinelli is an American actor. He became known as the star of Fox's 2002 television series Fastlane. He plays Carlisle Cullen in the film adaptations of the Twilight series. He is also well known for his role as Mike Dexter in the film Can't Hardly Wait...
, Robin Tunney
Robin Tunney
Robin Jessica Tunney is an American actress. She is best known for her lead roles in the movie The Craft and the television series Prison Break and The Mentalist.-Early life:...
, and Wilson Cruz
Wilson Cruz
Wilson Cruz is an American actor, known for playing Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life and a recurring character on Noah's Arc...
. This film was shot by cinematographer Lloyd Ahern and scored by composers David C. Williams
David C. Williams
David C. Williams is an American film composer. He graduated from Southwest Missouri State University, later taking classes with Academy Award winning composer John Corigliano. Williams is known for his work on films such as Supernova, Phantoms and The Prophecy, the latter using the theme he...
and Burkhard Dallwitz.
Plot
Supernova chronicles the search and rescueSearch and rescue
Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
patrol of a medical ship in deep space in the early 22nd century and its six-member crew which includes captain and pilot A.J. Marley (Robert Forster
Robert Forster
Robert Forster is an American actor, best known for his roles as John Cassellis in Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool, and as Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, the latter of which gained him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.- Early life :Forster was born Robert Wallace...
), co-pilot Nick Vanzant (James Spader
James Spader
James Todd Spader is an American actor best known for his eccentric roles in movies such as Pretty in Pink, Less Than Zero, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Crash, Stargate, and Secretary...
), medical officer Kaela Evers (Angela Bassett
Angela Bassett
Angela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, including singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as Betty Shabazz in the films Malcolm X and...
), medical technician Yerzy Penalosa (Lou Diamond Phillips
Lou Diamond Phillips
Lou Diamond Phillips is an American film, television, and stage actor and director. His breakthrough came when he starred in the film La Bamba. He earned a supporting actor Golden Globe Award nomination for his role in Stand and Deliver and a Tony Award nomination for his role in The King and I...
), search and rescue paramedic Danika Lund (Robin Tunney
Robin Tunney
Robin Jessica Tunney is an American actress. She is best known for her lead roles in the movie The Craft and the television series Prison Break and The Mentalist.-Early life:...
), and computer technician Benjamin Sotomejor (Wilson Cruz
Wilson Cruz
Wilson Cruz is an American actor, known for playing Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life and a recurring character on Noah's Arc...
). Aboard their vessel, the Nightingale 229, they receive an emergency distress signal coming from an ice mining operation on the moon Titan 37, over 3000 light years away.
The crew answers the call and "dimension jumps", arriving in the path of Titan 37's debris cloud, some of which damages the ship and causes the loss of 82% of its maneuvering fuel. Worse still, Titan 37 orbits a blue giant
Blue giant
In astronomy, a blue giant is a star with a spectral type of O or B and a luminosity class of III...
, and its high gravity field will pull the ship to the point where it will be incinerated in 17 hours, 12 minutes - which happens to be almost the same amount of time that the Nightingale will need to recharge its jump drive, their only possible hope for escape. With only an 11-minute window for error, the crew soon find themselves in danger from the disturbing young man (Peter Facinelli
Peter Facinelli
Peter Facinelli is an American actor. He became known as the star of Fox's 2002 television series Fastlane. He plays Carlisle Cullen in the film adaptations of the Twilight series. He is also well known for his role as Mike Dexter in the film Can't Hardly Wait...
) they rescue, and the mysterious alien artifact he has smuggled aboard. This artifact is analyzed by the ship's computer and is said to contain "Ninth Dimensional Matter".
It is ultimately discovered that the young man who called for rescue is actually "Karl Larson", an old former lover of Kaela's (it is implied they had an abusive relationship). Karl came into contact with the ninth dimensional matter after recovering the artifact, and it somehow enabled him to acquire super strength, supernatural healing abilities, and made him younger (such that Kaela did not recognize him). Karl murders most of the crew except Kaela, and strands Nick on the mining platform. Karl unsuccessfully attempts to romantically reconcile with Kaela. Nick finds his way back to the medical ship through a rescue pod left on the mining platform, and a battle ensues between Nick and Karl. Karl is ultimately killed using explosives placed near the alien artifact which Karl was obsessed with retrieving. The explosion ejects the artifact into space, hurtling it towards the blue giant.
With moments left before the "dimension jump" activates, Kaela and Nick place themselves into the only remaining "dimensional stabilization chamber" (Karl had destroyed all but one) which is the only thing that enables human beings to survive the ship's dimensional jump drive. The pods are only meant to hold one person, however - two subjects might be genetically mixed during the dimensional jump. Before Nick and Kaela enter the only remaining pod, the computer warns them that the 9th dimensional matter is reacting with the gravity of the blue giant sun and will cause a 9th dimensional reaction that will spread in all directions, such that the reaction's resulting supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
will reach Earth within 51 years. The computer hypothesizes that the reaction will either destroy life on Earth or "enable humankind to achieve a new level of existence". Just before the blue giant supernovas, the ship engages in a dimensional jump which brings Nick and Kaela back to Earth. As a result of their being in the same pod, Kaela is now pregnant with Nick's child, and the two of them each have one eye of the other person's original eye color.
Cast
- James SpaderJames SpaderJames Todd Spader is an American actor best known for his eccentric roles in movies such as Pretty in Pink, Less Than Zero, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Crash, Stargate, and Secretary...
as Nick Vanzant - Angela BassettAngela BassettAngela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, including singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as Betty Shabazz in the films Malcolm X and...
as Dr. Kaela Evers - Robert ForsterRobert ForsterRobert Forster is an American actor, best known for his roles as John Cassellis in Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool, and as Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, the latter of which gained him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.- Early life :Forster was born Robert Wallace...
as A.J. Marley - Lou Diamond PhillipsLou Diamond PhillipsLou Diamond Phillips is an American film, television, and stage actor and director. His breakthrough came when he starred in the film La Bamba. He earned a supporting actor Golden Globe Award nomination for his role in Stand and Deliver and a Tony Award nomination for his role in The King and I...
as Yerzy Penalosa - Peter FacinelliPeter FacinelliPeter Facinelli is an American actor. He became known as the star of Fox's 2002 television series Fastlane. He plays Carlisle Cullen in the film adaptations of the Twilight series. He is also well known for his role as Mike Dexter in the film Can't Hardly Wait...
as Karl Larson - Robin TunneyRobin TunneyRobin Jessica Tunney is an American actress. She is best known for her lead roles in the movie The Craft and the television series Prison Break and The Mentalist.-Early life:...
as Danika Lund - Wilson CruzWilson CruzWilson Cruz is an American actor, known for playing Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life and a recurring character on Noah's Arc...
as Benjamin Sotomejor - Eddy Rice Jr. as Flyboy
- Knox Granthham White (Kerrigan MahanKerrigan MahanKerrigan Mahan is an American voice actor, also known as Ryan O'Flannigan.Mahan was born in Los Angeles, California. His voice ranges from young and exuberant to sneering and Lee Van Cleef-ish...
, voice) as Troy Larson - Vanessa MarshallVanessa MarshallVanessa Marshall is an American actress, voice actress and model. She is the daughter of actress Joan Van Ark. She got into voice-over work after being discovered at a one woman show.-Films:* Bagboy! - Mrs...
(voice) as Sweetie - Kevin Sizemore (uncredited) as Rescue leader
Reception
Supernova was widely panned by most reviewers; Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, for example, gives it a mere 10% rating. A New York Times reviewer called it "light on originality and low on suspense though high on design and special effects." On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which uses an average of critics' reviews, the film holds a 19/100, indicating "overwhelming dislike".
Box office
The film was a box office bombBox office bomb
The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue regained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
, opening with a mere $5,778,639 in its opening weekend; by the end of its run, the film only grossed $14,828,081 worldwide on a $90 million budget.