Supernova (2000)

John Chard

5.0

Jun 14, 2015

Heal thyself, doctor. The back story to Supernova is actually more interesting than the studio cut of the film that is available to view. Director's coming and going, one (Walter Hill) taking his name off the credits, butchery by studio interference, different endings, different planned thematics, shelved for two years and etc. Supernova was a messy production and sadly it shows, making Walter Hill's original cut (unavailable) the "Magnificent Ambersons" of the sci-fi genre. Plot, in the skew-whiff edited version we are fed here, is basically a riff on Ridley Scott's Alien. Space dudes u…

Supernova feels like a wasted opportunity wrapped in decent visuals. The directing is all over the place, which makes sense given the messy production history, and it really shows. The pacing drags, making even the short runtime feel longer than it should. You can tell there were attempts to build tension or mystery, but the script just doesn’t give it enough fuel. The story lacks depth, and the characters feel like cardboard cutouts drifting through space. It tries to be a mix of sci-fi and psychological thriller, but it never really commits to either, leaving it floating in this weird limbo.…