Pandora's Clock

On a recent trip to Hong Kong,i was able to purchase a DVD copy of this good film. The DVD region code was for all regions. So i have no problem playing this DVD in Canada. This film has an excellent cast and plenty of action to keep the viewer glued to the television set. Filmed in Germany,it starts out with a laboratory experimenting with illegal virus from Russia. One of the laboratory employee's gets infected,leaves the laboratory,attempts to steal a car,causing the driver,after a fight,to get infected. He boards the plane,possibly infecting other passengers. Britain,Canada,all other European countries refuse to let the plane land in their countries. Now the C.I.A. gets involved,a cover-up is in the plans,it is suggested the plane be blown up,killing everyone on it. A doctor,working with the C.I.A. discovers the plot,which keeps this film going till the end. I am quite surprise this film in not available on DVD here in Canada or the U.S.A. People who have the internet could probably purchase the DVD from one of the Hong Kong DVD online shops.On 12/feb/2008,this DVD was supposed to be released on DVD in Canada and the U.S.A. Well,it never happened,no explanation was given,all web sites I tried to order it from,stated,out of release,on order. Two of the web-sites I ordered it from,cancel the order,as for Amazon,I canceled the order.

I began watching a replay of this TV movie on a Sunday afternoon, thinking it was just another dumb airplane disaster flick. I was wrong.

"Pandora's Clock" is an intelligent political thriller that is far beyond the quality of most TV movies. It could just as easily have made its debut on the big screen.

The cast is excellent, including veteran actors Richard Dean Anderson, Edward Herrmann, Robert Guillaume, and Robert Loggia. Daphne Zuniga turns in one of her best performances as a medical specialist working for the CIA, and Frasier's Jane Leeves is also very good.

The dialogue is well-written and the story is compelling throughout. In fact, the final hour is so filled with plot twists and suspense that you can't leave your seat for a second. If you get a chance to see this movie, invest the time -- nearly four hours. You will be richly rewarded!

Based on the book, this movie comes up short because it changes some important things from the book. It doesn't make sense why they made the changes, the events in the book were more interesting.

I have to say that the casting was pretty good though. Having Richard Dean Anderson play James Holland was a great choice. Its been awhile since i saw Daphne Zuniga and so it was nice seeing her again. I would have preferred another actress other than Jane Leeves to play Rachel, but I guess she did a decent job.

Overall, the movie is quite entertaining. If you've never read the book, I think you'll enjoy it. For those of us who have read the book, the ending is disappointing.

Pandora's Clock is among the best thrillers you will ever read and this is one of the best thrillers you will ever see. A highly faithful adaptation of John J. Nance's novel ,which had a frightfully real scenario in the novel,is made even more so here.

Despite being made for TV, this is first rate entertainment. The cast is great and slips into characters from the novel so well that you would think they were reading the novel. Richard Dean Anderson steps way outside the shadow of Macgyver and gives the best performance of his career to date. Jane Leeves is great her role as an ambassador's assistant in a role that proves she can be a fine dramatic actor. Daphne Zuniga is great as Dr. Sanders and despite the character being a man in the book, it works incredibly well. Robert Loggia, Edward Herrmann, Robert Guillaume, and the rest of the supporting cast are top notch and fit their novel counterparts tot he letter.

There are changes to the story of course (including and a slight change in the ending) but those changes are for the better when compared with the novel. The plot is realistic and very see to believe in the way its presented making this the best airplane set movie since the original Airport movie. The production values are high and though the special effects might look as good as they did a decade or so ago, they work fine. Sets are great, especially CIA HQ and the Oval Office showing that the filmmakers spent a lot of time to make this work.

It doesn't matter if you see this first and read then read the novel or vice versa. Just do both and you won't regret losing four hours to this film and however long it takes to read the novel. This will leave you breathless.

The passengers and the crew are in danger when they find out that a dangerous virus is in the airplane.They can't land because the virus must stay inside of the airplane.Some people are ready to shoot the plane down.Richard "MacGyver"Dean Anderson plays the captain James Holland in this thrilling TV movie.He does a great job in his part.There are also Daphne Zuniga you may remember from Melrose Place and Jane Leeves from Frasier.They all do a good job.Pandora's Clock keeps the suspense on all the time.Sure it's not a masterpiece, you should avoid this if you're expecting it to be one.But it is worth seeing if you like these kind of things.If you do I'm sure you won't get disappointed.