Virtuality

For those of you complaining about how the show seemed to end right in the middle of its plot. Yes, it was supposed to be the pilot for a TV series. There's been plenty of speculation on websites that FOX has decided not to proceed with the full series, but it will proceed with the pilot since they already paid for it. So that's why the show was left in a cliffhanger.

FOX doesn't have a lot of confidence in this show, and I can't blame them for it; better to let it die quickly than to have a sci-fi fan base disappointed when it inevitably gets canceled in mid-season. It seems a bit inaccessible for non-sci-fi audiences, the pacing was a little slow most of the time. The virtual reality special effects seemed like bad CGI greenscreen, but perhaps that was on purpose, so that you'd know you're in a virtual reality setting. I started only getting interested when they started showing the special effects for the journey to the other star system, Epsilon Eridani. They did research their interstellar propulsion mechanisms well, and it looked like nuclear propulsion drives as described in various science fiction novels in the past.

I didn't think the idea behind the story was bad though. It was about a rogue virtual-reality character showing up within various crewmembers' holo-stories, and creating very scary havoc inside their stories. When things start going wrong in the holo-stories, a lot of finger pointing goes on between the crewmembers against each other. However, I don't think solving a new holographic mystery every week is enough to keep people's attention for a full-length series.

This film is about the twelve astronauts who are on a spacecraft, going to a distant star that takes ten years to arrive. On board, things start to go wrong and yet they cannot turn back.

"Virtuality" seems good on paper. It is directed by a famous director, has several known (but not very famous) stars, and an intriguing plot. However, it does not seem to work well. The story might have been interesting, but the delivery of the plot is very confusing. There are many mystifying events on board the spacecraft, and these events are not explained well. I was hoping that the ending would bring some answers, but it brings even more unanswered questions. All the confusion annoys rather than being thought stimulating.

In addition, the film fails to grip viewers or to provide suspense for viewers to beg for me. "Virtuality" is a disappointingly confusing film.

The problem with a science fiction movie/show based off human drama, is that on a mission of earth shattering importance, the crew are almost entirely antagonistic whiny incompetents, who have no business being responsible for a trillion dollar spaceship.

Quite early on it becomes obvious that the captain, who is the final decision maker on anything important, is of dangerously low intelligence, and would not be capable of managing an ice cream truck, let alone a 'world saving' space mission.

I think real astronauts would find this movie insulting.

But the visuals are nice.

I have heard through the grapevine that FOX, even if it doesn't pickup a show, is contractually obligated to play the pilot on air. So of course FOX doesn't care if it is accurately portrayed or even advertised/marketed since they have no interest in the show.

I think this program is more suited for SciFi than FOX. The pilot seemed like an interesting beginning to a potentially more complicated series. Hopefully we will be able to see at least one season on another network that is more suited to the show's style.

Most of the characters were easy to relate to, even if a tad trite and stereotypical. As I said before I believe that there is potential here.

There is a quirk in the virtual reality simulation system of a long duration space craft which seems to be attacking the crew.

This is a sci-fi with quality production values and a solid cast but it never gets where it needs to go. There is a lot of time developing the characters and scene setting but the story arc is utterly incomplete. I think some of the other reviews have mentioned that this was supposed to act as a pilot for a TV series that never got picked up and it really feels that way because nothing gets resolved. There is a bunch of questions on the table at the end but no resolution, which is immensely frustrating.

This is nice to watch and not badly acted but in the end leaves a very sour taste for the incompleteness and lack of resolution.