Cargo

Switzerland's first attempt at sci-fi, and Ivan Engler's first feature film, Cargo harks back to numerous icons of science fiction cinema – everything from The Thing to The Matrix, and, most notably, Ridley Scott's Alien. It belongs to that particular breed of dystopian science fiction – where the world is ruined and the human race is living on borrowed time.

Cargo is a competent sci-fi, but it's nothing special. The first half is effectively tense and engaging, but it loses its way towards the end. Visually stunning considering the budget, but unfortunately, it's nowhere near original or creative enough to be considered a particularly revolutionary sci-fi film. SSP

Not sure what I was watching here it look like some one had stuck a few movies together

Blade Runner, 2001 A apace Odessy, Alien and the Matrix. Its hard to be original I know.

Of course the usual rules of Sci Fi are followed,

There is gravity inside the spaceship, non outside big scary spaceships must have leaking water everywhere because there are no plumbers in space. Air Ducts can take you anywhere in a space ship You must get through the giant door before it closes. Terrorists have beards Really bad Terrorists have even bigger beards

Although some new rules where introduced: In the future space ships wont have hand rails There will be snow inside them Space suits will accommodate Obese people Everyone can use a hand gun, in fact every one is space will get one

Cargo presents a very familiar premise: A dystopian future with a desolate Earth is the backdrop for a thriller set in the confines of a cargo ship.

And while it starts off as what seems to be the usual Alien clone, it quickly evolves into a very complex mystery, with a far-reaching story arc. If I were to rate the first hour of the film it would be a solid 8/10 suspenseful hard sci-fi mystery/thriller.

However, after the first hour problems begin to arise. The plot starts having cracks. Characters start doing irrational things with hardly any explanation, simply so that their actions can act as a vehicle for the next scene. The mystery reveals itself but the implications it presents are mishandled. The movie starts dropping speed and stretches itself without any real need to do so. (And I have to say this but I hate it when characters are told they have X minutes left to do something important, but they take their time to walk slowly from point A to point B as if they have no cares in the world).

I think the creators could have done a far better job and it's a shame that they didn't because the film excels in most other sectors. Aside from the flaws I mentioned above, the characters are not explored much, but what we do see of them is consistent and believable. The art direction really nailed it, and with a better CGI budget they could have blown minds. And although the direction aboard the ship was discreet, it nevertheless impresses.

I'll give more chances to the people who made this, they certainly deserve it. If you enjoy space sci-fi thrillers, with an emphasis on hard sci-fi, you will probably enjoy this.

Maybe not the absolute best of the genre, but certainly is worth the time to watch.

It's a bit difficult to describe some of the more interesting aspects of this production without accidentally providing spoilers, so my rendering of such here might be a bit limited.

At the very least, the visuals are remarkably well done.

The basic concept is the cargo ship going into deep space with its mysterious cargo, and the theoretical world Rhea, which is supposed to be a beautiful paradise of a world, as an alternative to Earth which has been ravaged by horrific industrial pollution, disease and environmental damage.

However, as this journey progresses, various layers of intrigue begin to become apparent, nothing is as it seems to be at first . . . and that's about as far I'll go in portraying the story.

I thoroughly recommend seeing this in its original German with subtitles.

The acting is well done, even though there are a few spots in the story that are a bit of a cliche'. Stylistically some scenes are very reminiscent of the original Alien film scenes, but this is not about alien lifeforms causing havoc on the ship, quite different actually.

Given the overall caliber of this production, definitely rates a solid seven stars.

Rented this from blockbuster and just saw it. The movie has a good premise, and even some original ideas; I certainly had guesses as to where the plot was going, but I was pleasantly surprised up till near the end -- the director/writer didn't take the easy way and do something similar to Sunshine, for example.

The visuals are good to great, especially considering the low budget for the movie. The acting, in my opinion, was quite fine and even pretty good -- though characters started getting less believable near the end, as did the premise.

Hopefully the director/writer will continue to do more science fiction flicks and improve on his technique!