Magellan

...He didn't know how to be happy or sad, he had same face all along the movie....how come year after year he had such a nice haircut? what about waking up from stasis with a bit of beard? Who ironed his clothing? what did he eat? why did he touch the balls he wasn't supposed to? how come he climbed that crater in 3 minutes? how is possible that he had to carry that small dumb box to carry the ball? Didn't he think that he needed both hands to climb mountains? Did he ever hear about a backpack? he could had placed the ball inside and help himself while on the planet.... So many questions, I have zero answers to them. Best part is the end. Good bye Roger!

The first thing about this film that every viewer needs to realize is that it was done with an extremely low budget. No flash and glamour in this one. However, this is a thought provoking film. The screenplay was well written and Brandon Ray Olive gave a great performance as Commander Roger Nelson. I was so entranced as the story unfolded, that I did not care about the low budget props. Even though, i thought the set scenery for Mars was well done. This movie was able to thread many real scientific theories and suppositions, and tickled your imagination for the possibility of life beyond earth. An expedition that was curiosity driven, but yet demonstrated the very human element of a relationship being fractured by the extended voyage of a married astronaut who is struggling with the anguish of being separated from his spouse for an extended period of time. The voices of A.I., Ferdinand and Neil, were both well done. This movie will appeal to those who prefer a well written script over spectacular special effects. I'm sure if this movie had a 20 million dollar budget, it could compete with the Sci Fi movies produced by Hollywood. This movie is an example of metaphoric saying, "having nothing but lemons and making lemonade."

MAGELLAN tells the story of an astronaut sent into deep space to try and find three sources of signals being sent to to Earth. Most of it focuses on the experiences of the lone astronaut, which suggests a loose comparison to 2009's MOON, which was a much better movie.

The cinematography here is good, and the movie reels in the audience as the astronaut finds each of the sources of the signals. However without spoiling the ending, it leaves the audience with no answers, only more questions, and an unsatisfactory feeling of being invested in the story.

I am an actor and this is actually my first review on ImdB. I chose to write this review to encourage movies like this to continue to be produced. It was a great effort on a shoestring (~$80K) budget, and a great sci fi plot similar to Mission to Mars (one of my top 10) mixed with Contact and 2001. It held my attention and was entertaining.

Yes, there were some unanswered questions in the storyline, there were one or two plot holes, and the ending was perhaps setting itself up for a sequel, but that would be okay in my book. I found it interesting, well acted overall, and worth the time spent. Also, the cinematography was spectacular!

Not all science fiction movies are able to include massive sets, unlimited special effect budgets, and high paid actors.

I had the feeling that this movie was somebody's passion project. It is a compelling story that someone wanted to make into a great movie. I commend the idea and the effort. Having said that, sure, most of the sets just scream low budget and the acting is hit and miss. Still, I thought it was a very good movie that kept me interested throughout.

I recommend this movie if you are into real science fiction - the writers/director were obviously fans of Arthur Clarke and Carl Sagan. If you are more interested in bright flashy scenes with massive sets and space battles with exotic aliens that rely on blaring soundtracks rather than intelligent dialogue, check out Disney's recently acquired space drama instead.