Deus

Now, I am not really a big fan of the sci-fi genre, but I will watch movies of said genre when given the opportunity. And with "Deus" being a movie that I had never heard about, nor seen, of course I opted to sit down and watch what writer and director Steve Stone had to offer.

And while "Deus" definitely had an interesting cover/poster and synopsis, the movie just wasn't really all that interesting. Sure, "Deus" was watchable, but it just wasn't a particularly thrilling or overly entertaining movie, as the storyline was somewhat flaccid and bland.

The acting performances in "Deus" were adequate. I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, which is usually something I enjoy when watching movies. But the actors and actresses had precious little to work with here in terms of a properly written storyline, so they didn't really have much of any chance to unfold themselves on the screen.

Visually then "Deus" was good. I liked the special effects and the CGI. And it definitely felt like the movie took place deep in space near Mars. And that added something to the movie, which was otherwise struggling with a mediocre script.

I am sure that hardcore sci-fi fans might get a kick out of a movie such as "Deus" from writer and director Steve Stone. However, as a casual viewer, then "Deus" was not an impressive or memorable movie experience.

My rating of "Deus" lands on a four out of ten stars.

In the future, the Earth is being crushed by over-population. A mysterious black sphere is orbiting Mars and tycoon Vance sends the spaceship Achilles to investigate. Karla Grey (Claudia Black) is one of the six person crew waking up from hibernation. The sphere starts repetitively transmitting one word, Deus.

This is a British sci-fi film that is a bit above TV level but not quite theatrical level. The first half has elements of sci-fi horror. That's what I'm expecting when one of them starts killing. It's sort of like Event Horizon with less gore. The writing is a little clunky. The most obvious sign is that everybody keeps calling Karla Grey by her full name. It's not dialogue. It's a writer writing down words. Then it delivers its big reveal. Without spoiling, I can say that I appreciate the attempt. It reminds me of an old sci-fi magazine story with a twist. It doesn't really work in the real, but it has hints of something solid.

OK. So we have to be realistic... SciFi films don't exactly must be scientifically accurate (yeah.. Darth Vader isn't real, right?). But at least show some coherence. A sphere is found in Mars orbit in a future far enough to hibernate people and wake them back, and build a really big ship with artificial gravity, then they took 8 months to reach Mars? I am pretty sure SpaceX will do better in a few years... And using hibernation for an 8 months trip in such a large ship with a handful of crewmates? Are you kidding me?

Cast was fairly good, and I am sure they spent a good deal of money in this film, yet the script is poor, to say at least. Don't waste your time as I wasted mine.

Not being a massive budget film, I was quite pleased with it.

I had two 'big' problems watching this, the first was "Si Rubin", the whole character and performance were pretty bad... The second problem I had was with the writing.

I feel that few more drafts would have perhaps helped, at times it really trails off... Now, few things really stood out like the cinematography and editing, both remarkable.

In fact I'd like to know on which camera it was shot on, please add it on IMDb technical space.

My dearest compliments on set design as well as costumes, they were incredibly good!

Another positive thing was the soundtrack as well as sound effects, both captivating.

Definetely a big step up from Mr. Stone's previous films. Keep it up!

P. S. Casting was very good as well!

If you love sci-fi like I do you will probably enjoy this movie. The actors are not going to win any Oscars but that is par for the course with sci-fi. The story is original enough to keep your attention unless sci-fi is not your kind of movie.

The special effects are mostly done well, a few scenes (like in an elevator) look like they were filmed in front of a green screen but the rest is done pretty well. Some scenes could have been done better but overall this movie is good for a single viewing.

The writing was good but it could have been better, things like gravity are mostly ignored in this movie. This is a mystery movie and by the end you will know everything that happened, viewers are not left guessing for the most part.