Das letzte Land

Do you like big explosions? Do you like GOOD vs EVIL? Do you like women in tight uniforms in space? Do you like fast, "exciting" plots? Do you like heartwarming interactions? Do you like everything resolved and satisfying conclusions? Do you like every single question and ambiguity answered and clarified?

Then skip this movie. Don't even look at its trailer.

However, if you like films like Tarkovsky makes, or films that are highly ambiguous, or films that leave you puzzled. Then watch this.

No. It's no "Solaris". But it's a good indie European film that thankfully doesn't explain every single thing, sucking all the mystery and interest out of the script, leaving a bland, predictable husk.

As for the negative reviews you'd see here, well, I sincerely wonder if science fiction might be held back from attaining its artistic potential because of the audience that's drawn to it. Lynch's "Dune" was widely despised. Though I am amazed that Kubrick's "2001" is well beloved, as that's filled with unanswered questions, "slow boring sequences" and such. Though it does have "the evil entity", which probably helps people navigate it.

Anyway. I liked this movie. I wish more sci-fi was like it, and less was like Disney.

Science Fiction movies with a low budget and practical effects are a hard sell. Especiall when they took almost a decade overall to complete. And even more so when whoever releases the movie compares it to Alien and Kubricks 2001. That is quite bold to say the least.

On the other hand some may feel there is merit to that. I personally did not feel many connections to said movies. Apart from them all being in outer space (not on Earth) and in the Science Fiction genre. Well and maybe having a bit of mystery attached to them. But don't expect anything as close as bloody as Alien or as close as philosophical and life altering as 2001.

Having said that, the movie is well done and you mostly should not notice the small (crowdfunded) budget this was made on. I was lucky enough to catch it on a big screen, but most will stream it - fairly certain of that. They probably will be distracted by other things (has happened to me too) - especially in the slower moments ... and there are lots of them.

I'm so grateful for films like this in times of stupid corporate franchises like Marvel or DC films, which pretend to be science fiction but are just empty shells of repetitive plot points and shallow characters.

In "The final land" (or "Final Voyage" as it has been called now) you won't get any of this. But instead you are confronted with deep philosophical questions about who we are and where we are heading. And ladies and genlemen, THIS is what SCIENCE FICTION is about. If you don't like this, go watch the 37th installment of "Iron Man".

The passion that went into this film is incredible. They built the ships interior, the models and space itself in years of hard work, locked themselves in with the actors and accomplished something that most big Hollywood studies failed to do for decades. A good, interesting and fascinating science fiction film!

I sped it up to 2x speed, which solved the slowness. The story was good. It reminds me of Moon and other bleak hard SF films that show the loneliness of space and the human condition. If mankind ever does get into space, this is probably what awaits us: unliveable planets, isolation, fear, loneliness, a longing for a home world, difficult comrades, failing technology. Don't watch this if you need cheering up or laughs. But if you like dark or hard SF with ambiguity and deeper themes, it's good. The original is German but I managed to find an English dubbed version.

Interactions between two guys with completely different skill sets and no idea where they were going on an old salvaged space ship about the size of a small travel trailer kept me watching and thinking all the way through. Would have been nice to have the ship's computer logs translated from German to English but the movie worked anyway. Ended too soon for me.