Beyond the Aquila Rift

The quality of this entire production from start to finish is so far beyond what used to be an almost derogatory term, "TV," that it's almost comical.

From the animation quality, that at times I had me forgetting it was CG, to the acting and the wonderful, subversive storyline that fooled me into thinking I was watching a full blown movie.

This is one of the highlights of the season.

No sci-fi fan should go without seeing this mini epic.

I've decided to review each of the short films that make up this series individually.

When a hyperjump goes wrong, Starship captain Thom (voiced by Henry Douthwaite) awakens to discover his ship is on a mysterious spacestation captained by Greta (Madaline Knight) who is Thom's former lover. Incredible as all this seems, it's only made worse when his navigator (Rebecca Banatvala) wakes up and begins ranting that all is not as it seems.

At times, this one is genuinely the most staggeringly realistic bits of animation I've ever seen. The human forms in this are rendered and move with stunning realism. The use of mixed focus helps to sell that as camera work, rather than artistic choices too. It is tremendous.

For perhaps the first time in this series too, the story and plot of the episode are worthy of the animation that goes with it. It's nothing too original admittedly, but its execution is near perfect and its bleak fate-accepting ending is excellent.

For some reason, this story chilled me to the core. Out of all of the episodes, this one will probably stick with me for years to come. I couldn't (can't) stop thinking about it, hours later.

The only conplaint I have with this is that it had to end. Seriously, this could he made into a feature length film. So far the best short in the series

Just insane. The CGI is just out of this world, on level with ep 1. The story is just hauting and shocking. Best ep so far. Brilliant.

Amazing: CGI, Story, ending, writing, acting, sex scene,plot.