Six young computer hackers, sent to work on a derelict spaceship, are forced to match wits with a vengeful artificial intelligence that would kill to be human.Six young computer hackers, sent to work on a derelict spaceship, are forced to match wits with a vengeful artificial intelligence that would kill to be human.Six young computer hackers, sent to work on a derelict spaceship, are forced to match wits with a vengeful artificial intelligence that would kill to be human.
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
Is it anything like Hackers? A ship with a Evil mind going on a killing spree and the only way to stop it is to fight a program with another better program, hackers doing what they do best, some visual effects here and there, a little blood, no scares, ah and if you are a girl a lot of Momoa. So no, not much to do with real hacking, just a half decent horror scifi, I've seen better, I've seen worse, I would never recommend Debug to anyone tho. It's just a production, a way for the people involved in the making of it to show what they are capable of and try to snatch a bigger project in the near future. I wish them all good luck, I think they can do more!
Debug is better than Stranded per example but it ain't no Event Horizon either. I gave it a 4.
Cheers!
Jason Momoa wasn't bad as a menacing AI, but he wasn't a character to empathize with - or even to love to hate. He ultimately had the 2 dimensional motivation of an AI following his programming, but with a maniacal murder streak. Without a truly 3 dimensional villain, he may as well be a glitchy computer or one with a loose wire. He seems to want to kill and torture... just because. Senseless violence is boring.
Some CGI was really entertaining. The best parts being those that blend into the scenes - like e-mail in their heads up displays. Parts of the ship were well done. The exterior shots were very well done.
Honestly, I think I'd have enjoyed the movie more without the killer AI - just fleshing out the prisoner characters' backgrounds and interactions more and their frustrations with the limitations of their freedoms. The movie is like a bad episode of Outer Limits where we get little exposition and narrative followed by mindless violence / action sequences meant perhaps to visually impress, but utterly lacking substance. Just having Momoa on a monitor talking was more menacing and entertaining than the whole opening sequence of the movie.
David Hewlett is one of my favorite actors. I applaud his effort in writing and directing a full length film. It's better than many made- for-TV Syfy channel craptastic flicks of the month. I think with some work, we could see this again in another form with more well rounded characters and a better story arc for the "heroes" and villain.
I wouldn't recommend the movie, but there are worse ways to spend your time. I'd describe it as having elements of Cube, Jason X, and Hackers. I'm hoping this was a proof of concept flick to show that David Hewlett is ready to take the helm of something larger.
All that said this movie isn't a great way to spend two hours. With a lot of indie films you can not only forgive dodgy effects but delight in them, they are somehow part of it. Debugs slickness actually works against it, the few dodgy elements like the ludicrously clean cut bad guy and the odd flickery greenscreen-work stick out like sore thumbs. Instead of a friendly, grungy production this has a distinct whiff of corporate Hollywood about it, which again makes it harder to love.
The story is straight out of a Twilight Zone episode, nothing special.
Actors mainly do OK, predictably the beautiful ladies get down to their vest and pants before the bad guy comes after them. I had no doubt who was going to make it out alive but to be honest I didn't really care.
A very good effort but Nothing special.
1.Firstly, when watching this you have to remember this is a low budget movie. It's never going to have the slick VFX of blockbusters like the new Star Trek films. That said, I think both the VFX and SFX were really good. I totally bought that these people were in deep space on a ship. The id chips and the personal visual displays were particularly good.
2.You can tell Jason Momoa is having a good time playing the bad guy - and he does a solid job. Adrian Holmes also puts in a good performance as the corrupt warden in charge of the group.
3. The opening 20-30 minutes are well paced and set up the story well. The first part of the film creates an unsettlingly clinical atmosphere that unfortunately is not sustained throughout the film. The ending wraps things off nicely and feels like a satisfactory conclusion for the audience.
The Not So Good Bits
1. Characterisation. I felt if you removed several of the debug crew from the film it would not affect the plot in any way e.g. the characters Samson Connoly and Lara Riley felt like they were extraneous.
2. The fact that all but one of the female characters stripped down to their underwear, for generally unknown and spurious reasons, while none of the men so much as rolled up their sleeves. It made this film feel like, despite it's futuristic storyline, the writing belongs to history bin.
Did you know
- TriviaJason Momoa (I Am) previously co-starred with the director David Hewlett in Stargate: Atlantis (2004). They played Ronon Dex and Dr. Rodney McKay, respectively.
- GoofsAt about 1 hour Capra is chopped in half by a door. at 1:01 when the door reopens there is no blood on the door.
- Quotes
Lara: There is a lot of rogue programs to shut down. The system's riddled with them.
Diondra: Sweet. Time for some fun.
James: With what?
Diondra: The rogues. Over time some of them loose their thread. They don't know they're just programs.
James: That doesn't bother you?
Diondra: No. You get them talking, give them some hope and erase them line by line. It's like tearing wings off flies.
- Crazy credits"Environmental" is misspelled as "Enviromental" in the end credits cast list.
- ConnectionsSpoofs Le Magicien d'Oz (1939)
- How long is Debug?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 26 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1