Somnus

I bought this film on DVD and feel that the independent film on the disc was badly served by the artwork on the box.

It isn't a blockbuster, and, really, it doesn't try to be. This is an old fashioned sci-fi film that tries to play for tension and atmosphere rather than thrills and explosions.

In reality, I'm not sure it always achieves this, but it is a good, honest, attempt at it!

There are some notable performances - especially Mac McDonald, who is as good as you would expect, and there is an inspired choice of location for the ship-board shots, but, ultimately, I think it fails to make the most of the "story" and there is an uncomfortable shift of gears from ship location to the other location.

Watch this as an independent, low-budget sci-fi made in an old-fashioned style, and you won't be far away from the director's intentions. Believe the box art and posters and you'll be disappointed.

Lately, I seem to be writing a lot of really negative reviews about a lot of recent sci-fi movies but I guess that's because I'm becoming frustrated with the dross that the streaming services are offering to us.

"Somnus" is another movie in this series of duds. Filmed substantially in an old British Hawker Siddely Nimrod airplane from the 60s, the film has a plot that could have been lifted from a casual acquaintance with "2001" but without any of Clarke's or Kubrick's wit or intelligence. You probably won't care about the characters and you probably won't even care about the "big picture" thing that might or might not be going on.

I wonder: have we burned through all the truly creative ideas so now we're reduced to recycling everything, but only after it's been through a waste treatment plant?

I'm no "couch critic", like a BUNCH on here! So I'm not gonna spew a bunch of hyperbole at ya.... I'm just a regular guy that LOVES Sci-Fi, Horror, etc, and I thought this was a Pretty Good movie! It kept my attention, and I enjoyed watching it! PERIOD! LOL So many people LOOK for the "Bad" in a Movie... Relax people and "Allow Yourself" To enjoy a Movie! LOL Thanks Folks!

Reading and Owen give us a sci fi outer space drama that can easily be looked at as a "coherent rewrite of 2001".

"2001 A Space Odyssey" was an overrated bit of boredom that couldn't possibly make any sense as directed and written without a program to tell the viewer what was going on.

Like 2001, we have a computer gone wrong on a space ship, and a synopsis of a scenario for the existence of human beings.

Here, however, the team explains what is taking place.

The characters are more credible than the paper thin ones of 2001, which were just contrived to make a sermon.

That doesn't make this a great movie, but at least it is coherent.

Don't let the one ⭐ haters mislead you, this is not a terrible movie. It's great either, but it does have good production values and a decent soundtrack which fits the mood of the story.