MovieChat Forums > Cargo (2013) Discussion > Cargo, for the real sci-fi enthusiast

Cargo, for the real sci-fi enthusiast

posted 13 years ago by redsmurph
24 replies | jump to latest

I'm sure this movie is not for everyone, but it's actually quite thrilling and provides food for thought, without using the standard cheap plot devices like ghosts, zombies or sheer surrealism, to create tension.

That and the massive scenes make this movie stand out, and is well worth seeing for anyone into more "real" sci-fi similar to Arthur C Clarke's literature etc. Actually, some of the scenes and situations give Rama vibes.

I don't understand the comparison with Alien. Only someone not into sci-fi would make that comparison.

[–] hadmatter 13 years ago

I don't understand the comparison with Alien. Only someone not into sci-fi would make that comparison.

Not true! I am certainly someone into sci-fi, and the comparison is obvious to me. It has nothing to do with a creature, it's because both films use the model of a haunted house story set on board a spaceship.

I am the sod-off shotgun.

[–] redsmurph 13 years ago

The subject matter is completely different from Alien, so if they used some scares to increase tension I'm fine with that, and they did so more successfully than in e.g. Sphere, Event Horizon, Sunshine, Supernova or Pandorum, that were religious rather than scientific at times, and I liked the story more in this one. My main complaint is the score that is overly scary, even when what you see on screen is not scary at all. Some CGI was on the cheapish side too, but worked.

[–] dschmidt3 11 years ago

After having watched movies like Sunshine, Moon, Event Horizon, Pandorum etc before seeing this one, I found it a little boring. I could go on talking about certain things in the story but basically it all comes down to it being just a little boring really. Now if I had watched the above movies after this one instead, it might have been a little better.

[–] therefdotcom 10 years ago

ironically, having recently watched oblivion, her, ender's zone and some other rather unsatisfying sci-fi films i come from the other side of the spectrum and found cargo to be pretty awesome in comparison.

"laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone." - Dae-su Oh

[–] redsmurph 13 years ago

Cargo made me wonder why there hasn't been made a movie of Rama.

[–] Li-1 13 years ago

This was a decent attempt at moody, atmospheric outer space sci-fi drama. I thought the first 2/3's were pretty solid, but the last 1/3 kind of derailed. For me, it's about on par with the Soderbergh Solaris remake, but well below Sunshine.

[–] Caribbean_Smurf 13 years ago

I agree. This movie was visually stunning - it had great atmosphere and music. The plot was a little thin, and the acting was average, but if you like stories about space and starships, this is definitely a good movie to watch.

[–] jbrains 11 years ago

Morgan Freeman has said a few times that he's trying to make a film about Rama. I remember him saying in an interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson that he (or an associate of his) owns the film rights.

[–] rainwulf 10 years ago

This would be a kick ass movie. Either Rama, or "Eon" by greg bear.

[–] Symarip 11 years ago

Lol, you're only proving the OP's point. PLENTY of sci-fi movies use the ''model of a haunted house story set on board a spaceship'', not just Alien and Cargo...

I'm the grim reaper, lardass, and you're my next customer.

[–] ktriebler 13 years ago

> I don't understand the comparison with Alien.

Me neither. I thought of it as a (bad) mix of Martix and Wall-E :-)

[–] thebargains 13 years ago

"I thought of it as a (bad) mix of Martix and Wall-E :-) "

Martix the porn adaption of The Matrix?

[–] wocket-3 13 years ago

I have to say Arthur C. Clarke is much different.
E.g. you would not see a space ship running full thrust for 4 years in the same direction(!), just to cut it off 50m ahead of the space station at the destination.
That is just stupid. Not to mention that they think they can travel 4 light years in 4 years (if I understood the dialogs correctly).

The people in the universe also can't seem to decide if they have artificial gravity or not.
In the ship, they have it (even where it doesn't make much sense), but on the habitable part of their huge space station near earth, they have entire cities rotating to induce gravity. Mind, you, they don't have a huge ring rotate in space without any moving parts as ACC would have it. No, they seems to connect the cities with bearings as big as a city and have them counter rotate to one another.

Anyway, was okay to watch.

[–] mike_cable 12 years ago

I was interested in your points. Since they run the engines the whole time they could be acellerating continuously, is that right? Would they feel it onboard if the artificial gravity didn't compensate for it? And I guess they'd need another 4 years of decelleration from forward-facing thrusters to stop from their amassed velocity, or just swing the whole ship around for the same amount of time. Just trying to think about it technically.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] alientech 12 years ago

Heck even a holodeck can create gravity these days. This film is sort of like Rendezvous with Rama. Maybe they can take some ideas when they start filming it. Since ACC is not around to right every wrong, it would make things a whole lot easier.

[–] Zero_Wolf 10 years ago

What you describe is a theorized idea. You accelerate at 1g toward you destination till the mid point, then swing the ship around and accelerate the other direction at 1g until you arrive at your destination at 0 speed.

That way you get gravity the whole time and you optimize your speed while keeping it comfortable for humans. Sure you could accelerate at 1g for 2/3rds the trip, and slow down faster for the last third, but that could mean weeks, months, maybe years at a g-force higher than Earth gravity.

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[–] redsmurph 11 years ago

I admit the scares were a bit misplaced, as it took attention away from the plot. The environment and situation were interesting enough (in my opinion) without that. The opening scene is quite striking. I'd like to see a movie based on RAMA (the first and second books only), so you know where I'm coming from.

There were no ghosts, zombies nor surrealism. If you turn down the volume you'll notice that all scares were through audio. All characters on the spaceship were real living people.

Actually the romance was rather realistic if you consider that they didn't seem to be very social either of them.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] danilkak 11 years ago

Allmost forgot about the part where the ladder breaks, that part made me go Really?!

[–] teppo-2 11 years ago

Heh. What really made me chuckle that the Laura kept grabbing the same ladder pole with both hands AFTER that happened. If there's a risk they might come loose, what kind of a crazy person would have both their hands on the same pole?

Still, a minor quip, and overall I found it to be a nice movie.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] 10 years ago

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[–] ViddyThisBrother 7 years ago

I agree, it's an excellent film. It's intelligent, thought provoking and atmospheric. I don't understand the Alien comparisons? Alien is a monster horror film that just happens to be set in space. Cargo is genuine sci-fi.