Supernova

2000
PG-13
1h 30m

IMDb RATING

4.8/10

20K

YOUR RATING

Play trailer2:21

1 Video

74 Photos

Horror Sci-Fi Thriller

A deep space rescue and recovery spaceship with a crew of 6 receives a distress call from a mining operation 3432 light years away. A rescue operation via dimension jump is made. Bad idea.A deep space rescue and recovery spaceship with a crew of 6 receives a distress call from a mining operation 3432 light years away. A rescue operation via dimension jump is made. Bad idea.A deep space rescue and recovery spaceship with a crew of 6 receives a distress call from a mining operation 3432 light years away. A rescue operation via dimension jump is made. Bad idea.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

4.8/10

20K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
Walter Hill, who replaced Geoffrey Wright as director, only had two months to prepare and re-write the script before principle photography was planned, as the studio wanted filming done before an imminent Screen Actors Guild strike was to start later that year (it was later averted). However, Hill clashed over his script with the studio, who cut the budget halfway through shooting. Furthermore, due to special effects house Digital Domain considering a partnership with MGM, production was supposed to get a discount on the special effects, but when that deal fell through, they had to pay for "the full spa treatment", and about half of the planned shots had to be scrapped. Hill also disagreed with MGN on their decision to screen his first cut without many of the effects shots for a test audience (which, as he predicted, was a disaster), and their refusal to allow for additional filming (which had to be done anyway after Hill walked out). In an interview years after the release, Hill said that his version was much darker, had a very different setup and that the ending was much different from the final cut. He also expressed strong dislike for the way the studio ruined the movie but said that James Spader did a great job with his role.

Goofs
At the end of the movie one of Nick's eyes is blue and one is brown. When they show him again from the side the other eye is blue.

Quotes
Karl Larson: I think you're making a big mistake, Captain.
Nick: [spins on his heels] Oh, yeah? You want to clarify that?
Karl Larson: I'm offering you the opportunity of a lifetime and you're passing it up for all of us.
Nick: For all of us? Your opportunity of a lifetime has cost us the life of our ship's captain, it has endangered the lives of this crew, and it's wasting our critical time. All this for some half-baked delusional belief that you'll make yourself rich. There is no opportunity here and there is no us.

Crazy credits
Director Walter Hill is credited under the pseudonym "Thomas Lee". See Trivia for more information.

Alternate versions
VHS/DVD versions run 91 min. and are rated R.

Connections
Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movie Fights in Spaceships (2014)

User reviews322

Review

Featured review

6/10

A suspenseful sci-fi thriller...

I do believe that I watched this movie some time back in the early 2000s, but it is not a movie that have left much of an impression with me back then, because I don't really recall anything from it, aside from it having James Spader on the cast list.

I got the chance to sit down and revisit "Supernova" now in 2017 and decided to watch it again, and did of course grab the opportunity as it arose. When I was younger I wasn't much of a sci-fi fan, aside from loving "Star Wars", but as I have grown older I have come to find enjoyment in the sci-fi genre as well.

I must admit that I was more than genuinely excited to see Angela Bassett being on the cast list too, because I have come to enjoy her work over the years, and she is actually a very talented actress. The cast list also had Lou Diamond Phillips and Robert Forster playing in the movie, so there were some familiar faces for sure. Now, I have never been much fan of James Spader, but I must admit that he was really well-cast for this movie and he performed very well. However, I can't help but sit and think that James Spader sounds so much like a space-Batman as he talks throughout the course of "Supernova".

Taking into consideration that the movie is from 2000, then I will say that the special effects, CGI and visual effects are actually still quite good even by today's standards. And having convincing CGI and proper effects is alpha and omega for a sci-fi movie to have the proper punch to it. And the visual effects team here really managed to perform quite well. The robot, however, well at least it served its purpose, but its movement were so weird, rigid and jerky that it looked comical. The designs of the space vessels were also quite interesting and it looked very realistic - well, as far as sci-fi takes realism, of course.

"Supernova" picks up pace very early on and throws the audience right into the thrill and excitement of the Space adventure. Writers William Malone, Daniel Chuba and David C. Wilson really had managed to create something very compelling and thrilling, while director Walter Hill brought the script onto the screen quite nicely and it made for a very entertaining movie indeed.

There was a great atmosphere to the movie, and it was a very believable setting that they managed to create. And that applied to both the deep space scenes and also all the scenes aboard the spacecraft.

This movie makes good use of a mixture between action, thrills, storytelling and character development. So there definitely is something for just about everyone here.

"Supernova" was actually a much better movie than I initially remember it, so I can honestly say that it is a movie that is well-worth taking the time to watch, especially if you enjoy sci-fi movies that fall into the thriller/horror genre.