Excellent, but with a few low points.

Rating: 8/10 (19 February 2000)

Firstly, I'll point out that I did really like this movie. Great special effects, the lead cast was quite good, and many scenes were very well done. Even in moments of utter silence, with nothing happening, the tension was still obvious. The music as a whole is quite good, but the main title theme is repeated a little too much - after all, it hardly has the impact of something like Alexander Courage's Star Trek theme. Overall, an excellent movie. But there are still many bad points. The movie is rather slow to begin with, and there are plenty of the family scenes that should have been cut. They add nothing to the movie - and in many cases they detract from it. This isn't helped by the acting from the female cast members, which is simply appalling. Surely they could afford at least one person besides a few of the top listed men who could act. Also, there are many cliches in the dialogue, and the heroic nature of these people is hammered into us far too many times. Still, I did enjoy it, but more as escapism than anything meaningful. 7/10