A few good ideas, but VERY inferior.

Rating: 4/10 (20 February 2000)

A passenger vessel becomes damaged (how is never really explained) while the crew and passengers (except the locked down criminal) are in cryogenic sleep (during which they're not frozen). The crew wake in time for one of them to land on a desert planet, where the lone remaining crew member must deal with her own demons, around 9 survivors and the deadly inhabitants of the planet they are now stranded on. On the plus side, the creatures seem to be averse to light and this planet has multiple suns. The bad news? The lights may be about to go out.
This movie has some interesting ideas, and there is even a little surprise at the end, but the story is basically rehashed and tired. The effects are good, but you do see the same ones over and over. It would also help if you could understand what the criminal was saying. His accent (?) is a slightly more lucid version of Lou Ferigno.
There are other moments when the suspension of disbelief just can't be maintained. The pilot lands the ship when apparently the windshield is out, taking the heat with her face as they burn on re-entry. Not even a case of chapped lips. Then there's the fact that the transport they're taking seems to be made to completely fall apart upon entering the atmosphere of a planet.
There is no real depth to any of the characters, and the only ones that seem to have any consistency to their actions are the ones who become Pterodactyl Chow before they have a chance to "evolve."
This is average fare, and if you simply want to sit in on a sci-fi movie, you won't leave totally disgusted. But I'd save a little money and go to a matinee. At least then the price of admission is equal to the shot down the front of the crewmember's blouse as she crawls into the hole. I must admit that was rather pleasant.
2/18