The ship begins to malfunction, leaving the troupe with a miniscule chance of survival. Amazingly, and predictably, the captain does something crazy that just might work. When something else goes wrong, this melodramatic cycle repeats itself. While DePalma may have included these scenes to generate cheap suspense and have the audience hope the courageous crew will be safe, audiences are more likely to be laughing hysterically as every clich in the book is thrown at them. The scene is obviously a filler that has nothing to do with the overall plot of the movie, and a viewer feels even more exploited when product placements are plugged in at every possible opportunity.
Imagination is the key ingredient to science fiction.
Every subtle point is explicitly drawn out and explained, treating viewers like children by assuming they cannot figure things out for themselves. One would hope that the movie could be salvaged somewhat by special effects. With current technology and the movie's high budget, there is no excuse for the poor quality of special effects this movie offers. Instead of awing viewers with impressive eye candy, the effects are like the rest of the film - laughable. Even if you were to take away the big name actors and cut the budget for special effects, however, this film would not even be a worthy USA Original Movie.