Event Horizon

***Event Horizon*** is a 1997 science-fiction horror film directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and written by Philip Eisner. It stars Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Joel Richardson, Kathleen Quinlan, Sean Pertwee, Jason Isaacs and Richard T. Jones. The film was released on 15 August 1997 in the United States and 22 August 1997 in the United Kingdom.

## Contents

* 1Plot
* 2Why We Won't Need Eyes to See
* 3Bad Qualities
* 4Reception
* 5Videos
* 6Trivia
* 7Comments

## Plot

When the Event Horizon, a spacecraft that vanished years earlier, suddenly reappears, a team is dispatched to investigate the ship. Accompanied by the Event Horizon's creator, William Weir (Sam Neill), the crew of the Lewis and Clark, led by Capt. Miller (Laurence Fishburne), begins to explore the seemingly abandoned vessel. However, it soon becomes evident that something sinister resides in its corridors, and that the horrors that befell the Event Horizon's previous journey are still present.

## Why We Won't Need Eyes to See

1. The atmosphere has a brilliant and creepy look that fits the tone of the movie.
2. Many unexpected moments, especially when it comes to finding out what's on-board the spaceship.
3. Much like *Mortal Kombat*, it is one of the few times Paul W.S. Anderson has shown good skills as a director.
4. Unforgettable and interesting characters, especially Captain Miller and his mission to uncover the truth of the Event Horizon's disappearance and what happened to its crew.
5. Creepy and atmospheric soundtrack from Michael Kamen.
6. **Where we're going, we won't need eyes to see.**
7. Great acting, especially from Sam Neill as Dr. William Weir.
8. Well done cinematography.
9. The pacing is decent.
10. Many of the death scenes are brutal and heartbreaking.
11. The poster is well crafted.

## Bad Qualities

1. Some of the acting were sub-par most of the time, especially from Laurence Fishburne.
2. At times, it feels like an *Alien* or *Star Trek: First Contact* rip-off.
	* In fact, it tends to borrow plots from other horror and science fiction films.
3. It pretty much lacks suspense, and doesn't have many scares, so it may not count as a horror film.
4. There are some parts that can be considered an unintentional comedy, such as when one of the characters says "Once you're evil, you don't need eyes . . ." as he cackles.

## Reception

Upon release, the film was a critical failure. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Event Horizon holds an approval rating of 29%, based on 82 reviews, and an average rating of 5.00/10. Its consensus reads, "Despite a strong opening that promises sci-fi thrills, *Event Horizon* quickly devolves into an exercise of style over substance whose flashy effects and gratuitous gore fail to mask its overreliance on horror clichés.". On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average score of 35 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "D+" on an A+ to F scale.

In the years since, *Event Horizon* has slowly built a cult following and is often referenced in other works of popular culture as well as generally positive reviews from audiences alike. It began to sell well on home video; its initial DVD release sold so well that Paramount contacted Anderson to begin working on a restoration of the deleted footage; but unfortunately, it had been either lost or destroyed. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the audiences approval rating was 61%. On Metacritic, the user score was 7.8, based on 289 ratings. The film has 6.7/10 rating on IMDb and 3.1/5 score on Letterboxd as well.

## Trivia

* The rotational shot of the space station over earth took almost a third of the film's visual effects budget.
* Clive Barker, whose movie Hellraiser (1987) was the film's huge influence, consulted on the project during pre-production.
* Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tommy Lee Jones and Bruce Willis were offered for the role of Captain Miller.
* A upcoming TV series based on film, is currently in development.