Horizon

30,000 pound budget. What do you expect., Star Wars!!

Combine Independence Day with an episode of Doctor Who from the 80's but with a cast where the vast majority doesn't even reach the level of community theater. Special effects were probably made with a free filter on a mobile phone and the action scenes are either very bad (gunfights) or rather good (hand to hand) that go on forever. The really awful thing was the writing. The story made NO sense and the dialogue was appalling. To give you an idea where you are getting yourself into : at a certain point they want us to believe that an EMP was activated while you still see the lights on in the background and they step into a working (modern) car. There's more "sci" in an episode of the Teletubbies. If I hadn't been locked up for the last year with this pandemic, I would have gone for a pint instead. I like to remind myself people worked very hard on these projects so I try to find something positive to write but I couldn't find anything. You have been warned.

I watched the first 45 minutes and wow. What a mess.

First it was near impossible to keep the characters straight. The introductions were not clear at all. Sisters, brothers, steps, fiancees, girlfriends. Who's who? And what are their motivations? Personalities? They all seem 20ish, 30ish and mildly dysfunctional. Not much differentiation.

Then the not very credible story line. A spaceship appears and somehow overturns cars (opening scene). Then a short time later people are rioting and looting. Next an EMP hits but it does not affect the electrical grid. After that we learn there is only one spaceship and it is only effecting Bristol. So why are people going berserk? Why not just get in your car and go elsewhere? Cornwall is pretty, maybe there?

And where is the military? There is only one soldier so far, and he seems to be in the employ of some Russian mafia group.

Finally the women. I am by no means a feminist, but the female characters are hysterical and useless. They can barely go two minutes without screaming or needing some direction from the men. It's like some 1950s sci fi in this regard.

I am now going to look for some spoilers so I do not have to see the rest.

The basic story that unfolds in Horizon is interesting enough, and could have been the basis for an above-average sci-fi flick. Unfortunately the screenwriters did not exhibit similar rigor and creativity when fleshing it out. Plot holes abound, especially towards the end. Lines voiced by actors range from cliched but reasonable, to cliched and awkward, to, in some cases, idiotic. ("Give them hell!" "I intend to" is an instance of both--extremely commonplace-boring, and at the same time, it makes absolutely no sense in context.)

The acting ranged from reasonably good to awkward to cringe-inducing. There were too many fistfighting and gunfighting scenes, going on for far too long. And one or two scenes near the middle added nothing to the story.

I don't regret watching it, but would only recommend it to someone with a taste for B-grade or lower sci-fi.

... and watched the whole thing in the hope that perhaps the plot took some amazing twist that may have made up for an overall very substandard viewing experience. It didn't.