White Dwarf

Not a bad film, but probably more gee-whiz ideas than plot. Had a definite "pilot movie" feel to it.

To non-sf people, it would probably seem bold and innovative. To sf people, it would rate "OK".

As indicated by others, excellent, original ideas... it could have been worth watching as a movie or a series, if one didn't mind overlooking the absurd blend of technologies - and I don't.

Characters have the usual fascination with recent (to us) history & literature for their allusions, but that's the curse of mediocre sci-fi. Well, that was too harsh, a few contemporary references are fun, but please...every quote by the hero shouldn't be from the period 1000 to 1150 years before the story's setting.

Alas, though...characters, at least the human ones, were absolute caricatures. Diverse, though...from the scale of travel & events we see, Rustia's not exactly huge, yet over here we have a dissipated Roman emperor-type complete with crown of laurels, over here a medieval king with the inevitable princess for our smarmy hero. Ah yes, and the sort-of orphan boy in too-short pants.

There were some good acting performances, notably Paul Winfield's Akada of course, and also surprisingly (given their minor roles) the two settlers, parents of the twins. Ah, forgotten their names, but their bath scene was the best in the film. I do mean because of the believability and sympathy, not for the more prurient reason. :)

Some shone less brightly - sadly this includes the aforementioned hero, whose apparent charm & magnetism for every inhabitant of Rustia could be used as the definition of "revealed attribute". There must have been something about him, as everyone loved him... yet... what could it have been? His early arrogance? His smirk? Oh, his smooth tongue... which brings us to...

The writing - and I apologize to those who rave about how Bruce Wagner is underrated, but the dialogue was about what I'd expect from someone in grade seven. Perhaps it was written for kids of about nine to twelve, and the writers figured the kids wouldn't be picky? Original ideas, yes, wonderful...but they were let down by the uncreative lines the actors were saddled with. I don't mean that the script needed more big words. In fact, a bit of medical technobabble in the clinic was quite good for that sort of thing, and delivered well. No, that sort of thing isn't necessary for good sci-fi...it's just that it's as if the dialogue was written in an afternoon. No spark at all.

I was optimistic, then annoyed, then sad...interesting, bizarre, slightly off-kilter feel to the whole movie (good!), but shoddy, often cliche design of characters & dialogue poisoned it.

To see why Bruce Wagner is, with Lem Dobbs, the most under-utilized writing talent in movies, see this humble Fox movie of his vaultingly ambitious sci-fi script--a mix of Jacobean fright, fairy tale and fifties, Fantastic Planet hokum that has more brains and bursting imagination in any given five minutes than the life work of George Lucas. The direction is flattish and the budget isn't up to Wagner's sumptuous vision, but the seeds of magnificence are everywhere visible.

I felt that this movie was an awesome, mind twisting idea of a new human/alien inhabiting world. This movie in so many ways is comparative in world creation and plot to that of Frank Herbert's Dune!! It appealled to me in the same way it did the doctor. It definitely wasn't Kansas anymore! I feel Bruce did a fabulous job of keeping his viewers hungry for more and curious for answers.

I have become a fan of character development in the past few years and I believe all of these characters carried a great deal of merit. I loved Paul Winfield, CCH Pounder and Neal McDonough's work in this movie. Oh, yes! I must agree the story lines for this and Akira runs exactly alike as well.

The one thing more viewers should understand is that a new world doesn't have to have the same logics or natural inter workings of Earth. If it did what would be the fun in that!

This script may not have been a fantastical array of ideas or dialogue but it definitely held it's own. The bits and pieces that were open or mishmashed could definitely have been given closure had the series been made. Also to note with the great participation of viewers in the past w/ Fox and other networks who's to say this movie won't graduate to series level. New things happen every year with tv/cable/big screen that defy the standards of the year prior. Hey, if it could happen to Baywatch, Party of Five or West Wing who's say it couldn't happen here! It only takes one person determined to sell the dream to carry an idea to great heights!

I really liked this movie. I think because it was on TV I didn't expect it to be as good as if it had been a larger production. I would like to see it again because the weak plot lost me in several places. Still, it was good entertainment and heck it was free.