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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty darn good for a Hallmark Channel TV mini-series,
By Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Supernova Complete 2-Part Mini (DVD)
Sure, you can find lots of little mistakes and problems with this story, and the special effects tend to be on the cheesy side, but I certainly enjoyed watching Supernova. I don't really associate Hallmark Entertainment with disaster movies, but they certainly did a credible job with this one. Not surprisingly, there are a few overly melodramatic moments and one incredibly unnecessary subplot, but these family entertainment guys didn't shirk from blowing a lot of things up, including the Taj Mahal and all of a major American city. With a total runtime of almost three hours, some may find Supernova a little too long, but one must keep in mind the fact that this originally aired as a two-part television miniseries.Things don't look very good for the Earth and everything on it. Apparently, our sun is much older than scientists thought, and Dr. Austin Shepard (Peter Fonda) has discovered that it is about to go supernova. Unprecedented sunspot activity will wreak havoc with Earth's communications systems, followed by huge releases of plasma from the sun's inner depths that will rain fireballs down upon the Earth; soon thereafter, the sun will expand to the point that it consumes the entire Solar System and then explode. It's the ultimate mass extinction event. Knowing there is nothing that can be done, Austin emails his findings to five illustrious colleagues and flies off to find himself a beach bunny and enjoy the last few days of life as we know it. Austin's junior colleague, Dr. Chris Richardson (Luke Perry) soon finds himself at the very nexus of activity, commandeered by intelligence agent Lisa Delgado (Tia Carrere) at the bidding of a high-ranking U.S. colonel (Lance Henriksen) even before he knows what is going on. Already well aware of Dr. Shepard's apocalyptic conclusions, America and other world governments have activated a long-secret plan to gather worthy individuals to be evacuated to underground cities. The public at large, of course, must not be told about the imminent catastrophe the angry sun is sending their way. Meanwhile, as if the whole destruction of the Solar System isn't quite dramatic enough by itself, we have a far-fetched and wholly unnecessary subplot about Dr. Richardson's wife and daughter being stalked by the escaped serial killer that Mrs. Richardson's testimony helped convict in the first place. There are, of course, a number of other characters with stories of their own, but a lot of the focus of this film, apart from the scenes of wholesale destruction, revolves around the plan to try and save a remnant of civilization for any possible future. Dr. Richardson in particular openly rebels at this idea, and I really don't understand why. If there is any chance for mankind to survive the coming upheaval, why not go for it? Yes, it's unfortunate that only a select few would qualify and that whoever made the selections would essentially be playing God, but isn't that better than sitting back and letting everyone on the planet die a certain death together? Another key theme is the public's right to know. We all know what happens when mankind faces even a local disaster - massive looting, violent protests, mayhem in the streets, etc. Should the people of Earth really be told they are all about to die? Maybe you're wondering how scientists could possibly come up with a way to stop the sun from exploding. Stop wondering because there is no way to do that. Mankind's only hope is that the brilliant Dr. Austin made a mistake somewhere in his calculations. It wouldn't be the only mistake in this movie - take, for instance, the fact that serial killer Grant Cole is sentenced to death in a country (Australia) that does not have the death penalty, or the fact that no character in this Australian setting seems to speak with an Australian accent. This whole story actually lends itself exceedingly well to any number of "things I learned from this movie" lists. Go and check some of them out on the Internet - they're pretty darn funny. As for the special effects, keep in mind that this was a television mini-series, not a Hollywood summer blockbuster - the effects may not be very realistic, but I figure the filmmakers did the best they could with what they had to work with. All criticisms aside, though, I did enjoy this movie quite a bit. Luke Perry isn't bad in the main role, Tia Carrere more than holds her on, and Lance Henriksen brings an effective sense of gravitas to the whole story. Even Peter Fonda was good (I usually try to avoid any and all Fondas not named Bridget). Finally, as a serious fan of science fiction and disaster films, I can't ask for much more than the idea of our sun freaking exploding. For a production that originally aired on the Hallmark Channel, Supernova really isn't bad at all.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Hallmark does it again....drag out drama,
By
This review is from: Supernova Complete 2-Part Mini (DVD)
The standard Hallmark background music plays for hours on end. The world seems to be coming to an end due to a super nova. This mini-series will never come to an end.Do we tell? Whom do we tell? Is there an evil plot to the end? Will Dr. Austin Sheppard (Peter Fonda) find time enough for love. Will an evil being abduct Brooke and Haley? Do we really care? We get to watch some great acting by Tia Carrere, born on 1967 as Althea Janairo, 11 years after she gained acknowledgement in the blockbuster film "True Lies" (1994). And let us not forget Peter Fonda who played Frank in "The Passion of Ayn Rand" (1999).
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.1 out of 5 stars (29 customer reviews) 21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good movie and good price,
By Gregory Holmes "DeCoteau Fan" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Supernova [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
I'm writing this mostly to correct the impression given by a reviewer that this blu ray disc does not contain the entire miniseries. It certainly does contain both parts in their entirety. After watching part one the credits role and then part two starts automatically. It can also be accessed from the pop up menu at any time. The film itself is pretty good although a bit slow. There are too many characters to keep track of and the film would have been better if half an hour were edited out. IT also suffers a bit of an identity crisis. Is it science fiction or a serial killer stalker movie? It trys to be both with mixed results. Nice to see Luke Perry in the lead role. He does a fine job with this. Visual effects are fairly impressive CGI stuff. The transfer looks excellent and often almost three dimmensional. Colors are beautiul and vivid. There is some minor dirt on the print in two scenes but other than that it looks awesome. Sound is excellent uncompressed 5.1 There are interviews with the director, John Harrison and all of the cast. A trailer is also included. For such a bargain basement price, they did a very nice job with this Blu ray release. And once again, THE DISC DOES CONTAIN THE COMPLETE FILM.
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
HERE COMES THE SUN,
By Michael Butts - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Supernova Complete 2-Part Mini (DVD)
SUPERNOVA is a tv miniseries that runs at almost three hours, and it's a case of less would have been more. The script by Steve Berman is so overloaded with extemporaneous subplots that the focus from the imminent disaster gets sidetracked a little too often. The whole thing with Luke Perry's wife witnessing a serial killer and then her testimony sending him to the death penalty is wholly unnecessary. Anyway, the main plot deals with an impending supernova discovered by brilliant scientist Peter Fonda, based on Perry's calculations. When all the predictions start occurring (migratory patterns change, telecommunications and blackouts, etc.), seems like the earth's goose is cooked. Disaster flick fans should be pleased with the decimation of such cities as St. Louis, Paris, Syndey and the Taj Mahal, and the computer generated effects of the sun's eruptions is visually beautiful if unrealistic. Of course, the nasty government gets involved with Tia Carrere as a Security Agent who whisks Perry and other scientists off in an attempt to prove or disprove Fonda's findings. Lance Henriksen struts his villainous stuff as a man who will be responsible for deciding who will live in underground facilities to repopulate the earth after the disaster, and Emma Samms is the maverick crusading reporter who is determined to let the public know the truth. The resolution of the supernova is kind of ridiculous, and the movie's climax focuses on the serial killer. All in all, it's not horrible, but it fails to give us what disaster movies should: impending doom for people we care or don't care about and this is where SUPERNOVA fizzles.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Supernova: Lukewarm Apocalypse,
By Revelation Magazine - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Supernova Complete 2-Part Mini (DVD)
Supernova doesn't seem to quite know what it's trying to be and as a result never quite succeeds on any level. As a disaster epic, it can never quite match the visuals of big screen offerings that have dealt out similar levels of global destruction. The sequences of the sun's increasing activity are pretty enough to look at but never convince and feel disconnected from the rest of the action. And scenes of the Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal and Sydney Opera House being destroyed by giant fireballs descending from the sky are largely unnecessary, only further detracting from the believability of the whole endeavour with some average at best effects work. It's at its best when it presents the aftermath of the effects of the sun's activity on a smaller scale, emphasising the human drama amongst the chaos that ensues.The science behind the storyline seems rather shaky at best, as evidenced by a key scene involving a piece of elementary and unconvincing mathematics. This could, however, be overlooked if the treatment of the scenario of a sun about to consume our solar system was in itself engaging. Here again, though, Supernova is only a partial success. The notion of an underground hive intended to ensure mankind's survival if life above ground were to become unsustainable is one of the more interesting themes on offer, and so it's a shame it's never fully explored. Instead, there are a number of subplots and situations of varying levels of interest. Of these, Shepard's ruminations on his island retreat are amongst the most poignant as he contemplates his life and work and awaits an end he deems inevitable; his final scene is poorly executed, however, and only detracts from what has gone before. And the plot surrounding a horribly clichéd escaped killer stalking Richardson's family is utterly pointless, providing a "climax" more befitting of a conventional thriller. Perhaps this sought to play safe and provide a recognisable climactic conflict for one of its protagonists, but at this point the movie seems to forget its own premise altogether. In a variable cast, it is really only the ever-excellent Lance Henriksen who shines, lending sympathy and believable motivation in limited screen time to a character that might very easily have seemed one-dimensional. Luke Perry seems oddly miscast as Dr Richardson and never convinces the viewer of his academic credentials, and neither is his bond to the rest of his family ever properly established. This rendered their subplot all the more uninteresting. Overall, this is an entirely watchable Apocalyptic TV movie so long as you don't think too deeply about it or watch too closely. For the most part, though, it feels like a missed opportunity that could have taken much bolder decisions and been far more affecting as result. Lukewarm at best. --Adam Chamberlain Revelation Magazine |
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