Alien Cargo (1999)

Wonderful character development!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The acting in this movie is really good.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Read the other reviews for plot lines and spoilers, this one is an analysis of the mechanics of the movie.On the plus side, the title doesn't mean a guy in a phony rubber suit. On the negative, the pacing is a little too slow for me to pay a great deal of attention, regardless of how intelligent the script turned out to be, although, as another poster has mentioned, it seems to lack a third act, or a payoff.Netter Digital, the gang responsible for the effects work on "Babylon 5", turn in a satisfactory job on the SSS-17, a clunky boxy space cargo ship, but a better set of effects on the deep space exploration vessel, The Dolphin. Attention to a lot of detail, concepts of what a corporation will do to minimize costs in the future world of Solar System mining and transport of goods and raw materials, a couple of decent actors handling the script (which, as I mentioned isn't too shabby), contribute to a surprising change of pace, regardless of a downer ending (I don't know if something else would have happened, that it would have become anti-climactic).All in all, better than a lot of straight to vid sci-fi. I just wish it had been done just a little better.

Two members of a cargo spaceship awake from hyper sleep and realize they not only have over slept, but are also way off intended course. If this is not problematic enough the two astronauts fear their craft is contaminated by some of the outer space cargo collected. This movie is not a waste of time, but does not really offer much new. Some of the F/X are really good, but the project on a whole seems laking of real interest especially since there are NO aliens like the title may suggest. Jason London garners just enough to deserve star billing. Missy Crider is outstanding and is very easy on the eye. Nothing to go into orbit about.

It's a lazy Saturday and I'm at home, not expecting to find anything worth watching on the tube when I stumbled upon this movie. I have to say that I was very surprised by this film. It's really pretty good. The problem with a lot of sci-fi pictures today is that they fail to create a believable fantasy world. Bad sci-fi flicks suffer from gaping plot holes or scientific impossibilities that anyone who paid attention to 4th grade science could figure out. This film doesn't suffer from such ailments. The writer and director painted a believable picture of a future where humans live on Earth, Mars, and mine the moons of Saturn and interplanetary shipping of cargo is a high pay / high risk job. The two lead characters awake from hyper-sleep 10 months past their scheduled date only to discover that the ship has been ravaged by the two members of the previous shift... both of whom are missing. The suspense starts from there continues to build for remainder of the film. It was pretty suspenseful flick. A lot of that is due to excellent acting jobs by Missy Crider (Frailty, Powder, the TV series The Others) and Jason London (The Rage: Carrie 2, Safe Passage) and a script by Carla Jean Wagner that didn't sacrifice accuracy for an abundant amount of official sounding techno-babble. Put the acting and writing together and you actually end up caring about the lead characters. If this movie a larger budget for props and special effects, it could have ranked up there with films like Alien, or Blade Runner. The ending isn't typical, which only adds to the class of this film. The only problem I can see with the flick are the external CGI shots of the ships... they are good for television, but still obviously generated by computer. Regardless, I still recommend this film. Enjoy!

Alien Cargo was a great movie. I saw it on Sci-Fi channel and it kept me going with it the entire time. The one thing that bothered me was that the ending was very unexpected and it desperately needs a sequel to continue it.