Dark Descent (2002)

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Marshal Will Murdock is the "top cop" of a $375 billion facility referred to as a "plant", so deep under the ocean that a leak would cause six tons of water pressure per square inch. It is so big a train carries people from one sector to another. Most of the men who work there are miners; we see them working in an "excavation unit". TransGlobal wants to keep the miners down there for months at a time, so they are given the drug Xyloban to help them cope with the isolation.At the start of the movie, Will is in a gunfight with Vladimir and his friends. Almost on his own, Will defeats Vladimir.Four years later, Will is given a party to celebrate what a good job he has done making this place safe.But Vladimir is out of prison and he's comin' in on the noon transport. Everyone thinks Will should leave, but when he refuses no one wants to help him. In fact, they bet on whether he can defeat Vladimir again. There is no clock, but on screen we occasionally see the time.Will has another problem. Nine people have committed suicide in the past month, and Will suspects something is wrong with the Xyloban.Meanwhile, Will's ex-girlfriend Bin is with Niles, who resents that Will didn't recommend him for a promotion.Dean Cain occasionally shows signs of the charm and sense of humor he had as Clark Kent/Superman, along with the heroic qualities of that character. But most of the time, he's not nearly as good. I will say he has one scene that is really worth seeing. How can I say this without it being a spoiler? I know. The other character in the scene wears contact lenses.The actors playing Vladimir, Dr. Petrov and Bin give worthwhile performances, but there's not really that much here.There is some excitement--in fact, a lot of action toward the end--and a little violence, but it is not too graphic.The writers obviously have a sense of humor--emergency announcements, such as a warning to evacuate, are always followed by "Thank you for using TransGlobal", as if everyone is flying on an airplane or something. This is repeated numerous times in the space of about 10 minutes, although most of that time the audience doesn't really hear it. You won't believe what is happening the last time this expression is used.I suppose it is an okay movie, but certainly no classic. Not like the one that is suggested by Vladimir's return.

For those who have already watched Outland starring Sean Connery (1981), the film is "Outland" revisited. The script is, with some not so big changes, the same. Even some of the scenes are quite the same. The difference? It happens undersea instead of on a Jupiter moon in outer space. Corporation tries to enhance mining production and profit on an undersea mining platform giving miners some drugs that drive them crazy. Marshall in charge goes investigate and becomes target to the Corporation.Nevertheless, the film is entertaining and in some measure quite well done in spite of it's low budget. Worth a try but, again, this is probably due to the good original script most than for the good acting or production. Anyway, Outland is far better.

As others have mentioned, this movie is a blatant rip-off of "Outland" - which itself was a rip-off of "High Noon". Still, this could have provided some decent exploitation entertainment. But except for a somewhat cool sequence involving someone getting hit by water, there is absolutely NOTHING fun or even momentarily distracting in this particular telling of the story. Low production values hurt, but there is also no sense of fun, no zip, no energy here. Not even worth seeing for free when it comes on cable.

I thought Dark Descent was going to be a sea monster movie but it turned out to be an underwater high noon. I say this because the story was nearly identical and and lot of the lines were aswell. Dean Cain was good as usual and the movie was ok. If I wanted to see High Noon again I would have rented it!