Stylish but barely mediocre overall

A Brilliant Conflict

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The DVD box had an image of a shuttle on fire going down on a strange planet with great words " A must see film ". So were in the film does all all this occur? Acting was awful. I am thankful i found this for a small price of £3 pounds and not full price.This spoiled a good nights viewing.The story handled a lot better by good direction and actors would have made this film amazing. The space images were like watching an early Star Trek series. It is worth reading other peoples reviews before even looking at this film.The mistake is to take just the one review you come across.Thankfully IMDb is the best place to get an honest review if you read ALL reviews

The dialog seemed very ad-libed. Sort of as if the director didn't have any more than an outline to work with and asked the actors to ad-lib emotions. "Give me Paranoid. OK, now give me Anger". I don't think the writer or director have any sociology interest because the actions and reactions of the actors did not fit with normal human actions and reactions. It's as if a child, without the benefit of years of watching human interactions, had written the dialog. The emotions of what the actors were going through did not fit the action at the time. Character development is missing. Generic black guy, generic white woman, generic young guy, etc. No build up of back stories. No relationships. Nothing to make you feel that you know the characters and if you don't know the characters, why would you care what happens to them?Atlantis Down seems to be a story coaxed out of a child by a parent. "And then what happened?" "And then?" "and after that, what happened?"

As in a wicked game of chess, Atlantis Down strategically zigzags and jumps across a landscape of human frailty and vulnerability, inviting the viewer to question their own potential defenselessness under threat of attack by a 'being' that can't be seen, touched or truly known. This Sci-Fi film cleverly moves towards a subtle, but powerful question: Does one ostensibly have the power to affect outcomes based on the thoughts and the choices they make in the "game" that is life? You need to know where not to move your pieces (or rather your thoughts).This concept creeps up on you. Goose pimples tickle your flesh sort of freezing your mind and body and hold you hostage to its building intensity and wave of surprises. With each "mini"-vignette, and next move, comes the horror that a "force" outside of the normal sphere of life is playing host to your fears—your greatest fears. Michael Rooker's performance as ruthless and reckless "alien" is chilling. Mae Flores (as Rachel Lee) is unforgettable. We understand without a doubt now how fears become real even if the circumstances under which they are experienced are not. Interestingly, even the camera angles seem to mimic a game of chess, moving forward back and sideways to cleverly bring you full circle from haunted pasts to haunting nows. What is, should be or will be the next move? It is truly inspiring to see such a well done film done well in only 13 days and a tight budget. Max Bartoli ingeniously probes our psyches, notably echoing among other observations Winston Churchill's that "those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

The story is a very original blend of thriller, sci-fi and drama, combining chess and the space shuttle is quite intriguing and it works. As the story unfolds you are taken by surprise by its twists. Things happen to the crew members without a specific reason and you keep wondering why until it all becomes clear at the end.The sound - especially once the characters find themselves zapped on another planet – is terrific. The directing was clean, the acting believable, although some characters veered into one-note territory, like the second in command Mary Bishop. The editing keeps it togetherwith a suspense pacing. Overall, this movie is an entertaining thriller with many potential threads.