Ariana DeBose

Chris Messina

John Gallagher Jr.

Masha Mashkova

Costa Ronin

Pilou Asbæk

Richard Mettler

Sean Vawter

Brandon Arrington

Mehrdod Heydari

Nick Matthews

Alison Semenza

Mark Cacciatore

Mitchell Grobman

Michael Glassman

Pete Shilaimon

Geoff Wallace

J.C. Davis

Scott Hardwick

Maria Bentfield

Colin Patton

Kevin Hardison

Jacob Yakob

Heather Richardson

Lindsay Irish-Desarno

Cat Dawson

Robbie McKeithan

Mickey Liddell

Bryan David Moss

Colt Allen

Kevin Pierce

Joseph Middleton

Jeannette Kim

Alaa Negm

Silvia Torrella

Matt Doll

Ben D. Griffith Jr.

Matthew T. Duncan

Jehan Purcell

Mike Repeta

Colin Rogers

Paul Poleski

G. Peter King

Eddie Bowlin

Daniel Waller

Sal Vasquez

Mike Xu

William Purcell

Kevin Conlon

D.J. Shea

Brian Ellebracht

Radwa Alaa

Andy Bader

Tim Rook

Clayton Salberg

Danny Wils

Matt Fann

Jeremy Kozura

Matt Sweeney

Patrick J. Borowiak

John Jernigan

Michelle Pare

Glenn Rivers

Mohamed El Gohary

Jeffrey Warnhoff

Christian J. Fletcher

Alan Hilburn Jr.

Joshua L. Ellsworth

Michelle Glahn Livers

Kamila Ostra

Marinela Racheva

Charlie B. Spaht

Jessica Arkoff

Larry Long

Mariel Folmer

Brandon Burzawa

Neil Orchard

Derek Smith

Scott Kinnebrew

James T. Jones

Steve Urban

Drew Webster

Moustafa Nabil

Billy Hendricks

Catherine Corkery

Tom Jones Jr.

Chelsea Lockhart

Dean Labossiere

Christopher Riggs

Bob Smith

Bragi Brynjarsson

Lucinda Foy

Jimmy Waitman

Roy Knauf

Kyle Dutton

Luis Tinoco

Will Barker

Darwin Brandis

Tony Jenzano

Kelsey Ogata

K.C. White

Mike Strain Jr.

Neil Castles Jr.

Science Fiction

Thriller

I.S.S.

LD Entertainment

United States of America

English

Pусский

alcohol

paranoia

space

astronaut

zero gravity

thoughtful

world war

international space station

inspirational

provocative

compassionate

defiant

powerful

scathing

tragic

CinemaSerf

There are times when this drama quite effectively illustrates the claustrophobic nature of life aboard the International Space station that is jointly manned by American and Russian scientists. The arrival of "Foster" (Ariana DeBose) brings the tally to three from each nation but very shortly afterwards it's apparent that things on Earth are no-good. What look like volcanic eruptions are occurring all over the place followed by complete radio silence. Well, almost complete. The Americans are given an order that they must assume their counterparts have been given too. What now ensues is a really mediocre sci-fi thriller that tries far too hard to manufacture tension from a misfiring cast and some serious over-scripting. DeBose does enough I suppose, but Chris Messina is his usual wooden self (even if there is a scene that just made me think of that famous line from Brian Blessed). The visual effects do enough but the characterisations are shallow and the plausibility of the entire scenario is dubious. Essentially two warring tribes cohabiting the same space-borne igloo. The denouement doesn't really make a great deal of sense, but I suppose it does ask us to test the relative merits of human nature and decency against the demands of national loyalty - especially when the benefits of either are ambiguous at best. It's not terrible, but I've seen better episodes of "Space 1999".

It's good. Coulda been better, but still good.

<em>'I.S.S.'</em> gave me enough. I do think it could've been paced better and had a bit more intrigue put in there, though what's produced is satisfying. The titular set looks nice and the zero gravity comes across as convincing, while the sound design et al. is all positive.

For me, the cast are very solid. It perhaps could've done with a true star performer as no-one stands far and above their co-stars. Ariana DeBose is more than solid, she is the best of those onscreen; albeit narrowly so. Masha Mashkova and Pilou Asbæk are decent, as also are Chris Messina and Costa Ronin.

Nothing spectacular evidently, though this release is a perfectly watchable sci-fi flick. I'd recommend it.

Brent Marchant

It’s unfortunate that a good premise can’t be saved from poor execution, but such is the case with this undercooked sci-fi thriller. When three Americans and three Russians aboard the International Space Station are stranded there when war breaks out between the two countries on Earth, the previously congenial crewmates turn against one another when the two teams of astronauts each receive orders to take control of the facility at any cost. The question in this, of course, is why? As a scientific research center, what material value would there be in taking charge of a remote space-based facility to the Earth-bound survivors of a war-ravaged planet? While the reasoning behind this is eventually explained, its revelation is delayed, leaving viewers with a drawn-out mystery that doesn’t make much apparent sense, especially when taking control calls for a team of intelligent, convivial, supposedly mature scientists to instantaneously turn into murderous territorial thugs. And, even when the big reveal is finally made, it seems like it’s hardly justification enough for this kind of behavior from a group of individuals who are allegedly more psychologically evolved and have supposedly risen above the infantile geopolitical bickering of their counterparts on terra firma. That’s particularly true in light of the many (and I do mean many) references to the crew’s “enlightened” outlook and assumed solidarity, qualities that are repeatedly browbeaten into viewers in the film’s opening act. The fault here lies with a rather lame narrative and a screenplay that doesn’t do much to overcome that failing. The special effects are also somewhat underwhelming for a sci-fi offering, one in which the filmmakers could have done considerably more to make the picture more visually engaging. Sadly, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, perhaps best known for the superb documentary “Blackfish” (2013), is in over her head with this release, a project that really could have used a more skillful hand in making it the kind of edge-of-your-seat thriller that it deserved to be. Instead, audiences are left with a mediocre sci-fi tale that feels more like something one would find on the SyFy Channel or some other B-grade cable network. You won’t miss much by skipping this one.

I loved this movie and gave it a 8/10 for accomplishing many things for me:

- totally believable that this was filmed in space on the I.S.S.
- mostly believable characters but I'd change some
perfection on the set
- I'll never get the moment out of my mind about first seeing a "volcano" from space
- it ended appropriately, as it's difficult to find a "perfect ending"
- so much introspective that all humans have the capability of doing ruthless things
- Sci-Fi totally believable thriller from start to end. (8/10)

P.S. If you liked this, you'd also probably like High Life (Mia Goth).

I.S.S.( 2024)

The war on earth will be decided in space.

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A review by CinemaSerf

Written by CinemaSerf on Wed May 01 2024

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