Arrowhead [DVD]

Original subject line (maxed out the 100 char limit):Good middle 50% of the movie -well worth the watch - bookended by cheesey low budget tat. Worth a watch, from someone who does not usually wathc low budget tat. A nice hard-science fiction story, shored up by a 'Stranded'-type storey and an excellent lead-actor performance. I would love to watch this again with the main actor and a bigger budget - for the first 25% and the last 25% - the rest can be kept as-is, as it is _good_. TLDR; watch for the lead actor's performance for the middle 50% of the movie; give the sequel to a good director with lots of money and keep only ; I would watch that sequel.This is a seriously low-budget hard science fiction movie. There's a cheesey slow start, and a cheesy end section with a good end-button, but the middle section - where there's just the main actor - is excellent. I've put in my review subject line that this is like the movie Moon, with Sam Rockewell, and it is; the entire worth of the movie is held up by this one guy's portrayal. I am not a great fan of low-budget movies and plough through them witha view of, 'well they are essentially plays' put on screen, and that excuses bad effects and production value. But it does not excuse bad acting. I do realise that what looks like bad acting can be produced by bad production values, but this movie is a good example of how one good performance can take a movie from, 'why have I just wasted my life', to, 'well that was enjoyable'. Give me the main actor, in a full length movie, where it's just him in a situation similar to how the main body of the movie had the this actor (Sean Micaleff), and I would happily pay to watch that.

The synopsis here is that Kye Cortland (Dan Mor) is escaped from a planetary prison by some guerrilla types who are the enemy of the Empire and sent on a mission on a ship called ‘Arrowhead’ as he has the technical skills to fly it. The mission goes a tad wrong and he gets shipwrecked on a deserted moon.There is a tradition that certain prisoners are executed on a particular day each year and Kye finds out his father is next. All he wants to do is get to him before that happens and these outlaws are his only chance. The problem is he is not alone on this moon and what he meets will change him forever.Now this is low budget but that made me like it even more. They have gone back to basics and used bits of old vacuum cleaners and typewriters to make some of the props – even dustbin lids are employed. The acting is all excellent. Dan Mor is particularly good, but I have to say hats off to Christopher Kirby who starred in the brilliant ‘Iron Sky’. He only has a small role but absolutely nails it and then some. The on board computer is brilliant too and will remind certain people of ‘Dark Star’ or even ‘Red Dwarf’. The story itself is refreshingly original and it manages to keep the tension going right the way to the final frame. The CGI varies from rather good to above average but I am more than happy to live with that when the over all package is actually engagingly good.

I actually enjoyed this film.I think a lot of the one and two star reviewers are overly harsh.The acting is fine as is the CGI.The story line is good, all being tied up quite nicely at the end.I also found the story to be quite novel and didn’t see it panning out the way it did.Worth a watch in my opinion.

Written and directed by Jesse O’Brien, this ambitious low-budget Australian SF movie will probably appeal to that genre’s stalwarts but highly unlikely to engage anybody else. Set in a brutal and unforgiving universe the narrative focusses on a prisoner of war, freed by a rebel general and tasked with a mission, who finds himself marooned on a desolate, dangerous and downright bizarre moon where things are definitely not what they seem. Considering the meagre budget the realisation of the alien surface and spaceship is truly impressive and effective while the level of tension and dread which accompanies the narrative is skilfully sustained throughout. The interaction between the principal protagonist and the spaceship’s computer is key in advancing the story, while the presence of three other human characters contribute to the overall plotting which, although uneven, nevertheless keeps you guessing to the very end. I rented this film based on Amazon reviews, and despite its disjointed nature and vague narrative I found it an absorbing and original piece of film-making. I liked it, but I’m not sure that many will.

Thoroughly enjoyed this film

This is low budget stuff - it fights hard against its restrictions and has some interesting ideas but these sit alongside standard sci-fi cliches to create something which passes the time but not much more.It's not a pulsating space adventure by any means but that's ok - our main protagonist quickly crash lands on a distant moon where the landscape is rather rocky, dusty and dirty (isn't it always). The story arch then follows our boys attempts to stay alive and possibly maybe even get back home. He's certainly not alone of course and the narrative takes slight twists as other characters and creatures come and go.It's a little over 90 minutes but in truth felt a little longer to me - there's barely enough actual plot or happenings to stretch this far. The acting efforts are relatively solid as are the sparingly used special effects. It certainly is a trier but it didn't mange to engage me for the duration. Such is life.

Lots of interesting things to ponder in this movie. Its still a B movie - forget all the big Hollywood flashyness. But the acting is decent and it is well put together.

This film could have been good, it does have some interesting ideas and is decently acted. However it takes the 'dirty sock thrown at the wall and see which one sticks' approach to story telling. It is trying to be too clever for the limited budget and talents of the film makers. At times it dragged so much I could swear this film is two hours long at least.The filming, music and acting are all good, if the script had been a little tighter, this could have been a gem.