Lost in Space

I’m going to the movies pretty soon to see Pandorum. I’ve read several abbreviated reviews which were quite favorable, including one which invoked the sacred name of “Alien” in comparison. Alien and its successor, Aliens, are quite possible the two best monster movies starring the same monster since Frankenstein and Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman. Ridley Scott and James Cameron know how to make a movie, each in their own special way, and the first two films of the Alien series are breathtaking examples of meaningless cinema genius at its best.

Alien still stands as one of the most agonizing exercises in creeping dread since final exams, and it is a miracle of visual misdirection and a torturous xenophobic strip-tease where our deepest fears are revealed to us in tiny little pieces such that even when the whole bag is finally dumped right on the table in front of us, we still can’t quite grasp what we’re seeing. Experiencing the movie Alien was one of those ironic epiphanies when my feeble mind made a deep, fundamental connection to truth. I realized that Darwin was correct in his suppositions about the origin of species, since there are extremely few wriggling, squirming, multi-appended hard-shelled creatures which pose any sort of threat to a modern human. My visceral anxiety about this lurking, growing reptilian arthropod hunting the crew of the Nostromo had to be wired into my brain, the vestiges of a time when our ancestors were often selected for survival based upon the extent to which they were scared shitless by things that crept around in the dark. Aliens, conversely, is a rollercoaster ride through a carnival funhouse with a heavyweight bout thrown in for good measure. The strength of women, the wisdom of children and our pervasive underestimation of all things non-human fit nicely into an updated tale of a Neolithic clan hunting the things that are hunting them. James Cameron spins a timeless yarn of heroes and cowards, betrayal and justice, and the ultimate failure of a nuclear reactor’s cooling system. There is very little real nutritional value in Aliens, but there is little nutritional value in crack, and it is still pretty stimulating and addictive.

I have been warned that Pandorum is a complex tale with many unanticipated turns, the enjoyment of which might be diminished by premature knowledge of plot details. I have to admit that I have shamelessly enjoyed many clever plot twists over the years, even in The Crying Game, but a movie that can only be enjoyed if you don’t know what the hell is going on is not a movie with any staying power. A good analogy is the beginning of an intimate physical relationship; the mystery of it certainly heightens the anticipation, but if it turns out that there is nothing there actually worth anticipating, then you probably shouldn’t get a joint checking account. Really good movies work on enough levels that you can memorize the credits ands still enjoy it. Ron Howard did an outstanding job of this with Apollo 13; most people with a high-school education knew exactly how everything would end up, but I was still biting my fingernails waiting for the Command Module to emerge from the clouds.

Anyway, I will see Pandorum soon. I just love stories of isolated groups of regular folks far from home battling the unknown for reasons only they would understand, and no place is farther from home than space, and no people are more isolated and more subject to the caprices of the unanticipated than those brave and foolish souls who chose to push the limits of human understanding, whether across to the next valley or to the next solar system. Inevitably, as our descendants push back the boundaries of our ignorance, they will encounter things which are way more bizarre, frightening and fucking awesome than anything our imaginations can currently conceive. I envy them.