Europa Report (2013)

In a year that has the terrific Gravity in it, you would thing another 'disaster in space' film would be less interesting or compelling. You would be wrong if you were talking about Europa Report. It's one of those 'lost footage' films but it's one that worked for me because the creators never forgot the 'science' in 'science fiction'. Everything rings true to life especially in the way the characters speak and interact with one another.

We start with the last footage ever sent by the first deep space mission of humanity to the moon of Europa, and ice moon orbiting around Jupiter. The crew are in search of water on another body other than our own. They are in search of life. But as always, be careful what you look for...

Then we see all the 'declassified' footage that fills in the gaps to the story aside from what the public has been told. This is a film that rewards those who pay attention. The caste and crew get the most out of camera angles and other editing tricks. They had my attention the whole time.

I am a huge fan of these kind of films. I like getting to know all the characters while waiting for the moment that they die, hoping that the ones I like will have a good death. It's a failure in my character that makes all this enjoyable to me but damn it, it was.

Without communication the team has to decide whether to go on or turn around after one of their own dies. The story begins 16 months after all communication is lost.

It's the dark mental disintegration of the crew that frightened me the most. It's also the most fascinating part of a fascinating movie.

We get to see the mission from it's earliest launch to what I assume will be it's grisly end as the story jumps back through time. The attention to detail is amazing. Great launch and in-space footage - the kind of cutting edge that we have come to expect, especially since Gravity.

I can't help making comparisons to Gravity because they are all over this production but that is no way gets in the way of one's enjoyment of the story being told. This one really gets into what it's like to live in space after all the excitement of the long, lonely mission has worn off. I wonder about those moment a lot when I think of the manned mission to Mars someone will make some day. They will more than likely be Chinese but it will be the same human experience. The same people in the same space day after day. That is a recipe for disaster and the reason why this makes a perfect companion piece to Gravity.

There are some particularly thrilling sequences like when the pod lands on Europa. I would have filled the diaper in my spacesuit had I been one of those astronauts.



A unique blend of documentary, alternative history and science fiction thriller, EUROPA REPORT follows a contemporary mission to Jupiter's moon Europa to investigate the possible existence of alien life within our solar system. When unmanned probes suggest that a hidden ocean could exist underneath Europa's icy surface and may contain single-celled life, Europa Ventures, a privately funded space exploration company, sends six of the best astronauts from around the world to confirm the data and explore the revolutionary discoveries that may lie in the Europan ocean.

http://www.syfypop.com/europa-report-the-years-best-sci-fi-film/

I understand that the film was made on the cheap but you wouldn't know it from the result. The film is very well cast and makes the most of the limit spaces the actors have to work in. As a viewer it's remarkable that I am never bored due to the ingenious nature of the editing.

It's a slow burn but worth the journey. I was trying to figure things out as I went along, just like the crew was trying to do.