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The Second Best Science Fiction Movie Ever Made (2010)

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Overall Rating 32%
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Ranked #13,904
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Many years ago, eight of our astronauts were abducted and brought to another planet. And they liked it! Now they've come home... for two hours. And it seems they have a score to settle with one another. The goal: survive for two hours then return to utopia. The obstacles: each other. And suburbia can be a very dangerous place! --IMDb
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Review by Ginose
Added: March 14, 2010
Well, let me start off by saying that I absolutely fucking love sci-fi and nearly everything about the genre itself. There's so much fertile grounds for the imagination to develop in within the genre, I have personally written several science-fiction scripts in my time (three of which were porno, but you can't deny how flexible it all is) and would consider them some of my favorite stories, but it's because unlike almost anything else you can write about (including the ever... eh... verbose "Fantasy" genre) there's essentially no limits to the vast unknown humanity could possibly tap into within the future, past, alternate-reality or dimensional-plains we may at some point inhabit, the same is true for what "The Second Best Science Fiction Movie Ever Made" tries to approach, which is alien-worlds with organisms much different than humanity inhabiting them... and, well, I must admit it was a very odd approach they took with it...

About seven to ten years ago in an unspecified time (around 1996) the space-shuttle "Deliverance" was abducted by an alien-vessel, taking the shuttle and its occupants to their planet for study. Upon reaching the planet, the astronauts became enthralled by the perfection of the planet, taking it upon themselves to take control of it. After a longstanding civil war between the two factions (each controlled by either half of the eight astronauts) it comes to the decision of the elders to settle it in a more practical fashion: The two factions are left in a small suburb on Earth, both competing to reach a small elementary school by 5:00 PM. Whichever side has the most members there by the designated time will be returned to the planet, ruling as they see fit. This becomes a remarkable test of wills and wit, with a limited set of rules and nothing on their side... that is, nothing but the remarkably unique abilities the alien atmosphere gave each of them.

This was a great idea. It really was. It takes all kinds of grand, epic ideas that could be an extremely interesting book to read, and could make a remarkably impressive movie, if given the right means to make it such. It would be remarkable, interesting and gorgeous if all done appropriately. However, sometimes a great idea can only work if it HAS the ability to.

Many of the greatest ideas of this film (the aliens, the planet, the history) cannot be committed onto the film, with its budget in mind, so, logically, the only filmable aspects of the film are focused on in great detail (the challenge) and are stretched to fill the length of the film, but actually forcing us to experience every moment of the two-hour challenge is just as tedious as it sounds. Even that can't be made terribly interesting, visually or conceptually, leaving us instead with a series of disjointed, unreferenced and, overall, pointless flashbacks to expand the characters, and a lot of nonsense it's supposed to make impact on. This does nothing for nothing, in the overall extent of the film, and makes it seem as pointless and filler as it actually is.

The production values here are as nil as most of the performances, but there were a few shining examples that weren't JUST laughably ridiculous. Overall, though, it's a fun execution that just relies too heavily on its material to be anything truly great. Not that I EXPECTED anything truly great, but I did expect a comedy, something this one certainly wasn't trying to be, despite the best efforts of its marketers. It's funny, yes, to watch all of the sloppy mechanics work together to make a ridiculous attempt even more hilarious, but it's not the intent of the production, making it seem more insulting, than anything, to the filmmakers' efforts. A lack of justice to a film that's better than the sum of its parts, in certain ways.

Well, as I said, I absolutely love sci-fi, and this has to do, almost exclusively, with how unique the premises surrounding them are. I would easily call this one of the most interesting premises I've ever seen... well, on paper. The truth is, as limited as the production values on this one obviously were, a premise as interesting as this one feels truly wasted on the effort. It's a great effort with a lot of heart, but it just doesn't work terribly well when it's finally finished; a minimal budget does not mean a bad film any more than a lot of heart makes a good one.

"The Second Best Science Fiction Film Ever Made" is a bad movie, but better than the distributors will ever give it credit for, but it's more than worth a watch, if just for the absurdity of the whole production.

3.3/10

ACTIVITY TIME:
I'm going to admit that I'm a little confused by some of the copyrighting on this film... the film looks VERY much like a production made in the mid-90s, and is licensed circa 1996, yet it, and everything I can find relating to it, has it cited as made and released in 2010... very fucking strange. If anyone could find me some information on this, I would be most appreciative.
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