Rob_Taylor
For a TV movie, and a SciFi Channel one at that, I believe, this was a very pleasant surprise.Once you make the adjustment to the low-budget effects and graphics, and start paying attention to the story, it all hangs together very nicely.What's more, the plot is nicely handled. There aren't any crazy monsters, people behave in a sensible fashion, basic physics is obeyed and nothing jumps out at you as horribly inept. In short, the writer had more than a basic grasp of the environment the movie is set in.Acting is passable, though Jason London will never be an A lister, and the plot progresses logically and without much contrivance at all.In short, cheap though it is, Alien Cargo never offends the intellect. The beginning drags a little, but bear with it because it improves constantly as it goes along.I was particularly pleased to see the use of a non-happy ending. They telegraph it fairly heavily from a long way off, but I kept expecting some kind of deus-ex machina to save the day. It never did and the movie is better for it.SUMMARY: A pleasant surprise! Sensible, logical and genuinely likable. If only the more recent SciFi channel productions were as well written. Not ground-breaking, but worthwhile.
cmflash
***big spoiler*** I really enjoyed this movie. It was interesting and it made you think about decisions you make in your own life and career. The two leads, Chris and Theta have wonderful chemistry and you root for their relationship to be perfect even when you are afraid they may kill each other. Jason London was his usual perfectly darling self and you can only respond to his line "I'm the best you ever had and you cant get enough of me" with a grin and a nod. The situation these astronauts were put into by their employer really angers me though. (And I thought MY employer was less than concerned with it's employees' welfare!) But putting them into a situation that could potentially cost them their lives in order to save some money is just evil!!!! The last scene between Chris and Theta where they are deciding whether to end their lives rather than die horribly after being marooned in space brings a tear to your eyes. I believe I would decide the same thing as I think they did however, to stay together as long as possible.Also I think the word 'Alien' in the title refers to something unknown rather than a being from another planet.
NightWindDrifter
A great movie to watch on the Sci-Fi channel when you are bored, and have an extra bag of unpopped popcorn lying around. The real problem with this movie is that it has no real conclusion. Right when the plot begins to seriously take a turn for the better (well, for the audience anyway), we are left with an unsatisfactory ending. Do give it a peek though, but you may be disappointed when you are left open ended.Spoilers after this point.As I said, one thing that ruined this movie for me was the inconclusive ending. Right when we discover the source of the virus, the storyline takes on an autopilot path to the rescue of the hyper-sleepers and the destruction of the two infected lovers and the probe. Even worse, we discover that the probe is from NASA! Yet, what explanation are we left for this? Moreover, how did the 1st shift REALLY contract the virus, if not from this device? If the device originally did not contain the virus, then how in the world did the 1st shift deliver the virus to the probe? Nothing connects.Once again, it is a great time killer but do not take it too seriously or you will disappoint yourself.
quarketr
There wasn't anything notably unique about this movie, but it still retained the scifi allure. The plot isn't as predictable as it could be and the special effects, although sparse, were well done. The acting was acceptable not exceptional. Overall this is a good movie to watch once when you have the time.
AD
