Europa Report Reviews
c0up
Super Reviewer
August 17, 2013
'Europa Report'. Thrilling, suspenseful, brilliant small scale sci-fi. Puts the wonder back into space exploration, while focusing firmly on human drama. Top-notch editing.
Harlequin68
Super Reviewer
August 12, 2013
Wait! We are getting a special report in from Magnolia Pictures and director Sebastian Cordero.
(Cue funky electronic theme music.)
The haunting and suspenseful "Europa Report" takes the found footage format and makes something special out of it by simply creating a non-sequential and stripped down narrative that takes full advantage of its limited settings and showing what can be truly accomplished on a limited budget and unlimited imagination. In this case, we get what, at this current juncture, is probably the most plausible future of space travel, funded privately and financed as the most epic reality show ever. Even then, the movie cannot escape all the traps of the format and does cheat. But it makes up for the limited characterizations(only James(Sharlto Copley) has any kind of backstory and is the only one known to leave anybody behind on earth) with a high level of performances.
So, when the movie starts, it is already six months into the manned mission to Europa with one crew member having died and Andrei(Michael Nyqvist), the chief engineer, slow in healing from an unknown malady. At which point, communications are also down, leaving Dr. Samantha Unger(Embeth Davidtz) back on earth to ponder their fate, along with most of humanity,
All of which is in service of the movie's stated themes of praising the heroism of astronauts, past, present and future. In this same way, exploration does not happen in a single leap; it is one generation building upon the work of another. And to paraphrase Mission Commander William Xu(Daniel Wu), even if they find nothing, it will be something.
Even when first employed, the found footage format leant little to narrative filmmaking. And as time has gone on, that has become increasingly...
Wait! We are getting a special report in from Magnolia Pictures and director Sebastian Cordero.
(Cue funky electronic theme music.)
The haunting and suspenseful "Europa Report" takes the found footage format and makes something special out of it by simply creating a non-sequential and stripped down narrative that takes full advantage of its limited settings and showing what can be truly accomplished on a limited budget and unlimited imagination. In this case, we get what, at this current juncture, is probably the most plausible future of space travel, funded privately and financed as the most epic reality show ever. Even then, the movie cannot escape all the traps of the format and does cheat. But it makes up for the limited characterizations(only James(Sharlto Copley) has any kind of backstory and is the only one known to leave anybody behind on earth) with a high level of performances.
So, when the movie starts, it is already six months into the manned mission to Europa with one crew member having died and Andrei(Michael Nyqvist), the chief engineer, slow in healing from an unknown malady. At which point, communications are also down, leaving Dr. Samantha Unger(Embeth Davidtz) back on earth to ponder their fate, along with most of humanity,
All of which is in service of the movie's stated themes of praising the heroism of astronauts, past, present and future. In this same way, exploration does not happen in a single leap; it is one generation building upon the work of another. And to paraphrase Mission Commander William Xu(Daniel Wu), even if they find nothing, it will be something.
Shawn M
Super Reviewer
July 12, 2013
Decent effects and crew and all but it just kept hyping its self up for a 10 second climax ending which is clearly something out of the matrix. eh. still decent tho. Guess I was just hoping for something more spooky but got nothing but lights and a quick BOO.
Anthony L
Super Reviewer
July 2, 2013
In fact they almost sound exactly the same. The big exception here is that Europa Report is done well! Sebastián Cordero's Europa Report watches more like a real scientific documentary with more realism than any other movie I have seen before it. The film (before it reaches into thriller territory) is a lot like what a real mission to Europa might actually play out.
As always we get a strong and emotional performance out of Sharlto Copely and he is fast becoming one of my favorite actors to watch on the big screen. The rest of the cast consists largely of unknown actors to American audiences (with the exception of Dan Fogler) but they are well played.
I felt at a point or two after the ship became stranded on moon itself and the thriller aspect of the movie really began to take hold; that the movie started creeping towards those same old and tired suspense tropes we have seen a hundred million times over. But in the last 10 minutes or so Europa Report redeemed itself when you started to get the over arcing theme that the writers and the director want to put on film in the first place.
Europa Report is about how dangerous and unknown space and exploration can be, but the revelations we can find will change the entire planets perspective for all coming time. Not only is the message loud and clear but it is laid out almost perfectly and for me was done so in a way that almost came to me like an epiphany. Any movie that can get that out of me is worth another watch for sure!
Let's talk visual effects. We have seen Space done wonderfully in the past, even as far back as 2001: A Space Odyssey and obviously recently in big blockbuster movies, that being said Europa Report might have the most beautiful and realistic space imagery I have ever seen on film. It is clear that countless of hours were spent just researching the Europan landscape and what the moon would look like from various viewpoint and perspectives...... It. Was. Breathtaking. The visuals were further enhanced by the excellent score given to us by Bear McCreary (Battlestar Galatica, The Walking Dead).
If you fancy yourself a fan of great science fiction or if you enjoy the Duncan Jones film "Moon" than this is a can't miss picture. Even with its minor flaws it still is one of the better SciFi films I have seen in a few years!
It is almost undoubtedly going to be a short hop and a skip comparing Europa Report to the 2011 film "Apollo 18". On the surface I can see why some people might jump to that conclusion. They both concern unclassified missions in space, they both have elements of the found footage documentary style, and they both serve as thrillers.
In fact they almost sound exactly the same. The big exception here is that Europa Report is done well! Sebastián Cordero's Europa Report watches more like a real scientific documentary with more realism than any other movie I have seen before it. The film (before it reaches into thriller territory) is a lot like what a real mission to Europa might actually play out.
As always we get a strong and emotional performance out of Sharlto Copely and he is fast becoming one of my favorite actors to watch on the big screen. The rest of the cast consists largely of unknown actors to American audiences (with the exception of Dan Fogler) but they are well played.
I felt at a point or two after the ship became stranded on moon itself and the thriller aspect of the movie really began to take hold; that the movie started creeping towards those same old and tired suspense tropes we have seen a hundred million times over. But in the last 10 minutes or so Europa Report redeemed itself when you started to get the over arcing theme that the writers and the director want to put on film in the first place.
Europa Report is about how dangerous and unknown space and exploration can be, but the revelations we can find will change the entire planets perspective for all coming time. Not only is the message loud and clear but it is laid out almost perfectly and for me was done so in a way that almost came to me like an epiphany. Any movie that can get that out of me is worth another watch for sure!
Let's talk visual effects. We have seen Space done wonderfully in the past, even as far back as 2001: A Space Odyssey and obviously recently in big blockbuster movies, that being said Europa Report might have the most beautiful and realistic space imagery I have ever seen on film. It is clear that countless of hours were spent just researching the Europan landscape and what the moon would look like from various viewpoint and perspectives...... It. Was. Breathtaking. The visuals were further enhanced by the excellent score given to us by Bear McCreary (Battlestar Galatica, The Walking Dead).
If you fancy yourself a fan of great science fiction or if you enjoy the Duncan Jones film "Moon" than this is a can't miss picture. Even with its minor flaws it still is one of the better SciFi films I have seen in a few years!
Alec B
Super Reviewer
August 1, 2013
The attention to detail and sincere desire for scientific accuracy is admirable, even though it often comes at the expense of the characters. That said, the slow burn narrative is the real reason to see this. Not one of the filmmakers was interested in making a standard thriller and its nice to see something in this genre that's almost devoid of cliche or cheap shock value.
Francisco G.
Super Reviewer
October 2, 2013
It's still an interesting ride, not being overly cerebral, mixing well the thriller elements with sci-fi bits. Story and character wise, leaves a lot to be desired.
Has plenty of style and a couple of well pulled tense sequences, but the decision to use a fragmented storyline, with bits of interviews overexposing what happened or what will happen next, turn Europa Report into a bit of a mess.
It's still an interesting ride, not being overly cerebral, mixing well the thriller elements with sci-fi bits. Story and character wise, leaves a lot to be desired.
September 20, 2013
Another found-footage thriller, but one that is decidedly sci-fi as opposed to horror (as is the standard mode for these kind of things.) And it genuinely puts the Science in the Science Fiction and it's all the better for it. Instead of tossing in malevolent creatures or the snapping of a crew member, the trials faced by the explorers of Europa One are plausible and grounded in reality - a mission this complex would be fraught with many challenges that would quickly escalate in the deep reaches of space. And that creates enough tension without goosing the proceedings with hostile aliens. Not that there aren't tantalizing (and potentially frightening) mysteries afoot. Smart and involving, if somewhat cold; it's no 2001 but it's a damn fine piece of work.
August 15, 2013
This is by far my favorite Sharlto Copley science fiction movie of the past week. Lawl. Seriously I liked this. It reminded me of the good parts of Mission to Mars and Red Planet, and let's face it, no one ever reminds you that there are good parts of those movies. The ambitious idea of a "found footage" format applying to a futuristic space mission movie works perfectly well. I had heard that the movie would be really hanging its hat on realism and fidelity to educated speculation about the possibilities of deep space travel. However, it won't have that much appeal to those who are watching it for that quality. It is meant to appeal to moviegoers who want a mainstream sci-fi thriller. The movie only barely dips its toe in the waters of character development; as a result the characters don't feel particularly authentic, and some of the drama is blunted. Still a good suspense movie, though.
August 12, 2013
Science fiction films are not my favorite genre although I do hold some rather intelligent ones such as Moon and Gattaca in very high regard (both made my Top Ten lists in their respective years). Even though Europa Report isn't as good as the two I have mentioned, it is still a fine low-budget sci-fi flick about a future exploration of earthlings into the outer depths of space as they search for life on the ice-covered -- "where there is water there is life" -- moon of Jupiter, Europa. The cast is an assembly of international actors who take on the roles of the world's best astronauts and scientists and no one ever really takes center stage as a lead. Embeth Davidtz (Schindler's List), Sharlto Copley (District 9) and Michael Nyqvist (the original, Swedish Girl with the Dragon Tattoo films) are the most recognizable stars and Davidtz plays an Earthbound scientist of Europa Ventures who mostly narrates the story of the company's goals and discoveries. I think I would have preferred the film without the framing devices of "telling the story about the exploration using communications from the Europa One ship after-the-fact"; but what we see still resonates and the performances are all credible. Most of the film is shot within a simplistic, mostly white space ship and there is a beauty to the film ... but the imagery outside of the ship is even more beautiful as there are some close-up shots of the moon's surface and lingering shots of space. I am sure some will want to compare this film to another "found-footage-space adventure" thriller, Apollo 18; but that would be doing Europa Report a major disservice as Ecuadorian director Sebastian Cordero has actually made a rather good movie here. The genre isn't for everyone but for those who like sci-fi I would recommend giving this one a watch.
August 5, 2013
A deft, scientifically semi-realistic search for life on Jupiter's moon Europa and for meaning in work.
July 8, 2013
The film succeeds at making one feel like they're on board a space ship in cramped quarters and there are a few suspenseful scenes but overall, the movie bottoms out quickly. Other than a couple of shots, the majesty of space is absent and reduced to what the cameras on the spacecraft can pick up. The two-year journey to Jupiter probably shouldn't feel like two years, but at times it really does. You would think with all that travel time, that the screen writers could have come up with a little more character development. The movie definitely has the lackluster quality of actual NASA video, but without any clear direction and an underdeveloped plot, the film really never amounts to much. Basically, because we never really get to know the film's characters, we aren't too broken up when they fall victim to the hostile environment of space. In some ways, Europa Report is as dead, iced over and rough around the edges as Jupiter's moon itself.
Europa Report Card - C
The film succeeds at making one feel like they're on board a space ship in cramped quarters and there are a few suspenseful scenes but overall, the movie bottoms out quickly. Other than a couple of shots, the majesty of space is absent and reduced to what the cameras on the spacecraft can pick up. The two-year journey to Jupiter probably shouldn't feel like two years, but at times it really does. You would think with all that travel time, that the screen writers could have come up with a little more character development. The movie definitely has the lackluster quality of actual NASA video, but without any clear direction and an underdeveloped plot, the film really never amounts to much. Basically, because we never really get to know the film's characters, we aren't too broken up when they fall victim to the hostile environment of space. In some ways, Europa Report is as dead, iced over and rough around the edges as Jupiter's moon itself.
August 2, 2013
It's realistic approach to space exploration using documentary style camera shots was a refreshing change. However Europa Report just doesn't quite build a satisfying enough level of intensity and intrigue to compensate for its rather slow pace.
August 2, 2013
Extremely well done low budget sci-fi movie based on NASA research/facts about a fictional spaceship traveling to Jupiter's moon Europa that has ocean under the ice...
July 20, 2013
Low-budget sci-fi and the found-footage thriller, merge to reasonably plausible and impressively entertaining.
July 7, 2013
Really well done for its limited budget, but pretty stupid. I really hope astronauts aren't that dumb.
October 7, 2013
For a movie built on hard science it has so many stupid scientific holes and a zero sense of wonder that it makes it boring and uneventful.
