The Void

There's no black hole sucking down a city street as depicted on the video box cover, so let's dismiss that from the start. There's something sort of like that in the floor of a laboratory.

As it starts, a particle accelerator lab is doing an experiment that its chief does not approve of, but which the physicist played by Malcolm McDowell has somehow pulled rank and gotten through - though he is 5,000 miles away. Lucky for him he wasn't there, too, since everybody dies.

Years later, he's up to the same thing, expecting it to work this time (he's actually on site). The daughter of the chief who died in the previous experiment hopes to find proof of what happened, and learns it's about to happen again, only worse.

It's not a bad movie, though overlong. I thought on its apparent budget it did make good use of special effects. Not worth seeking out, though, unless you're a particular fan of any of the lead actors.

Without a doubt, one of the most unsatisfying movies I have seen in a very long time. No wonder it never made it in the theatres. The actors have nothing to do given the atrocious script. What could have been a good idea turns into a romp. The worst part is having started a black hole that will do something, the writers decide not to even bother with a conclusion. The conclusion we are left with is as if the story had never happened. It's a good job I watched it on my VCR so I could fast forward through nearly 90% of it.

I watched this movie only because Amanda Tapping was cast in it. Although she did show great acting skill and proved beyond a doubt that she is NOT a bimbo, I was disappointed by the obvious use of a body double for the brief nude scenes. I hope Amanda will get an opportunity to star in a higher budget movie soon and that she will not be so shy about nudity. From a scientific standpoint, this was a plausible movie. From a point of reality it is a bit foolish. For example, when they are both tied to chairs and expecting to be executed, the dialogue and behavior seemed unreal. Amanda's character showed conviction and perseverance to show the data error, but then surrendered so easily when captured. Just not consistent behavior for the character. This movie is a must see for all Star gate fans, as the movie does prove Amanda's acting skills.

Okay, its got no budget, that said. Its pretty dang impressive. The chemistry between Amanda Tapping and Adrian Paul is endearing and believable. Their scenes together are utterly believable, and okay yeah the black hole doesn't actually appear until the last ten minutes or so of the flick and it's pretty silly but hey its a low budget flick, I mean if you pay attention there's only like three locations. That said, its a lot of fun, well worth renting or buying if its under $10. Plus for any Adrian Paul fans its well worth it as he has numerous entertaining one liners. So don't go into it expecting Armageddon and you're good to go. And Amanda Tapping has a great line, "I guess that's what you get when you build a relationship on sex and tuna fish sandwiches".

This film addresses a real concern of sorts, questions which were brought up about the Heavy Relatavistic Ion Collider which used a particle accellerator to smash gold atoms together in order to study exotic quarks. It was theorized that only a one in a billion trillion squillion chance of creating a particle-sized singularity (infinite volume in zero mass) that creates black holes, gravitational wells and event horizons. So much for media scares. Why actually watched 10 minutes of the film was because I like Amanda Tapping. I then watched another ten minutes because all of a sudden she was apparently geting tastefully nude. After another ten minutes I turned off again. I think it may have been a body double, but who cares. Amanda Tapping is gorgeous, no matter whose breasts were on the screen. The film? Ah. Well, if it was made with a big budget and heavyweight hollywood actors, say, Harrison Ford and Susan Sarandon, it would be considered worthy, though provoking material. A shame a proper, real science story has been let down by poor budgeting, and the fact that Amanda Tapping is marvellous, but not well known enough for film work. On the other hand, nice breasts.