It’s easy to see why Approaching the Unknown has received less than stellar reviews and if you’re not into slow moving, character-driven flicks, this one might bore you to tears. However, I found it mostly to be entrancing mainly for Mark Strong.
Approaching the Unknown
(2016)
Genre(s): Drama, Science Fiction
Paramount | R – 90 min. – $29.98 | October 11, 2016
Date Published: 09/28/2016 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE — 3.0/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Captain William D. Stanaforth (MARK STRONG) is on a one-way mission to Mars. Once in space, he spends countless days communicating with his best friend Louis “Skinny” Skinner (LUKE WILSON) at Mission Control and prepping a cherished experiment to create water on the cryptic planet. Mechanical issues and nearly insurmountable obstacles begin to take their toll on his ship… and on him. Stanaforth must find the mental and physical strength to complete the mission, guiding a broken ship and a broken man to the surface of Mars. Quick Hit Review: Debut by Mark Elijah Rosenberg, both writing and directing, Approaching the Unknown is a movie not for everybody; it’s a slow burn, character-driven drama much more so than about space exploration. Much like Matt Damon in The Martian (a movie this is not comparable to), Mark Strong delivers a nice performance and basically carries the entire flick from beginning to end (I can’t think of one scene he isn’t in). Luke Wilson basically only appears over a monitor and I’m not sure why Sanaa Lathan is even in this, she only appears for maybe 2-3 minutes. As it is, I actually didn’t think Approaching the Unknown was an awful movie, however if you go into it expecting The Martian or even Gravity, you’ll be mightily disappointed. It does feature a fine performance from Mark Strong who perhaps was the saving grace of an otherwise plodding film. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 0/5 |
| No features were included. |
VIDEO – 4.5/5, AUDIO – 4.0/5
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| The movie is shown with a 16×9 enhanced 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and looks pretty darn good with nice detail and stark black levels. The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is pretty basic since the bulk of the movie is dialogue so the center channel gets used the most but ambient noises does pour out of the front and rear speakers. |
OVERALL – 2.5/5 |
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Overall, it’s easy to see why Approaching the Unknown has received less than stellar reviews and if you’re not into slow moving, character-driven flicks, this one might bore you to tears. However, I found it mostly to be entrancing mainly for Mark Strong. The DVD released through Paramount is rather basic: no features but fine video/audio transfers. |
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