Wow, what a pleasant surprise this film was! This was the Australian production/version of Star Wars meets Mad Max meets Aliens!
The Aussies nailed this amazing low budget indie sci-fi flick, especially the tight directing and outstanding cinematography!
Director/writer/producer Shane Abbess impressed to the level of any top Hollywood director, creating a vision and executing it perfectly. Absolutely stunning cinematography, visuals, special effects, sets and locations. Editing and sound were both on point. I really felt as if I was watching some 100M budget big screen Hollywood production!
Let me clarify how and why I am so impressed - and how I rate a film accordingly and deserving of its merits (and not comparing it to similar big productions in the same genre): this was a low budget (approx 800k), independent film by a somewhat amateur director, writer and producer. Add to the mix some not-so-big B-list actors - only one being American and granted, the most notable in his role, Kellan Lutz. The end result was a stunning smorgasbord of visual satisfaction. I truly hope other reviewers rate this film on its merits as I did, as it's the only fair way to rate and review a film.
Yes, the writing (particularly some of the characters dialog and certain parts of the screenplay) could've use a little tweaking, and some of the characters could have been cast differently, but other than that, this film was outstanding in every other area of critique.
Had this film actually been a big budget A-type Hollywood film with any leading seasoned director/writer/producers, and backed by a big- named production company with an A-list cast, I would have rated it a disappointing 6/10.
But as I rate a film on it's merits as outlined above, and get as impressed and satisfied as I was after watching this film, it's a well deserved 8/10 from me!
I'm really hoping a Volume 2 comes out very soon! Great job and props to all involved in this little gem of a masterpiece!
