Virtuality

2009 "Reality is only the beginning."
5.7| 1h27m| en
Details

Twelve extremely talented men and women have been chosen to be part of the Phaeton mission, a 10-year trek to explore a distant planetary system. In order to endure the stress of being confined to their high-tech vessel, the crew passes the time using advanced virtual reality modules that allow them to take on various identities. But as the ship approaches a critical phase of their journey, a deadly flaw is discovered in the virtual system, forcing them to question if someone onboard might be a killer.

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Reviews

Numerootno A story that's too fascinating to pass by...
Wyatt There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
LemonLadyR I just got around to seeing this, in 2015, since I rarely watch TV, so at first I thought it was a crazy movie with even crazier ending. Now I know it was a pilot. While it is shot beautifully and the science of the set decoration is wonderful, I was a bit bothered by the character writing. The crew do not seem like NASA people or even scientists. So it falters fatally there. Why was the mission, a very serious thing, being used for a reality TV show? Other than to advertise that general idea to Fox audiences. Although the quizzical characters did fit that plot line and it would have been food for little plot lines and maybe solve some of the mysteries on board. Even with the character issues, I would have liked to have seen at least one season, although if it had been picked up in 2009, we might not have had Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau (the Commander) on Game of Thrones (Jamie Lannister). Very hard to imagine GOT without him, so all worked out for the best.
midge56 This was the most boring, irritating, complete waste of time imaginable. The only reason I even bothered to look it up was because the movie suddenly ended without any explanation and without ever having a story. When I bought this DVD, I had no warning this was a TV pilot with a hanging ending which made no sense. I looked it up to see if I could get some kind of explanation as to what it was I had wasted all this time watching.I usually like Sci-Fi's. I had no idea this was a pilot for a series. The first time I tried to watch it, I turned it off as soon as they got to the rock star singing the 1960's Munsters TV theme song in Japanese. No Joke! I love Sci-Fi but I certainly didn't buy a space movie to watch civil war scenes and bad rock star concerts or a crew of immature, airhead, boring video game junkies or listen to their nonsensical ego-babbling into the video camera. These are not even decent actors. The females all slurred their words together.I finally tried to watch it a second time a couple years later; using the fast forward to get past those maddening irritations while I kept hoping that something sci-fi was going to show itself at some point when the plot became clear.Watching an entire crew of narcissistic morons who condescend and cast disparagement upon everything their fellow crew members say or experience is an X gen nightmare. Much of the show was more like watching a daily producers meeting behind the scenes at Fox. A network so bad, I deleted them from my TV menu 10 years ago.Even worse was the male crewmembers crass, insensitive, smarta$$ attitude toward 2 female crew members who had been viciously attacked during their virtual reality... especially when it was clear that someone on the ship was hacking the system to use it as a weapon to brutalize their fellow crew members yet they were so totally oblivious they refused to look into the issue or even take it seriously... nor did the males who were attacked bother to speak up to alert the others... instead they joined in the condescending and the total lack of compassion toward the females over this violent assault issue which was extremely disturbing for the viewers because this has been an IRL problem with victims of real attacks. No one wants to put up with a TV show which thinks it is OK to make a joke out of someone being violated. We were also forced to endure the psychological unfitness of this crew for space with their issues of dead children, lost pregnancies & doctors office visits; plus ego programs and how the male crew members actually got off on being killed in their virtual reality encounters which empowered them when off the VR system. Truly bad screen writing and dialogue. The worst casting imaginable. Then there was the mental melt down of the jerk of a captain who they mercifully did away with and then just stopped the show without any closure or sense... forcing us to look up this movie to find some sense out of this complete farce. Clearly not recommended for anyone with an IQ above 60. I suspect some of these "fans" are mostly under the age of 12 or associated with someone involved in the original project.Who would go into an airlock without being fully outfitted, even just to get a tool? Who would ever take a chance of any kind in an airlock? Also, what kind of person would think it was OK to make jokes and condescending comments while someone is trapped inside an airlock? Not to mention the fact that the writer and director seemed to be clueless that there is NO inertia or G force or hull stress or turbulence in weightless space once you are outside of the gravitational pull... not even with a rotating spaceship for internal artificial gravity. Not to mention a space crew depending on a clueless computer that cannot answer any questions about who was in your quarters or follow instructions such as "close" door? Nor did anyone seem interested in diagnosing the computer and virtual reality system for the cause of the failures. They were all too busy focusing on their own entertainment to be concerned. And why would anyone who was violently violated on a virtual reality go back in again? This wasn't a SPACE drama. It was a VIDEO GAME series.This is the one rare time that FOX actually did the right thing by not picking up this series. The true surprise is why anyone would waste money for the production of this pilot in the first place.
maxmangel The problem with a science fiction movie/show based off human drama, is that on a mission of earth shattering importance, the crew are almost entirely antagonistic whiny incompetents, who have no business being responsible for a trillion dollar spaceship. Quite early on it becomes obvious that the captain, who is the final decision maker on anything important, is of dangerously low intelligence, and would not be capable of managing an ice cream truck, let alone a 'world saving' space mission. I think real astronauts would find this movie insulting. But the visuals are nice.
igoatabase Considering its very interesting topics saying I anticipated it is an euphemism. Covering virtual reality, space travel and reality television in a single pilot episode was a challenge and I think they successfully achieved it. However even if the few clips I saw convinced me it would be great I was a little worry about the way the writers would deal with reality elements.Their work is both inspiring and very smart because I find reality shows far too dramatic and not real enough. When they began to produce such shows I was hoping to find new tools to better understand the human's psychology but most of them are just empty shells meant to brainwash viewers. Hopefully there're also good productions like Project Runway that blend ideas very nicely. As for the Virtuality reality scenes there were quite many but most of them were short and filmed throughout a lipstick camera. It made them even more realistic, specially considering the female host looked quite superficial at first. But as in real life a coin always has an other side and it was quite emotional to discover it. So even if she looked like a Gossip Girl you should soon appreciate her for what she really is, not just an other pretty face. And in general the characters worked really well and some of them quickly grew on me as the minutes passed by. I already knew Clea DuVall wouldn't disappoint me but I was also gladly surprised by the other performers. My only complain would be the whole Benetton vibe because in some way it made the reality side less authentic but maybe the creators intention was to parody the other shows. It's specially true for the gay couple as sending them into space as a last hope doesn't make any sense. I found it was quite disrespectful towards the homosexual community in general as their members are often used to bring more drama. A good example would be Top Chef last season and its ridiculous "Team Rainbow". But again maybe they just wanted us to believe so. In fact that's what I really enjoyed in Virtuality, its ambivalent complexity.It leads us to the space travel topic. If you appreciate the genre and are a science howl then you'll definitely dig the few outdoor scenes, the ship design, its interior… It should also remind you of your favorite space opera film. So watching it I really felt like I was part of the crew. It's specially true considering there're many characters you can relate too. I also found the story quite inspiring because there's nothing more fascinating than following the daily life of astronauts sent into deep space to save humanity. It brought many great memories like my first battle in the Homeworld video game and of course the astonishing Battlestar Galactica miniseries. And I can reassure you that it has nothing to do with apocalyptic productions like Armageddon, even if I enjoyed it. Here the psychology is probably one of the most important element because the big question is "Will they be able to survive and reach their destination ?".Yes, because it's a lot about survival. Not the Survivor mumbo jumbo but the real and dramatic Robinson Crusoe adventure, like in Cast Away for example. I think the analogy is right because living alone on a desert island can be compared to traveling into space with a few crew members. You'll definitely miss Earth and its beautiful green and blue landscapes. Breathing the air in the morning and energizing yourself before a rising sun. All these tiny details that make you feel alive even when the weather is rainy and the mood even more sad. To solve the problem the writers decided to introduce the virtual reality module, extrapolating the novel's concept. It's supposed to be a key solution to the mission success but of course events didn't occur as expected and the virtual scenes were so disturbing, well directed and written that they actually reminded me of cult films like Event Horizon and The Lawnmower Man. The team behind Virtuality is so talented and has so many twisted ideas that they brought many refreshing and interesting elements to a topic that has already been well covered by others.All these great things made me a fan of the show even if the FOX decided not to pick it up. In fact I don't blame them because I can't imagine the pressure on their shoulders. I even call it the Carnivàle syndrome because both producers and most viewers are not ready for such a smart show. If you're accustomed to such artistic creations you shouldn't be surprised and only enjoy it for what it is, one of the best space pilot ever aired. However if you're not open minded and think Tim Burton and George A. Romero should be held into an asylum then Virtuality is definitely the wake up call you need. Yes because I recommend anyone to watch it, again and again to understand all the messages he has to deliver.