Pioneer (2013)

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Saw this recently on a DVD. Been on my radar for a long time. Knowin that its from the director of the original Insomnia n the actor from Headhunters, it aroused my curiosity. The film is about Norwegians and Americans cooperating in diving deeper than anyone previously has done to prepare for the installation of a gas pipeline. I found the movie very informative, providing knowledge about decompression sickness. Professional divers r used as guinea pigs while scientists secretly tested gas mixtures thought to counteract harmful deep sea pressures without the participant's knowledge. The film features breathless n claustrophobic underwater sequences. The bottom of the ocean as the dark side of the moon with the Norwegian flag. The scenes where the divers r going through rigorous training to prepare themselves are very tense. The claustrophobic environment of the pressure chamber n the divers' hallucinations created a sense of dread. The cinematography is gorgeous with clean blues, greens, and amber colors. The pacing was a bit letdown. Once the movie is away from the sea, it becomes a bit slow. The other issue was that the American characters, (Lang n Bentley) weren't given more footage n dialogues. The relationship between the lead character n his brother's family were a bit melodramatic at times. The angle of the greedy corporations n politics were full of clichés.

This thriller is set in the early eighties; oil has been discovered in Norwegian waters but getting it ashore won't be easy as construction of the pipeline will require divers to work at unprecedented depths. As they prepare for test dives Norwegian divers are working alongside Americans, whose company has developed a secret gas mix that makes diving at such depths possible. This is vividly demonstrated in an early scene where Norwegian divers using regular air in a test chamber start hallucinating while an American in a separate chamber is fine.When the first dive starts something goes very wrong for brothers Petter and Knut Jensen. An accident leaves Knut dead and Petter wants answers. He is told that he made a briefly blacked out so made a mistake but he doesn't accept this explanation; especially when told that there is no recording of the video feed. He starts his own investigation that initially centres on the man in the diving bell who was supervising the air feed but later switching to trying to discover just what the 'secret ingredient' in the American gas mix is… something the company has no intention of telling him as the Norwegian government would have no reason to grant them a contract if they knew the secret so could do the work without outside help.I really enjoyed this taut thriller; the scenes underwater were very tense… even before things go wrong the situation is compared to walking on the moon. Once the accident happens the investigation is interesting; it makes a change to have an ordinary person carrying out an investigation rather than a police officer or private investigator. Petter's investigations raise several suspects and it looks as if somebody is willing to kill to stop him finding out after a contact 'accidentally overdoses'. There is also the possibility that those trying to stop him are working to protect a valuable business secret rather than cover up the cause of the accident. During the film there are plenty of tense moments as Petter gets into various potentially dangerous situations. The cast does a solid job; most notably Aksel Hennie who is rarely off screen in the role of Petter. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to those wanting a tense thriller that isn't reliant on non-stop action.

It might feel like a TV movie of the week at times, but it does have an interesting story to tell and is far more decent than you might expect. And suspenseful for that matter. The underwater scenes look really good and the acting is up to the task as well (as the men were back when this unfolds).Not sure how much of the things shown, actually transpired, (this is based on real events during the 80s you see?) but the movie does a good job holding any viewers attention with people trying to find out what is actually going on ... will they find out? What consequences will there be either way though? It gets political at times obviously, but in a good way if there is one

Inspired by true events, and set in the 1970's, this Norwegian drama seems to lack punch in the way it is presented and stretches credibility at times. However, it did hold my interest enough to want to know how it would all turn out.The plot revolves around a huge oil and gas discovery in the North Sea, off the Norwegian coast, which could bring enormous wealth to Norway if a way can be found to lay a pipeline along the sea floor, which would transport the oil and gas to land. It's unknown, however, whether divers working at those severe depths can survive. Thus, working jointly with America, teams of divers from both countries will undergo testing as to whether this engineering feat will be possible.One of the Norwegian divers is Petter, portrayed by Aksel Hennie, who, on one dive, will black out momentarily thus failing to shut off a valve and lead to the death of his brother, working alongside him. When Petter finally emerges from the required decompression, he is driven to do anything he can to find out what really happened on the dive.Petter will begin to realize that there are nefarious forces at work here and the conspiracy to cover-up the event reach far beyond what he could imagine. The projected profits are so great from this venture, that the actions of the conspirators will eventually lead to murder and mayhem.In summary, this film, directed by Erik Skjoldbjaerg, I thought might have been presented in a way where the tension was heightened more formidably, but I still found it fairly absorbing and interesting enough to maintain my interest to the end.