Virtuality (2009)

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

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

As anyone who has watched enough television would know, pilots are always a mixed bag. Some pilots are great, some are bad, and some are just plain odd. However, very few are as fascinating as Virtuality. Produced by Battlestar Gallatica showrunner Ronald D. Moore and directed by the sometimes great Peter Berg, Virtuality was made in 2009 as a potential series for the Fox Network. For reasons that are unknown, Fox made the decision to not pick the show up for a series but still aired what was done as a pilot movie. It was later released on DVD with no bonus features or any indication of what the future of the series held. Having watched the DVD for the first time tonight, I was amazed at just how well thought out and realized the production was for a pilot. Despite obvious loose ends, this is something that could have been re-worked as either a mini-series or television series. I don't know what the budget was for the pilot, but there was nothing about the pilot that looked cheap. The special effects, set design, and cinematography all looked as good, if not better, than most feature films released by major studios. This is clearly the best thing Peter Berg has ever directed, about on par with Very Bad Things. Although certainly not a dark comedy like Very Bad Things was, Virtuality also focuses on the dark side of human nature and does it well without seeming preachy or overly philosophical. In the beginning, the idea that entire ship is being recorded for a reality television show is pushed a bit too hard. The reality television set up could have been done in a minute instead of five to ten minutes, but the idea that reality television is exploitive and brings out the worst in people is handled with a lot more subtly than one might expect. If I had to guess, the commentary on reality television probably alienated Fox, the network that has aired some of the most notorious reality shows of all time which led to the decision not to produce Virtuality as a series. As it stands, Virtuality remains one of the best pilots of the past decade, a visually impressive and smart science fiction gem that will likely develop a small cult following one day. 8/10

This film is about the twelve astronauts who are on a spacecraft, going to a distant star that takes ten years to arrive. On board, things start to go wrong and yet they cannot turn back."Virtuality" seems good on paper. It is directed by a famous director, has several known (but not very famous) stars, and an intriguing plot. However, it does not seem to work well. The story might have been interesting, but the delivery of the plot is very confusing. There are many mystifying events on board the spacecraft, and these events are not explained well. I was hoping that the ending would bring some answers, but it brings even more unanswered questions. All the confusion annoys rather than being thought stimulating. In addition, the film fails to grip viewers or to provide suspense for viewers to beg for me. "Virtuality" is a disappointingly confusing film.

Effects are quite good - they even chose Projet Orion for their drive. Good on them.But I'm pretty sure it's JG Ballards 13 to Centaurus. Hope they paid him for the use.It's a long duration experiment that they aren't aware they are in. The psych is the only one who is cognizant and he's playing games of his own in his own little human ship in a bottle. Mission control knows this but are afraid that if they interrupt the experiment they'll damage the crew.It's not to say that this can't be a good series. (a TEN year mission? yikes. That's like ten years of Weakest Link). There are only so many plots. Let's see what they make of it. Or has Fox, in it's infinite wisdom, already decided to cancel it?

This TV movie or plot if it ever continues has a special touch to it that makes it really enjoyable and i have to say i really got stuck with it after watching a while.Even though it may become an enjoyable series it still has it's flaws I'm afraid, this whole reality show thing they're trying to put in does not make any sense to me, kind of lowers the quality etc, and then we have the "The whole world is going to end" thing, we've all seen it to many times and it does not necessarily make a show more exciting, could have the opposite effect in fact.If this actually continues as a series i'd for one want to see some changes for the better, at least i would hope that they could just remove this reality show thing because it makes me think of all the stupid reality shows out there which makes me want to puke a 100 times over, i think that reality shows should stick to reality shows, the same with fiction shows and not trying to put these together because the outcome would be obvious.Anyhow, overall it was pretty decent, the sci-fi feeling about it made it to be worth watching, the ending here did its part and i hope for a following series