Virtuality (2009) (TV)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Peter Berg

Writers:

Michael Taylor (teleplay)
Ronald D. Moore (story) ...

Release Date:

26 June 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

One Word Title

Cast

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau	...	Commander Frank Pike
Kerry Bishé	...	Billie Kashmiri
Joy Bryant	...	Alice Thibadeau
Jose Pablo Cantillo	...	Manny Rodriguez (as José Pablo Cantillo)
Ritchie Coster	...	Dr. Jimmy Johnson
Erik Jensen	...	Dr. Jules Braun
James D'Arcy	...	Dr. Roger Fallon
Clea DuVall	...	Sue Parsons
Gene Farber	...	Val Orlovsky
Sienna Guillory	...	Rika Goddard
Nelson Lee	...	Kenji Yamamoto
Omar Metwally	...	Dr. Adin Meyer
Jimmi Simpson	...	Virtual Man
Timothy Webber	...	Union Sergeant
Kari Wahlgren	...	Jean (voice)

Runtime:

USA:87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

The Bridge Studios, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Universal Media Studios (UMS)

Not bad, but might be too slow

For those of you complaining about how the show seemed to end right in the middle of its plot. Yes, it was supposed to be the pilot for a TV series. There's been plenty of speculation on websites that FOX has decided not to proceed with the full series, but it will proceed with the pilot since they already paid for it. So that's why the show was left in a cliffhanger.

FOX doesn't have a lot of confidence in this show, and I can't blame them for it; better to let it die quickly than to have a sci-fi fan base disappointed when it inevitably gets canceled in mid-season. It seems a bit inaccessible for non-sci-fi audiences, the pacing was a little slow most of the time. The virtual reality special effects seemed like bad CGI greenscreen, but perhaps that was on purpose, so that you'd know you're in a virtual reality setting. I started only getting interested when they started showing the special effects for the journey to the other star system, Epsilon Eridani. They did research their interstellar propulsion mechanisms well, and it looked like nuclear propulsion drives as described in various science fiction novels in the past.

I didn't think the idea behind the story was bad though. It was about a rogue virtual-reality character showing up within various crewmembers' holo-stories, and creating very scary havoc inside their stories. When things start going wrong in the holo-stories, a lot of finger pointing goes on between the crewmembers against each other. However, I don't think solving a new holographic mystery every week is enough to keep people's attention for a full-length series.