Distant

A mining spaceship gets hit by a meteorite and crashes onto an uncharted hostile planet. Lower level crew member Andy Ramirez (Anthony Ramos) and Naomi Calloway (Naomi Scott) are two survivors.

There is some action and some thrills. It's a creature feature. The creatures are good solid CGI creations. My biggest problem is that I don't really like Andy. He's a scared idiot for most of the movie. He gets a gun-like device, but nobody ever uses it for some reason. He's just not the brightest light in the room and that gets frustrating. It's a simple little sci-fi with creatures. It would be fine but Andy annoys me.

I wanted so much to like this especially with two bona-fide big names leading the cast.

They should have left it as a played straight action scifi movie but they twiddled it to be a comedy and boy does the comedy fall on its ass!

What could have been a awesome scifi movie became a bit tedious and twee.

The special effects and the cinematography however we're excellent and that's why I gave it six stars in reality it could've been a 8 star movie.

Ramos and Scott play it out with a good on screen chemistry with Naomi Scott possibly one step away from superstardom given her recent turn in smile 2.

Distant is now a distant memory now unfortunately.

While in the Netherlands I had the pleasure of catching this movie, and after watching it I was surprised it has not gotten a broader release. I looked online and learned it had only a minimal release as of the time I wrote this review and unfortunately, Universal Pictures doesn't have it on its release schedule. It's sad because it was a breath of fresh air and well worth a watch if you can find it.

It started with a great opening that hooked me right away. I really enjoyed the "AI" or computer interaction with the main character from the very beginning. It had a sort of detached caring combined with a lack of empathy, which made for a hilarious combo. I think it may be the fastest I've ever laughed after starting a movie. The sarcasm was epic and I loved it.

The movie progressed nicely and held my interest throughout. It's not breaking any new ground with regard to the general plot line, but the execution was funny and had enough action to maintain a good pace. I would like to see more movies like this. If you like sci-fi comedy with action, you should enjoy this one enough.

"Long Distance," also known as "Distant" is a movie with a lot of potential but unfortunately fails to meet expectations. The quality of the film is inconsistent. While the beginning is strong and the ending is excellent, the lengthy and boring middle section falls far short of the quality one would expect from a good movie. The only consistently high-quality aspect throughout the film is its special effects.

The story follows an asteroid miner whose ship crash-lands on an uncharted planet. He discovers that he is not the only survivor and that the planet's harsh environment is inhabited by various aggressive alien species. With oxygen running low and accompanied by a malfunctioning AI, he embarks on a long journey to rescue another survivor trapped in her escape pod.

The influences of space sci-fi blockbusters and successful TV series are evident in this movie, with nods to "Prometheus," "Riddick," "Pitch Black," and "Lost in Space." However, this isn't necessarily a drawback, as the film also introduces some original ideas not seen in other space sci-fi stories. The storyline is simple but effective, the action scenes are captivating, and the cinematography is excellent.

Unfortunately, the acting is subpar, particularly in the middle section. The main character is portrayed as annoyingly foolish and overly hysterical, while the supporting characters don't fare much better. Additionally, I found myself disliking Naomi Scott's voice during her radio transmissions. It almost feels as though the middle section was directed by someone aiming to turn "Long Distance" into a low-grade comedy, in stark contrast to the rest of the film, which aspires to be a high-quality action sci-fi movie.

Distant or Long Distance (I still don't get why you would call a movie with two different titles) is an entertaining sci-fi movie, not the best, for sure not, but good enough to watch once. The cinematography wasn't bad at all. The main reason I started watching this one was to see Zachary Quinto, but he turned out to be just the voice of a computer, so that was a bit disappointing. The rest of the very small cast did well though, not Oscar winning performances but good enough to look professional. In short it's worth a watch, just don't expect too much comedy as it's also categorized. I laughed once and that's it.