Houston, We Have A Problem…
In the thrilling new sci-fi horror Sputnik, released on digital platforms 14th August, a Soviet spacecraft crash lands after a mission goes badly wrong. It soon becomes clear that all is not well with the surviving astronaut, and that something dangerous may have come back to Earth with him.
To celebrate the return of Sputnik and its extra visitor, here’s a countdown from 10 to lift-off of some of the greatest space missions gone awry in sci-fi films, featuring everything from picking up dodgy signals in space, ill-advised stopovers, and good old-fashioned mechanical failure. Bon voyage…
Gravity (2013)
Oscars all round for this nailbiter starring Sandra Bullock as Dr Ryan Stone, on her first space mission to carry out repairs on the Hubble space telescope.
What went wrong: A space debris storm disrupts her mission and smashes the space shuttle, leaving Dr Stone floating in space. She is rescued by crewmember Kowalski (George Clooney), but it is only a temporary respite. With their shuttle damaged beyond repair, how do they get back to Earth?
Event Horizon (1997)
Paul W.S. Anderson’s genuinely scary sci-fi horror shocker sees a space crew finding the missing ship Event Horizon, that disappeared seven years before, and discovering something very nasty onboard.
What went wrong: Upon discovering the original crew massacred, they perhaps should have got the hell out of here. Instead, the crew remain, and begin to experience mind-bending hallucinations that play on fears and past regret.
Species 2 (1998)
In this gruesome sequel, after returning from a mission to Mars, an infected astronaut mutates into a ghastly alien, keen to procreate.
What went wrong: Rather than celebrate the astronaut’s return, he should have been locked up in a very secure unit. Luckily for humanity, Sil Mark 2, a more docile version of the alien hybrid from the first film, is on hand to help defeat the new threat.
The Astronaut’s Wife (1999)
Johnny Depp plays a returning astronaut whose wife, Charlize Theron, notices that he is not quite the person he used to be.
What went wrong: During the space mission an alien force took control of Depp’s body, and used it to travel to Earth for nefarious reasons!
Lifeforce (1985)
Tobe Hooper’s big budget sci-fi horror, made by Cannon Films, was much derided upon its release but has found a new lease of life on home video. A mission to find a spaceship that has run into trouble discovers the ship gutted with fire, the crew dead, but three humanoids in suspended animation.
What went wrong: They should never have brought the humanoids back to Earth. One of them might be easy on the eye (Mathilda May), reanimated and wandering around in the nude, but she is incredibly dangerous, a space vampire sucking the lifeforce out of her victims and turning the populace into zombies.
Mission to Mars (2000)
A space crew arrives on the red planet to make plans for colonising it for humans, in Brian De Palma’s visually dazzling sci-fi epic. Things don’t go according to plan.
What went wrong: They think a large column of light could be a water source – on close inspection it wipes all but one of them out, and appears to be a huge face! A rescue mission is sent to find Luke.
Pitch Black (2000)
Vin Diesel stars in this sci-fi actioner about a spaceship, transporting passengers including the notorious criminal Riddick, that crash lands after a being damaged in a meteor storm.
What went wrong: Not that they had any choice, but it was a bad place to crash – the planet is inhabited by underground creatures after their blood. The good news is, the creatures are sensitive to light. The bad news? An eclipse is coming!
The Martian (2015)
Matt Damon is an astronaut who is left behind on Mars when a mission is abandoned due to a storm, in this Ridley Scott sci-fi based on the bestselling novel by Andy Weir.
What went wrong: He has no communication with Earth – and so he will have to survive on Mars, alone, for four years until the next mission to the planet is due to arrive. It’s lonely, hostile and tough, and it won Damon a Golden Globe for his performance.
Dark Star (1974)
In this influential low budget sci-fi comedy, set in the ‘interstellar reaches of the universe’, a space crew, whose job it is to blow up unstable planets, have been floating around the galaxy for 20 years and have been driven mad with boredom.
What went wrong: Mother, the ship’s computer (a spoof on 2001’s HAL9000) malfunctions and wants to explode a bomb on the spaceship. The crew have a hell of a time convincing it otherwise.
Alien (1979)
Long before The Martian, Ridley Scott made the mother of all botched space mission movies, with this unbeatable classic sci-fi horror, in which the mining vessel Nostromo, on its way back to Earth, receives a distress signal from a nearby planet. The crew land on the planet and have a nose around, but can’t seem to find any signs of life.
What went wrong: Crewmember Kane finds a huge nest of what appear to be eggs, one of which hatches and something leaps out, shattering his protective helmet. He is rushed back to the ship, where he recovers. But, unbeknownst to the crew, the alien that attacked Kane is lurking inside him.
SPUTNIK WILL BE RELEASED ON DIGITAL PLATFORMS ON 14 AUGUST.
