Black Horizon DVD Review:

Black Horizon
Lions Gate Home Entertainment
Rated R

It's usually a bad sign when the one name actor in a film is said to be the star, and yet they are absent for most of the screen time. This is the case
for Black Horizon, whose big name is Ice-T, a bad sign to begin with. Although Ice-T has actually made a few decent films as a co-star, when he is
the biggest name in a film, it's usually a better idea to stay away. In this case the other actors are so much worse that the scenes with Ice-T are a
relief.

A little more than half of the film takes place in space on an obsolete Russian space station, Avma. It's an international scientific mission, and
when the space station begins to desintegrate a rescue team is sent to save the scientists, and all of the data as well. To make matters even worse,
there is some sort of a meteor shower that seems to hit the station many times. It's at this point that the film starts to make less sense.

For some reason a cop is sent up with them, because of some underwater rescue he did when he was in the navy. It's only when his partner starts to uncover a conspiracy that they realize it's possible the space station was supposed to
be destroyed.

Filled with bad acting, and a worse script, Black Horizon is a perfect example of what happens when direct-to-video goes bad. many scenes are
treated as dramatic as possible, when in fact the film is destined to be a B-film all along. It's the kind of film that made Mystery Science Theatre
such a hit. The only redeaming qualitites of the film are the chase scenes, which far exceed any space footage in the film. Although technology is so
far advances that the soace scenes actually look fairly realistic for a film of this calibur, it's the car chases, which are shot without digital
effects, that end up looking as good as a big budget film. This doesn't help the film become any more believable, and there are only actually two car
chases, but it's probably the only reason I could think of the recomend this film.

Black Horizon has been digitally mastered, and boasts precise digital quality sight and sound. It does in fact look fairly clean, with good sound
as well, if that even really matters with a film like this. There are an assortment of special features, such as director and writer commentary and a
photo gallery, but they only make it more apparent that the film was meant to be taken seriously. But, the commentary is informative, and there is a
certain amount of appeal in hearing what the filmakers were actually thinking.

Also the film is in widescreen, which does enhance the feeling of it a little bit beyond the typical DTV quality. This film may be interesting to a space fan, but they would also be more likey to find the flaws which surely are in it. It might be interesting to a
younger viewer who is unaware of the silliness of the whole concept, but the film is rated R for some violence and language. So really, it doesn't seem
like there is much of any audience for this film at all. Then again, there is always a chance that there are some Ice-T fans out there.

Ryan Izay

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