A Review of ‘Ghost Planet’: An Interstellar Journey that Reaches for the Stars

'Ghost Planet’: An Interstellar Journey that Reaches for the Stars

Cast: Joe Mayes, Mark Hyde, Claudia Troy, Georgia Anastasia, Julie Kashmanian, Tennyson Harris, Jolene Mafnas, Ulysses E. Campbell, Maxwell Heaton, Keith Crosby, Rob Durkee, Christopher Winter, Vincent Capaldo, Zerin Basha

Critic’s Rating: 3.5 Stars out of 5

Director: Philip Cook

Duration: 1 hour, 24 minutes

Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller, Mystery

Language: English

Release: 2024

What’s it about?

A team of astronauts embark on a bumpy odyssey for a planet steeped in knowledge and technology.

Review:

Here is a welcome new entry to the Science Fiction/Space Exploration genre with appealing characters, an entertaining if somewhat far-fetched plot, and elaborate special effects that range from impressive to satisfactory. Though deriving ideas and ingredients from such movies as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Solaris (1972), Alien (1979), Interstellar (2014), Hemisphere (2023) and other flicks, Ghost Planet manages to concoct a fairly original narrative. This it does with a moderately satisfying blend of gadgets and gimos, action and mystery. Although implausible and perhaps a tad silly at times, the film manages to maintain its suspension of disbelief, leading to a surprising conclusion.

The movie begins with the narrator Max Stone (Joe Mayes) introducing the audience to a futuristic universe were humans have stumbled onto sophisticated space ships that were abandoned by an advanced race called the Tesserans. These vessels are capable of traversing galaxies at the mere push of a lever. Max and his fellow astronauts - George (Mark Hyde) and Julia (Claudia Troy) - come close to discovering the “honeywell” world of Tesseran artefacts and technology. However, due to their ship’s perilous proximity to a neuron star, the trio have to reluctantly abort the mission and return to base. But they do bring back “telemetry” recordings, which their space exploration company Equatron finds useful.

A year later, a disillusioned George, Max and Julia are struggling to get by on Earth with rapidly-depleting personal funds. George receives a worrying bill of health and Max has staked a part of his own body for an advance payment which he has to make good. Meanwhile, Julia has to rely on her skills as a lawyer to eke out a modest livelihood. However, a series of extraordinary events and a seemingly mundane item that Max used while onboard the Tesseran ship, bring the trio into the employ of a mysterious entrepreneur named John Moesby (Ulysses  E. Campbell). Moesby commissions them to return to the Tesseran planet, assigning a strange woman called Trudy (Georgia Anastasia) to aid them in the quest.

Managing to evade the destructive heat of the neuron star this time, the team guides their ship to the planet where some extraordinary surprises await. Meanwhile, danger is afoot with another spaceship tracking and stalking Max’s vessel. Who are these unwelcome intruders and what is their agenda? Will the strange new world come to the rescue of Max and Co. or will it jeopardise their mission further?  What secrets of the Ghost Planet unfold as the team struggles to extricate itself from a potential battle scenario? And what strange force raises hopes of a safe return? Good doses of wonder and excitement abound, making this a more than average sci-fi experience.

The film’s production design is mostly on target with much attention to detail applied to a futuristic urban Earth, the features of the Tesseran space ships, the bleak landscape of an alien planet and the dazzling ambience of a construction upon it. A couple of unexpected heroes are thrown into the mix, but the quality of the dialogue wavers and some action scenes tend to drag a bit. Plus, the cinematography occasionally struggles to keep pace with the elaborate CGI. The acting too is inconsistent, though Anastasia warrants praise for a robust rendering of her odd character.  On the whole, Ghost Planet mostly succeeds, garnering crucial points for ambition and vision. Indeed, here’s the kind of movie that could stir aliens into applause.