Savor The Journey: Event Horizon (1997)
My dear readers, though I hesitate to devote any of this critical space to accounts of domestic travails, I find the relevancy of a recent episode difficult to ignore. To my great dismay, I discovered that I had misplaced a rather singular necklace I had obtained for my sweet Penny Dee. Its sudden absence led me to something of a frenzy and I made an awful mess trying to deduce its whereabouts. And then, just when I thought I had unsettled every corner of our estate in search of the thing, a kindly neighbor strolled right up to our front door and returned it to me. It seemed to have adopted a faint and uncanny glow but aside from this little quirk, it was indeed the same necklace. To my great surprise, the fellow seemed to know it was meant as a gift and practically demanded that I drape it around the recipient’s neck during this week’s estival solstice, insisting that the romantic effect would be truly spectacular. I can’t say I see what business it is of his what manner of presentation I choose to adopt but the man was both amiable and deeply insistent and I find myself inclined to give his suggestion some serious consideration.
Whirling spikes are a crucial component of Dr. Weir’s breakthrough
Dr. William Weir (Sam Neil) is intimately familiar with the satisfaction to be found in retrieving something one has lost. He is a rather brainy chap, whose advanced thinking on speedy transportation led to the construction of the Event Horizon, a spacecraft that gets around by traveling through artificially generated black holes rather than through the regular propulsive means. Unfortunately, even with his massive intellect, Dr. Weir could not have predicted that altering the very fabric of reality just to zip around a bit faster might have unforeseen consequences and the Event Horizon disappeared entirely during its initial run, the fate of its crew unknown. His pride and joy suddenly pops up again seven years later, floating about and emitting a distress signal. Joining a team led by Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne), a man who isn’t too keen on the notion of this expedition, Dr. Weir and a crew of salvage experts board the Event Horizon in the hopes of uncovering the fate of its crew.
They immediately discover that the company belonging to the ship's maiden voyage did not survive. The ship itself, however, has an entirely new lease on life, as hopping about in other dimensions seems to have changed the very character of the ship, transforming it from an inanimate and responsive tool to a conscious and rather devious entity. With no foreknowledge of the rescue team, the ship manages to prey on their darkest fears and anxieties, manipulating them into violently self-destructive behavior. Seeing as how the craft is now sentient, malevolent and determined to relieve the crew of their lives, the best course of action would seem to be cutting the financial losses on the whole Event Horizon business and moving on. Dr. Weir, however, finds it somewhat difficult to sever his ties and ultimately takes some fairly dramatic steps to communicate his attachment to the project.
Dr. Weir is an excellent scientist but he lacks vision
As we have progressed from the dawn of equestrianism to the noble age of locomotive transport and finally, to the intergalactic conquests of 2047, mankind’s technological imperative when it comes to transportation has always been to speed things up a bit. And certainly, it is a nifty trick to produce a vehicle that can fold space for the sake of adjusting one’s arrival time. However, tired a sentiment though it may be to some, I have always found it is best to focus on savoring the journey as much as one enjoys the port of call, especially since excessive acceleration can have unfavorable results. Horses may revolt, trains have been known to derail and spacecrafts can turn into evil advocates of ocular mutilation. Sometimes it is best, as Event Horizon clearly points out, to avoid being so insistent on the brevity of our journey. And as eager as you might be to gaze upon your ultimate destination, Dr. Weir’s presence demonstrates that if you’re always rushing about, you might not end up seeing much of anything at all.
Event Horizon runs 96 minutes and is rated R for strong violence and gore, language and some nudity.
