Leofwine_draca ALIEN CARGO certainly has a wicked little story going for it. It involves the crew of a "deep space trucking company", all but two of whom are put into hypersleep for the most part of a year in order to cut down on costs. During a seemingly ordinary trip, two of the sleepers wake up to discover they've slept too long and their ship is now way off course. The members who are supposed to be on active duty are missing. Even worse, they don't have a great deal of fuel or oxygen left...With that premise it's hard to get things wrong and ALIEN CARGO boasts a fine and spooky atmosphere, at least for the first half. I love the sense of foreboding that's carefully built up, and the unknown menace lurking in the background. The acting, from Jason London and Missy Crider, isn't too bad by genre standards either.What a shame, then, that things fall apart in the second half when the source of the mystery is finally explained and it all becomes rather humdrum. It's at this point where the acting falls flat and the sense of menace dissipates in favour of TV movie cheesiness. The moral-flavoured climax is a little better, and I appreciate the downbeat ending, but in the end this is a film lesser than the sum of its parts. Watch out for NEIGHBOURS star Alan Dale (Jim!) as a hard-ass rival crew member.

Rob_Taylor For a TV movie, and a SciFi Channel one at that, I believe, this was a very pleasant surprise.Once you make the adjustment to the low-budget effects and graphics, and start paying attention to the story, it all hangs together very nicely.What's more, the plot is nicely handled. There aren't any crazy monsters, people behave in a sensible fashion, basic physics is obeyed and nothing jumps out at you as horribly inept. In short, the writer had more than a basic grasp of the environment the movie is set in.Acting is passable, though Jason London will never be an A lister, and the plot progresses logically and without much contrivance at all.In short, cheap though it is, Alien Cargo never offends the intellect. The beginning drags a little, but bear with it because it improves constantly as it goes along.I was particularly pleased to see the use of a non-happy ending. They telegraph it fairly heavily from a long way off, but I kept expecting some kind of deus-ex machina to save the day. It never did and the movie is better for it.SUMMARY: A pleasant surprise! Sensible, logical and genuinely likable. If only the more recent SciFi channel productions were as well written. Not ground-breaking, but worthwhile.

cmflash ***big spoiler*** I really enjoyed this movie. It was interesting and it made you think about decisions you make in your own life and career. The two leads, Chris and Theta have wonderful chemistry and you root for their relationship to be perfect even when you are afraid they may kill each other. Jason London was his usual perfectly darling self and you can only respond to his line "I'm the best you ever had and you cant get enough of me" with a grin and a nod. The situation these astronauts were put into by their employer really angers me though. (And I thought MY employer was less than concerned with it's employees' welfare!) But putting them into a situation that could potentially cost them their lives in order to save some money is just evil!!!! The last scene between Chris and Theta where they are deciding whether to end their lives rather than die horribly after being marooned in space brings a tear to your eyes. I believe I would decide the same thing as I think they did however, to stay together as long as possible.Also I think the word 'Alien' in the title refers to something unknown rather than a being from another planet.

redbeard_nv Read the other reviews for plot lines and spoilers, this one is an analysis of the mechanics of the movie.On the plus side, the title doesn't mean a guy in a phony rubber suit. On the negative, the pacing is a little too slow for me to pay a great deal of attention, regardless of how intelligent the script turned out to be, although, as another poster has mentioned, it seems to lack a third act, or a payoff.Netter Digital, the gang responsible for the effects work on "Babylon 5", turn in a satisfactory job on the SSS-17, a clunky boxy space cargo ship, but a better set of effects on the deep space exploration vessel, The Dolphin. Attention to a lot of detail, concepts of what a corporation will do to minimize costs in the future world of Solar System mining and transport of goods and raw materials, a couple of decent actors handling the script (which, as I mentioned isn't too shabby), contribute to a surprising change of pace, regardless of a downer ending (I don't know if something else would have happened, that it would have become anti-climactic).All in all, better than a lot of straight to vid sci-fi. I just wish it had been done just a little better.