Angela Bassett, James Spader, Wilson Cruz, Peter
Facinelli, Robin Tunney, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Robert Forster
The problems most likely began when the studio first
decided to see the script. SUPERNOVA shows all the signs of
Treatment Disease. A studio treatment, for those who aren't familiar
with the term, is a short summary of a possible script...given
to executives prior to the actual writing of a script. (Why do
all that work if they don't like the idea anyway, right?) Certainly,
SUPERNOVA was a great idea -- a medical spaceship rushes
to an abandoned mining planet only to find an alien artifact that
alters humans beyond recognition -- and I'm sure some enterprising
studio executive read the two-page treatment and commissioned
a full script. And the then troubles began.
The script, as it reached its final draft, was the
product of half a dozen writers that made the good simple idea
completely incomprehensible. (The Writers Guide attributed the
script in the end to David Campbell Wilson and the 'story' to
William Malone and Daniel Chuba.) The shooting was marred by numerous
problems. The director, Walter Hill, left the film after shooting
had wrapped, furious at studio interference. The name on the film
is Thomas Lee, a pseudonym for Hill. (Francis Ford Coppola, as
part of his new agreement to run the affairs of United Artists,
agreed to re-edit the film as well, and also goes uncredited.)
Too many chefs, the old saying goes, spoil the soup.
Watching SUPERNOVA, one can easily see a good
idea destroyed by too many chefs. Robert Forster is the captain
of the medical freighter, with a crew played by A-list stars (chief
medical officer Dr. Evers, played by Angela Bassett), B-list stars
(co-pilot Van Zant, played by James Spader, and Yersi, played
by Lou Diamond Phillips), and youngsters who have yet to be on
any list (Wilson Cruz, Robin Tunney, Peter Facinelli). It's a
hodgepodge of talent that ranges from awful to great, making for
an odd viewing experience.
Special effects are extraordinarily plain; shots of
the ship look like outtakes from Battlestar Galactica,
while the interiors are filled with odd blue lighting and unexplained
fog that bring to mind sci-fi shlock like EVENT HORIZON or SPECIES.
These effects seem to hamper the more talented performers, especially
Bassett, who resorts to the Ice Queen persona she exhibited in
WAITING TO EXHALE and STRANGE DAYS. Perhaps most distressing is
the film's ending...or lack of one. The audience I screened the
film with wasn't sure the film had ended until well into the ending
credits.
Certainly there have been worse science fiction films
than SUPERNOVA. The waste of a good idea, however, is especially
upsetting in this genre. One wishes for another 2001: A SPACE
ODYSSEY, ALIEN, BLADE RUNNER, or STAR WARS these days, but those
classics seem out of reach. Perhaps at the next studio briefing,
another good idea will come down the pike.
