Space odyssey T
‘Nightflyers’: outer limits of murkiness
HERE’S been a lot of interest in Syfy’s new series, “Nightflyers,” since it’s adapted from “Game of Thrones” author George RR Martin’s 1980 spacethriller novella and an eponymous 1987 big-screen movie that failed to take flight.
So now they’re trying again, this time on the small screen, with lots of actors with British accents.
I found the first two episodes of the 10-episode “Nightflyers” reminiscent of — and, in some ways, aspiring to be like — “Alien,” Ridley Scott’s 1979 outer space horror show starring Sigourney Weaver. (Its tagline: “In space, no one can hear you scream.”) But “Nightflyers” lacks that film’s sci-fi/horror gravitas; it’s murky at best, both in its storyline and its character development, and grinds along at a snail’s pace trying to construct its elaborate scenario. It does boast terrific special effects and an abundance of blood and gore, both of which are used generously. That may be enough to keep some viewers coming back, but it’s a risky proposition for a medium like TV that caters to short attention spans.
The series opens with a riveting scene, and then rewinds: It’s the year 2093 on Earth, which is in danger of extinction due to a plague of worldwide viruses threatening to wipe out mankind. Scientist Karl D’Branin (Eoin Macken) and Dr. Agatha Matheson (Gretchen Mol), along with their high-tech team — including Melantha Jhirl (Jodie TurnerSmith), “genetically designed for space travel” — board the ginormous space vessel Nightflyer. They hope to travel “across the void” to the galaxy’s edge on a years-long mission to make contact with the elusive Volcryns, an alien race with a superior energy force that could save Mother Earth from herself. Or something like that.
D’Branin and Matheson meet resistance from the Nightflyer crew when they bring aboard a violent dude named Thale (Sam Strike). He’s an “L-1” with deadly psychic powers. His presence isn’t welcome by the ship’s reclusive captain, Roy Eris (David Ajala), a hologramic projection (of course he is) who’s ostensibly creepy and likes to “study” people to ascertain their essence, including while they’re in various stages of undress (cue the gratuitous flesh-baring and romantic scenes for the 14-year-old boys who might be watching).
When weird and deadly events start to blitz the Nightflyer, the crew turns on each other and on Thale, who they believe is sabotaging the journey for his own evil reasons. He glowers a lot, which reminds me of a favorite Stanley Kubrick cinematic device — think Private Pyle (Vincent D’Onofrio) right before he blows his brains out in “Full Metal Jacket” or Jack Nicholson with the ax in “The Shining” (which factors into the plot in another Kubrick-ian way).
It probably helps to have read Martin’s novella to keep score of what’s happening on-screen — but if you’re tuning in as a “Nightflyers” newbie, it’s a tough slog.