The Cold Equations

December. 07,1996      
Rating:
5.4
Trailer Synopsis Cast

Lieutenant John Barton is sent on a special mission to deliver a special vaccine to a distant mining colony. He is infuriated to find Lee, a stowaway aboard his spacecraft. Barton has only enough fuel to carry himself and his precious cargo, and Lee's added weight insures that they will crash if she stays on board. They have gone too far to turn back, and Barton's superiors make it clear: the mission takes precedence and Lee has to be dumped into space. But she won't go quietly.

Billy Campbell as  John Barton
Poppy Montgomery as  Lee Cross
Daniel Roebuck as  Mitch
William R. Moses as  Adrian Cross
John Prosky as  Markham
Albert Hall as  Captain Keynes
Heidi Swedberg as  Board Member
Derk Cheetwood as  Corporal
Nicki Micheaux as  Ground Controller

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Reviews

Scanialara
1996/12/07

You won't be disappointed!

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Pluskylang
1996/12/08

Great Film overall

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Jenna Walter
1996/12/09

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

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Cristal
1996/12/10

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

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innocuous
1996/12/11

This movie truly dishonors the short story on which it is based. Some reviewers have tried to excuse this on the basis that any short story must be padded out by screenwriters. I don't buy it. If a short story is not suitable for a feature-length movie, then it isn't. Just deal with it and make a short, or use it as an episode in an anthology. (This same short story has received much better treatment as just such an episode.) All the love story and social justice elements in the movie do nothing but detract from the fundamental themes of the original story. In particular, the main female character has been transformed from a sympathetic young woman to some sort of manic-depressive "anti-heroine" with whom we are unlikely to empathize. This movie is just sad, and not in a good way.

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martin-bullivant
1996/12/12

I'm a real SF fan-have been for 40 years. I've read the short story, heard the 50's Radio adaptation-both of those by their very nature avoided the problem that made me give up on this movie-which is that it was filmed with such atrociously bad (non-existent?) lighting that you can't really tell what's happening. Maybe it was intended to convey the dark storyline.... but all it does is look... well... dark. I kept expecting the actors to trip over stuff or ask for a coin for the electricity meter. At first I wondered if it was just a bad print but no, the shots of the backlit displays in close up were clear.It really was shockingly awful-which is a shame as what I endured visually was not matched by a similarly poorly delivered dialogue. But after a while of squinting and screwing my eyes up to see it (on a 43 inch flat screen TV!) I felt a headache brewing.After 20 minutes I gave up.

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hcs3399
1996/12/13

I thought this was a wonderful movie. Granted the effects are pretty bad and the cinematography was horrible, probably due to a very small budget. However, if you dig through all of that, you'll find a wonderful story line and amazing acting talent. Poppy Montgomery and Bill Campbell make the story come alive in this interesting tale of the human reaction to major life decisions when options run out(trapped in a spaceship). You just have to watch it to appreciate it. Onboard a mercy mission to a sick planet a pilot, played by Campbell, is forced to choose between a stowaway, Montgomery, and the medicine that will save the planet. I haven't read the book, but I will now to compare. But as far as the movie is concerned it rocked.

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gatebanger
1996/12/14

This film is the third, and worst, adaptation of one of the best SF shorts I have ever read.The original story had some very clear messages: People are responsible for their actions and there are consequences; Life isn't fair; Neither is death; Sometimes, one has to make tough choices.Unfortunately, by the time Geiger and Burger got through with it, it had become an overly long, rambling true love in space soap opera.The short story generated a good bit of controversy when it was published in 1954.I can't recommend this film to anyone who has read Tom Godwin's story.

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