25 years ago, this wild sci-fi action movie made headlines for all the wrong reasons
The 2000 sci-fi trainwreck Supernova left behind a legacy of infamy involving multiple directors, reshoots, and even Francis Ford Coppola.
MGMTable of ContentsTable of ContentsSoftcore sci-fiBehind-the-scenes chaosSuper-flopa
You know how some movies are misunderstood at the time of their release and receive a much-needed re-evaluation decades later, with film enthusiasts reclaiming them as masterpieces of their genre? Well, Supernova isnât that. In fact, it wouldnât be an overstatement to call it among the worst sci-fi movies of the noughties, and considering the decade produced such trainwrecks as The Adventures of Pluto Nash and Battlefield Earth, itâs not an easy contest.
Yes, Supernova might not be as infamous as those other two movies, but maybe it should be. A hot mess if there ever was one, Supernova is a cautionary tale of bad CGI, conflicting visions, studio interference, a carousel of directors, and a script that never really knew what it wanted to be. On its 25th anniversary, letâs look back at this deliciously terrible movie and discuss how the behind-the-scenes drama is far more entertaining than anything that actually happens on the screen.
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Softcore sci-fiMGMSupernova is a relatively straightforward science fiction movie â at least until it isnât. The plot centers on a six-person hospital ship that answers a distress call and rescues Karl (Peter Facinelli), a young man carrying a mysterious artifact. Soon, the ship finds itself facing an unexpected threat worsened by the gravitational pull of a dying star about to go supernova. James Spader and Angela Bassett lead the cast alongside Robert Forster, Lou Diamond Phillips, Robin Tunney, Wilson Cruz, and Facinelli.
MGMThe first thing you need to know about Supernova is that itâs a horny movie â a very horny movie. The opening scene features the shipâs computer, aptly named Sweetie, waking up computer technician Benjamin (Cruz) to seductively ask for a chess game. Immediately after, thereâs a scene with Phillipsâ Yerzy and Tunneyâs Danika going at it in a dark room. From there, Supernova tries to press forward with its plot, but thereâs just so much sexual heat between pretty much everyone that itâs often distracting. Spader and Bassett spend most of their scenes together exchanging longing glances, as do Tunney and Phillips when theyâre not having actual sex. Then thereâs Facinelli, whoâs truly a menace, walking from crew member to crew member and showing off like a dog in heat.
Supernova (2000) - A Pear of Lovers Scene (4/12) | Movieclips
Supernova might be a better movie if it embraced this low-quality Skinemax approach; I mean, itâs not like it was going to win any Oscars anyway. The visual effects are bad, the performances are so hammy they might as well be smoked, and the script goes from one place to the next without caring for consistency or pacing. It tries to be too many things at once â thrilling sci-fi, Alien rip-off, Event Horizon spiritual sibling â instead of being the one thing it should be: campy. The sex scenes have the type of sax music one can find in a softcore â80s porno; the lines have an âI researched this on the libraryâ quality to them, and the actors often deliver them with the same kind of self-awareness with which the characters from The Office speak before looking into the camera. Supernova could be fun; instead, it chooses to be âserious,â to its ultimate detriment.
Behind-the-scenes chaosMGMAs it so happens, the behind-the-scenes drama in Supernova is far more interesting than the actual finished film. Originally, Australian director Geoffrey Wright signed on to direct, with Vincent DâOnofrio set to star. Weeks before the project was due to start shooting, Wright left the production due to, what else, âcreative differences,â and DâOnofrio soon followed. Spader replaced DâOnofrio and campaigned for Walter Hill to take on directing duties. Hill, who had directed several movies and produced a few of the Alien entries, changed the screenplay and faced a hastened production schedule, claiming the budget was cut during the shoot. After filming wrapped, Hill spent a while in post-production with few visual effects ready. Still, MGM went on with a test screening, which went poorly, as Hill had predicted. Following the negative test screening, Hill quit the project.
Jack Sholder, director of B-level horror movies like Alone in the Dark and A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddyâs Revenge, was hired to re-edit the movie. Sholder changed many aspects of Hillâs version, from the score to the voice of the shipâs computer. However, that version also didnât work, and MGM tried to go back to Hill, whose demands they refused to meet. This is the point in our story where things get really wild as Francis Ford Coppola enters the fray. Yes, Francis Ford Coppola, director of The Godfather trilogy and The Conversation.
Supernova (2000) - Dimension Jump Scene (2/12) | Movieclips
See, Coppola was an MGM board member, and he was brought in to save the film as only a five-time Oscar winner could. Coppolaâs main contribution was adding a sex scene between Bassett and Spaderâs characters without using Bassett or Spader. Instead, Coppola chose to use footage from Facinelli and Tunneyâs sex scene, hiding their faces and darkening Tunneyâs skin. If that sounds way too bizarre and nonsensical, itâs because it kind of is, and the movie is not any better for it. Indeed, the scene lasts two seconds and doesnât achieve what Coppola wanted: to improve the relationship between Bassett and Spaderâs characters, supposedly the central romance in the story.
Super-flopaMGMSadly, Supernova is a mess of a movie without any structure or purpose. It tries to tell a fairly straightforward story without even attempting to introduce any semblance of stakes or emotional connection. The characters are thin, the dialogue way too contrived to be so basic, and the production values too cheap-looking to pass as a prestigious sci-fi vehicle. Today, the filmâs legacy is all about the behind-the-scenes mess and how much it derailed the finished product.
Indeed, you can tell this movie went through countless hands, stitched together before being separated and reshaped again, attempting to turn it into something itâs not. Thatâs probably the main issue with Supernova: itâs a big pile of nothing, way too basic to become anything of value and way too insipid to endure as a camp classic.
Supernova Official Trailer #1 - Robert Forster Movie (2000) HD
Some movies endure as so-bad-theyâre-good classics, guilty pleasures that make us laugh or at least enjoy. Supernova isnât that: Itâs lazy and a bit sad, only spiced up by how horny everyone is, yet it does nothing with that. The film desperately tries to be Alien when it shouldâve been Armageddon all along. Oh, what couldâve been; we really wouldnât have missed a thing.
Supernova is available to stream on Tubi.
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