Europa Report Movie Download

9 / 10

Outstanding Hard Sci-fi Movie
EUROPA REPORT is a movie presenting itself as commentated compiled footage transmitted from a space expedition to the eponymous moon of Jupiter before it was lost, and telling the story of its six crew members on the way there and after they arrive.

The film firmly belongs to the “hard” science fiction subgenre, which also includes, for example, 2001:A SPACE ODYSSEY (1969), THE MARTIAN (2013), or GRAVITY (2013), to be contrasted with fantasy science fiction or space operas like the STAR WARS franchise.

As a hard science fiction film, it presents a remarkably realistic experience of what it would be like to go on such a mission, even despite occasional slip-ups like noises in empty space.

Trying to make a science fiction film realistic carries the risk of turning it into a boring movie, but there is enough going on here, and the characters are sufficiently well sketched out for us to care, that the film never becomes so.

Apart from the realism, the stunning visuals really set this movie apart. Found footage movies are almost by definition associated with low production values and inferior visuals. In many instances, this is intended because it can make the film more believable as a raw record of actual events, but in reality much of it is just a consequence of low budgets. That makes any found footage film with high production values even more impressive. Also, supplying a found-footage movie with a soundtrack can be tricky because again, there is a risk that it takes away from the raw realism, but here the atmospheric score by Bear Grylls fits really well with the visual presentation of the movie.

There is also the willingness by the film-makers to take risks and try to innovate within the found-footage format, replacing a linear narrative with what might be called a “foreshadowing+non-linear structure”: the narrative is not simply non-linear, but parts out of order are very briefly foreshadowed ahead of time. I can imagine that some people might not like this, but I appreciate the effort by any film-maker to break out of the restrictive found-footage mold and try to do something new.

Most importantly (to me at least), the movie spectacularly succeeds at conveying what it feels like to explore things no one has ever seen and especially what the very moment would feel like when a profound discovery as non-terrestrial life is made. Few movies succeed or even emphasize this point. For instance, for all its excellence, ALIEN (1979) never conveyed anything like that in its opening scene when the alien pods were discovered. The only other film of which I know which does a good job in this regard is LIFE(2017), but EUROPA REPORT seems still more authentic.

EUROPA REPORT is an outstanding found-footage and science fiction movie, and suggests new possibilities for what can be done with that format and genre.Read More