The Quatermass Experiment (2005)

The film was a kind of experiment for the BBC too, being the first live TV broadcast fiction they'd made in over 20 years. The basic story is the same as before — about a rocket ship that crashes back to Earth minus some crew members after having been out of contact for a time while in space — but the production is lifeless and there's some awful dialogue throughout.

Jason Flemyng is miscast as Quatermass, and the BBC 4 budget meant that the threat is spoken about more than actually seen. On paper it's a gutsy attempt to recapture an era when TV was like theatre in the home, but a small number of interesting scenes (e.g., the drama during the press conference) aren't enough to shake the insipid feeling that pervades the majority of it.

1½ compositional changes out of 5