Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

From the patterns of other reviewers here, it seems that if one has read the short story upon which this film is based, one thinks the film bad.On the other hand, if you have never read the short story, you will probably enjoy this film.It is a sci-fi film, yes, but the real content of the film could have transpired in any setting.Gripping, and well-acted, intellectual and philosophical, with many great reflective questions about life and being. Not an action film. If that sounds like your cup of tea, enjoy. It's great.

In the future, John (Billy Campbell) is a pilot who accepts a commission to carry a cache of medicine to a distant planet. He's hoping that this decision will translate into a promotion. On earth, he is part of the more elite group, for there is now a lower caste of humans who do drudge work, eat poorly and live in crowded, noisy conditions. John's mission has a tricky element. Amazingly, the plane that he will fly has been designed for this mission only and has only the basic components. It is termed a "disposable vehicle" and will be dismantled at the voyage's end. Just after takeoff, the ground command notifies John that the plane is carrying extra weight, for some unknown reason. As the vehicle only has fuel for the calculated weight, this is a major problem. Looking around, John sees that he has a pretty stowaway, Lee (Poppy Montgomery). She is of the drudge class and snuck onto the plane to visit her brother who lives on the planet of John's voyage. Uh oh. Mission control tells John he has to throw her "overboard" into space, where she will die; otherwise, they will both perish, for the plane will not make it. What to do? Lee puts up a fight for her life, first with words, then with muscle. John, naturally, doesn't want to end her life and they try desperately to find enough other things to throw out the chute, including insulation, the first aid kit and other items. But, alas, they can't find enough. What will John do? This was a pretty flat and cheaply made science fiction film. It has some good ideas but they are never developed enough and the writing is stiff. The actors, too, don't fair very well, although Campbell and Montgomery truly do try to give it a go. All in all, if you love sci fi, as I do, you will be very disappointed in this one. Unless you have a penchant to "see them all", you should skip it.

This should have been a short 1/2 hour show. They tried to stretch a great sci-fi short story to movie length - and they failed. WARNING: SPOILERS Basically; highly efficient space ships are used to deliver emergency medical supplies to stop a deadly plague. To save costs, fuel is calculated precisely. All things are considered; weight of craft, weight of cargo, distance of trip, landing fuel needs etc.etc. A girl stow away is found on the ship. The only solution is to jettison her into space (there are no emergency space-suits, and no other spacecraft that may save her) Unfortunately, for the show to work you have to like the actress - but The girl (Poppy Montgomery) is completely unlikeable, and you will cheer when she is finally blasted into cold space and finally shut-up.

The comments of others who have read the story have disapproved of the movie and I understand that. But if you are a fan of science fiction, I think you have to be grateful for this movie. I saw the movie before I read the story and I was blown away. How rare is it for a movie to actually include math and physics--correct physics? This movie could even be used to teach things like acceleration, mass, and energy conservation. I also think the actors did a good job. Montgomery not only sold the terror of impending death in the vacuum of space, but she also sold me on her determination to sacrifice herself. Understanding that it is a low-budget (I believe made for the SciFi Channel) movie, I appreciate it. I hope more good science fiction stories are made into movies, as faithfully as possible.