“You just push the handle, drop into T Space, and take off to destinations unknown.” This is how Max Stone (Joe Mayes, Spent, A Christmas Cancellation) explains the world of the Ghost Planet to us. Max has a half brother, George (Mark Hyde, Despiser, Days of Our Lives), and a sister, Julia (Claudia Troy, A Carolina Christmas, Joshua Tree), with whom he is seeking the technology that the Tesserans have left behind.
They were an alien race who mysteriously vanished after leaving behind spacecraft far more advanced than humanity could dream of. And, it appears, the trio has stumbled upon a site teeming with such ships. Then a neutron star flares, and they are forced to leave their claim behind.
That was a year ago. Now George has some odd tumors growing which appear to be covered by his insurance apart from the 90% deductible. Which is huge. But what is even worse is Max took a loan using one of his body parts as a collateral and now that loan is due with no way of paying it back. Also, there is no way he can run away from his agreements because at a hover car chase meant to keep his body where it is supposed to be, one of the repo men ended up getting killed while Max and George were taken by the police. All this time, Trudy who had pulled the trigger was nowhere to be found. Things are getting from bad to worse officialy now.
Writer director Philip J. Cook (Beyond the Rising Moon, the Malice franchise) presents his vision for the film that looks like Blade Runner, Babylon 5 and Repo: The Genetic Opera. And, as in his fantasy Pungo: A Witch’s Tale, he is totally outrageous when it comes to putting that world on the screen regardless of any budget. A lot has changed in the four years from Pungo that came out, specifically how he brings his ideas to life on screen. In the case of Ghost Plant, it was reported that he employed green screen, CGI, miniatures and even some buildings that were put up on sound stage.
As a result, it is a somewhat refined version of the visual style last practiced in the film 2004’s Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. It does take a little getting used to but considering the entire film is animated in this style, i did indeed get accustomed to it. This lets the film’s action take place in a not too distant future Earth setting, outer space, and some unknown planet which Trudy’s boss, John Moesby Campbell, in Three the Stereotyped Way, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier), proposes to them and to Trudy as an opportunity to go back to complete their unfinished business.
As a result, it’s a very good story. There are elements of a classic science fiction in the film, including space pirates and a girl named Naiad (as Julie Kashmanian, in Wind and Bone and Hemisphere) who lends the story somewhat of an Aliens feel. Quite the opposite there is also a hint of Mario Bava’s Planet of the Vampires or if you prefer, Terrore Nello Spazio, one of the movies which inspired the original Alien.
The game, however, does not come without faults, the most noticeable being some rather wooden dialogue that detracts from a few of the scenes. None of the characters or actors is made to look any more futuristic than a present day average, which is quite a disappointment as there is no effort made to make them standout in any way. In a way, that’s clever, it helps to by pass the attempts at predicting what future clothing will look like that are often ridiculed years down the line. It is quite strange however, to see someone on the deck of a spaceship wearing jeans and a hooded sweatshirt or a backward baseball cap.
Naturally, if you’re of that age, you recall well enough that science fiction films used to be low budget projects undertaken with passion and love for the genre rather than as to capitalize on market trends. Ghost planet has nostalgia appeal because it closely resembles movies like Planet of the Dinosaurs and Dark Star. It is also one which is able to successfully able tell an interesting story whilst incorporating overused nostalgic themes.
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