Europa Report-Exploring the Final Frontier on an Indie Budget...

I'm just going to say out front, this is an AMAZING film about space exploration.  Reportedly shot with a budget under ten million (hard figures are hard to come by).  Helmed by Ecuadorian director Sebastián Cordero,  This films depicts a private sector expedition to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons.  Europa is an ice covered world with what looks like a body covering ocean underneath.  The expedition seeks to see what, exactly, lies beneath in this ocean.  This idea is forward thinking, considering both interest in Europa and current efforts of the private sector in advancing space exploration.

The crew is an international bunch, though the actors playing them are mostly unknown, at least to an American audience.  The only one I knew of was Sharlto Copley, veteran of director Neil Blomkamp's films as well as playing HM Murdock in the theatrical version of the A-Team.  Here, he's playing astronaut James Corrigan, junior Engineer on this expedition.  But they are all good and quite credible as idealistic and enthusiastic astronauts ready to confront the unknown and expand mankind's horizons.

The visuals are nothing less than stunning.  If you know what you are looking for, you can see where the money is saved, such as using limited interior shots, being conservative about what is shown on Europa and the like.  But what is shown, is dazzling.  It is every bit as impressive as other similar films depicting space travel on a similar level, such as Apollo 13, Mission to Mars, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Deep Impact, and the like. 

The really interesting hook is that they give away the end of the story right at the beginning, the expedition falling afoul of fate.  The movie is a review of the footage recovered from the mission, piecing together what happened.  Nonetheless, like most good stories, the journey is the important part, at least as important as the destination.

This is a journey well worth considering, especially if you love a tale about space exploration within the confines of science as we know it at this time.