Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

By John J. Joex

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Virtuality is a television series pilot written and produced by Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica) that follows the crew of a deep space mission. They are headed to the Epsilon Eridani star system on a journey that will take ten years. Their day to day activities on the ship are recorded and transmitted back to Earth where viewers watch them on television, reality series-style. In addition, each crew member has a virtual reality module that they can use as an escape from the rigors of deep space travel. However, a glitch in the programming has lead to several bad experiences in the virtual world, and they consider switching off the system for the duration of the mission. This glitch seems to extend beyond that, though, and ultimately leads to the death of one of the crew members which points toward a potentially subversive plot unfolding on the ship. So essentially, Virtuality gives us hard science fiction meets reality television meets the Star Trek holodecks meets murder mystery meets a conspiracy story arc.

If that description makes this two hour movie sound like an odd mish-mash of ideas and genres, then you are following right along with me. Ronald D. Moore did a good job of turning the iconic Battlestar Galactica franchise upside down and he apparently wants to keep heads spinning with his latest venture. I have to admit that half way through Virtuality I felt like his eclectic, genre-splicing movie was a bit more than I could stomach, though I stuck it out and by the end he had finally won me over.

It is filmed very much like a realty series, with the jerky, hand-held camera flitting about try to catch the quibbles among each of the crew members along with separate “confessional” pieces directed at the camera. And really, the characters seem like some of the standard types that Reality TV producers cobble together to generate the required amount of friction that draws viewers to watch their shows (and for that matter, parts of the interior of the ship resemble those super-sleek apartments where MTV’s The Real World often boards its participants). This aspect of the series can be a bit disconcerting to non-Reality TV fans, but at the same time you have to admit that there is a hint of authenticity to the way that the people interact with one another.

Adding the virtual reality system to the mix of course draws immediate comparisons to the holodecks of the Star Trek franchise (right down to its tendency toward malfunction). However, Virtuality takes a very different approach. Each person wears a virtual reality visor that lets them see and experience this cyber-world, though it is not physically “real” like Trek’s holodecks. And to what extent this virtual reality engages all five senses is not made completely clear. The participants seem to fully experience the situations in their mind, including sexual encounters, but we don’t know just how real it feels to them. Still, having such a system on a long voyage makes a lot of sense.

Which leads to the next part of this movie that I really appreciate. Moore takes a very realistic, scientifically accurate approach toward space travel (including no sound in space!). So often, space travel in television and movies follows whichever physical laws that the writers feel like acknowledging at any given point in time (or simply no laws at all). Virtuality on the other hand tries to portray life and travel in space as accurately as possible. So even if you dislike all of the other aspects of this movie, you have to at least appreciate this rare attempt to give viewers a more accurate portrayal of what it would be like to travel in deep space.

As far as the cast, they all seem to fit quite well in each of their respective roles. Nikolaj Coster Waldau (of 2008’s New Amsterdam), stands out as the captain of the ship and the one person who can keep this collection of oddballs from ending up at each other’s throats. The rest of the cast include an assortment of actors that you have seen in guest slots or supporting roles in various television shows and movies and will have you saying “where did I see that person before”? Among the standouts we have Clea Duvall from Carnivale and James D’Arcy from Master and Commander.

Ultimately, this movie seems somewhat unapproachable at first and a bit difficult to digest. But if you think about it, that could easily describe Battlestar Galactica at times. As I mentioned, at first I didn’t like it, then I did, then after sleeping on it I liked it even more. And I went from originally deciding to give the movie a 3.5 rating to boosting it to a 4. Check back with me in a week and maybe I will change that up or down.

Virtuality was intended to proceed into a series, but FOX chose to pass on it, and I while I might understand their thinking because of the density of the movie, I would definitely like to see more. Maybe one or two sequel movies? The death of the crew member leads to the suggestion of some sort of conspiracy or larger sequence events that could play out over two or three more movies, and I would definitely tune in for those. I highly doubt this one could survive the weekly grind of a network series, though.

To reinforce that thought, the movie barely registered in the Nielsens pulling only a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 1.8 million viewers (and for those of you who missed it, you can still catch it online at FOX.com). I’m sure once the DVR returns come in the number of viewers will rise, but despite that and the fact this ran during a typically low viewership timeslot, those numbers will definitely scare FOX away from putting any more money into this concept. Still, I’m betting that Virtuality will start to pick up some cult notoriety and could return at some point and on some channel either as an ongoing or limited series or several made for TV/DVD movies. And when and if it does, I will definitely tune in.

Watch Virtuality Online at FOX.com

For More info on Virtuality, go to TV.com

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