BEAT STREET -- Screenwriting, yes. Breakdancing,not so much.: August 2011

Jason Holborn gives a running commentary as he BS2's this one!

EVENT HORIZON

Genre Monster in the House.
1. A "monster" supernatural in power…. the being who possesses Weir, claiming to be older than the Devil.
2. A "house": the Event Horizon
3. A "sin". Dude, do NOT SCREW WITH PHYSICS!!!

MORAL PREMISE:
UNDETERMINED.

Opening Image (1):
Star field, pan to Earth (nice shot btw)

Angle on a horrifyingly scarred man's body, screaming -

Theme Stated (5):
Nothing leapt out to me

Set-Up (1-10):
Sam Neill wakes up from the nightmare. Photo of a Missing Lady in His Life. Starts his day.
Reveal: he's actually on a giant outer space structure, in his quarters.

Meanwhile on the spaceship LEWIS & CLARK the crew preps for their new orders

Sam Neill (WEIR) is on board. .

The crew and captain ignore him. Weir learns Captain does not wish him on board. The crew resents this mission. Weir will de-brief them at Neptune (the planet) but that's not good enough for the crew.

Inside Ship -- crew & Weir prepare for their 'gravity couches'… or they'll be liquefied. Weir and Captain Miller (this is Lawrence Fishbourne) and crew get into oxygen masks and suspension liquid tanks.

Weir wakes up and meets the Missing Woman In His Life from the photos in his quarters… CLAIRE.

It's a fantasy -- in fact, he wakes up drowning in the suspension liquid.

He escapes and examines the bay; he is the only one awake. What has gone wrong????

But the others awaken normally. Help Weir calm and stabilize. Stasis has been 56 days.

Miller commands everyone to work even before they're dressed.

A Crewmember watches a video of her Son. She wanted to see him but this mission prevented; Miller tried to get her replaced but couldn't.

Now Weir meets the Crew one by one. Their mission is top-secret:

Catalyst (12):
The Event Horizon has been found. Crew is disgusted - chasing a myth of a destroyed ship. BUT THAT WAS JUST THE COVER STORY!

Debate (12-25):
Weir reveals that the Event Horizon catastrophe was a hoax; the real story is that it vanished testing a new warp drive. Now it's back, at Neptune, right where it warped from 7 years ago. Weir himself designed the ship and its drive, the Gravity Drive. Some so-so exposition as Weir explains how it works (how many times have I heard this explanation of warp drive). The EH went to warp and vanished. Where has it been for these years?????? That's what they're here to find out.

Crew now realizes their mission is more than just a moronic drive-out to nowhere.

Weir plays the final recording of the Event Horizon: it's a terrifying cacophony of what seems like human agonized suffering.
In what is frankly incredible (i.e. non credible), no one at NSA or NASA or any other specialist has been able to tell the voice is speaking Latin…. but one of these bozo crewmembers can understand Latin, which is a dead language that no one knows how to pronounce. The message: "Save me". Spooky enough moment beyond the incredulity.

The Lewis & Clark approaches Neptune and focuses on the Event Horizon's beacon signal. Suddenly THERE IT IS and they must emergency Reverse Thrusterize to avoid collision. The Pilot CLAMPS onto the "wreck" (it's intact) and damages the E.H., not caring. Weir is exasperated.

No one's home/answering but reactor is active and ship is pressurized etc. ANXIOUS to get aboard, Weir finally consents to remain on L&Clark to guide Away Team by radio.

The Away Team goes in with "umbilical" ropes attached to them.

Break Into Two (25):
Minute 25. They enter The New World of Act 2: the EVENT HORIZON

There are mines placed all over. Weir explains they are to cut the ship in half in emergency, foredecks to be used as life raft.

Miller gets No Life Readings. A HAND ON HIS SHOULDER!!! He screams. It's just a glove floating.

*A FAVORITE PART… GREAT TOUCH THAT THE CAPTAIN SCREAMS IN PANIC - WOULD LOVE TO DO STUFF LIKE THIS IN STAR TREK*

Weir guides Miller into the next containment, they have to cross through a scary "meat grinder" churning tunnel.

Female enters bridge. Sees blood. Doesn't see deformed unusual bodies.

Justin finds coolant leak floating. Readings well within safety line.

Weir directs Speers to ship's log.

MOTION behind her.

She screams -- it's a floating dead body.

Looks like wounded by an animal.

B Story (30):
I'll hazard that the A-Story is that of the Lewis&CLark crew, in trouble. The B-Story is what happened to the crew of the Event Horizon (i.e. the floating dead bodies)

Fun and Games (30-55):
Justin scans for life forms with an actual scanner (cool idea but poorly done). Gets light and appears to have found the gravity drive -- yes. It looks semi-medieval. Magical more than science which is a cool effect.

Drive stops. Justin's signal stops.

A panel opens and LIGHT begins - Justin cries out at the light. The Drive is --- opening?

His life sign goes off the scale.

Justin reaches into coolant. Uh oh - he's grabbed and pulled in.

COOPER jumps into action to head in and save! He follows Justin's "umbilical" cable, frantic/rushed

Drive causes an explosion which blows out a door that wounds Miller.

Boarding party is shook-up massively.

No can hear Miller.

Fires and sparks -- on the Lewis and Clark.

Cooper sails thru event Horizon to get Justin. JUSTIN EMERGES! Cooper catches him.

LClark in serious trouble. Emergency. Pilot is extremely distraught.

Weir suggests Event Horizon. Pilot refuses.

Miller orders evacuation of LClark.

Bridge restores Gravity to Event Horizon -- frozen bodies shatter and coolant splashes.

Hull: LIGHTS ON OVER SHIP

Miller looks out front window. Questions Weir: most primary systems are online. Min 34.

They're stranded without communication and CO2 is rising. 20 Hours.

The Lewis and Clark is investigated by pilot in magnetic boots. He's displeased. Pilot MUST fix in 20hours. "Understood sir". Min 35

Justin is alive; "asleep".

Weir says Cooper couldn't have seen liquid: that would mean the gate was still open. Cooper says it is, then.

Weir explains that there's some mumbo jumbo remote possibility time space is still warped.

Weir explains the Drive:

When the rings align it creates a Black Hole. XO Stark is shocked: it's irresponsible. Weir insists it's safe. Justin theoretically could have been to the other side wherever it was the Event Horizon went.

Nice visuals of the drive and Weir's eye etc but this story is sort of sci-fi potboiler.

Denny (woman with the Kid with the Ex?) thinks she sees or hears something. Radios other guy: "Where are you?" -- he replies "Deck four!" Denny gets a weapon - a blade. NICE MOMENT. Movement under a tarp -- it's her BOY, and his legs have Space Lesions, horrifying.

GUY appears and grabs her shoulder - she cries out. Doesn't divulge what she saw.

Cooper and Pilot confer. Pilot would rather be out there than in this s***can.

Crew watches Ship Log.

The Event Horizon CREW, 7 years ago, video recorded, preparing to engage Warp Drive. Picture blurs and sounds Screams. (Captain says "Bye bye" in…. Latin)

Present: there's a POWER DRAIN! Weir says it's the Drive/Core.

Weir and Miller check it. Weir goes to failsafe circuit. Just randomly knows where the panel is even after all these years. Green light and he crawls in.

JUSTIN awakes up! Spasms, foaming. "THE DARK!" (I think), he tells the Doctor, desperately.

Weir in Green Maze of Circuits Really? I guess it's possible the future could be that circuited.
He hears a VOICE (wife?) and STRETCH in circuit corridor.
He is afraid. Shocked like cold water, panting. Lights play up and down, irregular. Vision of his Eyeless Wife.

MILLER sees terrible vision of flaming Corpse of a Man rise out of a splash in the Drive Pool.

Midpoint (55) :
I'll pin this as the Mid-Point stakes raiser: a good portion of the Crew has "seen impossible things"; they confer, match stories, and realize they're all hallucinating. SOMETHING WEIRD IS GOING ON THEY CANNOT COMPREHEND.

Miller has told the Doctor what he saw. Denny admits seeing her Son. Weir scoffs at their reports.

Bad Guys Close In (55-75):
Pilot (Smith) goes crazy, ballistic at Weir for fucking with physics.

Doctor holds Pilot back with Knife.

Pilot chills.

Pilot attacks Weir.

Break it up, Miller sends Pilot out to repair and get to work.

XO has a theory about the DNA scan reading and the hallucinations. Like it's a reaction of "immunity", as if the ship brought back a life-force. "You're telling me what, the ship is alive?" He says they have 10 hours to survive.

Denny finds Justin is GONE.

Now hears terrible banging in a Bio-Hazard Capsule. Believes it a Hallucination. Deals with it. Then an explosion behind her. She bolts. Screams into bridge and seals it.

They tell her to CALM.

THEN fists batter the door.

Dr. Weir goes to open the door. Min 50
Stark stops him with an Arm Hold.

Alarm rings - a section of Event Horizon is the source.

Denny realizes: JUSTIN!

Justin seals himself in a space. In an airlock. And he's not wearing a suit.

He's engaged the override. Can Stark shut it down?

She can't.

Denny yells to open the door.

He turns to face her. "Did you hear it?"

"Yes! What is it?"

"It shows you horrible things. The dark in me from the other place. I won’t' go back there."

Dactor: If he opens that he'll turn outside-in.

"If you can see the things I've seen you wouldn't stop me."

He hits OPEN.

But it's on a 40 second delay.

Screams! Now he's himself again. He begs to be let back in. Miller's coming, on the outside in a spacesuit. Justin screams - his veins and eyes are in pain.

"Make yourself into a ball" yells Miller. "Blow all the air out of your lungs!

His eyes leak out.

Doors open and Miller RUNS to catch JUSTIN and force him back inside.

Unfortunately he saves Justin whom I suspect will wish he'd died.

He is in incredible trauma. Bleeding out.

Weir on Bridge stirs.

FLASHCUT to Drive. Back to Weir. Drive. Etc.

"He won't be pretty but he should live" assesses Dr re: Justin.

They have 4 hours of air.

Denny assigned to "find out whatever happened to other crew before it happens to us". Again this was okay decades ago in Star Trek.

Stark: "Justin said it made him see the dark in him"

Weir claims he doesn't know what that means.

Miller harangues him for more.

Weir resists.

Miller demands info.

Weir claims to not know.

It's not good enough. Miller requires Answers.

Weir begs off, he doesn't know. He needs time. He's cracking, losing his grip. Miller is strong to Weir's weakness.

Miller hears a Voice (Justin??) "Don't leave me". Hallucinates voice imploring.
"It's just in your head!" he tells himself. VIOLENT VISION OF TRAUMA, BLOOD Min 57
"God help us".

This is weak sci-fi imho

Miller describes the Voice, a guy he served on the Goliath with. Miller and others escaped, guy was left behind. Miller was forced to leave him behind. Swore he'd never lose another man. (Explaining his heroic determination) The Ship KNOWS his fears, pain, etc.
Doctor has bad news: Bad translation. The Latin in the log is really: "Save yourself"
And it gets worse. "From Hell"

All Is Lost (75):

If what Weir says is true this ship has been beyond known universe and reality, who knows what it's seen and what it carries.
"From Hell" says Miller.

This is poorly written. "In all my career you've never told me that story."

Pilot or Cooper has good news, to re-pressurize the Lewis and Clark.

Seal on seam breaks a bit, Cooper will repair it though.

Bridge - Denny asks Stark for coffee. Stark shares her cold one.

Log comes to life -- Captain's Log of incredible pain and suffering and horrific visions of extreme torture and carnage.

Dark Knight Of The Soul (75-85):

"We're leaving" says Miller.

Break Into Three (85):
Miller's done on the E.H. and is packing it in. Weir insists they stay. Miller refuses. Orders Stark download all E.H. files and hustles crew to rally to abandon E.H.

Finale (85-110):
Weir insists they can't leave it. Miller assures him he won't: he's going to destroy it. Weir insists they can't leave. Insists/Reveals that he IS home, here on the E.H.

Plito and Denny scramble to collect CO2 scrubbers. They need 25!! She get's last one.

Last look at Drive, she goes. But the Drive opens and she sees…. her Boy.

This is such a common device in Sci Fi and Fantasy, and sometimes Horror. A tempting Hallucination. I hope to high hell I'd be smart enough to know it's was not real and to just ignore it.

But she runs back.

Can a person really believe in a vision that is so fleeting and so random??

She finds Boy.

But falls into a CHASMIC TUNNEL and suffers a horrible fall, blooding and traumatic. Seems alive but barely.

Weir enters Gravity Drive. Sees Peters and is distraught.

Her eyes are black???????? Or is it just the angle/light?

Weir hears Clair. Hallucinates he's back in bathroom at home. There's Clair! She can't see or hear him.
He's sorry he let work come between them. He watches her cut her wrists and die.
He collapses, grunting. Clair's there, naked breasts to clutch him to, she assures him. She has such wonderful things to show him -- her eyes are gone. She tears his out.

In Drive chamber, Weir seems to push his own eyes out with his own fingers.

Pilot wants to know how long Cooper needs out there to finish up. Cooper's done!

Pilot sees Weir entering the airlock, I think.

Pilot calls Captain Miller. Just saw Weir messing around in the Clark, sir.

Miller notices missing EXPLOSIVE. Orders Pilot OFF CLARK NOW! Suspects Weir has taken one on board.

Smith won't go. Finds Explosive. Only 5 seconds left. He cries and dies.

Cooper sees explosion and screams.

Something tells me they got the easy way out. MIN 1hr 12

We'll see.

Miller is ANGRY on Event Horizon. Terribly sad.

COOPER IS ALIVE! Clings to wreckage. Opens air tank to propel himself back.

DOCTOR vows to take care of Weir. Takes up blade tool.

But WEIR IS THERE with empty eye sockets -- he beats Doctor to death.

Performs Surgery.

The "Hell" aspects of this are kind of silly. Sorry, I just don't believe in Hell. I can believe in it for Hellraiser or etc but this sci-fi world hasn't made this possible -- feels Way Too Much.

Miller finds Doctor horribly mutilated and dead.

HULL REPAIR: Miller gets a weapon. From Hull Repair? Oh it's probably a Riveter.

Miller vows Weir will never leave the ship he calls Home.

Goes on the silent stealthy prowling hunt.

Bridge. Quiet, pads softly and noiselessly as he can.

Good actors but terrible script.

He finds Stark alive (Miller).

Notices his Riveter gone.

Weir is in Captain's Chair.

He has no eyes. He explains the EH traveled further than the stars: into another dimension.

A dimension of pure chaos. Pure EVIL. Now she (ship) is alive. Look at her Miller, isn't she beautiful.

"Your beautiful ship killed her crew, Weir"

"Now she has us"

This is so melodramatic.

He's setting the Gravity Drive for 10Mins. They wanted to know where the ship had been - now they'll find out.

Stark attacks, Weir parries.

COOPER flies into windshield (how convenient) and Weir fires rivet through Windshield.

Weir is blown away in wind escaping. He clings for life to BENDING panel.

Miller clutches to strut.

Both scream.

Weir is BLOWN OUT.

Miller DISLOGED but grabs a LIFELINE from their initial exploration.

He must climb-drag his way through closing Bride doors. Stark is coming.

Miller holds door to offer Stark his hand.

She can't make it. He won't leave her.

DOOR SEALS! He's got her.

Wasn't brilliant staging.

An alarm -- forward airlock.

They run. Stark insists it can't be Weir.

WHY NOT???????????????????

They arm themselves with pathetic weapons (vs. Weir) but its COOPER

Stark assures it's over.

NO! The Grav Drive goes off in 7mins.

They can't shut it down; they don't know how.

Miller orders to blow up and separate ship. Orders Cooper to go launch emergency beacon or etc. Orders Stark to close Unit Doors behind him.

Cooper gets the beacon. But there's INCREDIBLE AMOUNTS of blood. SHINING Amounts of Blood.

Yawn.

Cooper and Stark are flooded and swept away in a TORRENT OF BLOOD.

3 mins says computer.

Corridor is Armed, ready to Blow says Computer.

Flaming Corpses APPEARS and chases Miller into Gravity Drive.

Miller sees Gravity Drive is in flames.

Flaming Corpse attacks Miller with Flame Powers. Yeah, right.

Miller insists it's NOT the real person.

Weir chuckles. Morphs into Weir. Hell-Scars, etc. "The Ship "brought him back"

Weir shows Miller TERROR VISIONS of the Crew suffering in torture

Miller attacks Weir with CO2 scrubber, vicious and pummeling.

But Weir has - surprise - Magic Powers of Strength.

Defeats Miller.

But Miller sees his DROPPED REMOTE. Crawls, inches.

Offers himself: Take me, leave them. Weir refuses -- he wants it all.

The Gate is Open.

Miller Fights Hell Visions to grab Detonator and hits it. Weir screams.

Event Horizon Detonates, flames traversing the scaffolding super-structure.

Meh you've seen one space explosion you've seen 'em all.

The Lifepod section gets away as

Rear Section creates a Black Hole in the Planet below (Neptune I guess) and it all disappears.

Stark and Cooper lived.

72 DAYS LATER

Rescue Crew approaches the Event Horizon Life Deck.

Enter the GravCouch Bay. Helmets. Appear to be Three Survivors. Stark Justin Cooper.

Gee I wonder if something horrible has survived with them. We'll see.

Rescue opens its Helmet -- it's HELL-WEIR!!! She screams.

WAKES UP! The Rescue Team has her -- they're safe.

Finale Image (110):

THE END

BEAT STREET -- Screenwriting, yes. Breakdancing,not so much.

Monday, August 22, 2011

The Ultimate BS2 Index

Dark Knight -- Superhero

Days of Thunder -- Golden Fleece

Days of Wine and Rose -- Rites of Passage

Die Hard 2 -- Dude With A Problem

District 9 -- ??

Deja Vu -- Dude with a Problem

The Entity -- Monster In The House

Executive Decision -- Golden Fleece

The Fighter -- Buddy Love

Flight -- Rite of Passage

Forgetting Sarah Marshall -- Rights of Passage

Forgetting Sarah Marshall(another one)

Tangled -- Buddy Love

Thelma and Louise

Toy Story 3

Twister

Up

Up In The Air

Vincent

Wanted

Winter's Bone

EVENT HORIZON BS2