Ice Planet | |
---|---|
Directed by | Winrich Kolbe |
Produced by |
M.G. Conford Hendrik Hey |
Written by | M.G. Conford |
Starring |
Reiner Schöne Sab Shimono James O'Shea Rae Baker Amber Willenborg |
Cinematography | Michael Hofstein |
Release date
|
2001 |
Country |
Canada Germany |
Language | English |
Ice Planet is a Canadian-German science fiction film released in 2001. It was produced as a pilot movie for an intended TV series. The film was directed by Winrich Kolbe and its cast included Wes Studi as Commander Trager.
The movie takes place some thirty years after a devastating war between the Union and the Consortium that resulted in the death of 10% of the Earth's population. The Newton 5 space colony is suddenly attacked by a vast extraterrestrial spacecraft, killing 200,000 people in the process. The alien spaceship then proceeds to annihilate a military base on Jupiter's moon Io. Base commander Noah Trager, aided by recently graduated space cadets, manages to escape to the nearby Magellan research vessel commanded by professor Karteez Rumla. Rumla (encouraged by Senator Jeremy Uvan who was on the military base) insists that the Magellan continue its original classified mission rather than return to Earth. Pursued by the alien spaceship, the refugees head toward section 9 in space—the Magellan's original destination—when the research vessel suddenly is ejected into hyperspace by an unknown space phenomenon. After traveling through interstellar space, the vessel is drawn towards an unidentified ice planet where it lands automatically in a crater. The planet has a breathable atmosphere and earth-like gravity, but an unknown force field keeps the Magellan and the 1426 refugees on board trapped on the surface. The planet's orbit is also highly unusual, resembling that of a spacecraft rather than a planet. It is located so far from Earth even the Andromeda galaxy is not visible in the sky. The Magellan is stranded and its crew has to cope with the fact that returning to Earth is impossible.
Rumla now reveals to the astonished crew that six years previously, a meteor crashed into a remote area of Sumatra. The meteor contained an extremely old and heat resistant crystal, named "ICE-13" by Earth scientists who discover an encryption in the crystallized structure itself. Rumla managed to crack the code and discovered that it contained specifications for the construction of an advanced space vessel. The crystal contains space coordinates to sector 9 as well as dire warnings about some undefined threat in space, so a decision was made to build the Magellan and discover the source of the meteor. The mission was kept secret from the public although the Union leadership was informed about the threat.