Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

Project Gemini Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 17, 2022

It is with tongue only partially in cheek that I say those who may recall the late and at least occasionally great series The Americans, a show which posited Soviet spies going undercover as typical suburban Americans, replete with perfect middle American accents, may not be surprised to hear that there are in fact other (post-Soviet) Russians afoot speaking more or less perfect English, though in this case, they're making bad science fiction movies. Project Gemini joins a number of other relatively recent releases from Well Go USA which have both some kind of Russian component and science fiction tendencies, including Cosmoball . There's probably a (potentially dangerous) drinking game to be had regarding just how many other science fiction films and/or ideas are referenced in just the opening few minutes of this film, one which ends up combining the apocalyptic fervor of any number of outings with a completely rote quasi-Alien aspect.

Those first few minutes document a planet which is no longer supporting life effectively due to climate disasters and other little "issues" like disease. Fortunately, scientists have recently discovered alien tech buried deep in a cave that is going to allow humans to travel to a distant planet which has been deemed suitable for life. Suffice it to say not everything goes according to plan. Interspersed with this narrative are what appear to be flashbacks detailing the relationship between one of the focal astronauts and a woman. There's a supposedly mindboggling twist at the end vis a vis this particular element.

It's all relentlessly silly and probably even worse, rote, further hobbled by some of the weirdest line readings in recent memory. This is a cast that sounds like they're native English speakers in terms of their ideolect(s), but the way they actually talk is near robotic at times and adds a certain daffy touch of hilarity to the proceedings. The production design is also kind of laughable at times (the padded hallways of the spacecraft make it look like an interstellar insane asylum), but the CGI effects are often surprisingly well done, for what that's worth.

Project Gemini Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Project Gemini is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Probably unsurprisingly, it looks like there's little to no technical data available on this shoot buried anywhere on the internet (that I could dredge up, anyway), so I'm once again assuming a 2K DI of digitally captured imagery. This is really a rather sharp and well detailed looking presentation for the most part, though a surplus of "cave" material definitely keeps fine detail levels at bay in the most dimly lit moments. The dim lighting supposedly also adds a spooky element in terms of a central "reveal", which discriminating science fiction fans can probably already predict. Some of the sets and props are not exactly super high tech looking, but as mentioned above in the main body of the review, the passing interstellar CGI tends to be rather nice looking for the most part.

Project Gemini Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Project Gemini features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio, and while the sound design here is just about as derivative as everything else about this film, it is nonetheless immersive, with good panning and wafting effects and with some nice boisterous LFE added into the mix at key moments. A hackneyed but still effective score also fills the surround channels. Dialogue may be delivered like an ESL robocall, but fidelity is fine. Optional English subtitles are available.

Project Gemini Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of (HD; 3:40) features a bunch of candid footage playing to soundtrack music.


• Trailer (HD; 1:50)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored so that supplements follow one another automatically (so that clicking on the Making Of featurette is essentially a Play All button. The disc is also authored to automatically move on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases after the Trailer for this film plays. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

Additionally, packaging features a slipcover.

Project Gemini Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Rather interestingly, Well Go USA reached out to me (and, presumably, every other reviewer on their distribution list) recommending we not review another recent release of theirs, since it deals with a Russian pilot in World War II in a heroic manner and coverage might have seemed insensitive given current global events. Once again with tongue only partially in cheek I might suggest that a temporary ban on Russian science fiction films might also be in order, no matter what's going on in the "real" world. Technical merits are solid for those who may be considering making a purchase.