Dead Space: Downfall

Dead Space: Downfall is a 2008 American animated science fiction horror film developed by Film Roman and Electronic Arts. It is a prequel to the video game Dead Space and takes place during the events of Dead Space: Extraction, while the Necromorphs invade the USG Ishimura after it receives the Marker. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 28, 2008 and broadcast on the Syfy Channel on December 2, 2008.

Dead Space: Downfall
DVD cover
Directed byChuck Patton
Produced byJoe Goyette
Robert Weaver
Ellen Goldsmith-Vein
Written byJustin Gray
Jimmy Palmiotti
Based onDead Space
by Electronic Arts
StarringNika Futterman
Bruce Boxleitner
Keith Szarabajka
Jim Cummings
Kelly Hu
Kevin Michael Richardson
Jim Piddock
Music bySeth Podowitz
Production
company
Distributed byElectronic Arts
Manga Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Release date
October 28, 2008
Running time
75 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

The plot of Dead Space: Downfall takes place in the year 2508, centuries after humanity narrowly avoided extinction due to resource depletion by "cracking" planets to extract their resources in a three-year process. The story begins during the second year of an illegal mining operation on the planet Aegis VII funded by the Church of Unitology. Colony geologist Jennifer Barrows discovers a monolith-like artifact on Aegis VII identified as a Marker, an object sacred to the Unitologists' beliefs. In reality, the Marker is a human copy of an alien object that begins to have a fatal influence over the colony, eventually causing an outbreak of reaminated mutated corpses referred to outside the movie as "Necromorphs".[1][2][3] Downfall details how the Marker's infection reached and overcame the Ishimura.[4]

The film opens with a video message from security chief Alissa Vincent, saying the Ishimura is lost and both the ship and the Marker that caused its fall must be destroyed. The story then jumps to Barrows's discovery of the Marker in an area showing signs of ancient human mining. By the time the Ishimura arrives, the Aegis VII colony has undergone a catastrophic breakdown, with dozens killed and many reports of violent psychosis. The Marker is brought on board on the authority of Captain Matthius and Dr Kyne, prompting many Unitologist crew to worship it, among them engineer Samuel Irons. Vincent grows increasingly nervous about having the Marker on board, believing it was responsible for the colony's collapse.

After planetcrack, all contact is lost with the colony, which is completely overrun by Necromorphs. The deranged Jennifer kills herself, and when her husband escapes with her body to the Ishimura, they are infected by a stowaway Necromorph before landing and escaping onto the ship. Kyne, already questioning their real mission to bring the marker back to the Church of Unitology, briefly sees the converted Barrows. Vincent's six-person team—including members Ramirez and Hanson—investigate a disturbance, finding growing numbers of Necromorphs killing the crew and overtaking the ship. During their encounters, her team loses two members, and Hanson is only saved by Irons's intervention. Meanwhile Matthias grows increasingly paranoid and delusional, forcing the bridge crew to restrain him. Kyne's attempt to sedate him leads to Matthias's death, and Kyne flees as all escape pods are launched, trapping everyone on board.

En route to the bridge, Hanson goes insane and kills another member of Vincent's crew before Ramirez shoots him. In an effort to save survivors, Irons sacrifices himself to hold off the Necromorphs. Vincent and Ramirez then go to stop Kyne deactivating the Ishimura's engines and crashing them into Aegis VII. Ramirez dies during the trek, and Kyne reveals the Marker's influence to Vincent before escaping again. With the Ishimura stable but in a decaying orbit, Vincent reaches the Marker, which the Necromorphs cannot approach as it kept them sealed on Aegis VII. Exhausted and beginning to suffer from hallucinations, Vincent makes her video message, then attempts to escape on a remaining shuttle. Trapped by Necromorphs, she opens the bay doors, sending herself and nearby Necromorphs into space after launching a distress beacon. The film ends with the UGS Kellion responding to the distress call.

Production

The survival horror video game Dead Space began production in 2006 at EA Redwood Shores, based on creator Glen Schofield's wish to create the most frightening horror game possible.[5][6] Alongside the game, the universe of Dead Space was expanded into a multimedia narrative described as "IP cubed"; it extended across the game, the limited comic series Dead Space, and the animated film Downfall.[7] The concept for a film was around from the beginning of the game's production.[4] While each part of the media expansion was handled by different people, the game's development team acted as overall controller, ensuring continuity between each property.[7]

The film was produced by Film Roman, the animation unit of Starz Media known for their work on The Simpsons and King of the Hill.[4] Downfall was directed by Chuck Patton, known for his work on Todd McFarlane's Spawn. From the outset, Patton wanted Downfall to be the goriest animated feature the studio had done up to this point.[8] Producer Joe Goyette described this element as "creating another 400 ways to kill people".[9] The team opted for traditional 2D animation both for time and budgetary reasons, and to craft more sympathetic characters.[8]

So the film would be accurate to the game, the production team were given 3D assets from the game by Electronic Arts, along with the reference material for the atmosphere and the Necromorph transformations. The team got further reference material for themselves to portray the injuries and transformations.[8] The film was co-written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti in collaboration with the animation team.[4] For Gray and Palmiotti, the film gave them a chance to let loose with the level of violence and vent their frustration at being told to hold back in their earlier work. While the events of the comic series and the game were set, and one character had to survive the film, the writers were otherwise allowed to "write madness". According to the writers and director, the amount of content cut during production would have made a sequel.[8]

Sequel

A second film based on the Dead Space franchise has been released. Dead Space: Aftermath was released on January 25, 2011, alongside Dead Space 2.

References
  1. Ahearn, Nate (2008-07-29). "Dead Space: Cracking Planets". IGN. Archived from the original on 2008-09-28. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  2. Reeves, ben (2009-12-08). "Staring Into The Void: The Lore of Dead Space". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 2019-07-11. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  3. Taljonick, Ryan (2013-01-31). "Dead Space 3 - Must-know facts about the Dead Space universe". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 2017-04-16. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  4. "Cover Story - Dead Space". Hardcore Gamer. Imagine Publishing (Volume 4, Issue 3): 18, 29. September 2008.
  5. Peppiatt, Dom (2015). "The Making Of... Dead Space". Play. Imagine Publishing (256): 76–79.
  6. Ars Technica (January 8, 2019). How Dead Space's Scariest Scene Almost Killed the Game / War Stories / Ars Technica (Web video). YouTube (Video). Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  7. Rose, Frank (March 14, 2009). "SXSW: Dead Space, a 'Deep Media' Case Study". Wired. Archived from the original on July 23, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  8. "Patton, Chuck, Palmiotti, Jimmy & Gray, Justin (Dead Space: Downfall)". Dread Central. 2008. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  9. Monfette, Christopher (2008-08-22). "Dead Space Details Emerge". IGN. Archived from the original on 2020-05-16. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
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