Ahh, the critics who are so quick to dismiss this made for TV movie often make me wonder what they're really looking for.

I picked this movie off the shelf of Blockbuster thinking "hey, unknown Sci-Fi movie, must be awful, but I bet there's some sample material for me in it." What a shock when I got it home and found it was actually clever and worth watching!

To begin with, the script is actually pretty smart, and filled with surprisingly witty dialog that had me laughing out loud at parts. The CGI effects are as good as they get for a movie of this budget, and are better than I expected them to be. The story, while mildly predictable, keeps you thinking, and is certainly of a bigger scope than the standard "five people trapped in a unknown alien artifact" that I expected. Any story that acknowledges politics and an outside world has to be given more credit than some viewers (and commenters here) would care to admit.

Overall, if you've got a rainy day and are looking for a little diamond in the rough, this isn't a bad way to spend two hours. There are faces you'll recognize, some intelligent unfolding of the story, reasonable cinematography and direction, and Epoch is an overall entertaining bit of work. 7.5 out of 10.