Poor MGM. They simply can't -- how can I put this kindly? -- get their act together. This can supposedly be blamed on "the old regime" of which Supernova is a dismal part. Completed in 1998, this sci-fi "blockbuster" has sat on the shelf gathering dust while director Walter Hill took his name off the film and, rumor has it, Francis Ford Coppola's people came in to work their editing magic. Sadly, the editing hasn't helped this dismal film on any level and, judging by the choppy story line, it may have even cut out some crucial elements. Like a real plot.

So, here's what passes for plot. Welcome to the good ship Nightingale, an interstellar medical unit that hops around the galaxy gallantly responding to emergencies. Well, I can buy that. Sounds a little like Alien, right? So far, so good. On board: Captain AJ (Robert Forster), who dies in the first 20 minutes, co-pilot and former "Hazen" addict Nick Vanzant (James Spader), Dr. Kaela Evers (Angela Bassett) and "the crew", Benj (Wilson Cruz), Danika (Robin Tunney) and Yerzy (Lou Diamond Phillips).

When the Nightingale gets a distress call from lunar miner Karl Larson, a man who Kaela describes as "her worst nightmare", the team springs into action, giving us one of the few cool effects in the movie as the ship shoots through space in a lightning-generating dimension jump. The ship emerges in a gravity field created by a collapsing moon and discover that 85% of their fuel is gone. It also turns out that Captain AJ illogically has died due to a faulty dimension pod. It's never clear why the crew wouldn't know when one of these pods is faulty, but the mishap conveniently allows Vanzant "our hero" to take over.

Then, in the midst of these troubles, the crew get a surprise visitor, Troy Larson (Peter Facinelli), who claims to be Karl's son. Troy is cute and sexy, but somewhat mysterious. Translation: Everybody should get worried now. Why worried? Well, for starters, Troy has hidden a nasty little alien device on his ship, a device that looks sort of like a huge glowing column of semi-solid pink Jello and turns out to be a cosmic bomb. (I always knew Jello was dangerous.) Not only does this bomb seem to mutate anyone who touches it, but it also has enough power to (here we go) wipe out the known universe. Or is it just the galaxy? In any case, this bomb has enough organic materials to "replenish the universe and start over again", although it's never quite clear why an alien species would like to destroy the whole universe, supposedly with them still in it.

This, among other areas, is where the plot really falls apart. It also turns out that Troy isn't all he seems, but then we catch that from the start. Subtlety is not the strong suit of writer David Campbell Wilson. Nor is character development. He expects you to buy that Kaela and Vanzant, who get off on the wrong foot, fall in love after a few glasses of pear brandy and a night of love in the anti-grav chamber. (The anti-gravity room is a very popular place for intimate encounters by the way.)

We are also supposed to think that Troy's rather slimy sex appeal is enough to seduce Danika away from her lover Yerzy, even though it's clear that Troy is a psycho. Indeed, when we find out who Troy really is, it's not very shocking. Nor is his pseudo-monster transformation, which makes him look more akin to one of the vamps on Buffy the Vampire Slayer than some newly evolved being as he claims.

So, what do we have at this point? A psycho in space, a crew that gets picked off like flies by said psycho, a moon that is about to go supernova and a bomb that, if detonated thanks to said supernova, could destroy the known universe. It all sounds like the set-up for a taut third act. Wrong again. With the small cast trapped in a single set for most of the film's duration and the lack of any really freaky jeopardy (no jelly-dripping aliens here), this is "B" level sci-fi all the way.

At only 90 minutes long, it's clear that something -- well, a lot of things -- were lost on the cutting room floor. Like the series of weird flashbacks glimpsed during the dimension jump that seem to hint at a bigger plot. Or the clues about Karl Larson's dark past and the seemingly hideous events to which he is connected on the soon-to vaporize moon.

In the end, there's really only one thing to say about Supernova: In space, no one can hear you get bored.