Beyond Duty
| Beyond Duty | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Mark Falcon |
| Written by | Mark Falcon Anna Eisleberg |
| Produced by | Mark Falcon |
| Starring | Henry Duke Marcus Hamilton Annabeth Pullman Jacques Ester Phillip Jones |
Production company | Excel Studios |
| Distributed by | Evergreen Productions |
Running time | 143 minutes |
| Country |  Ainin |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $105 million |
| Box office | $823 million |
Beyond Duty is a 2014 Aininian science fiction drama based on the bestselling novel Waiting for a Miracle by Anna Eisleberg directed and produced by Mark Falcon and starring Henry Duke and Marcus Hamilton. It was released on 18 July 2014 and took first spot at the box office. It was released by Excel Studios and distributed by Evergreen Productions.
The film's setting is on and around a planet named Elysium, capital of the interstellar League of Republican Ethnicities (LORE), and its plot revolves around soldier Jack Ladue and his quest to find his long-lost love Yula before the planet's inevitable destruction by a powerful invading alien species called the Mungo.
Plot
Following a galaxy-wide civil war, the League of Republican Ethnicities (LORE) has established itself as the dominating power in the Sol Quadrant, centered around its capital world of Elysium. The league has been embroiled in a war with its mysterious enemy, the Mungo, an alien species originating from the far-away Delta Quadrant.
Corporal Jack Ladue (Henry Duke) is a member of the Republican Marine Corps part of the contingent on the frigate RNS Paragon of Excellence stationed near Elysium's third moon, part of the Home Fleet responsible for defending the League's capital. Suddenly, a Mungo invasion force jumps out of hyperspace behind the force and use ion cannons to disable the League's warships. Jack escapes in an escape pod and manages to make it back to Elysium as the force is destroyed. He crash-lands his vessel in a forest and manages to find shelter in a small lodge owned by a smuggler named Dylan Parkland (Marcus Hamilton). He learns from the radio that the planet had been encircled by the Mungo and that a superweapon capable of destroying the planet was being charged and would be capable of firing within two days, so he sets off to find his long-lost love, Yula (Annabeth Pullman).
He sets off with Dylan and they head to Louisville, the largest city on the planet, where he last saw Yula. After arriving the city, they notice that the League's president had thrown a large celebration to distract the citizens from the impending disaster. He speaks out against it, but is ignored by the citizens of the metropolis, who are blinded to the threat to their existence by their mindless devotion to the state. He is shocked to find out that no one in the city cares that the capital defence fleet was destroyed, even when the flaming wrecks of the crippled ships crashed into the city, leaving massive craters and causing thousands of deaths.
He learns through a young dissident named Wi that President Wellington built a massive mind control array in the heart of the monumental Presidential Palace fortress to ensure total obedience by the city's population. Wi reveals that neither of them are affected by the mind control waves because they both possess a special gene. He remembers that Yula also possessed this gene and they break into the city's central medical database to track her down. After a firefight with police, they successfully steal the files of every person with the 6K7T gene and find out that Yula now lives in the countryside under the pseudonym of Cam.
The two reunite just as the alien ships begin bombarding the city. Resolving to free the people from President Wellington before the inevitable, the three head back into the city and sneak into the Presidential Palace, along with a group of 40 other dissidents with the 6K7T gene. In a massive battle, they successfully break into the room but the guards counterattack and kill most of their force. While Jack and Yula escape, Wi sacrifices himself by manually detonating the explosives after the remote control gets damaged by the guards' gunfire.
The two manage to escape into the streets as the city is liberated from its spell. The film ends with them sharing a kiss, before the scene abruptly changes to the planet being destroyed by a turbolaser ray.
Cast
- Henry Duke as Corporal Jack Ladue, a Republican Marine who tries to find his love before the planet's destruction by the Mungo.
- Marcus Hamilton as Dylan Parkland, a smuggler living in the woods who saves Jack after his escape pod crashes.
- Annabeth Pullman as Yula, Jack's love interest who he reunifies with at the end of the film.
- Jacques Ester as President Wellington, the megalomaniac dictator of the Republican League.
- Phillip Jones as the voice of E'laka, the Supreme Commander of the Mungo Fleet.
- Henri Valduc as Wi, a dissident that works with Jack to find Yula