Starring:

Starring: Gary Sinise, Madeline Stowe, Vincent D'ofriono

The Story: Everyone has at least one actor they kind of expect things from. You know, the guy or gal you see in a movie trailer and think "Well, ***** is a pretty good performer. This movie must be decent.". For me, I thought Gary Sinise was the kind of guy that was reliable on a movie. I always thought if he was in a flick, it must be at least decent. Boy was I wrong. While Mr. Sinise doesn't suck, the movie leaves a lot to be desired. I guess someone in the Studio had pictures of him drinking beer with Saddam Hussein or something. I can't figure out why he would be in this movie otherwise. It seems unfinished.

I should have know, though. Way back in 2000, I saw a trailer for this movie with my wife. We both agreed that it looked pretty good, and seeing that it starred Sinise we assumed quality. Eagerly we awaited it to be released.....and when it wasn't, we forgot all about it. Then suddenly, about a year ago, I saw it on sale on DVD in Best Buy. Well, I figured I just must have missed its theatrical release....after all, I did a lot of moving about in the last few years and I could easily have not noticed the movie in the theater. (I rarely go to theaters anyway) I got the DVD, came home and was completely and utterly ripped off.

The movie is from a story written by Phillip K. Dick, and from what I've heard the written version is good...the film....oh well. In the future, 2079, Earth is under attack by the Centauri; Genetically superior, technologically advanced and totally unseen aliens. (No, not the French looking, big haired wierdoes from Babylon Five) The movie doesn't even hint at what the aliens look like, what I just told you is about all you'll learn about them. Like all aliens in the movies they want to take over our planet and they don't have a problem with killing everyone currently living here to do it. Well, the do have one problem...they're not very good at conquering planets. Anyway, as a defense against the aliens bombing our cities, humanity has constructed force field domes over the major cities. I hate to be a jerk about it, but even though its the future, that level of technology seems a little far fetched. We can't even get Stars Wars in place, now we have force fields over cities...and flying cars!

Dr. Spencer Olham is a brilliant scientist, and he's developed a super weapon that can defeat the aliens. Nope, we don't get to see it in use. Hell, we don't even find out what it does.....my guess is that its a big ass mega bomb, because Spencer makes a few comments about Hiroshima in relation to his new weapon. but the aliens have a super weapon too. They can replicate humans and put U-Bombs inside of the fakes. They then let the replicants go into human society and blow the F*** up. The government, discovering a coded Centauri message, believes that Spencer is a replicant and that he's going to explode at a meeting with the "Chancellor" (Earth is under one Government due to the alien threat) Major Hathaway, in charge of this operation believes that Spencer was killed and replaced by the Centauri while on a camping trip outside of the domed city with his wife Maya. Spencer, of course, denies this. The replicants are so real they don't know they're replicants. So Hathaway is going to have Spencer strapped to a table and use a big ol' drill to dig I to his chest and removes the bomb, which is inside of his heart. Spencer manages to escape, mostly because Hathaway's men are useless.

And so it begins....a cat and mouse game through the city. Spencer is trying to get to the hospital where Maya works so he can use the equipment there to scan himself and verify his identity, and Hathaway and his goon squad chase him. No future on the run movie would be complete without the obligatory "live-in-the-death/poor/quarantine zone" sidekick, so Spencer has Kale, a thug like brotha that only helps Spencer because of the promise of appropriating some medicine from the hospital to help his fellow zoners.

I don't know what happened with this movie....it wasn't really entertaining or gripping and the twist ending wasn't that much of a surprise. Its kind of a shame because like all ideas it had some potential. But after watching it, you'll wish you had watched something else. The DVD has a short version of the film, which I didn't watch, but I've read on the IMDb that its a lot better. I guess it is, because much of what happens in the middle is just filler. I'm guessing, but I think Dick's original story must have been a short-story. If I'm right, they never should have made it a feature length film. I used to read a lot of Asimov, and as much as enjoyed "I, Robot" I don't think one of those short stories would be a good movie. (oops...Bicentennial Man. I didn't see it, but I guess someone mined Asimov for ideas, because it doesn't look like the tale I remember)

Gary Sinise was Spencer Olham. Madeline Stowe was Maya. Vincent D'ofriono was Hathaway. and that guy....um...Link from the Mod Squad was in a cameo as the Secretary of Defense.

Best Lines:  “I sleep like a baby, Mr. Secretary.” -Hathaway lets the Secretary of Defense know that he feels no remorse for people being killed under his command.

 Are you kidding me?

1.) If Hathaway knows that the Centauri replicas are programmed to believe that they're really the people they impersonate and have no idea that they are in fact, fakes loaded with bombs, why bother asking Spencer questions like "Where is Spencer Olham's real body!?" or "Where's your ship?". He pretty much just told us that the replicas don't know that they're replicas so how would a fake Spencer know that information?

2.) Wow! This movie does have a first! The first spring-loaded toothbrush! Spencer opens up a medicine cabinet in an abandoned building and a child's toothbrush flings out for a minor jolt. I'd call it original, but a spring loaded anything is still a bit lame. Besides, as crappy as this flick is I'm betting they'd have used a cat if they could have fit one in the cabinet.

3.) I'm gonna have to draft some battle plans in the event that I become the leader of conquering race. Obviously aliens in the movies are too stupid to really take over the earth. Take the psychlos in Battlefield Earth....yeah, they took over the earth but only because the humans were apparently too busy picking their noses. The aliens in Independence Day had us on our knees for Pete's sake and we still beat them. The Centauri are just as inadequate for the job. They have the lamest plan....first of all if they could bomb the planet with impunity before the shields were in place, they should have won in the first place! If they can make human replicas that blow up real good, why not just get a bunch of nobodies and replicate them, send them into the cities and detonate them? After all the explosion from one of these "U-Bombs" is friggin' huge! Using about 200 of these replicas they could wreak havoc easily. And if they're so genetically superior why don't they just land some troops and start kickin' terran ass?

4.) In the future things like firearm safety are passé'. Attend: Captain Burke, while brandishing his pistol in a hospital room full of patients and doctors, yells "Get down, get out of the way!" so he can get a clean shot on Spencer, who is a-duckin' and a-weavin' trying to evade him. Not only do the innocent bystanders NOT heed Burke, Burke opens fire when he doesn't have a clear shot (for that matter, Spencer isn't even in his line of sight!) killing some hapless doctor! Cheese and Rice, Burke, you just blew that joker away for no good reason! And lets be for real, my droogies, if an armed soldier bursts into a room and yells "Get down! Get outta the way!" most of us would hit the floor in 0.3 seconds flat! And these people had about 15 to 20 seconds of Burke warning them to get down!

5.) Spencer, you idjit! When he finally meets with Maya in the forest he asks if she's been followed. She says no, and they waste a few minutes with sappy stuff. Then the authorities show up. Now, lets use a little smarts here, Spencer. Even the dumbest security forces would follow your wife when she abruptly leaves the city and goes to the woods.

Nudity and Sex: No nudity, but Spencer and Maya have sex.

Huh?:

Gee, ya think it might have been wise to drug Spencer and keep him under while you drill into his chest for the bomb, Hathaway? Why have the subject conscious unless you're a sick-ass sadistic bastard? Just so you can see the poor shmoe scream and holler in agony?

Why is there a plate with an apple pie in the room where Spencer is first interrogated? I guess Hathaway likes to snack while torturing people.

When Spencer tells Kale why the authorities are after him, ("They think I'm a Centauri robot with a bomb in my heart and I'm programmed to kill the Chancellor.") Kale starts laughing and the two go on their merry way. Yeah, right. I don't think there's anything in remotely funny in that, Kale. After all, Kale doesn't have any reason to believe that Spencer isn't a robot programmed to kill the Chancellor! Given the fact that there's a city wide manhunt after Spencer, Kale should err on the side of caution! Street smart vagabond thugs sure have hearts of gold in this flick, 'cause in real life Kale would have dropped Spencer like a bag full of steaming horse doodoo.

Considering the implications of what he's doing why wouldn't Hathaway at least do what Spencer suggests at the beginning of the movie and verify his real identity? Or is this movie telling me that the only way to confirm whether or not someone is a replicant is to drill through their chest and pluck out their still beating hearts?

The Final Judgment: Theres a shorter version of this movie thats on the DVD. I've heard its superior to the feature length version, but as of yet I haven't watched it. In any regard, this movie isn't all that good. Spare yourself the agony of renting it, my droogies.....