Virus - Schiff ohne Wiederkehr

I've heard people trash this movie left and right yet I found that it kept my attention for the duration of it's running time and all the technical aspects were top-notch (especially Tippett Studio's CGI realization of Goliath). The characters weren't great and weren't bad either. Sure, we've seen it all before in other films but I have little hope of finding a film that's completely original. Frankly, I got about what I expected out of it - motion picture fastfood. You enjoy it as you take it in and digest it and forget about it after you leave the theater. It's just entertainment and not bad for what it is. Unlike LOST IN SPACE or BATMAN AND ROBIN, this film isn't boring. It moves at a quick enough pace to where you don't find yourself checking your watch all the time. I'm not sure what the deal was with Donald Sutherland's character who displays no sense of logic whatsoever. Had they dropped the stuff with his character, it would've helped the film. If you're bored, check it out. It's worth at least one viewing.

Don't take this movie too seriously, and Virus is actually an enjoyable romp, that pays homage, excuse me, rips off many venerable movies from the same and similar genres.

It starts of as an X-Files episode, turns into The Perfect Storm, Sutherland is clearly inspired by mad Quint in Jaws, then the movie becomes Johnny 2.0 meets Robocop and Alien II.

The drawbacks are of course obvious - the Life Form behaves more like a space moron, than a higher form of intelligence. If it was the latter, it would simply have the entire crew set port in Australia and have taken it from there. Instead, the "humans are viruses" approach simply brings it down. Bummer. Billions of miles of space travel, and it gets bested by the motley crew of a tugboat with a demented skipper.

Anyway, 21 years after Halloween, Jamie Lee still looks delectable with a perfect figure. The rest of the crew are funny and charming, in a forgettable way. Sutherland puts in the best acting he has in years, which isn't saying too much as he has been phoning his performances in since JFK.

Anyway, this movie is low on originality, but if you like the genres above, it is a pretty nice diversion.

This is a terribly great film, everything that is wrong with this flick just couldn't stop me from laughing, got to love 90s sci fi sorta b movie level, though we do have quite the cast everything just feels very off with the film, yet if you want to enjoy something for a laugh this would be the film, the effects are poor, the acting is very wooden, and the plot is well been done many times before. I first court this film on late night tv in the uk back when channel 5 used to do there late night films that were always guaranteed to be a terrible movie and had the wonderful pleasure to rewatch the film found on YouTube, this is a little bit of a guilty pleasure. Enjoy!

Washed up captain of Sea Star, Robert Everton( played by Donald Sutherland) and his crew of 5 fail to transport their cargo due to a big storm that leaves their ship heavily damaged. They find hope in a high-tech Russian ship that seems abandoned at first. They decide to board the ship and start looking for any crew members. Unfortunately things don't go as planned and they soon find out that they are not alone. Virus is based on a dark horse fiction novel baring the same title. The movie tries a lot to recreate the atmosphere of the movie alien by isolating people with a dangerous extraterrestrial force. The alien itself has no physical form which is a new touch at least for the movie era and consists mainly of electric energy. So in order to survive on the ship it needs to live inside electric devices or create hybrid humanoids with the flesh from the crew. The movie has some gory scenes but it can't be classified as true horror genre since the alien takes the form of robots meaning it bares more resemblance to an action movie like terminator rather than alien. Jamie Lee Curtis plays the role of the good protagonist while William Baldwin does a mediocre job as the hero who tries to save the girl from harm. Once again Donald Sutherland steals the show as a washed up captain who sees an opportunity to make a fortune while your typical black guy in a horror movie, Richie played by Sherman Augustus is the smartest and funniest character by far. Virus doesn't deserve all the bad reputation it has gotten over the years but make no mistake it is not gold stuff also. Some characters exist just to die easily with no background story making us not care at all. One thing that bugged me is that one character's decision near the end of the film makes no sense at all. I must say the special effects of the humanoid- robots get the job done and are surprisingly good for a 1995 movie. Overall virus won't bore you or leave you unsatisfied. It has a semi-decent plot for a horror movie and it's the closer you can to a good alien movie on a ship. It has its flaws but It makes for an easy watch if you are bored or have some time to waste.

A mediocre storyline (i.e. Titanic) can become a world class film with character development, believable dialogue, and, for lack of a better word, some Hollywood magic. This film could have been a blockbuster with less action, less noise, less effects and more humans being human. Look at 2001 A Space Odyssey, Jaws, Titanic and countless other films, and you'll see that the story was about as interesting as Virus, and the actors, equally talented. Virus failed to deliver characters that we could believe and identify with.

I still recommend this film highly, as its interesting, it contains Jamie Lee Curtis (a hottie) and Donald Sutherland (a 20th century legend), lots of effects and action. In a way its sort of fun to watch quality actors attempt to make the best of horrible dialogue.

A 7 out of 10 for storyline and casting