Primal Force

Say what you will, but this engaging and cruddy little film has at least one major thing going for it- Mr. Ron Perlman, the hardest working, most underrated man to cruise the B-movie circuit since Brad Dourif. Plus, it's got a delicious monologue from the requisite mad scientist.

"Radical? I will show them 'radical'!" As modern TV movies go, Primal Force is more of a throw-back to an age when even the loosest, most derivative stories were set to celluloid with an intense determination and the utmost of integrity...no cheap shots or meta-jokes. Films like Alligator, Island of the Alive, and, of all things, Re-Animator had the same sort of consistent internal logic... and the tour-de-force acting styles of Michael Moriarty and Jeffrey Combs compare to Perlman's attempts at rising above the material. It is a modern movie, though, as the slightly irritating, music video style quick cuts and bwaa-bwaa electric riffs very quickly make clear. Aside from these minor quibbles and typical low budget continuity problems, Primal Force carries its modest concept cleanly through beginning to end, trying as hard as it can to make the material fresh and interesting. I've seen much worse on the Sci-Fi channel, anyway.

Anyone who enjoys '80s style nature-gone-wild flicks should take a look at least for Perlman.

No mistake, this is a formula movie. The cynic imposed upon to go on a dangerous quest, teaching the others about the dangers. But it done exceptionally well. Ron Perlman has earned a lot of respect. He gives what could have been a stereotype a lot of character, but it isn't all him. Credit must also be given to the writers, director, and rest of the crew. It was a good team effort. The result is a fun, riveting film that leaves you hanging. The monsters in the case are mutant savage primates on an island. Perlman has dealt with before, and doesn't feel any impulse to deal with them again. He is coaxed into it, however. The story is good. The action well directed, the danger well defined. It lacks the silly blood and gore all over the place all the time that more comically inclined movies have, so you take it much more seriously. The reactions of the characters are well filmed. Stands out in the B monster movie genre.

Not bad for a TV movie, but - well, could have been a whole lot better, both script and direction-wise. The baboons weren't that convincing either. (Trying to be kind, here ...)

Its one saving grace was a fine, well-observed performance by Ron Perlman as the nightmare-ridden guide, Frank Brodie. Always a delight to watch, he brought much-needed gravitas to an otherwise run-of-the-mill film. Haunted, grouchy and cynical, he shone in a cast that was generally lack-lustre.

Great star - shame about the movie.

A TVM that has an average vote of 3.6 ! Oh come on guys if this was a weepy drama with Jayne Seymour racing to save little Tammy from a life threatening illness this would be getting something in the region of a 5.5 average . At least some TV company realised that lads just home from the pub deserve TVMs sometimes

Yeah okay it's not an original plot as it features a deserted island , baboons on the rampage , the survivors of a plane crash , a macho man with internal demons that manifest itself as a drink problem etc . If Steven Spielberg directed this movie it would make lots of money at the box office and everyone would say it was a great movie . If I remember correctly Spielberg did indeed do a very similar movie in 1993

If JURRASSIC PARK 4 ooopps I mean PRIMAL FORCE suffers from anything it suffers from some internal continuity where a minor character is all alone and gets killed by a troop of baboons while a major character is alone with the mutant monkeys but for some reason the baboons don't attack thereby allowing the hero to turn up and rescue the character . I also noticed that the scenes where the baboons attack suffer from editing that is cut far too quickly which makes it difficult to see what's going on which is a common problem with these cheap and cheerful low budget productions . I feel no shame in giving this six out of ten

I liked Primal Force a lot more than I thought I was going to. The film is about a group of people sent into a small island to rescue people who have been in a plane crash, the catch is that the island is overrun by killer hybrid baboons. Ron Perlman plays the guy tortured by his memories of being on the island who gets brought in to help the team find the survivors. There was both good and bad examples of acting and directing and such forth in the film, but when the directing came of as bad it was because the director was taking risks, some of them worked and some of them didn't but he should be commended for doing so. I was quite surprised how much I got into the film towards the end, especially as I was expecting something that would raise a chuckle at how bad it was, in the end I found the film wasn't bad enough so that I couldn't laugh at it, but it didn't have that little something to make it worth a strong recommendation. So if you want a little action thrills with a bit of cheese, this could be for you.