Y2K

Normally, when a film rates this low, I find other things to like about it. Namely, its silliness. To say I didn't laugh throughout this film would be a lie. This movie provides a great many laughs. Its just. . . well, this is not supposed to be a comedy.

Even so, I enjoyed other awful attempts at seriousness. Examples include Disney's, "Epcot: The Celebration," and Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space." The difference with "Y2K" is that they are exploiting real fears. Similar to "Reds," the subject matter is deadly serious. "Reds" ranked a one in my book by candy coating a serious subject, in a ridiculous movie formula. The same goes for "Y2K."

The only thing these films have in common besides their poor rating, is the fact that they highlight fiction. On the one hand the fiction of the great communist movement, and on the other the fiction of the great threat to our times, the year 2000 computer problem. Give me a break on both fronts.

The movie was obviously low budget which doesn't bode well for an action flick. However, the motivational premise of the movie surrounding Gulf War vets was unique enough to make this worth watching on a rainy afternoon (or late night). Acting by both Louis Gossett, Jr. and Sarah Chalke were notable. Good job on both parts.

Why they called this movie Y2K is beyond me! What starts out as promising loses a lot as the movie winds on. The plot and the acting is slightly second rate and I found that by the end the countdown did not engage the viewer. Tying the plot to a Columbian drug lord at the end was just too much. Passable.

Y2K has squandered a perfect opportunity to make a good, tense action movie. When a powerful missile activates itself on a countdown for the millenium, the usual rag-tag team are sent to de-activate it. The trailer for this movie looked good, but in the actual film there is hardly any action or violence as expected and the story plods along without creating anything interesting in the dull boring characters. Overall the film is poor and boring. 3/10.

Nice idea. A secret silo has a computer failure at the change of the year (y2k, get the title?). A skilled team is coerced to go in and fix it, but their efforts are fatigued by drug lords and internal US armed forces strife. Unfortunately the characters are hollow and the idea is poorly executed. Remove the y2k theme and the glib characters, and there might be a solid movie here. Definitely worthy of a remake! If you watch it, don't sweat the details (which aren't terrible, just bad) and try to enjoy the underlying concept. While the current version is a 'MacGyver' movie (at best), a remake could be on par with 'Force 10 from Navarone.' If you like tension, a good plot, well developed characters, and nice plot twists... wait for the remake.