Border Patrol

I dug this TV flick for several reasons. First of all, the design sense is wonderful, so much eclectic retro-Victorian meets 1920's fashion meets 1950's hot rods, my gosh, what isn't to like about this much eye candy? The story is simple yet engaging. The performances are strong enough. The editing technique is playful, sometimes distracting but often surprisingly effective (like the window in window frames and transitions allowing multiple perspectives). The humor is tight and often felt surrealist the way LEXX often does. Over all this felt like a pilot, a light hearted romp that would have played well back to back with the more hard nosed BRIMSTONE. Groovy stuff though, hep cats.

I like this type of film, good acting and directing. would like to see more of this type of film. this would make a great ongoing TV programme. something different from the crime and medical shows that we are getting now. This would be exciting and at least it would be different.

This was a really cool movie I saw on Paramount's TV station here in Ohio, there was no advertising, no print ads, no nothing but a few teaser clips a few days before. I would have to agree with the earlier comment about why there is no more information about this movie on IMDB. The movie was very original in many aspects, including all the wacky/split screen speed-ramping etc editing and directing, the wise baby who projects his image on a movie screen as an adult, the clothes and garb and cars and technology in the Underworld, and that sweet music soundtrack from Patrick O'Hearn. The acting was pretty good but sometimes not. The script was surprisingly fresh for the ubiquitous sci-fi genre. So you never see movies directed and edited and scored like this anymore, I'm surprised it was buried in the Paramount publicity department's trashcan. They should make a TV series out of it.

I don't know why IMDb has zilch on this movie, but it's very cool and full of creative departures from run of the mill movies. The "Border Patrol" in question has no jurisdiction on geographic borders. Its mission is to patrol the border between the living world and the netherworld. It keeps tabs on those troublemakers who have passed on, but still seek to mess with the corporeal world.

Given that premise, the execution is a lot better than you'd expect from a movie that gets a blank page in our favorite Database. The real world is dressed in typical modern day accouterments, but the netherworld is awash in coolth. Old customized Packard sedans with right-hand drive, manual typewriters that clack out computerized data, and some very stylish zoot suits and fedoras.

The cast runs a pretty wide range of talent, from wholly professional to embarrassingly amateurish. On the other hand, the special effects are up to snuff. The Border Patrol handguns look great and fire something I just can't resist calling pulses of netherenergy.

I rate it a pretty ingenious affair all around, and it's driven by a worthy if not revolutionary plot. The mystery to me is why IMDb has so little data on it.

BORDER PATROL is a real piece of TV movie trash. The plotting is all over the place and seems to involve some kind of netherworld where the dead aren't really dead. The problem is that they can then cross over to our world, where special agents are on hand to dispatch them with special power-weapons. It's a little like R.I.P.D. but even worse than that CGI-fuelled Hollywood blockbuster.

The list of problems with this production is an endless one. The dialogue smacks of pretentiousness and the cast give lacklustre performances to say the least. It's a telling fact that there are no familiar or even mid-list names here. The director is too obsessed with shooting in silly slow motion and adding in the likes of split-screen effects instead of concentrating on telling a linear, satisfying storyline. In a nutshell, I hated it.