Retrograde - Krieg auf dem Eisplaneten

I watched movie this morning and it is not as bad as most people say. Actually it is good for what it is - a sci-fi flick. So don't be confused when you see the box cover and read the names of Dolph Lundgren and Gary Daniels expecting an action movie with a lot of fights.

The movie is about a time traveller (Lundgren) who gets back in time to destroy a virus brought by a meteorite and this way he saves the future from it. There are some bad guys who want to trammel him.

So I suggest that this is a low budget movie and if you have this in mind you'll say that it is a very decent movie. It might have been better, of course.

I give it 6 out of 10 and suggest that all sci-fi and Lundgren fans should watch it.

Nothing wrong with the script. I love time machine movies, And Dolph Lundgren is on a mission to save the world so the future will return back to normal.

That's all you need to know.

Acting is terrible if non existing at times, and the special effects are like something you'll find in cheap computer games from the 90's.

. This could have been a great movis with a different director, different budget and different actors.

I am a "Dolph completist" like another reviewer put so eloquently, yet this movie has left a bitter aftertaste. It could have been so much more, the story had potential to make the ultimate "The Thing"- meets-"X files" crossover, laden with spooky claustrophobia and an intriguing time-travel tale.

Alas, none of that has come about. The director is partly to blame for his total failure to bring focus and atmosphere to the story. Viewers are left less than ensnared. But what I found most appalling was the ACTING ! It's incredible how most of the cast just stands there, glazed over, rattling off their lines. How hard can it be to get a little immersed in the role ?

Dolph himself is enough of a professional to put in his routine quality, even when he finds himself in what looks like a high school project. I also enjoyed Jamie Treacher, who makes the most of his "pothead" part. And there's David Jean Thomas who manages to bring a natural performance as Doc. But the rest of the cast should be forced to attend drama school !

I thought that this movie had something going for it, because not only did it have Dolph Lundgren (one of my favorite B movie actors) in it, but that one of the producers was Joseph Merhi, who made some great B action movies in the 1990s. Unfortunately, I thought the end results were a big let down. Partly because of an inadequate budget, most of the movie looks really cheap, with interiors that were obviously not shot on a real ship, and exteriors that look nothing like the real Antarctic. An additional problem is that director Christopher Kulikowski directs the various going ons with a lack of conviction. The action scenes are sluggish and badly choreographed, and there is a curious matter-of-fact feeling to many scenes despite the plot of the movie centering around the fate of the human race! Even if you are desperate and it's a slow night does not make this movie worth watching.

A note to Joseph Merhi: Reunite with your old producer partner Richard Pepin and get back to making those great action movies you guys once made!

Dolph Lundgren vehicles have hit DVD every spring for the last few years. Apparently they have done well enough that some studio finally snagged this sci-fi time travel flick that has been sitting on the shelf since completion in 2003. John Foster (Lundgren) pilots a space craft from 2204 back to the 21rst century with the crew's mission to stop scientists from discovering plague carrying meteorites in Antarctica. Naturally, there are traitors on board who want to alter the future for their own personal gains and it is up to Dolph to stop them. This is pretty bad, thanks mostly to the flat direction by Christopher Kulikowski. The guy has no concept on how to stage or film a fight scene. And who casts martial artist Gary Daniels and doesn't give him a big fight scene? Even more disappointing when you see former PM Entertainment exec Joseph Merhi is a producer on this. The acting is uniformly bad with Joe Sagal (as a rich dude funding the scientific expedition) and Ken Samuels (as the boat captain) being the stand outs. Seriously, how do guys this bad get cast and maintain some semblance of a career? One has to wonder if working with such a poor director is what finally made Dolph decide to step behind the camera (his directorial debut was the film made right after this). He has directed 4 films since RETROGRADE and the three I've seen have been infinitely more entertaining than this.