High Plains Invaders

Considering the utter garbage which has come from the SyFi Channel in the last few years, this movie was quite pleasantly surprising.

The plot was reasonably fresh and mostly logical. The actors delivered acceptable performances. The outfits were good. The setting was quite acceptable and looked like the northwestern U.S. CGI, if not great, was at least better than typical SyFi fair. The ending was, of course, predictable, and left unanswered questions.

A nice point was that the mandatory scientist (Jules) was not the typical all-knowledgeable font of information. Although he did make a few statements which included knowledge which did not yet exist in 1890, along with some that were just plain wrong; this role actually made fairly good sense within the situation.

There were a number of questionable items. The female bounty hunter is not something which would be likely in 1890. Many, but not all, of the firearms where very clearly modern. (Does anyone who produces movies ever listen to someone with knowledge in this field?) Finally, the repartee between characters who are opposed to each other before the arrival of the "invaders" begins to strain credulity.

Altogether and unexpectedly, this was a movie worth the watching.

Aliens invade a small town in westernville land. That's it for the plot. There is a lame attempt at a love interest sub plot but it never takes off and just seems like wasted lines.

This movie felt like I was watching grown men playing 'lets pretend' out in the back garden. It just had nothing to it that you could believe in. There was no single point throughout the entire film where there was an emotional connection with the audience. The acting was for the most part ridiculous not just hammy and poor but ridiculous. The female bounty hunter was just... I can't think of a superlative to meet so I'll just say miscast. Shouting out her corny lines in this schoolyard westernville town cheap TV accent.

The sound was pretty decent. The lighting I did not like. I think maybe a tint or some basic attempt at contrast was needed but it was all very samey and bland. The CGI was just passable not good but it was better than cardboard (although not a funny). All in all a film with very little charm or wit to carry off the lower budget. If you want to see a similar theme in a different setting (i.e. not westernville land town) look for Alien Raiders to see how a film of this kind can be made so much better on similar (if not smaller) budgets.

It's "War of the Worlds" set in the Old West. Just as a legendary train robber is about to be hanged in a small Western town, a bunch of mechanical creatures invade the town and kill everyone in their path. A mother ship also begins to hover overhead. The outlaw and several others desperately battle the space invaders, but they quickly get picked off one by one. By the time the dust has settled ... well, you can guess the outcome. A Canadian job, this has some interesting characters but very poor CGI for the invaders. And the action sequences are clumsily staged. You never believe for a moment that humans and monsters are battling one another. A little more production money and attention to script details would have helped. As it is, we were just relieved when it was over.

Well I made it through this bizarre western/sci-fi mash up, that's about all I can say about this. It's a definite B-movie with the aliens reminiscent of (copied from) 'War Of The Worlds' only on a smaller and much cheaper scale as is the whole tone of this weird movie.

It follows (best I can figure) a condemned outlaw (train robber Sam Phoenix -James Marsters) who's eminent hanging is abruptly halted by an invasion of aliens. Outlaws and townspeople must then join forces to survive as the ragtag group find sanctuary in a church. Yeah this was a tough movie to get through. I found the female gunslinger/bounty hunter character super annoying but was strangely fascinated by James Marsters' hair which look great throughout. 05.13

In the Old West of 1892, a bank robber is about to become guest of honor at a neck tie party. Suddenly, giant metallic scorpion type things appear and break up the party. But just when this looks like it will be another body-count sideshow, an interesting story emerges.

The budget isn't extravagant, but much is accomplished with what they have. The style of the story is a tip of the hat to the vision of Jules Verne (who is mentioned in the film), and it shows some real imagination. The invaders also look to be of the sort H.G. Wells might cook up after a bad nightmare. The plot draws you in, with an intriguing mystery of just what do these rampaging creatures want, why are they here, and where did they come from. The film wisely withholds some of that, and releases just enough information to the characters and you at a very well constructed pace to keeps things interesting. It isn't even too clear if these things are machines or organic life forms until deep into the movie.

A weakness might be that the characters are written as western clichés, but they are developed in an adequate fashion. The acting is actually superior, and most of the cast rises above any limitations the script gives their roles. CGI effects are done well enough to make these hostile invaders threatening. The dialog supports the action, and doesn't fall into the cornball quips trap that so many films do. The ending is perhaps too abrupt, with no epilogue given at all.

Overall, not a bad watch.