Project 12: The Bunker

Proof that there are good low budget movies out there!

As a streaming movie junkie I have viewed and written a lot of 'low budget' films, and given more than my share of low stars. Thank god I found this one, it has renewed my faith in the industry segment!

OK, the good. FINALLY a pretty solid script. SOO much better than you expect from a low budget film. In fact I thought about 6 stars, but then you are getting into main stream theater level quality, and it was just not quite there. But very close.

The actors actually knew their trade and proved it time and again. I will be watching out for almost the entire cast in the future. They knew how to hold guns, pull off 'stings', everything.

This is one I would highly recommend. Yeah, even for a 2nd tier theater viewing, but probably better for a movie night with some beers and the guys and gals (but not the kiddies).

HEY EVERYBODY ITS ME (4) and today we review the movie ..... BUNKER :project runway ....the movie !!!!!!!!!!

This film started off ...strange to me ... i felt it would be more of a "trench 11" style movie ..or a "frankensteins army" type thing .. BUT it starts off some sort of action ..war , secret agent james bond in irac meets mission impossible deal going on ... but then it goes all indiana jones and the temple of lost nazi experiments ......ONLY for ONCE its not the nazis experiments lol.... i swear in EVER movie like this its always the nazis ...tell me im wrong .... .

So here we have a TON of back stabbing and all sorts of weird "back story" that REALLY doesnt actually happen to do anything for telling any sort of a legit back story .... other than "hey some sort of experiment a long time ago .... need more info .... eric roberts rounds up a team of obviously great people to find this place and get in there to grab up the equipment that was lost but never actually went anywhere so i mean he could have done this years ago BUT didnt ? .... i know ..they needed the one guy who knew where ...and the other guy who knew had the key ....in his butt ...dont ask ....

but the story aside ...the film does a pretty good job over all ... at first your like ... okay ..though its got a lot of double cross action going on its kind of a slow burn and "meh" ....but once your done the entire thing as a whole seems ... fullfilled ..... like .. it all fit well enough to work .......... NOW there is a TON of green screen in this one for sure .... MOST people might not notice it and some may just think they some of the backgrounds might look a little bit "off" at times ..usually the BIG open hall area etc .... but its actually done very well compared to most greenscreen attempts of that nature ...so cudos ..........the over all set designs and locations are pretty nicely done it seemed ........and everyone did a decent enough job ..the lighting was on par and the quality of he film was great, obviously filmed in a high end digital format ........

the ending WAS expected DUH .... but thats okay ...it was still a fun romp in the tunnels ........i DO wish there would have been more to the zombie troops / super troops thing though maybe earlier in the film giving that concept a bit more room to breath on screen BUT they still did do a good job halving the film into indiana bond vs zombie super soldiers ......

all and all ill give this one a solid 7/10 ..... if nothing else because ta some points it almost felt like i was watching a rammstein music video LOL.

I really do not understand... Cr@p movies like "Inception" get a 10/10 and this movie only gets a 3.7/10, seriously??? There is nothing truly special about this movie, but it is very well done and very entertaining! I've seen so much bad movies that were really bad indeed, this one was actually pretty good, well paced, with a modest sense of humour... very underrated! It was quite entertaining, against all my expectations. I am glad I watched it!!! Again nothing really out of the ordinairy, but if all "bad" movies were as good as this one, then I'd be able to enjoy them all without fear of wasting hours of precious life time... Kudos, I really enjoyed it, and for that a 10/10...

Quite unsurprising and seemed to be filled with some extra clutter to make it 90 min long. The acting wasn't great but I've seen much worse too.

Would I not have read the synopsis I wouldn't have had any idea what I was watching until about halfway through the movie. I don't think you'd lose much is you just skipped to the moment when they reach the bunker.

I think it was watchable and with the topic had potential to be bad instead of just awful. I'd say it just a few ticks away from being bad enough to be good. It is a three star movie but anything with soviet scifi elements gets an extra star from me.

Take one brief look at the synopsis for Bunker: Project 12 and you will quickly understand that you're very much in B-grade movie territory, the type of landscape where you will need to switch your brain off and leave your better judgement at the door should you wish to enjoy the silly and budget-restrained goodies' that a film such as this often entails.

To call Project 12 a good film would be a lie, but against all the odds, Jaime Falero's high-concept action/thriller ends up being a film with enough neat ideas and scenarios to remain ever watchable, the perfect mindless film to put on for a rainy night and another chance to see Eric Roberts in one of the 100's of film's his seemingly appeared in over the last 12 - 18 months.

Interestingly for a film of Project 12's ilk, Falero spends a large portion of the early runtime afforded to him to slow-build his narrative as a collection of long-hidden Russian scientists involved in top secret experiments during the Cold War are killed-off until the film then moves into more horror/thriller territory when James Cosmo's soviet veteran Brian Balanowsky and a team of top-tier mercenaries enter into the fabled bunker to uncover its long dormant secrets.

It's a wise move by Falero to build up to this moment as the action and effects work on show here aren't much chop, no doubt hampered by a low-end budget, there's just not the tools available for Falero to fully enact out the potential of Project 12's idea, which is the type of idea you can see future film's riffing off thanks to its potential to be a highly over the top yet also highly entertaining mix of action and thrills in a setting that feels ripe for such a set-up.

With limits to what the film can achieve with its production values and resources, it's great to see the films cast have fun with what they're given with Roberts, Cosmo and other cast members such as Joaquín Sánchez (who also co-writes) and Natasha Alam all understanding what they are a part of and delivering delightfully D-grade turns which helps make the film an at times laugh out loud experience with hilariously placed zingers and lines for the cast to deliver.

Final Say -

With TV movie of the week conception, Bunker: Project 12 is the type of film you're likely to find on late night TV after the majority of us have gone to bed but with a fun concept and some hugely appealing ideas, Falero's film may not be great, but it does offer some good fun along its journey.

2 flamethrowers out of 5