Battle Drone

Remember when Michael Pare was once a rising A-list movie star in major Hollywood releases? Well, that was such a long time ago, that I would understand why you may think that he has always slummed it in low budget B movies such as this one. Now, I definitely have nothing against B movies - I watch them all the time, and they can be pretty enjoyable at times. But this particular one, while far from the worst I have seen, is pretty bland stuff for the most part. Oh, the director does try to throw in some fancy camera tricks here and there(such as "bullet time" shots), but they come across as pretentious and in-your-face instead of being cool and blowing your mind. But that's not the real problem with this movie. The main problem with the movie is that while there is plenty of action, for the most part it has a very routine and familiar feel to it. It isn't exciting, it doesn't make you care for the protagonists' survival, and it isn't much better than simply showing people casually shooting their guns endlessly. The movie is fairly well photographed, but the pretty look of everything doesn't add much.

Oh, and the title is wrong - it should have been pluralized.

This is the cheesy mess you get when a stuntman wants to become a writer and director. Stay a stuntman.

Mitch Gould's attempt to write and direct this film failed miserably. The only redeeming quality and the reason for a 3 and not a 1/10 is the concept of the story, and the fairly decent costumes of the 'drones'.

The dialogue was so cheesy, it made Louis Mandylor's character unbearable, as was his acting, and for that matter the rest of the cast. The blame for the acting failure goes primarily to the director for failing to direct his cast properly.

The slow-mo action scenes were also unbearable. This entire dragged out film was basically me watching a 5 year old play a video game and pause to change the viewing angles in slow motion. Right from the starting credits, I was hoping I wouldn't see any more of this cheesy directing, yet the film was full of it. Then you have the endless dragged-out gun fights of constant back and forth shooting where both sides just keep missing. Did a 5th grader write the screenplay? And what's with the western themed score?

Any comparison to Predator, the A-Team or the Expendables is an insult to either franchise.

I'm guessing either someones rich dad funded this mess or someone won a lottery - and wanted to become a filmmaker.

This film hurt to watch. Don't waste your time with it. A very generous 3/10 from me.

Decent for a B movie. When you start watching it you want to stay till the end.

Battle Drone, with a title like that you have to assume the worst right? Based on the cast and plot outline the film sounded like a rather run of the mill Scyfy Original type and I guess it is, but an oddly good one.

It tells the story of an elite mercenary team tasked with a mission in Chernobyl. Once they arrive however they come under attack from an unstoppable unknown force that pushes their skills to the limit.

I'm not a big action movie fan and Scyfy originals though charming are usually seven shades of awful so Battle Drone never really stood a chance. So why have I rated it so high?

The reason, well because it's suspiciously enjoyable. The cast are familiar faces who you'll likely recognize but not put a name to, they demonstrate why you remember them in the first place and are a bunch of decent character actors. The SFX are well above par, this is not your usual Scyfy Adobe Aftereffects ugliness. The plot is very enjoyable, the cinematography is stylish and it's just all put together nicely.

Sure this isn't even a B-Movie, it's C, it's made for television stuff but it shows what people with competence can do despite the little resources they have at their disposal.

I really enjoyed Battle Drone and can confidently say I'm shocked at that fact. The very definition of take your brain out entertainment, this was a lot of fun.

The Good:

Stylish

Memorable moments

Competently made

Good soundtrack

Interesting characters

The Bad:

Bit goofy a couple of times

I enjoyed it, a tad too much slow-mo for my liking but the actors all did a good job and the cgi was decent. I liked the banter and comradery, did it have faults yes, was it as good as expendables or the a team, no but both were huge budget movies with our times best actors and action heroes. It's better than a B movie, feels good and made with heart, as such I grade it comparing it to Expendables and the A-Team, therefore 5/10 when I give Expendables and the A-Team 8/10.