Critical Mass

Well, I bought this movie because I was a Treat Williams fan, but I couldn't even stand him in this movie. I don't give it a bad rating for the acting, because I didn't have much patience with this movie, so I didn't pay much attention to the acting. The movie is just simply too bad for words, mainly because of the shameless ripoffs. Anyone who's a fan of action films will be sent sobbing to the floor by this. Look hard for any scenes that seem familiar, because they are! This movie uses scenes from at least two other movies, and not just short scenes. The most memorable is their use of the entire 15 minute Cyberdyne attack of "Terminator 2"! Also, if that wasn't bad enough, just see the cut and paste truck chase scene from "Universal Soldier"! At least 30 minutes of this movie isn't original footage. I cannot recommend it!

This is a terrorist film, but remember that this film came out before Sept 11, 2001. It doesn't matter because it's still a bad film. Too bad. I got it mainly for Treat Williams.

The first two DVD chapters, 10mins, are borrowed film clips from the ending of Terminator I; not copied scenes, but actual film footage. That set my mood but no matter how positive I tried to remain, this film never did anything. Bad camera angles, bad acting, bad script, predictable, mediocre effects. Personally I would whisper if I am close to the terrorists. A terrorist that says goodbye after making demands? No depiction of recording the terrorist conversation, and no government on site; they left it up to the local small town sheriff's department. If the US government officials depicted here are a reflection of real government officials, then we are in big trouble. Relax, even the most incompetent could not be that bad. A wasted 1 hour 35 minutes, plus the DVD rental fee.

I gave this film a 2 because it at least tried to have a plot and wasn't as awful as something like "Manos the Hands of Fate." It's the typical, international terrorists try to make a nuclear weapon to destroy the west coast schlock. That being said, I can now go into why this movie sucked so badly. Granted, someone makes a terrorist film every year. That's just how it goes. The problem with this one is how blatantly unoriginal it was. Not only was it the same old formula, throw in a German, a down on his luck, former cop security guard, and the whiny bitch senator and boom, you've got a movie. Udo and Treat seem to have really needed cash, or exposure, or both. The worst part is that I haven't even mentioned the blatantly stolen footage from Terminator 2. They stole every damn thing that they could use for the story. They didn't even change the Cyberdyne Systems name. Can we say "lawsuit" or "copyright infringement?"

Wow, this movie is awesome. You see, it starts with this building, and some terrorists get into it, put explosives everywhere and then they steal all this Radioactive Material (TM). Then they proceed to kill some SWAT people, and they're surrounded but the guy who's waiting in a bulletproof truck drives thru the lobby of the building! Can you believe it? They all leave, and you are treated to a wonderful scene of the building exploding! But there's this helicopter chasing them, firing automatic weapons from the cockpit thru the glass, which as we all know, is standard police procedure during helicopter chases. It goes under a bridge, but then one of the terrorists has a terrific idea! He orders his buddy to hit the brakes, and the chopper smashes into the truck! The terrorists then drive away.

I mean it's a wonderful scene! I swear, it's very original, I'm pretty sure it's never been done before. They must have spent a lot of money on all those scenes, and destroying that expensive helicopter, and the building, oh boy!

They even thought of this unique name for the building. It's called Cyberdyne Systems. Uncanny!

Did I tell you about the part when one of the older terrorists throws a desk thru the window of the building and then starts firing at the police cars?

Awful. I can't even beleieve it got screened. The first 10 minutes ARE awful, as they did just use clips from Terminator (of the attack on the Cyberdyne building). I can't state how appalling it is. You can sit there and just know whats going to happen. One guy pushes a table and ... yes, you guessed it, it falls out of a window, then some guy unloads several clips of ammo into the police cars, etc etc.

The rest of the film hard my heart... Well, normal actually. The writer of the film could easily have been a 12 year old. From the first moment you hear the security guard saying "I always have bad luck" then someone else in the cast telling him "I hope your luck changes soon" every few minutes, you know the out-come of the movie.

Random slaughtering. A bad guy that makes you just want to punch him cos he's so pathetic, poor gun-fights, terrorists that would make you wet yourself - with laughter, and such.

The film takes itself too seriously. The only bonus is the young lady in it. She's a bit of cinematic "alright" ;)