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Security specialist Rick Knowlton (John Ritter,) upset by a life-threatening incident is invited to live in a securely closed society "The Colony". At first, the parents, children, and family dog are happy. Then people get over antsy about nitpicky rules. This masks something more sinister.

If you are familiar with computers, you may notice this movie is a little dated.

If you are thinking the colony is nowhere as bad as a Homeowner's Association, then you may be interested in the filming location of Rancho Palos Verdes, California, USA.

Warning if you cannot watch cruelty to dogs and ferns then you may find this upsetting.

I saw this film 2001 and didn´t like it too much.

John Ritter is a security agent who´s given the opportunity to move to a totally crimeless society outside the town. He moves to this place with his family, and in the beginning everything seems like heaven. But after a while he and his family begins to think that everything is not right.The man (Hal Linden) who´s running the place is a very excentric old man with a lot of strange ideas... Pretty good idea (but I´ve seen it before....)

This made for TV suspense thriller had lots of potential but just seemed to fall flat. John Ritter stars as a security expert of the high tech scale who moves his family into THE COLONY an ultra exclusive community that appears on the surface to be perfect in every way.

Shortly after moving in they soon find all is not what it appears. An elaborate set of rules and regulations abound that at first seem to be ridiculous but in reality are taken seriously by those who run The Colony. The family encounters staff members, who come into their home to do various environmental checks, remove outdoor plants that are deemed inappropriate for The Colony and perform surgery on their pet dog. Security guards shows up at the home of another family when the man of the house decides to paint his dwelling with a color that The Colony does not approve of. Slowly this utopian community begins to show it's dark and sinister side as Ritters family begins to catch on.

The film attempts to have a Stepford Wives type plot to it but too many topics are touched on and compressed to allow the film to have a build up for a suspenseful ending which also falls somewhat flat. The characters seemed to be miscast which hurts the picture. Hal Linden as the BMOC (Big Man On Community) who runs the Colony and wants everyone to love, respect and fear him at the same time just doesn't seem believable as a sinister individual. John Ritter who is fine in comedy roles also just doesn't seem to click in this picture.

The story is there and if redone with good casting and directing would make for a suspenseful film along the same lines as The Firm. If you've never seen it it's still worth viewing.

I thumbed through the channels and came up with " The Colony " After watching for awhile and thinking it might turn out to be a good wet Saturday movie, I realized it was just like living in a gated community here in Boynton Beach, Florida. Fortunatly we can leave whenever we wish. However, there are associations who tell you what color your homes should be painted, what kinds of plants are acceptable, who is entitled to play on the tennis courts,who can swim in the pool etc,etc. We have our own COPS core. CITIZENS ON PATROL.They patrol the streets in an official police car. They do not carry guns, cannot issue traffic tickets. I am thankful to have this type of security. As far as the movie, It was better than expected.

Starring the fantastic late great John Ritter The Colony is a made for television thriller with a concept alone that it deserves credit for.

It tells the story of a family who move into an exclusive gated community but begin to have concerns about the overwhelming number of rules they must live by and the strange behaviour of their fellow residents.

It's all very 90's (If that makes any sense) but despite the usual gliches it's quite an entertaining little venture. There are a couple of plot holes but thankfully nothing too major and Ritter is excellent as always.

A harmless way of killing 90 minutes.

The Good:

John Ritter

Some interesting ideas

The Bad:

Cliched

Ending could have been better

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

I would happily sacrifice some freedoms for that quality of life