43 commentaires
In a stormy night, while transporting the criminal Jack (Bruce Campbell) to the death corridor, the officers have a car accident nearby a private airport. They bring the prisoner to the place where clients are arguing the owner of the charter services and pilot Cathy Garrett (Chase Masterson) because she refuses to take off with the bad weather and the communications are down due to the snow storm. Jack asks to go to the toilet being escorted by the guards; however, in the bathroom, a preacher attacks and kills the guards and when Jack kills him, his body vanishes. Jack returns to the lobby and when the security guard holds him, he accidentally shots a passenger, but the woman does not die until Jack shots her head and her body also disappears. The survivors conclude that they are trapped in a place with aliens and nobody is trustful.
"Terminal Invasion" has a good concept, where the viewer shall guess who are the aliens among humans, but there are many flaws in the story. But considering the extremely low-budget of this movie, with few locations, special effects and unknown cast (with the exception of Bruce Campbell), the result is an entertaining B-movie. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): "Ataque Alienígena" ("Alien Attack")
"Terminal Invasion" has a good concept, where the viewer shall guess who are the aliens among humans, but there are many flaws in the story. But considering the extremely low-budget of this movie, with few locations, special effects and unknown cast (with the exception of Bruce Campbell), the result is an entertaining B-movie. My vote is five.
Title (Brazil): "Ataque Alienígena" ("Alien Attack")
- claudio_carvalho
- 18 juil. 2008
- Permalien
There are lots of other relevant comments here. The only reason I tried this movie was because I enjoy Bruce Campbell and Chase Masterson. Bruce did great considering what he was given to work with. I don't find Chase a very effective "Alpha Female" here -- I think I would like her to stick with comedies.
The suspense of the movie is good, but most of the story is predictable. The thing that drives me nuts is when so many of the characters are acting just plain stupid.
The idea of stumbling into an invasion is an appealing plot. The story is intriguing with a touch of "First Wave" and "The Thing", but there were times I almost had enough. I hung in until the end, but I wouldn't bother watching this a second time.
The suspense of the movie is good, but most of the story is predictable. The thing that drives me nuts is when so many of the characters are acting just plain stupid.
The idea of stumbling into an invasion is an appealing plot. The story is intriguing with a touch of "First Wave" and "The Thing", but there were times I almost had enough. I hung in until the end, but I wouldn't bother watching this a second time.
With the "near-great" Brucie, how can ya miss. Ok maybe he doesn't crack wise enough (Big Way my fave from another dud Navy spoof) but the scene near beginning in the men's room -- oh yes. Especially the religious slant. Gotta love it. Had this had an Aliens 2 style budget it would have kicked people better. But for FREE on Sci-Fi channel, what's to barf. Couple nifty twists offer a pleasant little ride. Grade: Gentleman's C. (C for Campbell)
- sludgehound
- 15 nov. 2002
- Permalien
- Theo Robertson
- 27 oct. 2003
- Permalien
Bruce Campbell stars in this made-for-TV clanger directed by - surprisingly - Sean S. Cunningham of Friday the 13th fame.
Fans of Bruce Campbell seem to want desperately to review this film at least quasi-positively. That's entirely understandable. What horror fan doesn't have a soft spot for Bruce? If you are a die-hard fan of Bruce (no pun intended!?) then you may want to see this. But if you aren't: STAY WELL AWAY! This is a woeful movie! The acting (mostly) and script (entirely) are desperately bad. The premise, as far as B-grade made-for-TV movies go, is OK, I suppose. But the whole thing is executed so lamely! Aside from the writing, the worst thing is the 'look' of the film. TV movies do sometimes have a 'cheap' look like this but this is one of the worst I've seen. And the CGI effects are particularly crappy. CGI blood? A good old squib left over from Friday the 13th would have been much wiser.
Other than the presence of poor Bruce, this movie has absolutely nothing to commend it. Evil Dead, Bubba Ho-Tep it ain't! Don't let the Bruce-o-philes fool you: Terminal Invasion is bad enough to watch Oprah instead.
Fans of Bruce Campbell seem to want desperately to review this film at least quasi-positively. That's entirely understandable. What horror fan doesn't have a soft spot for Bruce? If you are a die-hard fan of Bruce (no pun intended!?) then you may want to see this. But if you aren't: STAY WELL AWAY! This is a woeful movie! The acting (mostly) and script (entirely) are desperately bad. The premise, as far as B-grade made-for-TV movies go, is OK, I suppose. But the whole thing is executed so lamely! Aside from the writing, the worst thing is the 'look' of the film. TV movies do sometimes have a 'cheap' look like this but this is one of the worst I've seen. And the CGI effects are particularly crappy. CGI blood? A good old squib left over from Friday the 13th would have been much wiser.
Other than the presence of poor Bruce, this movie has absolutely nothing to commend it. Evil Dead, Bubba Ho-Tep it ain't! Don't let the Bruce-o-philes fool you: Terminal Invasion is bad enough to watch Oprah instead.
I can tell you this, Bruce Campbell changed my rating for this movie from a 0 out of 10 to a 3 out of ten. Poor Bruce always getting the s**t end of the stick. The script, the direction, the effects everything was on a C movie level. Sean S. Cunningham how could you accept directing this piece of crap ?! I thought a sci-fi with Bruce and directed by Sean could be a good movie. Wrong ! This is 80 minutes of my life I will never get back ! Don´t see this movie ! that is an order ! Here is some trivia for all of you out there. The car crash is footage from The long kiss goodnight. They have changed the front of the car and some other things with cgi. Thats how little money they had to spend on this. TV movies suck ! Thank you for your time.
-H-
-H-
- henry_speed
- 13 avr. 2004
- Permalien
Ok this movie will never win an award, it will never have a sequel and it will never be a cult classic, but it was a pretty good trapped with monsters formula movie. The basic plot involves aliens who are disguised as humans who are here for some reason you really won't care about, at an airport that has been caught in a blizzard. Enter Bruce "If Chins Could Kill" Campbell as our anti-hero, a convict who's trip up has been sidetracked by a cup of coffee. We quickly get down and dirty with aliens killing people and people killing aliens and people who don't trust people having to rely on those they don't trust when the people they did trust try to kill them. Got that? Good. If you follow that you'll have no trouble here. The action is fairly fast, except when it's not and I suggest that if you and your buddies haven't seen it, have a betting pool on who's what and who lives, it's not always who you think. My scores on a 1-10 scale: Action = 7, Acting = 7, Plot = 5, Tension = 7, Surprises = 7, Fun Factor = 7.
Oh dear. This reminded me of the kinds of films that I used to rent on VHS purely because of the cover.
I bought this because of Bruce. And to be honest, he is, as is usual, the highpoint of this film which has the qualities of a day time soap.
The average X files episode used to sweep this kind of stuff in 45 minutes and there is a high degree of stretch to the story. The acting is pretty poor as well with some fairly desperate stereotyping.
As a cable production Cunningham (Director) probably had little to work with budget wise but this looks and feels cheap from the opening scene.
Avoid.
I bought this because of Bruce. And to be honest, he is, as is usual, the highpoint of this film which has the qualities of a day time soap.
The average X files episode used to sweep this kind of stuff in 45 minutes and there is a high degree of stretch to the story. The acting is pretty poor as well with some fairly desperate stereotyping.
As a cable production Cunningham (Director) probably had little to work with budget wise but this looks and feels cheap from the opening scene.
Avoid.
Bruce Campbell stars as Jack, a convict who is being transported during a blizzard, unfortunately the car crashes and the police and him must hike to a nearby private airport that is shut down because of the blizzard and has a handful of angry customers who want to get out of there. Things go awry when people start disappearing and who is blamed? Of course Jack is, he is a convicted murder after all, but was it him?
The movie is basically borrows most of its originality from John Carpenter's the Thing but it really doesn't do that bad of a job of it. One redeeming quality of the movie was that the director, who directed the original Friday the 13th by the way, doesn't show the "creature" very much, which a lot of directors of todays big-budget horror movies could really learn something from.
Overall, this movie is a lot better then most of Sci-Fi's premiere movies and nearly all made-for-tv movies. Fans of Bruce Campbell should really enjoy this movie, as some of his humor of previous appearances play through in his character in this one.
Overall : 7/10
The movie is basically borrows most of its originality from John Carpenter's the Thing but it really doesn't do that bad of a job of it. One redeeming quality of the movie was that the director, who directed the original Friday the 13th by the way, doesn't show the "creature" very much, which a lot of directors of todays big-budget horror movies could really learn something from.
Overall, this movie is a lot better then most of Sci-Fi's premiere movies and nearly all made-for-tv movies. Fans of Bruce Campbell should really enjoy this movie, as some of his humor of previous appearances play through in his character in this one.
Overall : 7/10
- JackDeth1985
- 14 sept. 2002
- Permalien
Lets be honest.....this movie isn't Gone with the wind, or Ghandi....its not even Alien or Independence day. But its clever, well written and an alien movie with a unique storyline. Reminiscent of the paranoia in the best of the sci-fi movies of the 50's. Are they or aren't they. Bunch of folks in a confined area....unable to tell who's who. I recorded it...because of my fondness for Army of Darkness, fully expecting to bail out after 15 or 20 minutes. Instead I watched it all...and enjoyed it enough to encourage others to give it a try. I gave it a 7. I would have preferred to end this review a line above, but apparently I was too concise for my own good, falling short of the content minimum
Terminal Invasion has the look of a home video movie, but it just goes to show that even with the most amateurish of film production values, one can still deliver an entertaining feature. It's always a pleasure to see Bruce Campbell, and though he's not all that funny here, I'd say he is one of Terminal Invasions saving graces.
I thing I have a pretty good idea what Sean Cunningham (Friday the 13th) and Lewis Abernathy had in mind when they constructed Terminal Invasion. It has a fairly strong does of The Thing to it. An alien life form has found its way into a small airport (In one of the north western States, it doesn't say). Bruce Campbell is a prisoner, who escapes the custody of his escort there, and holds everyone at gun point. Unfortunately until the storm outside clears, he ain't gonna be able to fly outta this one, and it's a seventeen mile walk to the nearest town. He finds himself stuck with a dozen angry/confused/nervous (but quirky) folk. and some of them as he is about to find out may not be human.
Sean Cunningham is certainly not a name that I'd expect to see in the director's chair of something like this. Perhaps he needed a break from Hollywood and investing is all the crappy sequels to his classic. To say the film is played for laughs may be a slight overstatement. It is not a comedy but it has it's funnier bits. In one sequence the gang, use the luggage x-ray to determine who is alien and who is not. If nothing else I'll probably remember Terminal invasion for two things Bruce Campbell, and that scene.
To tell you the truth, I got a small kick out of the whole thing. It's not much of a movie, but it's good amateurish fun. If you catch it on the sci-fi channel, you may as well watch for a bit.
I thing I have a pretty good idea what Sean Cunningham (Friday the 13th) and Lewis Abernathy had in mind when they constructed Terminal Invasion. It has a fairly strong does of The Thing to it. An alien life form has found its way into a small airport (In one of the north western States, it doesn't say). Bruce Campbell is a prisoner, who escapes the custody of his escort there, and holds everyone at gun point. Unfortunately until the storm outside clears, he ain't gonna be able to fly outta this one, and it's a seventeen mile walk to the nearest town. He finds himself stuck with a dozen angry/confused/nervous (but quirky) folk. and some of them as he is about to find out may not be human.
Sean Cunningham is certainly not a name that I'd expect to see in the director's chair of something like this. Perhaps he needed a break from Hollywood and investing is all the crappy sequels to his classic. To say the film is played for laughs may be a slight overstatement. It is not a comedy but it has it's funnier bits. In one sequence the gang, use the luggage x-ray to determine who is alien and who is not. If nothing else I'll probably remember Terminal invasion for two things Bruce Campbell, and that scene.
To tell you the truth, I got a small kick out of the whole thing. It's not much of a movie, but it's good amateurish fun. If you catch it on the sci-fi channel, you may as well watch for a bit.
Bruce kinda had a quiet roll (although he did Co-Star in the film) and it wasn't exactly packed with action but it was a decent flick by SciFi Channel standards. Bruce plays the strong silent type in this movie, would have been nice to hear a few more wise cracks out of him. If you like Bruce Campbell its definately worth a watch.
If the Sci-Fi Channel hadn't canceled Mystery Science Theater 3000, they could have premiered this movie there, as it ranks right up there with some of the worst science fiction films of all times.
Of course, I didn't expect much from a TV movie, but the plot was about as impossibly shallow as possible, and all the "surprises" were ridiculous and for the most part predictable.
The cast is not surprisingly completely at a loss to handle the incredibly dense script, despite the inability of most of them to act. Bruce Campbell would normally shine in such a role, but even he seems to be simply trudging through the movie from start to finish.
The most welcome part of the film: the ending, because it's over and there's no more watching involved! Avoid this one unless you're really into watching punishingly bad alien movies.
Of course, I didn't expect much from a TV movie, but the plot was about as impossibly shallow as possible, and all the "surprises" were ridiculous and for the most part predictable.
The cast is not surprisingly completely at a loss to handle the incredibly dense script, despite the inability of most of them to act. Bruce Campbell would normally shine in such a role, but even he seems to be simply trudging through the movie from start to finish.
The most welcome part of the film: the ending, because it's over and there's no more watching involved! Avoid this one unless you're really into watching punishingly bad alien movies.
This is another of the Sci-Fi Channel's pathetic waste of money because of a poorly written story. Don't waste your time watching this debachle unless you like television that requires no intelligence, is loaded with cliche and has a storyline that is downright predictable.
- Billy_Crash
- 17 avr. 2003
- Permalien
This Sci-Fi Channel product finds Bruce Campbell playing a one named killer, Jack, being transported by two guards and being forced off road by a snowstorm. Refuge is found in an airport where passengers are being told that all flights have been canceled due to the major storm. Things liven up when a preacher reveals himself as an alien on a beginning phase of an invasion to search for captive human labor. Jack just wants the hell out of there and has more or less bargained with the pilot(Chase Masterson)to fly him alone to Canada. After the preacher/alien is destroyed, a passenger transforms into one of the invading soldiers and the survivors are forced to try and trust each other to survive the night, survive the storm and oh yes...beware of any alien among them. This one is not over until it is over. The plot is not exactly fresh, but tension and some surprise rides this thriller to climax. Also in the cast: Kedar Brown, Sarah Lafleur and C. David Johnson.
- michaelRokeefe
- 25 juin 2004
- Permalien
Mostly predictable with a few surprises. Not a bad film, but not a great film. Acting was ok, aliens looked fairly real, would have looked better on a big screen. The way the aliens died looked a lot like they did on that TV show about the alien invasion called First Wave. Good surprise ending. But still a B type movie, but quite watchable.
I wasn't expecting Oscar-worthy material, I knew it wasn't going to be that kind of movie, so I tuned in with the right mindset and hoping to get some kind of entertainment. But I didn't care for Terminal Invasion at all. It does have one good asset, and that is the fun and presence-strong performance of Bruce Campbell. Unfortunately for Campbell, the rest of the acting is an uneasy mish-mash of overacting and underacting. I admit I did like the idea that the monster was utilised sparsely, potentially it made everything more suspenseful. But at the same time, there is a danger of making the monster bland in that it's there but with little memorable or well-developed about it, and sadly that was the case with Terminal Invasion. There are far more amateurish-looking movies out there, but the special effects are lacking in any finesse and everything about it visually suggests a rushed production. That may not have been the case, but it just looked like it to me. The dialogue is weak with a lot of cheese, clichés and lines that add absolutely nothing to the story or atmosphere at all. The characters are little more than cardboard-cut-outs that we learn next to nothing about, while the story is derivative and predictable with a lack of suspense and eventually tedious pacing. Overall, did nothing for me but Bruce Campbell gives it some essence of watchability. 2/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- 17 févr. 2013
- Permalien
Friday the 13th's Sean S. Cunningham directs The Evil Dead's Bruce Campbell in this entertaining piece of B-movie sci-fi/horror hokum. Although made for TV, 'Terminal Invasion' has its fair share of decent moments and Cunningham, no stranger to the genre, delivers a slick fun-filled film. Only the iffy editing and some dodgy scene transitions belie the movie's TV origins.
In a script that draws comparison with John Carpenter's (far superior) The Thing, a group of people, trapped inside a remote airport terminal during a severe blizzard, discover a malign alien presence intent on enslaving mankind. But with the extra-terrestrial creatures in human guise, paranoia and panic soon sets in.
Bruce Campbell, not the greatest of actors put possessing a strong screen presence, hams it up the only way he can, bringing a welcome familiarity to his role of Jack; this is basically Ash from Army of Darkness, minus his boom-stick! The rest of the cast give credible performances; a commendable feat given the cheesy lines they are forced to deliver.
The special effects are sparse, but effective; once out of their human form, the aliens are a creepy bunch of ugly critters, and there is even a tiny smattering of gore to keep horror fans happy.
Despite 'Terminal Invasion' being a made for TV offering, it is great to see Sean S. Cunningham directing again after a long hiatus-this is, after all, the man who gave us Jason Vorhees-and I look forward to 'Trapped Ashes', a horror anthology which will contain segments from four different directors (Cunningham directs the second segment) plus non-segment portions by Joe Dante. The film has been described as 'extremely twisted'. Sounds promising.
In a script that draws comparison with John Carpenter's (far superior) The Thing, a group of people, trapped inside a remote airport terminal during a severe blizzard, discover a malign alien presence intent on enslaving mankind. But with the extra-terrestrial creatures in human guise, paranoia and panic soon sets in.
Bruce Campbell, not the greatest of actors put possessing a strong screen presence, hams it up the only way he can, bringing a welcome familiarity to his role of Jack; this is basically Ash from Army of Darkness, minus his boom-stick! The rest of the cast give credible performances; a commendable feat given the cheesy lines they are forced to deliver.
The special effects are sparse, but effective; once out of their human form, the aliens are a creepy bunch of ugly critters, and there is even a tiny smattering of gore to keep horror fans happy.
Despite 'Terminal Invasion' being a made for TV offering, it is great to see Sean S. Cunningham directing again after a long hiatus-this is, after all, the man who gave us Jason Vorhees-and I look forward to 'Trapped Ashes', a horror anthology which will contain segments from four different directors (Cunningham directs the second segment) plus non-segment portions by Joe Dante. The film has been described as 'extremely twisted'. Sounds promising.
- BA_Harrison
- 21 juil. 2006
- Permalien
A movie with "aliens ate my mom and want to get me" plot. Mediocre acting matches well with below average plot. The idea is pretty simple: A bunch of humans are isolated while aliens run around and eat humans while in human bodies. That is, they eat humans after they turn from innocent humans to disgusting slime-dripping aliens. Make sense, right? I particularly liked the part when one alien kills another alien while trying to be a good human... just to confuse the person watching the movie -- the action makes absolutely no sense plot-wise. Enjoy wasting two perfectly good hours watching this movie on Sci-Fi channel.
Anybody who's expecting unbelievable special effects, Oscar winning performances and a trendsetting storyline, you better skip this. However, if you just want to see an action-packed alien thriller featuring Bruce Campbell, you can't go wrong.
For a TV movie, I thought it was actually pretty good. Granted, at some points the storyline has some holes, but really, I didn't enjoy the movie any less because of them.
If you're a fan of alien movies or a fan of Bruce Campbell, you should check this one out.
For a TV movie, I thought it was actually pretty good. Granted, at some points the storyline has some holes, but really, I didn't enjoy the movie any less because of them.
If you're a fan of alien movies or a fan of Bruce Campbell, you should check this one out.
TERMINAL INVASION features Bruce Campbell as a convicted felon who along with a few other people become trapped at an airport due to bad weather, but what he is about to realize is that not all the people at the airport are who or what they appear to be.
This film was actually entertaining, of course its nothing you would go and tell everyone about but for me it was a good movie, the acting wasn't perfect I won't argue there but it was above par compared to films in the same standard, the storyline although sometime uneventful had its moments by having a few clever plot twists here and there.
I would recommend this film to people that at times might feel like they want to watch a movie but don't know which one, its not a big budget effects feast but it'll pass the time, try it out even if you're not a genre fan.
This film was actually entertaining, of course its nothing you would go and tell everyone about but for me it was a good movie, the acting wasn't perfect I won't argue there but it was above par compared to films in the same standard, the storyline although sometime uneventful had its moments by having a few clever plot twists here and there.
I would recommend this film to people that at times might feel like they want to watch a movie but don't know which one, its not a big budget effects feast but it'll pass the time, try it out even if you're not a genre fan.
- jhpstrydom
- 16 déc. 2009
- Permalien
I love Bruce Campbell. Why else would I even watch this movie?
But it was so bland, boring, drawn out with silly dialogue and rife
with not-quite-realistic graphics (I'm guessing they couldn't afford
aerial shots of the airport or the truck driving on the mountain) and
effects (the alien creature get-up must have been so low-budget
that they decided to obscure it with choppy camerawork, like when
they were crawling through the air ducts and it jumped up and
grabbed the rich guy) that the whole experience was painful. Bruce
wasn't having any fun, and neither was I. Even "Tornado!" and
"Icebreaker" were better than this thing. Sorry, Bruce.
But it was so bland, boring, drawn out with silly dialogue and rife
with not-quite-realistic graphics (I'm guessing they couldn't afford
aerial shots of the airport or the truck driving on the mountain) and
effects (the alien creature get-up must have been so low-budget
that they decided to obscure it with choppy camerawork, like when
they were crawling through the air ducts and it jumped up and
grabbed the rich guy) that the whole experience was painful. Bruce
wasn't having any fun, and neither was I. Even "Tornado!" and
"Icebreaker" were better than this thing. Sorry, Bruce.
As far as I'm concerned Bruce Campbell is bad, in a good way. This certainly is no worse than his older Evil Dead movies in my book. Sure it could have had a good premise for the alien invasion and better lines for them. That aside there is some decent acting, special effects, and the story isn't bad. All in all I would buy it if it was available on DVD. Quite honestly I think they should have either had one very bad alien or an ordinary man as a murderer that was among them while they were stranded. Of course Bruce would get the blame as the convict, but he would be innocent. Maybe in the sequel. Still I found it entertaining enough to keep me awake watching it late the other night.