Eve of Destruction

Eve of destruction is a bad movie, no doubt about it. It's a terminator rip-off with a weird story. Renee Soutendijk, who plays in a double role blew her changes for making it in the US for good with this movie. That is a shame because she is quite a good actress. And because of this misfortune I would like to recommend this movie to all you cult lovers out there. I mean think about it; a strong woman (feministic), some nice and utterly useless violence, a rip off, a lousy tag line and a bad story. So go ask for Eve of Destruction at your local cult video store.

The stage curtains open ...

Back in 1991, this movie was "cool". Now, 30 years later, it is (at best) a guilty pleasure. Despite the fact that is hasn't aged that well, it does hold a measure of sentimental value to me, and even by today's standards, I still enjoy watching this from time to time. "Eve Of Destruction" follows a formula that was popular at the time, when an android named EVE, armed and dangerous, becomes unstable and at large.

EVE is an experiment in military A.I., a female android that was created to look just like her creator, a scientist named Eve Simmons (both roles played by Renée Soutendijk). When EVE is sent into the public population for a test run, her systems become compromised during a bank robbery attempt, and soon she is at large, a danger to anyone who has the misfortune of crossing paths with her. Colonel McQuade (Greogry Hines), an expert in anti-terrorism, is sent in to neutralize the threat. But when she goes nuclear, the clock starts ticking. Together, he and the good doctor track down EVE, leading up to an explosive ending.

I'm of the generation that got to actually see this when it was brand new in the theaters. My wife and I went to watch it, and we both enjoyed it. It was mindless fun with decent action scenes and a few memorable moments. Hines does his best badass imitation finding a new measure of fame in the cinema after the successful films, "White Nights" and "Running Scared". Renée Soutendijk was new to me, though she has been in numerous films before this, and several more after. But, she played her role adequately.

I would recommend this to the action goer who doesn't take their movie viewing too seriously, who can appreciate a little cheese once in a while. This is definitely a guilty pleasure, but still an entertaining 100 minutes and worth the effort. I give it a solid 7 stars out of 10 without hesitation.

Low budget 90s cheese. Renée Soutendijk isn't awful, Gregory Hines is wasted, everything around them kinda stinks: Awesomely generic 80s soundtrack. The editing will make you scratch your head. Scenes go on forever, highlighting the terrible script. Get ready for expositional dialogue about "little Timmy" and a hilarious spousal abuse flashback.

Only once you realize the film isn't meant to be taken seriously will it open up its charm to you. Eve has an Uzi with unlimited ammo, for blowing up cars and killing the also Uzi-wielding Marines. She also has "VHS- vision" and lots of goofy flashbacks. It wants to be serious, but mostly you'll be laughing at/be bored by this film. Then again, if you and some friends watch this with your brain off - you'll probably enjoy it. The final 15 minutes especially are a blast of bad-movie goodness.

I guess future guns have huge laser sights.

The premise of this film is how robots, complete with comprehensive copies of human minds and with immense strength, power and armament, may deal with the darker parts of their copied brain. Renée Soutendijk gets to play both the human creator, Dr Eve, and her robot copy named Eve VIII, and pretty juicy parts they are to play too, poles apart, and every good actors dream role. And a pretty good job she does too, never too overplayed, never too crude, just subtle.

When Eve VIII escapes and appears to go on to blood letting of extreme proportions we are treated to some insight into the darker parts of Dr Eve's mind, at first to titillate and then to hunt the errant robot down. And it is not badly done either. Okay some of the dialogue may be a little comical or flawed at times, but the underlying tale is always watchable and that is what films are supposed to be. Tension is ratcheted up nicely throughout, and the ending is almost as good as one would expect from this kind of B movie genre. It certainly puts to shame many much more hyped up pieces of the sci-fi genre around on the circuits these days.

Worth a watch and six out of ten.

A peculiar story of a woman scientist trying to track down (with the help of a tough army colonel) a female robot with nuclear powers, who not only looks like her but also shares her thoughts and memories. The gimmick is that the robot has no inhibitions, and acts out the woman's darkest sexual and violent fantasies, until "it" gets completely out of control. The story provides plenty of opportunities for male-bashing (it seems that almost every man that the robot meets is a chauvinistic pig), and the film doesn't miss any of them. But if you're patient, you'll be rewarded; the climactic sequence in the New York subway is excitingly staged and delivers the goods. And Renee Soutendijk is utterly convincing in both her roles. (**1/2)