Alien Showdown: The Day the Old West Stood Still

I enjoyed this film for what it was, just plain entertainment. There is some nudity. The plot is interesting. The acting was OK. Great scenery. At least it's interesting.

Writing, acting, plot and effects are just awful. They forgot to put in punching sounds on the fist fights which were nearly silent. On the plus side, Robert Amstler has a great body and fills out his costume nice. That's what the three stars are for.

I'm open to new ideas, that's why when a film comes along with a ridiculous title or premise it gets my attention.

We are bombarded with the same predictable formulaic nonsense left right and centre so when I see a title like this I had to give it a go.

I knew the likelihood of it being awful was high but I held my breath and dived on in only to find my fears were justified.

A story across two generations, a cowboy battling a highly advanced alien and one very very bored viewer.

I can forgive the effects, I can forgive the lack of experience of the creators but everything about the film screamed poor.

To make matters worse I recently watched the trailer and was astonished at the lack of quality. I've never seen a trailer so shoddily made.

This film appears to be getting some serious hate and all of it is just.

The Good:

Concept is bearable

The Bad:

Shoddily made

SFX are questionable

Cast are highly hit and miss

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Cowboys and Aliens don't mix, just ask Harrison Ford

Well, well, well... "Alien Showdown: The Day the Old West Stood Still" (or "Alien Predator War"), yep it is one of those movies alright. Whether this movie is a spoof, an actual movie or an homage to the "Predator" franchise, well I suppose that is depending on how you approach this movie. It was blatantly copying so many things from the "Predator" movies.

You have an alien spacecraft crashing on Earth and an armored extraterrestrial emerging from the wreckage, in a suit that looks like a discount version of a predator outfit that was put together in a tool shed out in the backyard. And the face of this creature was a down-right imitation of the predator's, except they didn't manage to actually make it capable of opening up like the predator's did. And of course, the weaponry and the wrist-panel was also there. Copy, copy, copy...

And lets move on to the main character, Reinhard (played by Robert Amstler), of course he had to be a German cowboy with a lovely Schwarzenegger-imitated accent. It was just painful to witness. As for the acting here, well don't get worked out, because there is no acting going on, it is basically just running through a forest and shooting at a man in a plastic and rubber alien suit.

This is without a doubt a low budget and an amateurish movie, but they actually did manage to pull it off well enough, despite its lack of a proper storyline and despite its complete rip off of the "Predator" concept. The movie was just bad enough to actually be entertaining. This is the type of movie that requires no brain activity at all.

The thing I loved the most about this movie was that this top secret project about the alien transmitter at the top of the mountain, had just a single guard posted at a random location on the side of the forested mountain, standing at a gate. It was just epically stupid. One man to guard an entire mountain, to which you could easily go around and just scale the mountainside from any location to get to the transmitter. It was hilarious. Thumbs up on that one!

And also the fact that Reinhard's skeleton was there without the garments he wore back in 1854, as they had deteriorated and crumbled away to the decay of time, but still his journal had survived. I guess paper is just all the more durable to the ravages of time compared to fabric of clothing. Right, indeed!

This movie is the type of movie you just watch for a laugh at the stupidity of it all, and how cheesy and badly acted that it is. It is the type of movie you watch when you are seriously hung over and don't have to use your brain at all. It is the type of movie you watch once and never ever again, being left with a notion of 'seriously?'

Although amateurish and low budget, it did fare better than many other low budget movies. It is not amongst the worst of such movies I have seen. But don't have your hopes up too high...

A good alien and a bad alien land on this planet in 1869. The bad alien intends to call others and tell them what a rich planet this is, so they can exploit its population together. The good alien warns a human being that mankind is in danger of an invasion if the bad alien cannot be stopped. That human being happens to be Reinhardt (Robert Amstler), a gunman who has already some trouble, because he is falsely accused of theft and headhunters chase him into the mountains. Reinhardt follows the good alien's instructions, however, and fights the bad alien who clearly has superior firepower. More than a century later, the young scientist Marina (Nadia Lanfranconi) discovers Reinhardt's body and his diary, and she has to prevent an alien invasion again – all alone as nobody believes her story about aliens.

Maybe the ingredients were a bit too obviously taken from other movies, especially the look of the bad alien is a straight copy from 'Predator'. However, the story is built up well with the parallel story lines of present day and wild west times. Fighting scenes, acting skills and special effects all leave a lot to be desired, though - before watching this, don't expect more than amateur quality.