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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.

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)

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.

Of all the thousands of movies I've seen that have employed guns and tanks and exploding things, this is the first that made me want to turn the gun on myself. As each scene wore on and on, I kept gesturing in the air to 'hurry it up'. It was as if dead people were on the screen. The characters spoke so slow, I began to doubt that any of them ever spoke before! A world of frustration. There was only a little tension, a fair plot and a whole lot of inconceivabilities. Supposedly, the robot was infused with the memories and life experiences of her/its creator. So, it was expected to act and respond according to this 'information'. Yeah, right. Yawn. Gregory Hines was right for the role and his performance was very good, as expected. Everybody else were rank amateurs, as evidenced by their uninteresting, wooden deadpan styles. Avoid this movie unless you want to eat your own lead salad.

I actually rented this by mistake when I was a kid. I intended to rent Kathleen Turner in V.I. Warshawski and I got mixed up when I saw the blonde yielding the gun on the box. I thought Renee Soutendijk was Kathleen Turner and that Eve of Destruction was what I was after. A happy mistake as the deranged nature of the movie appealed to my 11-year-old sensibilities.

Eve 8 is a surveillance robot designed by Dr. Simmons in her own likeness (apparently sharing a badly-timed cold sore poorly covered in Maybelline at one point) with much of her memories copied over. While on a routine test mission Eve is trapped in a bank robbery and is shot. She promptly wastes the robbers but suffers a malfunction, steals their guns, and runs away. The authorities hire terrorist hunter Colonel McQuade to get her back. While following the trail of corpses they discover that Eve 8 is acting out Dr. Simmons' subconscious desires with increasing aggression, triggering a nuclear timebomb failsafe hidden inside her wiring.

Yes, it's absolute drivel, but it's completely mad and has energy to spare, so it's never a bore. But it's also a wasted concept, for the most part. McQuade, despite being the lead, never really gets any development, instead Eve/Simmons get all the character drama. If they explored Eve more she could have been a sympathetic villain and a meaningful, tragic figure. Renee Soutendijk is fine in the dual role, handling an Uzi with style and conviction and a seemingly infinite ammo clip, but they could have cast someone a bit taller. At 5'3'' Eve is hardly the imposing villain she ought to be.

The supporting cast is pretty good, including Kurt Fuller in a rare non-obnoxious role, and a few more recognizable character actors. The late Gregory Hines is fine as the lead and works quite well as an action hero despite being primarily known for dancing and comedy. Phillippe Sarde also delivers a score that is "just fine" without ever really being memorable. In fact, in many places it feels like an 80s sitcom theme.

It's servicably shot by Bond cinematographer Alan Hume but there's not much atmosphere or visual flair to it, which I will chalk up to music video director Duncan Gibbins failing to find the right aesthetic. He only ever directed two movies, with Eve of Destruction being the second. Had it been shot in higher key and in anamorphic Panavision it would have been slightly less disposable entertainment.

I don't say this very often, but I really do think that Eve of Destruction could do with a remake. The idea is great but the execution here never gets beyond "above average", though it is a fun ride. I freakin' LOVE that title too.