Dagli abissi dello spazio

A meteor is heading for earth. A team is sent to the comet to drill into the middle of it and blow it up before is smashes into earth (sounds like Armageddon?).But then they have to fight for their lives when a monster that has been dead for many million years come to life. Think the movie is pretty well done for a b-movie except the space scenes they look just like when you have the "fly through space thing" on your computer.

Grade: 7 out of 10

A rather large moon is on course for a collision with Earth. Dr Shaw (Caroline Barclay) is sent with a team of space miners to drill tunnels into that moon, preparing its destruction with explosives. However, they discover an ancient hostile life-form 'within the rock', and then they are killed one by one. Their survival is not made easier by Ryan (Xander Berkeley), the captain of the spacecraft who wants to use the opportunity and run with a fortune of platinum they discovered, too.

To many viewers, "Within the Rock" (1996) looks like a rip-off to "Armageddon" (1998) but looking at the dates, it can't be. Instead it is borrowing a lot from the usual monster movie sources "Alien" (1979) and "Predator" (1987) as well as earlier collision stories, a classic sci-fi theme going way back for example to "When Worlds Collide" (1951). The spaceship, where they still use floppy disks in the control room, looks early 80s rather than mid 90s; even for a TV production the effects are quite embarassing. So are the characters, because they leave tons of powerful explosives in the crates while trying to hit the monster with a pickaxe. The predictable story may be OK to watch once, but you won't remember it next week.

I'm one of those people that actually enjoy B-movies. Well, B-movies that aren't stupid. Anyways, I watched "Within the Rock" with very low expectations. My expectations were exceeded. Let's face it: 90'S Horror and Sci-Fi movies were mostly crap. However, this film manages to pull off being crappy with a good story, average acting, average effects, and a pretty cool monster. This film has cool fights, suspenseful jumps, and an interesting look at space-mining.For the little amount of money that was used for this film, it was used well. I recommend "Within the Rock" for anyone who will settle for an average, entertaining Sci-Fi flick.

Its cheap. The effects, the actors, everything on low budget. However, the script and direction are is quite good - compared to Michael Bay's Armageddon, which is extremely lame and boring once you leave out all the expensive effects and high-pay actors. Heck, it is even _with_ them, if your mind happens to wake up during the show. In contrast, this movie is original (in parts), it's refreshing low on pathos, and by far less expensive in production. I'd chose it over Armageddon anytime.

The alien sidestory is obvious, and OK. I hope director and writer Mr. Tunicliffe, whose other works are primarily in the special make-up department, will find time to hone his directing and writing abilities. There's potential, but he needs training.

Not bad for his first script and direction! 6/10, especially in comparison with Armageddon

Apparently some people are not used to made for TV movies. Possibly too young- they were everywhere in the late 60's and into the 70's. They do not have a huge F/X budget like Star Wars, Close Encounters of the 3'rd Kind, or Superman, etc. However, Within the Rock is way above the Sci-Fi 'B' movies of the 50's and 60's.

As to the plot, NASA and quite a few world governments are concerned about the possibility of a 'rogue' celestial body impacting our planet. A few years back, an object passed within something like less than a million miles of Earth- on a galactic scale, this is approximately next door. And, let's not forget the extinction level event that occurred 65 million years ago, that left iridium layers that are bigger than any other found on this planet ,and coincidentally occurred when dinosaurs became extinct.

The actors by and large were fine- sci-fi is not Shakespeare. If I wanted to watch Shakespeare, that's what I would be watching.

I liked this movie and recommended it to my sister.