Progetto Mindstorm

This film is awful. Terrible. Waste of time. It has reasonably well known actor Judge Reinhold in it - i guess his career must be slowing down or maybe he just needed a cheap holiday in eastern europe. The story sucks, the action sucks. This is not always a bad thing as some bad movies are really funny in an unintentional way. This one isnt. Avoid at all cost.

OK, here are the two biggest problems with this movie: Judge Reinhold and the sibling sub-plot. Nothing against Judge Reinhold, he's a decent enough actor when it comes to lighter fare like fathers inhabiting their sons bodies or flinging coffee into a robbers face but in this film we're expected to believe that Judge Reinhold is an ex-Black Ops Officer? Sorry, no. Knowing that Judge took this role to pay the rent and get a free trip to Bulgaria makes it a bit more forgivable from his point of view, but the casting director really should have gone for a younger, more athletic B-movie actor, like Antonio Sabato Jr. Sorry Mr. Reinhold, no hard feelings.

Also, what was with the sister?! Her accent was waaayyyy too thick (to the point that I couldn't understand what she was saying and with the lack of subtitles written into the DVD...) and her character was useless save for the fact that she provides a way to end the movie. Why not make Jerry an only child and develop a love interest. Same actress (dubbed over of course), different character name, and an extra ten minutes spent on explaining how/why they hook up. The ten minutes could easily have been lost from the "map" chase scene.

Even the fact that most of the aircraft featured in the film were CGI didn't bother me as they did a decent job on their surely shoe-string budget.

All in all, I'd have to say that this movie wasn't so bad. If USA still ran their "Up All Night" showcase of B-Movies I would have watched it and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Well, it was a dark gloomy November night. I was sitting in my sofa thinking what shall I do. The clock's pendulum just made hands align on 1am. I reclined back, wondering whether by watching this movie, I become excitedly thrilled with action or my heart would throb with fear of the unknown powers of human mind.

None of these expectations fulfilled. First 20 minutes of the movie I spend figuring out whether it is screenwright's, director's, actors' or componist's fault. I guess it was a bit - sorry - a LOT of all. The screenplay - I can't talk about a story as there ain't a hint of story to this movie - is horribly shallow, purposefully missing all good hooks that could send a shiver down your spine. Even such a straightforward moment as a mortal duel between two best friends passes without the viewer barely noticing anything happened. Actors were - well, matching the screenplay's standards. They walked, talked, breathed to not to suffocate, but that was it. One could expect more at least from J. Reinhold. Regarding the guy behind the camera - I hesitate to call that one a Director of Photography - he could shoot nice sunsets or party pictures. Not a movie. Too many static shots, too many mistakes in picture composition. And the music - I am sorry. There was none. Just some two beats sampled off some stoned DJ's houseparty, pretending to accompany the movie.

I managed to watch this tragical attempt, but I'm still considering claiming a health damage insurance. Sleeping, I'd make better use of the time.

I've seen this movie, and it's not to be confused with David Cronenberg's movie : Scanners (1981); although both movies utilizes the same premise - i.e. mind power... it is a standard B action flick with lots of explosion dumb script, and bad CGI (which you can pinpoint right from the opening scene). I give it a 1 out of 5 stars.

Definitely not a high budget movie, but filmed on location, Eastern Europe, and conveys a sense of place with a few beautiful churches and monasteries. Judge Reinhold carries this movie with understated authority and maturity that is miles away from his old comic persona. No comic scenes. Good character development of an appropriately cynical agent, but scenes without him are flat.

Plot pretty simple, but great to have a low impact action movie for once, without all those chase scenes, computerized monsters, and frenetic characters. Interesting Eastern European music seems to fit the movie. Much like a made for TV movie short of production funds. Not for everyone, but Judge Reinhold fans will like this role.