D4

Wow, how some movies get a green-light and a budget is beyond me. Awful sums this one up. The story revolves around a group of special ops mercs that are hired to rescue a wealthy women's son that supposedly is being held at a shut down, secret government facility. So the team assembles (not going to waste your time with actor names) and head off to find him. You have your usual cookie cutter characters here each with their specialty (acting not being one of them). Of course, they get to the base to find that they are conducting experiments to create super soldiers out of kids with epilepsy. This also leads to a sub plot of a grandfather who has his child abducted and taken away for this experiment, don't worry though, this is not very engaging either. The action scenes are terrible and I wouldn't be helping you any if I didn't point out the special effects are absolutely horrible. When the "monster" gets shot, repeatedly, which does nothing, the blood spatter is the biggest joke I have ever seen. How they thought anyone wouldn't just laugh at the effects that appear like someone did it with Microsoft paint to appear like blood is beyond me. Well, I have to say "snipe" as a character is the best one, not because the women could act or was believable, but because she was the only character that I didn't loathe throughout the movie. I will give them points for a plot twist that a 4 year old would've seen coming in the first 5 minutes of the movie but pays off at the end, so expect a lot of boredom for the 93 other minutes of this indie pile of rubbish. Please, even if free or on netflix, don't harm your brain with this one. Curse yourself later after watching but don't come back here and say I didn't warn you. 1.6/10 IMDb 3.5 from 356 votes(movie came out in 2010 and that few votes???). In other words, the cast giving high ratings skewered the numbers from people that watched it, not worked for the crew.

I watch a lot of independent movies. Usually this means low budget. But low budget doesn't have to mean bad. D4 is a perfect example of a movie with meager means that manages to pull it off.

My biggest challenge with indie movies is production value - or the lack thereof. Darrin Dickerson manages to pull off some pretty decent production values here. Good cinematography, believable sets, and actor who (while not George Clooney or Meryl Streep) do an admirable job. Dickerson understands the details make a difference.

The story is told from two points of view that converge about 2/3 of the way in. Each story is compelling and kept me interested.

I have seen other reviews of this film speaking poorly of the quality. I guess these folks were expecting Transformers (which sucked by the way) or something from Spielberg.

If you watch most any of your typical low budget indie films and then watch D4 - you will understand how D4 stands head and shoulders above most.

The film is not rated - but under today's standards a PG-13 or soft R. No sex, minimal swearing (oddly enough), and violence that isn't in your face.

This movie was a little slow to start, but I found the music score very appropriate for the action that slowly grew to fit the story. The plot was well developed and there were points when I cared about the characters more than I expected. I enjoyed this movie on many levels. The 'costumes' and 'props' were very good. As a movie maker myself I could appreciate the time and energy put into the story development and camera work. The technical faults in this movie did not detract from the story in any significant way for me as I didn't expect Hollywood Production Values. I especially liked the way the mystery aspect was developed. I loved the surprises and the twists. The monster was certainly a fine specimen of man-flesh. I also liked the Grandfather played by Ted Legarde as well as the mercenaries. This is an outstanding example of a complex indie movie that reached its goal, though not necessarily perfection. As an indie movie it is probably an 8-9, but a 5 as far as a professional studio release.

THIS is how you maximize a minimal budget and put out a product that looks like a million bucks.

D4 tells the story of hired mercenaries on a simple search-and-rescue mission in the woods that goes quite askew when they are beset up on by a very big, very angry monster of a man, a product of science run amok. On the surface, this appears to be a fairly straightforward tale. However, the filmmakers' choice to tell the story non-sequentially adds layers of ever-deepening mystery and nail-biting suspense to the proceedings. Just how deep does this conspiracy go? Well, let's just say, just when I thought I had it all figured out, I was wrong.

Very wrong.

Dickerson manages to elevate D4 miles above its micro budget with excellent camera work, a talented ensemble cast, and pulse-pounding action helped out by tight fight choreography and stunts (believe me, I'm a stickler.)

I hope D4 gets the attention that it deserves, because the love and care and attention to detail that was put into it really shine, and it should be held up as a model for other low-budget movie makers to aspire to.

I have spoken.

One of the greatest true to story action flicks I've seen in a long time. It was very refreshing to find a thriller that has an actual story instead of the standard explosive sequences accenting horrible dialog (which sadly is all action/thriller fans have coming from Hollywood anymore). The actors come out gritty and true to form. No one tries to steal a scene and they all end up shining until the final credits roll. The writing holds true to what story telling once was and should be. The direction is amazing. The fact that this movie is considered low budget never crossed my mind, just due to the sheer amount quality that comes through. I recommend D$ highly whether you're an adrenaline movie junkie, having a first date, or even having family movie night.