Battle Drone

Nothing here screams blockbuster, but a story that didn't seem too cheesy and characters that kept things moving and interesting. Save it for a night when want something with some action but that doesn't make you think too hard and enjoy.

4/5/18. Not too bad for a Terminator rip-off. Enough action to keep you watching. However, don't expect to be mentally challenged by the plot.

Battle Drone, with a title like that you have to assume the worst right? Based on the cast and plot outline the film sounded like a rather run of the mill Scyfy Original type and I guess it is, but an oddly good one.

It tells the story of an elite mercenary team tasked with a mission in Chernobyl. Once they arrive however they come under attack from an unstoppable unknown force that pushes their skills to the limit.

I'm not a big action movie fan and Scyfy originals though charming are usually seven shades of awful so Battle Drone never really stood a chance. So why have I rated it so high?

The reason, well because it's suspiciously enjoyable. The cast are familiar faces who you'll likely recognize but not put a name to, they demonstrate why you remember them in the first place and are a bunch of decent character actors. The SFX are well above par, this is not your usual Scyfy Adobe Aftereffects ugliness. The plot is very enjoyable, the cinematography is stylish and it's just all put together nicely.

Sure this isn't even a B-Movie, it's C, it's made for television stuff but it shows what people with competence can do despite the little resources they have at their disposal.

I really enjoyed Battle Drone and can confidently say I'm shocked at that fact. The very definition of take your brain out entertainment, this was a lot of fun.

The Good:

Stylish

Memorable moments

Competently made

Good soundtrack

Interesting characters

The Bad:

Bit goofy a couple of times

Remember when Michael Pare was once a rising A-list movie star in major Hollywood releases? Well, that was such a long time ago, that I would understand why you may think that he has always slummed it in low budget B movies such as this one. Now, I definitely have nothing against B movies - I watch them all the time, and they can be pretty enjoyable at times. But this particular one, while far from the worst I have seen, is pretty bland stuff for the most part. Oh, the director does try to throw in some fancy camera tricks here and there(such as "bullet time" shots), but they come across as pretentious and in-your-face instead of being cool and blowing your mind. But that's not the real problem with this movie. The main problem with the movie is that while there is plenty of action, for the most part it has a very routine and familiar feel to it. It isn't exciting, it doesn't make you care for the protagonists' survival, and it isn't much better than simply showing people casually shooting their guns endlessly. The movie is fairly well photographed, but the pretty look of everything doesn't add much.

Oh, and the title is wrong - it should have been pluralized.

So sometimes you just want to watch a sloppy movie on your couch and not give a crap. This is one of those movies. It's not that great, but it's not bad at all. The action was decent, not a huge fan of Slomo though. The gun fights were pretty good and each character has their own "class" if you will. You got your heavy gunner, sniper, boom stick, ninja guy, etc. I actually loved watching the super and the ninja kick but. The robots were pretty cool. The first time you see them it looks like terrible cgi. Then later it gets much better. It's like they forgot to take out the bad shot early on. I recommend this if you want a dramaless shooter.