Salvage Marines

This show is obviously made on a shoestring budget, which maybe mostly used on actors' salary, and not on CGI. I agree that it wakes some memories from (then not so cheap) 90's SF series.

But earlier this year there was another cheap SF show, 'The Ark', and I must say I found 'Salvage Marines' more entertaining, though I am surely no friend of any military, para, or legit.

There are a also lot of similar (non-SF) shows focussing on troopers or platoons and their problems, amongst other the questionable legitimacy of their fight.

I did not find the acting as bad as stated here by others, nor the script, in general, as condemnable. For sure, both are not legendary, but at least the acting is solid. Sometimes the direction seems to be a bit helpless, but there is seemingly a strong determination to hold a certain level of consistency.

Or, I was just in the mood to watch something not.highbrow, that tries to deliver a simple story and some basic insight. Yes, mercenaries are still humans...and yes, they die for money...and yes, if "government" is replaced by "corporation" or vice versa, it's all the same, humans fighting against humans for advantages that do not reach the fighters, who risk their lives.

I hope, CvD got a bit of a salary out there (he doesn't seem old enough to retire) and give this little show 5 stars.

Salvage Marines - campy, cheesy, and don't the forget sub-par acting. In addition the special effects are absolutely horrendous. It seriously looks like they contracted out the effects to someone who is using Adobe After Effects for the first time.

But did I enjoy it? Yeah, mostly. With Van Dien in the lead role it can feel like an alternate universe Starship Troopers at times. If you want to enjoy it as well then I really suggest you don't take this show too seriously. It is a fun experience if you don't get bogged down in its flaws. Just laugh it off and enjoy the ride.

The worst part by far is that you have to watch it on an ad-riddled streaming service that subjects you to 3 minutes of ads every 10 minutes. And it is the same annoying ads every single time. So be prepared to pop out your headphones and scroll through your favorite social media multiple times an episode. This isn't the show's fault, of course, but it does lead to a more negative viewing experience which can impact your opinion of the show.

I have been a long time fan of the books, so you can assume I was massively excited to hear about a live action show. Well, ITS TERRIBLE AND I AM FURIOUS! This looks like it was directed by someone who has no understanding of filmmaking. The acting is beyond terrible, especially the two leads, I can see why Casper Van Dien hasn't acted in anything worth a damn in 30 years. The brunette is also just terrible, is this her first acting role? Was this a student project? Why are the effects 90s level bad? Was the budget for the whole show 10k? I'm left with so many angry questions. I just hope these books get remade by a team of filmmakers that actually know how to make quality work.

UTTER FAILURE!

PS I made this account just for this review, that's how disappointed I am in this series.

I love cheesy sci-fi, so this is right up my alley. The books are better though, because your imagination is way better than the effects on display here...

However, the combat scenes are pretty laughable. I kept thinking of the shootout scenes from Police Squad, if you've ever seen it, where the people shooting at each other are 5 feet apart from each other and not hitting each other, lol.

It reminds me off all those sci-fi shows that flooded the marketplace in the 90's. Which is fine, because I liked all those shows and they knew they were catering to people like me.

So, I liked it. Yes, it's cheesy, but it's fun.

And Casper rules!

I am an avid SCIFI fan and love the corny Robocop/Total Recall/Starship Troopers era, so when I saw this pop up, I thought oh this could be a fun 90's throwback. This was a mistake. There is nothing in this series that shows me any of the people involved have any experience in filmmaking. Maybe this was everyones first time making a film? I don't know, but it was a huge waste of time. If you are reading this review, avoid this series and the makers of it, you will thank me later. And lastly, shame on you Casper, I expected better, Starship Troopers was so cool, but Salvage Marines was a dumpster fire.