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All the science in this science fiction tale is of the ludicrously pseudo sort, but it is stylish, well-acted entertainment. Will Wheaton, Rutger Hauer and Ron Perlman all give the excellent performances that one expects of them. Performances by the rest of the cast are more variable -- with some very good and some a bit over the top hammy. In terms of plot, the first half of the movie is quite original and makes the best of its obviously limited budget. Some parts of the second half are more trite and predictable but still stylishly done and ornamented by Will Wheaton's excellent performance. The special effects are minimal, the production design is a striking exercise in minimalism, and the musical score is quite good without being obtrusive. It is no SF classic, but it is both entertaining and thought provoking.

This is a very tight little SF drama made with a very limited budget. The acting is very good and the characters are not simply one dimensional types the way so many in science fiction movies of the day were. The one married couple is particularly believable as a couple who argue like an old married couple yet clearly really love one another. The film's scenes of a deserted Los Angeles (actually filmed early on a Sunday morning) are really starkly effective. The invading army of robots shows up one at a time because there wasn't enough money in the budget to afford more than one. And that one is a really quite silly looking robot, yet it has stuck in my memory as a frightening image and I knew kids back then who had nightmares about it after seeing this film.