Annihilator

Just seen this film on tv......and well the plot had promise but never delivered on it-we never found out why all this was happening and how.The way the film ends you think there may be a sequel-leaves a lot of unanswered questions.......

In watching this film, I never got the sense they were aliens. The constant shots of churches and crosses made me think of something else. They called themselves Dynamitards. (This was an actual 1800s secret society in Europe.) I would have loved a sequel. Or maybe a look at the original script. I did wonder why the Dynamitards would leave an assault rifle and ammo laying around at their camp. Especially since they'd already bent the barrel on his handgun while he was away from his room. The film isn't available on DVD, which would be great. I think "Otherworld" is available in a boxed set (another fantasy series from the same producer).

This was a second series attempt from musician Roderick Taylor a year after Otherworld for CBS. Strangely, the very title, "Annihilator" is never explained. The unsold pilot tells the story of a newspaper publisher whose girlfriend has been apparently replaced by an android during the return flight from a vacation. A trip he missed due to business. After discovering the switch, he begins a quiet investigation of her fellow travelers, leading only to several attempts on his life and finally being framed by some unknown party for murder, sending him on the run with only a list of the passengers aboard the unfortunate flight as a starting point for his search for the masterminds behind the androids and their ultimate goal. The film maintains the Taylor trademark of an altered reality with the use of surrealistic imagery and music. Many story elements that would define the X-Files years later are on display here. It should also be noted that leading man Mark Lindsay Chapman, then going under the name Mark Lindsay, was given this role as compensation after being cast as John Lennon in a TV biopic, only to be removed when his real name was discovered to be the same as Lennon's killer.

A great sci-fi film and a good cast and music from David Bowie excellent special effects make this film a must to view and have myself seen over 50 times at least surely this must be released on DVD likewise night of the comet also starring catherine mary stewart and is equally a great film.it seems that the best cult classics are always the last to appear on DVD. An excellent soundtrack also help this movie along even though its not needed. At around 90 minutes this is one sci-fi film to look out for.... The David bowie song ashes to ashes is heard at two pivitol moments in the movie and indeed makes the movie that much more enjoyable.

I caught this on HBO back in 1989, and this was definitely meant to launch a television series. Mark Lindsay Chapman plays a reporter who discovers a plot by aliens/androids to begin a conquest of Earth. Unfortunately, he's branded a fugitive when he is caught killing one of the cyborgs who replaced his girlfriend. His trip takes him through California and Oregon, where he learned that while his girlfriend was replaced by an android, others that vanished with her on an airplane flight she was on are still human. The end had him on the run with a list containing the names of all people that were on the flight that his girlfriend was on in an effort to see just who from the flight could remember just what happened. Great premise, though a bit underbudgeted (what could one expect when it came to sci-fi on network tv back in 1986?), and there were many questions that were never resolved. Definitely should have been followed up, since we never learned if Chapman's girlfriend was alive (played by Catharine Mary Stuart) or how he would manage to convince the human race of the threats posed by the aliens. With today's budget, it'd be great to see 'Annihilator' retried. Nice mix of 'The Fugitive' and 'War Of The Worlds'.