Final Experiment

I know where it all went wrong. The cover. Prototype's tape cover shows a fake-looking robot standing against the background of a virtual reality grid. Instead it should have been showing a couple of lovers with expressions of suffering on their faces and some kind of dramatic quote. The movie should not have been called "Prototype" but rather something like "Desert Roses". It would have attracted a different kind of audience and would have perhaps been much better received.

Even if the people watching this B-movie do not admit to having any expectations for it, they are subconsciously expecting to see indications of some genre. Yet they receive none because Prototype can't pick a genre. Well then, is it like one of those smart genre-transcending films? Well, no. Firstly, because it is not smart and secondly, because even those kind of movies are clearly about something and generally pick an emotional focal point out of each genre on which to base the storyline and Prototype doesn't really get its footing in any of the genres. However if we tried to pinpoint a genre, it would most definitely not be an action movie, but a drama. It is a poorly executed drama.

The story is about a problematic couple getting caught up in the leftovers of a vague futuristic conspiracy. The setting is an 80s post-apocalyptic world.

There are multiple aspects of the story that could have been much better developed. It is not that the movie does not have enough material, like some have suggested. It is that the makers did not do enough with the material at hand. There is a whole movie out there about nothing more than a guy who gets his hand stuck in a rock, and it managed to keep its audience interested. Prototype is just poorly executed. The few action scenes are laughable. The stuff in between the action scenes doesn't have enough expression, contains horrible camera decisions and is in desperate need of better dialogue.

Having said that, the movie is somewhat underrated as it does have an interesting style and the acting, which this movie heavily relies upon, is not that bad. Unfortunately its style is a slow one, and unless you have a lot of patience with pessimistic sci-fi dramas, you will not like this.

I wish someone redid this movie and gave it life rather than a zombie existence.

I bought this...I admit...

Why? How could I? Was I thinking that this would somehow be in some weird and insane way even somewhat relative to one of the BEST robot/action/science fiction movies ever - Terminator 1,2 and 3?

Well it had a cool wasteland location...that is the good points...oh and whoever polished the suit of the prototype did a decent job of wax and polish...they have a great and bright future in car detail.

That aside...everybody else's comments on how rightfully and ruthlessly horrible this is are justified.

It's not just boring, it's also stupid...which makes it a double whammy.

Total waste of time unless you haven't slept for several days like I do from time to time.

This was a cure for sleep deprivation.

I think that this was produced by Philip-Morris...it had to be. Almsot every scene consists of people smoking...and not just for a cool look...but for need.

The future is dreary, dry, desolate...and in the future I will need to smoke endlessly...it's a requirement...well, that and to walk around with an angry scowl on my face.

I don't think anybody smiles - even half cased. It's MANDATORY to be consistently angry AND smoke at the same time.

There you go...my comments on a truly original film.

Oh...was it a real inspiration? That I hopefully die before 2057, so that I don't have to spend all my money on smokes and bad haircuts.

Now, I have this piece of art in my film collection. Should I die now or wait till I buy another fantastic motion picture like this?

I consider myself to be a major contender in the terms of low budget science fiction, i'm not one to brag but when I was a teenager, the movie clerk would say that I was keeping him in business by renting the obscure flicks that basically came and went without much of an impression. Prototype X29A (Which I guess is titled Prototype) is a movie that reminded me a lot like the equally dull Nemesis, in that it seems to labor to tell a story that has lots of heart and excitement but fails in most regards. Actually there are some okay moments that surface, for one of the characters is admittedly likable. The guy in a wheelchair has our sympathy, he wants to become a robot so he can have his true love but this is all abandoned for stupid quirkiness which add little to the story and nothing that is interesting. Plus the whole rebel underground subplot and the totalitarian government are clichés borrowed from Albert Pyun. I actually saw Prototype X29A in a double-bill with ROTOR, at least ROTOR (While admittedly far worse) was hilarious to watch. This one was just a decorated bore with little merit.

*1/2 out of 4-(Poor)

In the far-flung future, in the ruined city of Los Angeles, cyborgs called "Prototypes" are on the hunt for any remaining, partially-human "Omegas".

PROTOTYPE is another TERMINATOR clone, complete with unstoppable robots, a remnant human race, a tough female warrior, and a child savior.

Unfortunately, since there was obviously no money involved in the making of this film, the presentation is irredeemably slipshod. In the hands of someone like Roger Corman, this could have been an enjoyable schlock classic. No such luck.

The idiotic characters range from mildly to insufferably annoying, and the "special" effects are not up to the task. In addition, there's simply no excuse for just how bloody boring it all is! If boredom was a crime, then this movie would get the chair! Hell, the titular figure doesn't even enter the picture until the final 15-20 minutes, and still nothing happens!

In a word, this is awful...

I saw this quite a few years ago, probably on a Friday night when I had nothing better to do and had no desire to hit the bars--which would have been a better option, considering the movie. I remember being markedly unimpressed by the film, so much so that I woke up at one point and thought, Man is this thing ever gonna end? I remember seeing Kato Kaelin's name in the end credits, but never had the desire to rewind it and look for him. There aren't many films I have fallen asleep during, particularly early in the evening after a good night's rest, but this thing was like a Valium to a guy on Speed. Highly recommended as a curative if you are an insomniac.