XChange

I thought Kyle McLachlin was a great bad guy. The atmosphere was wonderful and the music quite good. It was a world fully realized and the way the characters crept through the plot was well drawn. I'd see it again if it were replayed.

XChange's jumping-off point involves an extremely clever way to travel - you switch into someone else's body, and they switch into yours; that way you can attend that all-important meeting in San Francisco without never actually leaving New York. Smart, huh. But with new technology comes new evil-doers - body terrorists, who 'float' from one body to another, wreaking havoc along the way. This is an endlessly creative flick that never gets boring, with another great performance from Kyle MacLachlan to boot. See it in any state of your choosing.

This is a completely trivial lightweight action flick, yet it succeeded in entertaining (at least me). Its science fiction setting is almost entirely window dressing, although a few valiant efforts have been made to illustrate the futuristic setting. Most of the time these gadgets and technological wonders look and seem familiar from other, more innovative movies, but here they've been done convincingly enough.

The actors all do decent work, maybe with the exception of Janet Kidder, whose on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown persona is a bit grating for my tastes. Neither am I plagued by an allergy of the Baldwin brothers, that some of the other reviewers here seem to be suffering from. Stephen seems to be doing just fine on the acting front, maybe even better than his more famous brothers :)

The tension in the plot is constant, if totally predictable. Yes, you have probably seen this done before a dozen times (at least), so don't see it if you're always craving for something brand new and original. But... it's done quite well, so it's a safe bet. Science fiction, it's not, though. Good show. A 5 out of 10 from me.

You don't need a big budget to make a fantastic film.

Simply put: This is an entertaining and surprising movie with everything you could ask for - genuine suspense with believable plot twists, well-timed action, memorable comedy, and special effects that actually has a purpose beyond the "see-what-we-can-do" arrogance of many blockbuster productions.

I regularly contribute to IMDb's I Need To Know Board where many board favorites tend to be the memorable kitschy flicks. In the coming years - this will be one of them - I guarantee it. Not only is this a really fun movie to idle away a 'popcorn video night', it's filled with unique visual hooks and interesting plot twists that tend to find their way into the collected memories of film fans.

While others have noted similarities to other well-known films of the genre - I urge you to watch this with a fresh mindset (pun intended).

This is probably one of the best Stephen Baldwin films from his hodge-podge career. Had he chosen to do more along these lines I suspect his limelight wouldn't have gotten so dusty that he'd end up as a B-rated 'star' for reality TV schlock. Doing solid, low budget, but profitable films is a career track that had Edward Herrimann and C. Thomas Howell working for decades while their "will-only-work-for-great-scripts/directors" driven counterparts have been forgotten or relegated to the world of early retirement.

Don't listen to the other comments here. This is one science fiction movie that works. It manages to get all the things it's got going against it, work *for* it.

Take the male lead, for instance. Stephen Baldwin is not the sharpest knife in the drawer (and indeed, hasn't exactly starred in a lot of quality movies). So in this movie he's got no mind of his own. He's an assembly line clone, used as a host or worker body for the corporate jetset. That's putting a man of Stephen Baldwin's caliber to the best possible use!

The movie is about mind transfers. That's the plot, and the writer takes the utmost consequence of what this means. A plot that would be an insufferably silly stunt-of-the-week on an episode of Star Trek, Stargate or Farscape, manages here to be described disturbingly realistically and in a near-present day setting. Every possible twist that could possibly be imagined if this technology existed is commented on in one way or the other. No stone is left unturned. The sexual possibilities alone remain an important on-going sub-plot. This is highly unusual for a run-of-the-mill sci fi/action flick.

The SFX are fairly few, and integrated seamlessly and perfectly into the story. The one-molecule-thick cutting wire is really cool.

Like I said, it works. All of it. It is engaging, coherent, tasteful (all the four female main characters have topless scenes, and no, they are *not* gratuitous, but enhance the characterization), well-written, and goes out of its way to avoid clichés. For commercial flicks of any kind, this doesn't happen often. It's too bad the guy who wrote it hasn't done anything else.

I'm amazed to see that most of the commentators here have such a low opinion of this movie. Don't listen to them. This movie succeeds in everything it sets out to do. For a B movie, it is good. Surprisingly good. It will hold up for several viewings, if you're the type of person who can appreciate it. This is going to be a cult favorite.

8 out of 10.