Alien Hunter

Since "Ridley Scott's Alien" the science fiction has been branded the Aliens for good, often they are portrait as those eyesores slimy with long claws life form, exactly as appears in this fine picture, it somehow displease the viewers, worst the IMDB's users put lower ratings due for some smallest mistakes only, in my opinion they ranked the movie for a lack of action, instead to assess the peaceful content overall.

Straight away in early scenes that is dealing with mid budge picture, featuring just one star as James Spader, the remainder casting is comprises by secondaries actors, letting the offer slight unattractive, the plot is quite engaging, everything began at the legendary Roswell in 1947 when a ram radio catch a strange signal in the vicinity area, finding the spot most possible he disappears, the story jumps to present day, another signal also is received at Falkland island, Spade plays a former cryptologist Julien Rome as "Alien hunter's signals" in an already shut down NASA's department of research for Alien life.

Working as professor in a University for a while to survive, he is sudden invited by his old friend to going in an Antarctic Survey Station of organic crops, there they find a strange ice block containing something like a shell, soon on melting process they figure out that probable it is an Alien's unknown piece, Dr. Rome touching the shell receiving through his mind many retroactive footages that astonish him utterly, Thus Rome goes at laboratory, there he tracks down in a computer these alien signs trying decrypt it in mathematical language, whilst the maintaining crew is trying open the iron shell, Rome got decrypt the message, "don't open", too late an alien lies inside the shell, henceforth all them are infected, meanwhile a Russian Sub is around ready to launch an atomic missile in compliance with White House.

The outcome is awesome, unfortunately the producers screwed up putting the an useless former Julien Rome's girlfriend working at Antarctic station, also one star's picture was another fail, either shooting at Sophia Bulgaria in scant and coarse manner in poor's scenario, all that gathered together spoils what they really expect previously, therefore fair away the got the scarce medium rating 5.1 out 10, utterly underrated!!

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Resume:

First watch: 2005 / Source: Cable TV-DVD / How many: 2 / Rating: 7.5.

This is an exceptional Sci-Fi Network Production. Decent F/X and a story line that is not too far fetched to enjoy. A team of government scientists conducting botanical experiments at the South Pole stumble upon what is believed to be an extraterrestrial black box. After further examination and disregard for a decoded warning an alien tries to communicate. A terrific finale out of the ordinary. James Spader leads an apt cast that features:Leslie Stefanson, Janine Eser, Roy Dotrice, John Lynch and Keir Dullea. A don't miss for Sci-Fi fans.

Ever reliable James Spader plays a professor named Julian Rome, dubbed an "alien hunter" because he used to work for S.E.T.I. He gets called in when a mysterious alien "black box" is discovered in the Antarctic. Some of his colleagues are eager to open this thing, and naturally when this thing - which could also be called a Pandora's box - is touched, it sets off unforeseen circumstances. Circumstances which could be dire for the whole planet. Meanwhile, a bunch of political bigwigs in Washington are meeting to discuss the implications of the matter, and the possible end result.

At the risk of sounding unoriginal, this reviewer will say that what hurts "Alien Hunter" the most is its derivative nature. It plays like an amalgam of ideas borrowed from "Alien", John Carpenters' "The Thing", "Warning Sign", and even "The Abyss". It also succumbs to an unfortunate common cliché in having a Complainer character in the form of a scientist played by Irish actor John Lynch. This guy does so much bellyaching that one prays for him to be dealt with expeditiously. You know if the character doesn't become a menace himself, he'll at least be a major nuisance. The screenplay by J.S. Cardone (based on a story he concocted with Boaz Davidson) is uninspired (and, for a while, threatens to choke on its "science fact" style exposition), but director Ron Krauss (who also appears on screen) and his crew are competent enough to make this a passable viewing. The production design and cinematography are well done and atmospheric, and the music by Tim Jones is quite nice.

Other than Spader, the rest of the acting is basically decent. Co-stars include Janine Eser, Leslie Stefanson ("The General's Daughter"), Aimee Graham ("Jackie Brown"), Stuart Charno ("Friday the 13th Part 2"), Anthony Crivello ("Spellbinder"), Roy Dotrice ('Beauty and the Beast', "Mozart"), Joel Polis ("The Thing" '82), Keir Dullea ("Black Christmas" '74, "2001: A Space Odyssey"), and Bert Emmett ("The Forsaken" '01). It is nice to see a bunch of these familiar faces here.

Worth it for fans of "The Thing" to see the Norwegian video footage from that film, used here in a somewhat different context. What also makes this a little above average is that ending; while somewhat predictable, it is an interesting touch. (One has to dig those trippy visuals.)

Six out of 10.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Alien Hunter". I didn't ponder whether it was drawing upon other films, or harshly criticize the actors. I simply enjoyed the plot and people and the entertainment it provided. I thought the cast all did a fine job. It's pretty good science fiction! I do wish the producers had found a more meaningful name for it.

The premise of the film had an element of originality that made it gripping and entertaining. The finale was a complete surprise to me. I had envisioned quite another resolution.

The director sets an overall somber, brooding tone with the consistently drab surroundings of the Antarctic lab. The plot develops well, and holds interest. There were very few slow spots, and those could have been my own perception. I liked the characters, and flowed right along with them. I would recommend this film to any science fiction fan. The beautiful girl in the white bikini, wading into a cornfield in an Antarctic lab, was irresistible. Just the right touch.

The film is thoughtful and poignant, with elements of intellectual science fiction that made viewing it fascinating for me. Its the kind of film that one can just lean back with, and imagine being right there with the cast, living it all with them.

Just woke up on a Saturday morning and this movie was just beginning on SciFi... I'd seen the name before, but honestly did not expect much, specifically because of the name, it's terrible and does not describe this movie at all. So not expecting much, I was more than pleasantly surprised! I had no idea James Spader was in it and he played the role well, mainly because he didn't need to act much. The plot was similar to a number of other films as folks have mentioned, but sufficiently different enough to keep you guessing. For a made for TV movie, I thought it was well done and would recommend it to anybody who is looking for some decent scifi. While it would have been much better broadcast in HD (the channel was, the movie wasn't), it was good entertainment with which to start the weekend. Now if they'd just change that frackin' name...