The Men Who Fell

Extremely promising sci-fi thriller boasts some spectacular production design and moments of satisfying action only to become diluted of much of its suspense and believability. This the result of a weak third act, and, worse, a tragic choice to inject fantasy into the movie's gritty atmosphere. Acting is strangely fragmented in places--likely the result of a long period of production--but the two leads have plenty of charisma and chemistry, even if, for playing hardened convicts, it's hard to accept them as anything but average, clean-cut joes in space-suits. Script doesn't allow its lead characters much variety of emotion, and one wishes for more surprises, even violence, to erupt between them. Considering their predicament, the convicts' bickering relationship grows wearisome, as well. The movie's subterranean hell-hole is magnificent to look at, yet doesn't detract from the amount of pedestrian travel in the movie. Thus, the on-screen time devoted to showing the characters' entries, exits, and steps in-between is enough to justify a retitling: "The Men Who Walked An Entire 90 Minute Running Time". Decent score is reminiscent of "Blade Runner" era Vangelis, and a John Carpenter style dirge near the end provides some welcome nostalgia for decent sci-fi/horror music. Vivid cinematography is a plus, as well. As for an earlier blurber making the ignorant (and curiously anonymous) comment about the unprofessional nature of some of the actors, it's not only inaccurate, but if there's anything "groan-inducing" about the performances, it's the movie's unfortunate grafting on of fantasy characters burdened by flowery language ("sun spiders"?). The contrast in style is jarring and the resulting scenes become an intrusion. Great diabolical effects and a rousing finale make this well worth a watch. Undoubtedly, a better than average straight-to-video genre film and deserving of more attention.

After two space prisoners crash their aircraft in the desert, they enter an underground hallucinatory bunker under orders from a company willing to knock time off their sentences upon completion of a mysterious mission. Ultra indie sci-fi effort squeezes every last penny from its wallet, AE and available warehouse sets to convincingly portray a beautiful/ugly fantasy world. The film relies heavily upon its two leads (Wild Dogs alumni Aaron Stielstra and Brendan Murphy) who endlessly bicker and whine much more than your average space detention criminals, but add a level of professional that clashes with some of the sillier plot elements that later enter the picture. Which is part of the problem. The film's first act is so good and gritty it's like a Don Siegel program with nomads and Mad Max action, including a documentary-lite space shootout complete with bo staff needles and other crap I can't even explain. The story soon takes a more whimsical sci-fi turn with the heroes walking around and talking in set after CG set, which admittingly look good, but bring the pacing to a grinding halt. Some other mumbo jumbo, inner and physical demons appear but can't do much to elevate the already sloggy second act, further compromised by a weak Slayer character and it's decision to drop the second male lead from the plot (only to later appear in a dynamite return). But even if the monsters and demon children threaten the established dark tone, they are appropriately gooey, atrocious, and most importantly, scary. Visuals are as good as they can get from a DVX100 with lots of balanced lighting, pleasing widescreen compositions and stark contrast, all accompanied with a decent score. Perhaps some more cutting all around would help things, but as it stands, a highly recommended and enjoyable effort. 7/10

I loved this movie!! I don't know what the other critic was talking about. Everything seemed clear and to the point to me. The characters were established and the story line was easy to figure out. I guess some people no matter how old they are should stick with Bob the Builder and Dora the Explorer. I thought it was exceptional considering size of the budget they had to work with. The effects were awesome. The costumes were so..... "Like it would be" if it were the real thing; for lack of a better way to put it. Acting was good too. As far as the only critic I can see, come on guy, it's not rocket science nor a word search. Just pay attention. Really excellent job. When's the next one??

Lets get something straight. We're talking about a movie that was filmed with a DVX-100 camera in various locations within Tucson, AZ most of which was either in a warehouse or at home. The sound was done entirely in a garage; most all of the work behind the scenes was done by "count em" three people. The models, sets, & props were built by the director. The computer effects were done by the producer; and the costumes as well as the set dressing were done by the directors wife!! And oh yeah, the complete budget was a mere $20,000. By the way, the door sound wasn't lifted from Doom or any where else. I think it's pretty impressive.

The film started not bad but turned into a complete nonsense quickly and finished with some idiotism. I don't mind the low budget, but the whole story line is plain awful and nothing compensates for its total ugliness, though acting and costumes are quite good. Even the initial scenes of the earth devastated terribly by some kind of a cataclysm bring rather a disappointment. There are too many scenes shot with no apparent purpose and too many events left unexplained.

In general, it's just another amateur work which you could watch for free to kill some time and forget about it after all. If these boys and girls ever decide to produce another sci-fi film like this one, they should find a much better writer and place their characters in the clearest light.