Alien Fury: Countdown to Invasion (2000 TV Movie) User Reviews

Good idea for a movie, but it went terribly wrong

[wombat_1 · 4/10 · 6 May 2002]

Well, few surprises in this movie. Alien invasion, or is it? A smart scientist figures it out, sinister gummint organization, nuclear weapon launched, abort sent, etc, etc.

The characters - almost every one of them was over acted. The hero, with his Clint Eastwood breathy voice. His wife, the beautiful doctor with always-perfect hair and makeup who works in a public hospital: puh-lease. The slavering general. Cardboard cutouts, every one of them. Grace Phillips in her braless strappy top (and to her credit she looks OK in it) gives some idea of where one of the target demographics of this movie was. The female mud-wrestler type cast as a security guard could be another clue. And almost all the other women, who for some strange reason had short skirts and very high heel shoes, might be yet another.

Special effects were reasonable, although the multiple alien spacecraft sitting in the crater, each one an obvious copy/paste of each other... at first, I thought it was a computer wallpaper. And the stories with the nitrogen inhalers - please, give us nerdy audience types at least a tiny sliver of background knowledge.

I think that the worst sin this movie committed was that it couldn't make up its mind as to what combination of seriousness and comedy it was going to be. But again to be fair, if you set your expectations low enough you might well be entertained.

Junky waste of time

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 22 May 2015]

Another junky, waste-of-time, sci-fi TV movie that should never have been put into production to begin with. ALIEN FURY: COUNTDOWN TO INVASION has a great title which makes it sound like an exciting movie, but in reality it's anything but. Like a lot of low budget extraterrestrial flicks, the major villains in this film are humans themselves, with an alien fleet putting in only a few brief appearances during the running time.

The plot is relatively complex for a film of this type and seems to have been written in answer to the usual X-FILES government conspiracy stuff. A group of officials are busy fooling the public into thinking an alien race is ready to attack the Earth, but then it's the boy who cried wolf time when an alien race really DOES show up and an attack is imminent. The usual wooden heroes have to save the day, and the cast incorporates the typically stiff Dale Midkiff (PET SEMATARY) alongside such familiar character actors as Stephen Tobolowsky. There are some very poor CGI effects here to match the poverty of the storyline.

The Story Is So Absurd and Ridiculous That Becomes Funny

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 4 August 2004]

In San Diego, the powerful Bill Templer (Dale Midkiff) leads a governmental defense agency, and after the explosion of an expensive satellite, the government intends to shut-down his agency. He frauds the government and the population with images showing the danger of an alien attack to justify the explosion of the equipment. The aliens were in the hidden side of the moon ready for attacking Earth. Templer convinces American government to send a nuclear weapon and blows the alien force up before the invasion of Earth. Detective Kevin Anjanette (Dondré T. Whitfield) finds that the images used by Bill Templer are forged and threatens his plans to regain power. This story is so absurd and ridiculous that becomes funny. `Alien Fury' hooked my attention until the last scene to check the capacity of a writer and a director to make such an unbelievable mess. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): `Fúria Alienígena' (`Alien Fury')

More plot twists than ten movies!

[bros · 20 August 2000]

In charge of alien threats, Bill Templer appears to be fighting the establishment to protect the public against an alien invasion. But wait, is he honest? It appears that to protect the existence of his agency, he has manufactured an alien invasion and launched an offensive attack to protect Earth. But wait, it appears that there actually are aliens, but they don't want to invade, that the unprovoked attack will actually drive them to invade. But wait, it appears that Bill Templer is himself an alien trying to provoke his own peaceful race to attack Earth. But wait, the unprovoked attack has really made the aliens mad and they are actually going to invade the Earth. But wait, in a last second rescue, the good guys off Bill, destroy the missile aimed at the aliens and save both the aliens, and the Earth, which is already under an attack which is immediately withdrawn. This movie, performed with a sense of humor, holds the record for twists and turns and is worth experiencing for that reason alone.

But wait, did the aliens really call off their invasion......

No aliens, no fury, no invasion... just achingly slow count-down.

[WritelySo · 2/10 · 31 January 2002]

This movie was so bad that it more resembled a very tired TV series than a movie. There was no action, the acting, writing, and directing were abysmal, and it wasn't even decently filmed. I will give it credit for having suspense, though it was the half-hearted, stressful kind of suspense you get when you are in denial about the fact that you are sitting through a numbingly pathetic excuse for a movie and you are clinging to a futile hope that in a couple of minutes it might get interesting. This isn't an alien thriller... it had no aliens, or convincing alien technology, and there was no sense of imminent threat (beyond the very real possibility you are having 2 hours sucked from your lifespan by some hack film maker.) The story (Department of defense cover up about alien invasion) might have been good if an actual writer took the idea and built a script around it, but the way this was done, it shouldn't have been more than a half hour long. Don't waste your time... and don't listen to the votes... this isn't better than a 2...

Absurd plots twisting

[calgarian3432 · 1/10 · 7 April 2005]

This is the most pathetic "thriller" ever. The plot goes one way, then changes 180 degrees. It flips back dozen ties. The rate of plot twists actually increases to the point of utter silliness.

Now sci-fi can get away with no good plot, *if* the effects are worthy. Nothing like is here. It's a pretty cheap film. Chyna is a horrible actress. They tried to use her fame from wrestling, but it doesn't work. There's a reason her film career has flopped.

Another big failing of this movie is one has no concern for any of the characters. The acting is so fake and forced, I couldn't care less. Again, a great sci-fi can get away with this, if there are effects. None were here. I couldn't care less if there were aliens, or if aliens took over the world, or what happened.

If it's a rainy afternoon, give it a try. If it's sunny, go outside instead.

[atlant · 4/10 · 29 June 2004]

This is just another movie in that well-trodden genre of "Mysterious aliens intend to take over the planet". It adds a unique twist or two to the plot, but nothing you couldn't have predicted in the first reel.

Plot: so-so. Effects: basically non-existent. Characters: With the exception of the detective, nobody you'll really care much about.

If you need some sci-fi background noise, this movie will do just fine. But if you're looking for entertainment, you'd do far better to go outside and watch the birds.

By the way: CD-RW discs are silver, not green/blue. The green/blue ones can't be re-written.

Capable plot that would have benefitted from a bigger budget

[DP-7 · 7/10 · 25 May 2002]

This has all the hallmarks of a 'made for TV' production, complete with cheap actors, locations and other low production values. It would seem to be a first feature for a high percentage of the cast and this alone will always knock a film back. However, we found it to be more than just 'watchable'. The plot is full of double crosses, misdirections etc that kept it interesting without the need to cry out in frustration at the plot holes. In fact, if the plot had been given the hollywood big budget treatment, a script-massage and a recasting, it would have probably been a good performer in the cinema. Shame.

I love it

[tennreb · 10/10 · 10 June 2002]

I love the ending!!! Could we possibly have a sequel--an even better idea--another alien show! Without x files now it would be nice to have a new idea floating around out there. Some of the long running shows are starting to become a little boring and tedious.

A Christian Perspective

[Vinny37 · 7/10 · 22 May 2015]

I love a good Sci-Fi. This has some twists. So far as plot goes, there are three main persons/positions. Kevin Anjanette (black detective); Bill Templar (white Defence Agency boss); Moon based Alien (aka She). It covers issues of division (black/white; human/alien) and harmony (black/white; human/alien), something like opposing magnets stabilised by the gyroscopic effect of spinning. I write from hindsight. Templar is an undercover alien, send by She to see what we're like. She is peaceful, but unbeknown to her, Templar has decided that we warrant annihilation – we offend his intelligence. How can he get his peaceful race to wipe us out? Easy. Though he can't openly get real proof about his alien people being hidden on the dark side of the moon, he'll set up false images, plant them in an unmanned lunar probe, then unearth the pictures, and get Earth to nuke the aliens. He knows such an attack would provoke a counter-attack, destroying humanity. He's a loose gun, and he has an alien or so on earth who are in league with him. Twice, the fact that he's concocted evidence is discovered by his staff and he seeks to silence them. The second informant survives to spill the beans, and Templar goes to Plan B, which includes leaking his hoax images to the public to force the Pentagon's hand, and sacrificing one of his alien colleagues. He must get earth to attack She, in order for She to destroy Earth. Anjanette is putting the pieces together, while the proud Templar is getting ever closer to success. It's suspenseful. We're made aware that aliens, on earth, need inhalers of nitrogen: our air gets up their noses. We keep seeing inhalers coming out, and every asthma sufferer becomes a suspect! Paranoia. Earth, at least the USA, launches a pre-emptive missile to destroy the aliens. Templar warns She of the launch – remember he hopes She will then make a pre-emptive or retaliatory strike, destroying humanity. Finally Anjanette defeats him, and begs the aliens for grace. He gets the missile attack aborted; She realises that Templar had betrayed her people, and She calls off their attack. Crisis over, Anjanette relaxes in boyish company, cracking beers and watching dirty wrestling. That's the humanity thing where guys crack each others' skulls with chairs, and audience ratings go up. Templar's widow is there, watching. She excuses herself, goes to the bathroom, and from a hidden compartment takes out an inhaler... This begs the question: if this is what the human race is like, did Templar not have the right idea? It's hard at times to see us from God's perspective, yet all humans are in his image (Gen.9:6). And when we look at the new covenant, we can see that that Image was a wonderful shadow of God's true, alēthinos, Image, which was his one-of-a-kind son, and that we, born in the shadow Image, enter into Christ's Image if we enter into Christ (the Imago Christi). No alien can boast a higher destiny that being in that Image. From scull-cracking kids to true children of God – that's what C S Lewis called the true invasion. And if we meet aliens, "even if they have shells or tusks" (C S Lewis), I suspect some will also be in the Imago Christi, our brothers & sisters. Them we should walk with, even as Christian whites could march with Dr Martin Luther King, even if humans call us traitors.

Don't waste your time.

[JBall75487 · 6 March 2002]

A fatuous plot, wooden acting, stereotyped characters, dialogue noteworthy only for its predictability, littered with set-piece cliches, this film combines all these defects into a unique representation of cinematic dysfunction which is symptomatic of the dearth of film making talent in contemporary cinema. This one makes the typical 1930's Three Stooges offerings look like epics ! My advice to prospective viewers is 'Don't waste your time (and money) on this insult to the intelligence.

OK to watch if nothing else is available,depending on your taste

[RLARKT199 · 7/10 · 31 March 2007]

I saw this film in the UK,the title for release in Europe was,Countdown to invasion. For those who like action,this is not the film for you. Dale Midkiff is the only known actor in the film. The rest of the cast are not known actors. If you are in the habit of watching soap opera,s,you may recognize some of the actors. Grace Philips for one. As i said,this film is not that bad,the plot,a cover-up. And i think we all know how governments cover up things. If anyone would like to purchase a copy,on DVD,it was available on a DVD online shop in Germany,the DVD does have an English soundtrack. Make sure your DVD player plays region two DVD,s,region two is the European television standard.

Unexpectedly good

[Silverblade17 · 10/10 · 6 September 2002]

I watched this film because there was nothing better on and found that it was actually quite good. The acting isn't bad, the plot is a little shacky but it's better than some films I've watched. I didn't except to see former WWE superstar Chyna in this film but she had a good role. It has a solid ending with a pretty good twist.

What a piece of c...!

[mgulev · 28 November 2002]

Note to any future George Lucas wannabees: Be sure to include credible spacecrafts and aliens; not badly drawn pictures of spacecrafts and aliens that look exactly like humans. The plot (that keeps changing to keep things confusing) could have been interesting if the producer had concentrated on that aspect and not on how good-looking the girls should be or how tough the guards should act. It´s cr@p - pure and simple. It has no saving grace. Put it to sleep.

X-files episode gone bad

[Victory-3 · 9 August 2001]

A movie directly made for television, this one has no pretensions whatsoever (the box of the video even fell back on the standard "Combines the best of both "Independence Day" and "Terminator"). Although this remark is made true once in the movie (at one point a kid is watching ID4 and remarks, when dad wants to turn off the television:"Don't turn it off , this is the best part".), it is mostly a badly directed X-files episode.

A division for `strategic war fare' finds an alien-base on the other side of the moon and decides together with the joint staffs that countermeasures should be taken. `The peacemaker', some nuclear doomsday missile is sent to destroy them all. But the division of warfare seems to have a hidden agenda. Luckily a suspicious cop takes action to save the world.

This movie has the most straightforward storyline one could imagine and anybody who has seen some sci-fi movies and X-files will have a great time forecasting what will be next. Partly because of the bad acting, but mostly due to the crappy storyline one hasn't for one moment the feeling to be involved. Plot twists seem to be written to keep the momentum in the movie, but are so farfetched that it makes `X-files' looks like an article out of `Nature'