This below average monster movie is about as original as a forger's art gallery. Freely copying from many, other, better films, the only reason I can think that someone would enjoy this is if they haven't seen any of the other films which it references, sorry, I mean steals from. INDIANA JONES, the first two in the ALIEN series, JURASSIC PARK, and PREDATOR are the inspirations here, with the film owing most to PREDATOR.
I had no problems with the cast in this film. Mark Dacascos (SABOTAGE) looks the part of an action hero although he is pretty bland and emotionless and not much of an actor, but then neither are Schwarzenegger or Van Damme and their films do well. Jurgen Prochnow (IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS) serves his role as respected-actor-turning-to-role-in-awful-film, just like Michael Caine did before him in ON DEADLY GROUND. Prochnow is a stereotypical ruthless scientist and he chews the scenery with aplomb. The rest of the cast are interchangeable, the female lead does absolutely nothing except carry around lots of baggage and help Dacascos occasionally, and everyone else is just cannon fodder.
The special effects of the monster range from being quite good (some CGI shots are used, and these are the most effective) to the poor man in a monster suit, where ALIEN is the most obvious influence. There are lots of explosions and a few fight scenes in the film too, including a hilariously unrealistic back projection of a helicopter crash which is at a totally different scale to the actors in front of it. You'll never see any effect quite so bad as this.
I would have enjoyed this film more if it hadn't been such a rip off, like when the alien turns invisible as it runs through the trees. The end sequences, where Dacascos strips off and makes traps for the alien in the jungle, and then jumps off a waterfall, and also hides in mud to avoid detection, are directly ripped from PREDATOR, a much better monster on the loose film, and comparisons are pointless as this is nowhere near as good. Still, if you're a fan of cheesy movies then I guess you could do worse, but the outright rip-offs on view here just left a nasty taste in my mouth.
I had no problems with the cast in this film. Mark Dacascos (SABOTAGE) looks the part of an action hero although he is pretty bland and emotionless and not much of an actor, but then neither are Schwarzenegger or Van Damme and their films do well. Jurgen Prochnow (IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS) serves his role as respected-actor-turning-to-role-in-awful-film, just like Michael Caine did before him in ON DEADLY GROUND. Prochnow is a stereotypical ruthless scientist and he chews the scenery with aplomb. The rest of the cast are interchangeable, the female lead does absolutely nothing except carry around lots of baggage and help Dacascos occasionally, and everyone else is just cannon fodder.
The special effects of the monster range from being quite good (some CGI shots are used, and these are the most effective) to the poor man in a monster suit, where ALIEN is the most obvious influence. There are lots of explosions and a few fight scenes in the film too, including a hilariously unrealistic back projection of a helicopter crash which is at a totally different scale to the actors in front of it. You'll never see any effect quite so bad as this.
I would have enjoyed this film more if it hadn't been such a rip off, like when the alien turns invisible as it runs through the trees. The end sequences, where Dacascos strips off and makes traps for the alien in the jungle, and then jumps off a waterfall, and also hides in mud to avoid detection, are directly ripped from PREDATOR, a much better monster on the loose film, and comparisons are pointless as this is nowhere near as good. Still, if you're a fan of cheesy movies then I guess you could do worse, but the outright rip-offs on view here just left a nasty taste in my mouth.