Arrival/Arrival 2

Starring:Steve Adams, Chad Beamish, StÃ©phane Blanchette, Catherine Blythe, NoÃ«l Burton, Larry Day, Sean Devine, Karen Elkin, Don Jordan, Lisa Kagan, Sophie LÃ©ger, Emidio Michetti, Patrick Muldoon, David Nerman, Laurel Paetz, Michael Sarrazin, Michael Scherer, Jane Sibbett, Mark Trafford
Studio: Lions Gate
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

"If you can't tend to your own planet, [then] you don't deserve to live here"
Arrival=excellent, Arrival II=skip it
An interesting sci fi thriller and a disappointing sequel
Arrival 2-bad, but somehow still kind of watchable.
Arrival - 3 stars...Arrival II - junk! NOT PG13~~ RATED R!

Arrival/Arrival 2
Starring: Steve Adams , Chad Beamish , Stéphane Blanchette , Catherine Blythe , and Noël Burton
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Science Fiction & Fantasy | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Timecop
Sphere
Screamers
Stargate (Ultimate Edition)
Contact

ASIN: B00005O5AX
Release Date: 2001-10-23

Customer Reviews:

"If you can't tend to your own planet, [then] you don't deserve to live here".......2005-09-07

+++++

This disc is a DVD double feature having one movie on each side.

(1) The Arrival (5 stars)

Radio Astronomer Zane Zaminsky (Charlie Sheen) believes he's picked up a cosmic noise that signals ET. Trouble is his boss Phil Gordian (Ron Silver) doesn't believe him. So Zane tries to reestablish contact, which he does but this time the extraterrestrial signal is Earth-based. At the same time, an UCLA environmentalist Ilana Green (Lindsay Crouse) discovers from her data that the global average temperature is predicted to rise an unprecedented dozen degrees over the next decade.

For both Zane and Ilana, the search for answers leads them to Mexico where Zane discovers a mysterious and secretive power plant that's operated by ETs. Through misunderstanding, he's also arrested for the murder of Ilana. Zane must escape with his proof of an alien invasion.

The second half of this movie is truly fascinating. The special effects (considering that this movie was shot on a limited budget) are effective and "smart." These special effects do not get in the way of the excellent acting of Charlie Sheen and Ron Silver (who gives an especially chilling performance).

Some of the scientific topics discussed in this movie are:

greenhouse gases, ET intelligence, radio astronomy, global warming, terraforming, and space aliens.

The DVD extra of this movie gives a good summary of this movie:

"A [ET] signal never meant to be heard,
A secret never meant to be shared,
A scientist never meant to survive."

I was absorbed in this story from beginning to end.

(2) Arrival II (3 stars-I'm being generous here)

After an exhilarating first movie, I was truly disappointed in this sequel.

We're told that Zane has died but before doing so he has sent information packets about "an alien conspiracy" to five people. Three of the most important ones are his stepbrother, computer programmer Jack (Pat Muldoon), an investigative reporter Bridget (Jane Sibbet), and a professor named Nelson Zarcoff (Michael Sarrrazin). (No one from the first movie appears in this sequel.)

The aliens know that Zane has sent these information packets to these people. (Question: how would they know?) The movie then becomes one long chase scene with the aliens having trouble getting to Jack and Bridget.

This movie goes for shock value. There is an unnecessary full-frontal nude scene and decent special effects. (I decided to give this movie a 3 instead of a 2 because of these decent special effects.)

There's only one true extra with this movie: a theatrical trailer.

While the first movie kept me absorbed in the story, this one did not.

Finally, the DVD as a whole has practically perfect picture and sound quality.

In conclusion, "The Arrival" is an effective, intelligent science fiction movie that unfortunately gave birth to a disappointing sequel.

(1996/1998; 110 min/100 min; widescreen; 40 scenes/36 scenes)

+++++

Arrival=excellent, Arrival II=skip it.......2004-12-17

Arrival is a fantastic movie for the 1990s. It ties in so many threads from the conspiracy culture that developed in the 1990s into a coherent whole. Global warming is the result of intentional "terraforming" of earth by an alien race, planning on conquering Earth. NASA is in on the plot. Any listener to Art Bell will recognize the themes. What a great premise for a movie.

Charlie Sheen plays an engaging, quirky character. He plays a radio astronomer who works for SETI and discovers the plot while listening to the stars one night. Nobody believes him. Everyone thinks he is crazy. But of course, he is not crazy.

Arrival II. Skip it. It is a horrible movie. The plotting is completely formulaic. The characters are wooden. The dialog is pathetic. The film even lacks some of the charm of scifi movies that are so bad they are good as comedy (e.g. Plan 9 from Outerspace).

An interesting sci fi thriller and a disappointing sequel.......2004-05-23

I think they put "The Arrival" (4 stars) and "Arrival 2" (2 stars) on the two sides of the same DVD because they knew that was the only way anybody would ever get around to watching the lame sequel to a pretty good science fiction film. In "The Arrival" writer-director David Twohy comes up with an interesting culprit to explain global warming. The 1996 thriller begins with scientist Ilana Green (Lindsay Crouse) finding something in Antarctica that should not be there. Meanwhile, the hero of our tale, radio astronomer named Zane Zaminski (Charlie Sheen with a goatee), is working on a S.E.T.I. project by looking where nobody in their right mind should be looking, in the FM band. To his surprise and the shock of his colleague, Cal (Richard Schiff), he finds something there. This could be the biggest scientific discovery of the 20th century by Zane's boss, Phil Gordian (Ron Silver), not only refuses to get excited, he destroys the evidence. Then some strange guys in suits show up to make sure they have all of the evidence.

Clearly Zane has discovered something he is not supposed to know about. But part of the problem is that he has no clue what he has stumbled upon or why it should get people killed. The other key part of the problem is that Zane is now unemployed and no longer has access to a gigantic radio telescope. So he has to, basically, build one, which is how "The Arrival" lets you know that Twohy has paid attention to the science of the story (okay, I know nothing about science and this could all be nonsense, but there is an effort being made to connect the scientific dots). Zane effective does build his own radio telescope, and if this new phase of his old obsession has made him lose his girl friend, Char (Teri Polo), at least he has Kiki (Tony T. Johnson) the smart street kid who lives next door to take up the slack.

Of course the audience gets to figure things out a bit before Zane does, but then he is distracted by the most ingenious attempts to kill someone is bath tub I have seen since "Final Destination." I checked out this film because I saw one of Twohy's more recent efforts, "Below," and again he shows some creativity in presenting the conventions of the science fiction-thriller genre. Sheen's performance is an interesting mix of paranoia and anger, sometimes switching back and forth between the two in an instance if somebody looks at him funny or is just funny looking. I did not bite on the obvious red herring as to who the ultimate villain was in "The Arrival," but I did not see the final revelation coming either, so that is a good thing. Ultimately, I did not find "The Arrival" to be a classic science fiction film, but for a modern version of the "B" movie it is very good.

Unfortunately the 1998 sequel, "The Arrival II," makes it clear from the start that things are going to go awry. We get a news report that Zane has died under mysterious circumstances while hiding out with the Eskimos. Every since Newt and Hicks were killed during the opening credits of "Aliens3" I have a visceral reaction to similar attempts to clear the decks for the new characters in the new film. However, it turns out that before his death Zane sent packets of information about the alien menace to a few key individuals, including his half-brother, Jack Addison (Patrick Muldoon). He has to be a blood relation because that makes things personal as opposed to merely being concerned with the fate of the world. Those who received the packages from beyond gathered in a meat locker, where Jack meets reporter Bridget Riordan (Jane Sibbett), and Professor Nelson Zarcoff (Michael Sarrazin). It looks like we might be assembling a team of intelligent people in key positions who will be able to work together to stop the menace. But, no, this is going to be primarily a chase film.

The biggest problem with this sequel is that once you understand what the aliens can do and where this script has them embedded in the government, then it is really game over, they win, hope you use really heavy sun screen in the world to come. But on a more intimate level as much as the first film plays fair with the science and the audience, this one insists on yanking our chains. In the first film there is a wonderful sequence where Zane, denied access to radio telescopes, creates his own by hooking up neighborhood satellite dishes that he can use in the dead of night when their owners are asleep. This might be nonsense, but in the context of the film it works. In this one Jack is a computer hacker who can work his magic on the alien computer when in "reality" he would be lucky to figure out how to turn it on let alone do significant programming.

This was Mark David Perry's first script and given the detail and flair of Twohy's original what we have here just pales in comparison, even with a gratuitous nude scene thrown into the mix early on. There is not much the actors can do with this mess and there are few times in the film when they come close to catching the appropriate emotions of the moment since the script keeps insisting they be a step behind in figuring out what is happening. As I said, the only reason to watch "The Arrival II" (a.k.a. "The Second Arrival") is that it is not that hard to flip over the DVD. However, you really would be better off just watching the first side twice.

Arrival 2-bad, but somehow still kind of watchable........2002-08-11

(warning: review will give spoilers for the original The Arrival, a great sci-fi thriller that I enthusiastically recommend)

The Arrival II is an unnecessary follow-up to the original, an inventive and suspenseful sci-fi thriller. Of course, unnecessary follow-ups are a rule of thumb, so a sequel to The Arrival seemed pretty inevitable, especially when you consider its ending. Too bad this "continuation" lacks all the qualities of its predecessors, namely in good writing, acting, and inspired direction. I actually purchased the Arrival II on DVD...as it was a double feature with the original. Before I even popped the film in, I was expecting ...from the first minute, so the best thing I can say is that the movie turned out to be a bit more watchable than I expected.

The Arrival II is set in Montreal, two months after the events of the original. Radio astronomer Zane Zaminski has died of an apparent heart attack, but he did manage to send out info of the alien invasion to his most trusted colleagues, as well as to his stepbrother, Jack Addison (Patrick Muldoon), and a news reporter (Jane Sibbett, Ross' lesbian ex-wife from Friends). This group becomes the targets of the aliens, until the only survivors are Muldoon and Sibbett, who go on the run together and try to expose the aliens' nefarious plans.

The Arrival II suffers distinctly from a lack of freshness, which is much needed in a sequel that's meant to continue a running story. All the material we have here is pretty much repeat. Basically, we know there are aliens out there disguised as human beings and they're whole goal is to terraform the Earth and mold it into an environment suitable for their own colonization. Oh, and let's not forget that spherical object with a strong vacuum pull.

Like the original, we've got our "intelligent" protagonist (we find this out because everyone keeps telling him he's smarter than he thinks) and blonde chick that plays as love interest. Problem is, these two are played by Patrick Muldoon and Jane Sibbett, neither of whom I've seen in anything on film or TV that suggests they can act. Muldoon is mostly expressionless, though occasionally has that "whoa, dude" act that would give Freddie Prinze, Jr. a run for his money. Sibbett is simply dreadful as the reporter. Let's put it this way, those who found Courtney Cox unconvincing as Gail Weathers in the Scream series will be shouting "Come back! All is forgiven!" The other performances aren't worth noting, except maybe Catherine Blythe, who gives the movie its sole bit of very gratuitous nudity.

The script has little to none of the intelligence of the original and it often mistakes scientific mumbo-jumbo as smart screenwriting. The plot's got a lot of twists and turns, mostly involving a guessing game of who's human and who's not. None of these little revelations are the slightest bit surprising, and they might even induce a few scoffs here and there.

The special effects on display range from pretty bad to hilariously awful, the worst bit probably being when one of the aliens reveals its true identity. There are a lot of other clunkers, such as the cheesy-looking holographic displays and the destruction of a power plant in the film's conclusion. Yeah, visual effects themselves usually don't determine a movie's quality, but they sure don't help the film here.

Directed by Kevin S. Tenney, the same guy who gave us the fun Night of the Demons, but has yet to have helmed anything worth seeing since then. For some reason, though, The Arrival II is still somewhat watchable (meaning you won't want to stab yourself in the eye), probably because the concept of aliens disguised as humans is intriguing enough on its own. Too bad this suspenseless and absurd sequel can't capitalize on the original's unique ideas.
* 1/2 out of *****

Arrival - 3 stars...Arrival II - junk! NOT PG13~~ RATED R!.......2002-06-04

...these two movies are distinctly different, and only Arrival I is PG13. Arrival II, however, is rated R and contains an unecessary and EXPLICIT SEX scene with full frontal nudity during and after. This had nothing to do with the movie plot and since it was already an enormous flop from the first one, only tended to degrade it worse. If these were separate movies, I'd keep one and trash the other. As it is, I'm stuck for having bought them as a dual dvd. Don't waste your money.

Average customer rating:

"If you can't tend to your own planet, [then] you don't deserve to live here"
Arrival=excellent, Arrival II=skip it
An interesting sci fi thriller and a disappointing sequel
Arrival 2-bad, but somehow still kind of watchable.
Arrival - 3 stars...Arrival II - junk! NOT PG13~~ RATED R!

The Arrival / The Arrival 2
Starring: Phyllis Applegate , Jorge Becerril , Catalina Botello , Ellen Bradley , and Alan Coates
Manufacturer: Live / Artisan
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Timecop
Sphere
Screamers
Stargate (Ultimate Edition)
Contact

ASIN: 0784012822
Release Date: 1999-05-18

Customer Reviews:

"If you can't tend to your own planet, [then] you don't deserve to live here".......2005-09-07

Arrival=excellent, Arrival II=skip it.......2004-12-17

An interesting sci fi thriller and a disappointing sequel.......2004-05-23

Arrival 2-bad, but somehow still kind of watchable........2002-08-11

(warning: review will give spoilers for the original The Arrival, a great sci-fi thriller that I enthusiastically recommend)

Arrival - 3 stars...Arrival II - junk! NOT PG13~~ RATED R!.......2002-06-04

Average customer rating:

FOR RABID SCI-FI FANS ONLY...
A disappoint sequel to an interesting Sci Fi thriller

Arrival II [Region 2]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00004S5PM

Customer Reviews:

FOR RABID SCI-FI FANS ONLY..........2006-05-21

I love sci-fi films, and "The Arrival", the prequel to this film, was simply sensational. So, when this film was released I had high hopes. Alas, as with most sequels, my expectations were not met. It is simply not in the same league as its predecessor. There are reasons why this film went straight to video. It plays almost as if it were a made for TV movie.
Notwithstanding this, I still found this movie moderately enjoyable, despite its many and obvious shortcomings. You can usually tell that the sequel in not on part with the original when none of the original cast are in it. Instead, the viewer gets handsome Patrick Muldoon in the role of Jack Addison, Zane's estranged brother, picking up where Zane left off in the fight against alien invasion. Jack teams up with investigative reporter Bridget Riordan, played with energetic enthusiasm by Jane Sibbert. Together they seek to foil the sinister alien conspiracy that threatens mankind.

Lacking the more intelligent script and better production values of "The Arrival", the sequel still manages to entertain. Borrowing some of the original themes and types of special effects found in "The Arrival", it is played out as more of an action film with a lot of chase scenes, as if hoping that this will distract the discerning viewer from noticing the obvious plot holes. While I did not enjoy this film nowhere nearly as much as the original, I forgave it some of its faux pas and managed to take it at face value and enjoy it. All in all, it is a moderately entertaining, sci-fi film, notwithstanding the grade B acting and some of the cheesy production walues. In fact, in one scene, a glass door begins shattering before a body hits it. Rent this film, rather than buy it. If you are not a rabid sci-fi fan, deduct one star from my rating.

A disappoint sequel to an interesting Sci Fi thriller.......2006-03-01

In "The Arrival" writer-director David Twohy comes up with aliens as the culprits behind global warming. Unfortunately the 1998 sequel, "The Arrival II," makes it clear from the start that things are going to go awry. We get a news report that Zane, the hero of the original (played by Charlie Sheen) has died under mysterious circumstances while hiding out with the Eskimos. Every since Newt and Hicks were killed during the opening credits of "Aliens3" I have a visceral reaction to similar attempts to clear the decks for the new characters in the new film. However, it turns out that before his death Zane sent packets of information about the alien menace to a few key individuals, including his half-brother, Jack Addison (Patrick Muldoon). He has to be a blood relation because that makes things personal as opposed to merely being concerned with the fate of the world. Those who received the packages from beyond gathered in a meat locker, where Jack meets reporter Bridget Riordan (Jane Sibbett), and Professor Nelson Zarcoff (Michael Sarrazin). It looks like we might be assembling a team of intelligent people in key positions who will be able to work together to stop the menace. But, no, this is going to be primarily a chase film.

The biggest problem with this sequel is that once you understand what the aliens can do and where this script has them embedded in the government, then it is really game over, they win, hope you use really heavy sun screen in the world to come. But on a more intimate level as much as the first film plays fair with the science and the audience, this one insists on yanking our chains. In the first film there is a wonderful sequence where Zane, denied access to radio telescopes, creates his own by hooking up neighborhood satellite dishes that he can use in the dead of night when their owners are asleep. This might be nonsense, but in the context of the film it works. In this one Jack is a computer hacker who can work his magic on the alien computer when in "reality" he would be lucky to figure out how to turn it on let alone do significant programming.

This was Mark David Perry's first script and given the detail and flair of Twohy's original what we have here just pales in comparison, even with a gratuitous nude scene thrown into the mix early on. There is not much the actors can do with this mess and there are few times in the film when they come close to catching the appropriate emotions of the moment since the script keeps insisting they be a step behind in figuring out what is happening. You would be better off just watchning "The Arrival" twice than checking out this one, unless you get the DVD that not only has both movies but has both of them on one side (I think it is because they knew that if it was on the other side it would only see the light of the laser once and then never again).

Average customer rating:

076100arrival/Arrival 2
Starring: Charlie Sheen
Manufacturer: 001775lionsgate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000054UJW
Release Date: 2000-01-01

Average customer rating:

IMAGINATIVE AND GRIPPING ALIEN INVASION FILM...

The Arrival [Region 2]
Starring: Charlie Sheen , Lindsay Crouse , Richard Schiff , Shane (II) , and Ron Silver
Director: David Twohy
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00005S874

Customer Reviews:

IMAGINATIVE AND GRIPPING ALIEN INVASION FILM..........2006-08-07

This movie was underrated when it was first released, and, as with all good, underrated movies, it has since become a cult favorite. Clever and imaginative, a lot was done on a limited budget to make it into a top notch sci-fi thriller. It has an intelligent and well reasoned story, and the special effects are imaginative.

Charlie Sheen, clean and sober, plays radio astronomer, Zane Zaminski, who picks up radio signals that are not earthly. When he takes a copy of the tape of these signals, which he believes to be indicative of intelligent, alien life, to his boss, chillingly played by Ron Silver, he is summarily fired from his job. Suddenly, all is not right with the world.

Smelling something real fishy, Zane sets up a home satellite and tries to zero in on the signal. He gets lucky, or unlucky, depending upon how one looks at it, and he picks up the same signal he previously had picked up. It crosses a signal given off by a Mexican radio station, which motivates him to go to Mexico and check it out.

While in Mexico, he meets a fellow scientist (Lindsay Crouse), who is there on her own investigation, as she has noted major atmospheric changes, which indicate that global warming is occurring at an alarming rate, almost as if there were a greenhouse effect. Unbeknownst to Zane at the time, her concerns are connected to his.

While at a power plant with her, he comes across a doppelganger for his former boss, which sets off alarms in his head. Returning undercover at night, he discovers that the entire plant is operated by aliens, and they are not here just to say hello. There, a series of events transpire to reveal to him an immense, alien plot. Yes, it's the old alien conspiracy story rearing its ugly head. Only this time, it is handled with surprising intelligence. Zane is now on a mission to convey what he knows to the world, but the aliens will stop at nothing to silence him. Will he make it? Watch the film and find out. If you love sci-fi films, you will not be disappointed.

Average customer rating:

THEY CAME FROM OUTER SPACE...

The Arrival [Region 2]
Starring: Charlie Sheen , Lindsay Crouse , Richard Schiff , Shane (II) , and Ron Silver
Director: David Twohy
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00004VYGK

Customer Reviews:

THEY CAME FROM OUTER SPACE..........2006-05-21

Average customer rating:

FOR RABID SC-FI FANS ONLY...

Arrival II [Region 2]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00004VYHN

Customer Reviews:

FOR RABID SC-FI FANS ONLY..........2006-08-07

I love sci-fi films, and "The Arrival", the prequel to this film, was simply sensational. So, when this film was released I had high hopes. Alas, as with most sequels, my expectations were not met. It is simply not in the same league as its predecessor. There are reasons why this film went straight to video. It plays almost as if it were a made for TV movie.

Notwithstanding this, I still found this movie moderately enjoyable, despite its many and obvious shortcomings. You can usually tell that the sequel in not on part with the original when none of the original cast are in it. Instead, the viewer gets handsome Patrick Muldoon in the role of Jack Addison, Zane's estranged brother, picking up where Zane left off in the fight against alien invasion. Jack teams up with investigative reporter Bridget Riordan, played with energetic enthusiasm by Jane Sibbert. Together they seek to foil the sinister alien conspiracy that threatens mankind.

Lacking the more intelligent script and better production values of "The Arrival", the sequel still manages to entertain. Borrowing some of the original themes and types of special effects found in "The Arrival", it is played out as more of an action film with a lot of chase scenes, as if hoping that this will distract the discerning viewer from noticing the obvious plot holes. While I did not enjoy this film nowhere nearly as much as the original, I forgave it some of its faux pas and managed to take it at face value and enjoy it. All in all, it is a moderately entertaining, sci-fi film, notwithstanding the grade B acting and some of the cheesy production walues. In fact, in one scene, a glass door begins shattering before a body hits it. Rent this film, rather than buy it. If you are not a rabid sci-fi fan, deduct one star from my rating.

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

Calle 54

Futurama Seasons 1-4 Complete Box Set : DVD

Twilight Zone, Vol. 10 [1963] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Vincent Price 2 on 1

Katholischer Katechismus der Bistümer Deutschlands