Alien Lockdown

Starring:John Savage, Martin Kove
Studio: First Look Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Cheap, crappy Alien rip-off
"Gentleman, what you're about to see will forever revolutionize science and warfare."
You Silly Mad Military Scientists!
He did it all for the nukie...
It's just so bad!

Alien Lockdown
Starring: Martin Kove , James Marshall , John Savage , and Michelle Goh
Director: Tim Cox
Manufacturer: First Look Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00074CBF6
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Customer Reviews:

Cheap, crappy Alien rip-off.......2006-06-24

This film poses an important question: Considering that anyone who got a B in high school creative writing class could have come up with a far better story than this, why is it that only people who got a D- or worse decide to take this up as a career? I mean, it took FIVE people to write a really crappy rip-off of Alien? The mere fact that the monster is a blatant rip off of the Predator and Alien franchises immediately informs you that this movie can't possibly be taken seriously. The characters are the most insipid, dull and unlikable bunch that feeble minds could assemble. Every time one of them gets killed, the audience is vaguely pleased that the overall amount of mindless prattle will necessarily be reduced somewhat, due to their being one less mouth to speak it. I won't even get into the action sequences, where people can fall 100 feet onto a steel floor and only be temporarily bruised.

Just skip this stupid thing and pick any other low budget monster movie instead. Chances are you couldn't do worse.

"Gentleman, what you're about to see will forever revolutionize science and warfare.".......2006-02-23

When I first heard about the creation of the Sci Fi Channel, launched in 1992, I had high hopes of a network catering to science fiction aficionados showing, and perhaps even producing, some of the best material within the genre...perhaps I expected too much. They do, on occasion, show some classic stuff, but their original programming, in terms of films, has left something to be desired as exemplified by the film Alien Lockdown (2004), which is essentially just a mishmash of material taken from other, more popular science fiction/action films released some twenty years ago, namely James Cameron's popular 1986 feature Aliens and John McTiernan's Predator (1987). Directed by Tim Cox (Larva, Mammoth), the film features Michelle Goh (Out for a Kill) and James Marshall, who had a decent turn in the blockbuster A Few Good Men (1992) in the role as Pfc. Louden Downey, one of the two soldiers on trial for murder (the white guy). Also appearing is T.M. Van Ostrand, who is also one of the five, count `em, five, writers on this film, Atanas Srebrev (Shark Attack 3: Megalodon), Martin Kove (The Karate Kid, Rambo: First Blood Part II), and John Savage (The Deer Hunter, The Onion Field), who's certainly seen better days (and better roles).

The movie begins by relating events occurring a long, long, long time ago, specifically the discovery of some enchanted space crystal found after a meteor crashed to Earth. Through the passing of time the crystal was lost, but then was found, eventually ending up in the hands of someone named Dr. Woodman (Savage), a scientist working in a top secret research facility located in an isolated mountain range. Woodman uses the crystal (how I have no idea), along the genetic material of all the predatory life forms on Earth he can lay hands on to create the ultimate bio-weapon, a fierce, nigh indestructible creature he names Legion. Well, as you can guess, the creature escapes and kills nearly everyone in the massive facility, prompting some military bigwig named Anslow (Kove) to initiate a `clean up' mission by sending in a not so elite strike team, headed by an assassin type named Talon (Goh). On arriving, the team begins surveying the layout of the complex, along with losing a few members to the deadly creature now roaming about, and eventually hooks up with Woodman and a computer specialist named Charlie (Marshall). From here I'm not entire sure the plot other than survival, as the story was completely muddled to the point of incomprehension, but random events include Woodman working against the team to protect his creation, at least one of the members of the team isn't what he/she seems to be, the introduction of a tactical nuclear device, and those yet to be killed spending a lot of time running around for no other reason than to give us something to watch...oh yeah, seems the creature is the first of many, as one room contains a ton of little crab-like creatures requiring food to become full on nasties.

I tried to hang with the plot as long as I could, but it was difficult as not only was the story confusing, but entirely boring to boot. I find it appalling that it took five guys to write this film, given how muddled it was, especially since so much of it was obviously lifted from James Cameron's film Aliens (1986). The only thing missing was the `acid for blood' bit with regards to the creature, whose facial structure (the sideways extending mandibles) is exactly the same as that of the creature from the film Predator (1987). There were just so many pointless aspects floating around...after the strike team enters the facility a mission countdown timer appears frequently on the screen, as if there's some sense of urgency, but there isn't. The only thing it seemed to indicate was when their ride was supposed to return (the only way to get to the facility was by helicopter). So what if they don't make it out in time? The chopper pilot either waits or comes back later...and then about halfway in we stop seeing the countdown timer appear, at least until the end, but again, what it signified was never really apparent (at the end it still had a considerable amount of time left, so whomever was going by that clock obviously wasn't paying attention to it). There was a whole lot of running around with no clear objective in mind, and even when there was an objective, it didn't make any sense. And talk about boring...at one point the main group spends about ten minutes hiding out in a chintzy meat locker. I loved the bit when one of their comrades, part of the ill-fated team designated to tour the facility and plant tracking devices, arrives at the door to the meat locker, well before the pursuing creature does, and those inside the meat locker decide not to let him in because they believe `he's already gone', despite the fact there was plenty of time from when the guy arrived to when the creature, which eventually killed him, showed up. Okay, so the creature, the ultimate predator, is invulnerable, at least to any of the projectile weaponry the team brought...either that or they were just really bad shots, but it can be killed with a knife stuck into a soft spot by its neck. Whatever...as far as the characters, most of them were barely even there, and the few that were weren't worth a whole lot. Talon was about the worst leader I've ever seen, exhibiting little or no control over her team, and prone to extremely poor decisions, ones that tended to get others killed (I'm surprised one of her own men didn't shoot her in the back). Near the end she doffs her combat fatigues revealing a slick bodysuit underneath, and then proceeds to go into faux ninja mode battling the beast mano a mano...thanks for holding back long enough for most of your team to get wiped out before getting really serious. And then there's Charlie, the computer guy...his only purpose seems to dump steaming piles of expository dialog at the appropriate time, along with spewing forth the following meaningless catch phrase from time to time..."There's always a four and a half percent margin of error, plus or minus". Finally there's Woodman, the nutty, blathering, psuedo philosophical scientist. First of all I never for one minute believed the character capable of creating a grilled cheese sandwich, much less a sophisticated hybrid life form with genetic materials culled from every species on the planet, aided by alien technology (the crystal). The creature itself looked pretty decent, especially the sequences where it ran on all fours, and the direction wasn't half bad. One thing that really annoyed me, beside the absence of a plot, was the interiors of the facility itself. It's the most poorly lit research facility I've ever seen, and what light there is bathes everything in a continual green glow (I used to like the color green, but I've since been put off it by this stoopid movie). Also, there's no consistency between the levels, or even the rooms. Some levels were completely made of metal, while others were all stone...what the hell? How many different contractors built this place? All in all this is a confusing, `been there, done that to death' feature, without even the slightest trace of originality, and probably not worth your time.

The picture quality, presented in fullscreen (1.78:1), looks decent, even if the actual film, in terms of that constant, greenish tint, didn't...as far as the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, it does come through well, but I think there may have been issues with the way the audio was originally recorded as often the dialog is difficult to discern, especially near the beginning when the strike team first arrives, and they're all wearing masks. There's aren't any special features, but there are previews including one for this film, along with ones for Ring of Darkness (2004), September Tapes (2004), The Last Sign (2005), and Deep Evil (2004).

Cookieman108

You Silly Mad Military Scientists!.......2005-07-08

Oh, you silly Mad Military Scientists... when will you ever learn? How many experiments have to go awry? Why do you continue to use genetic manipulation and MavGyver technology to build creatures that are meant to be the new "Ultimate Weapon" ?

Going by movies like this one, you'd think that somehow a rampant lizard-ape- thing would be more effective than a nuclear bomb. But these silly Mad Military Scientists can't ever seem to even keep their eye on these creatures long enough to unleash them on the enemy. Their creations invariably escape and start running around, and the Silly Mad Military Scientists watch with a mixture of horror and admiration as their reptilian problem child rips through battalions of screaming army folks.

The latest entry in the Saga of the Silly Mad Military Scientists:

ALIEN LOCKDOWN!

So, the Mad Scientist in this one is played by John Savage, who meanders through the movie with a confused look on his face, as if he's wondering where Jessica Alba went to and why his agent agreed to let him do this NuImage movie. He's building some kind of alligator-alien-guy and... get ready for the spoiler.... it escapes!

Enter the screaming soldiers! Yay!

These guys rush into the fray as if they've never seen a movie about a genetic experiment gone bad! With so much gusto! They do a lot of military-style chatter that was probably meant to make the movie feel "gritty" or "real". There are also a couple of heartwarming moments where the soldiers take time out from the battle to tell each other about their more human side. It's supposed to make you care more about them, I think. I was reminded of Phoebe Cates in Gremlins when she starts talking about how her dad got stuck in the chimney on Christmas Eve and died. Honestly, I don't understand why people in these movies decide to start divulging their deepest, darkest secrets at the worst possible moment. Anyway, so these screaming soldiers take time from being killed to discuss their issues with each other.

John Savage continues to admire his creation, and he seems to be trying to channel the Brad Dourif character from Alien: Resurrection. In fact, this movie is a weird kind of potpourri of all the Alien movies rolled into one. Eventually, all the little screaming soldiers get picked off, leaving a lone female. Hmmm. I wonder where the writers got that one?

And speaking of writers, I saw that it took the brain power of three people just to come up with the story! And then there were another two who wrote the script! It's hard to believe that it took five people to come up with this derivative pile of monkey poop. It is nothing more than the most recent entry into a very tired sub-genre of the Horror/Science Fiction pantheon. Which leaves me asking the question I started with, you silly Mad Military Scientists, when will you ever learn? Unfortunately, I think the answer is, "Not as long as people like you continue to watch movies about us." Maybe it's time we retired the scientists... what do you all think?

He did it all for the nukie..........2005-05-05

It became very apparent in this film that the government does control this facet of our media. I didn't quite see it at first, but as the film progressed I could see the embarrassing tactics of the government trying to be implanted onto the minds of our youth and sci-fi aficionados. I walked away from Alien Lockdown (possibly should have been running) with a stronger knowledge of how I should be a soldier. Here are the rules (from watching this film): 1) Never question why you are going into a darkened complex that has dead bodies that do not look like bullet wounds killed them. You know that it is not going to be an alien. 2) if someone says that you are not going to fight an alien on this trip ... 9 times out of 10 you will be fighting an alien 3) shoot, then ask questions later 4) the prime objective is to kill, not question and finally 5) when all else fails, nuke `em. Yep, following those simple five steps I could easily be a soldier too, but sadly I am not. I just thought we rushed too deeply into this battle. The creature probably was having some mothering issues with the doctor and hastily took it out on the overly aggressive soldiers. I ended this film feeling more sympathetic towards this creature than I did our own nation ... is that bad?

Outside of the mindless soldiers who somehow followed every order without question and chose to never give us their names or emotional back-stories, this film was horrendous. There was some budget on this cinematic disaster that I was not expecting when I first placed it in my DVD player. I will be honest, I was taken aback when I first saw the budget. Riding low from the lack of budget in Alien 51, I thought this would follow the same fair. I was wrong. There was someone in this feature that knew how to use a computer, and while it may have been a Commodore 64, it was still appreciating to see. Sadly, that grew weak once we entered the locked complex. From not caring about any of the characters to jumping between moments of interest and filler, Alien Lockdown fizzled shortly after it took off. It started with an interesting premise that I thought they were going to expand upon, but that would have been wishful thinking. I think claustrophobia settled in during this film because I just couldn't get excited about anything that director Tim Cox presented to me.

The creature was definitely recycled from the film Alien vs. Predator and the characters just didn't go outside of their safety boxes. I knew nothing, nor did I care, about the creature killing the soldiers, because half the time I didn't even know their name. They were expendable to the director when they should have been bigger elements that would have led to a stronger story. Speaking of the story, there wasn't even one there. I am currently reading Make Your Own Damn Movie! by Lloyd Kaufman and in it he talks about not having a completed script while making your film because it allows you to put more into it later while making any adjustments. I do believe that director Tim Cox has read this book as well. Sadly, this was not a Troma production (which may have done a bit better), but instead a serious picture that had me shuttering throughout the night. With not having a completed script, I felt as if scenes randomly ended and left nothing up for further discussion. This only allowed the creature to continue to eat humans like they were going out of style. Again, I think what Tim Cox missed with this film was that he placed too much emphasis on the creature, and not enough on the human element surrounding the creature. I think if he would have taken a bit more time for the emotional element, he could have had a stronger story, better characters, and a more gripping picture. He did not, and thus Alien Lockdown just goes nowhere fast leaving us with a burning sensation in our eyes.

Overall, this film was a mess. The lack of story, characters, and development hurt more than it helped. This left plenty of time for director Tim Cox to spend on the creature, which it showed. While the creature was plagiarized from the Alien and Predator films, by the time that you get into this film you just don't care enough to argue. Mostly, what disappointed me about this film was the apparent disrespect to nature that Tim Cox showed. Not only with his decision to have the soldiers shoot the creature instead of question it first, but also with his ending that hurt more than just the creature, but all of humanity as well. This was a very pro-war, anti-question film that will subliminally hurt us in the long run. Films like these should be banned from our cinematic existence in hopes of creating stronger films that explore the depths of our minds. I do not suggest this film unless you are looking to remedy the pain of a root canal ... then Alien Lockdown may be your relaxant.

Grade: * out of *****

It's just so bad!.......2005-03-07

It's just so bad!

Since I'm the first review, I'll spend a little more time summarizing the movie, rather just saying how bad it is. The movie explains that a long time ago, a meteor crashed into earth, and in the center of the crater was a green stone. Then throughout the centuries, men fought for possession of the stone because they believed that whoever carried it would have an invincible army, and they were right. It was as if the stone had some sort of magical power. Anyways, over time the stone disappeared, until now. Fast forward to today. The stone is unearthed in an archeological dig in some desert someplace and then taken to a secret underground lab someplace where it is unveiled that they have genetically engineered some sort of super creature. Anyways, the creature gets out, kills everybody, and the lab is locked down, hence the catchy title. An assault team is sent in to find out what happened, and they discover a couple of survivors and piece together that they created this beast as a weapon and now it's on the loose. Sounds pretty cool. Yeah, that's what I though after seeing the trailer. WRONG ALL WRONG!

The movie is completely bad. There's just no way to explain it any better. It had all the elements to be a cool story. I mean, after all, since it pretty much just copied cool parts from a hundred other stories, it should have been cool. But it wasn't. Not one of the characters is likeable, so you could care less as they are picked off one by one. It should also bother anybody watching this that the "creature" is VERY similar to the alien, but with the face from the predator. But to say this was an alien-predator rip-ff would still give it more credit than is deserved. The actors are all cold and un-emotional. The story is FILLED to the brim with inconsistencies. Does the stone have magical powers? If they used the code on the stone for the creatures DNA, then why or how did the doctor infuse his DNA into the creatures? And why did the one creature ignore him and not kill him, but then the other ones actually attack him? Didn't the helicopter pilots wonder why their boss didn't come back? Of course, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about, but trust me, these are just a few pretty big details that are messed up.

I knew this movie wouldn't be great going into it, but I thought it would at least slightly entertaining. WRONG ALL WRONG :) Stay away from this one. Hope this helps.

I will say this one positive thing. I honestly gave this movie 1 star. Usually when I put 1 star, the movie is really worth zero stars or less, but amazon won't allow that. This movie is a genuine 1 star flick.

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