This film ranks with Total Recall, Logan's Run, Blade Runner and Fifth Element as good sci-fi.
shareI agree. This movie was a lot of fun. I especially dug the way it cleverly combined sci-fi and noir elements together ala "Blade Runner."
"We're all part Shatner/And part James Dean/Part Warren Oates/And Steven McQueen"
Well I agree with the general sentiment, but as a made-for-TV I think it ranks more with stuff like a really good episode from Sliders, or one of the well-made might-as-well-be-a-movie two-parters from any of the Star Trek series, or the excellent pilot episode of The Incredible Hulk.
The movie and its effects are obviously dated to its time (particularly when the one police investigator says he hates computers and doesn't know anything about that stuff; can you imagine anyone saying that now?), but the story and its execution are solid, the characters are believable and well-played, and the science part of the science fiction is believable enough as long as you don't let that first sequence fool you into thinking this is going to be a space opera like Star Wars. It's more like a mystery detective story with a little mad science and some gun play thrown in, which is perfect for prime-time.
It is a fun combination of sci-fi and film noir, with an appealing performance by Michael Biehn at its core.
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