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The Gratuitous B-Movie Column 3.28.11: Issue #150 - Interceptor Force 2
Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz on 03.28.2011
In issue #150 (150!) I take a look at the low budget sci-fi action flick from 2002 Interceptor Force 2 starring the great Olivier Gruner
The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Issue #150: Interceptor Force 2 (2002)
Hello, everyone, and welcome once again to the internets movie review column that's pretty dang surprised it hasn't been fired yet, The Gratuitous B-Movie Column, and I am your host Bryan Kristopowitz. In this issue, issue number one hundred-and-fifty (150? Really?) I take a look at the low budget sc-fi action flick starring modern B-movie legend Olivier Gruner, Interceptor Force 2, which hit TV screens via the old Sci Fi Channel back in 2002 and then later hit DVD in 2008.
Interceptor Force 2 (2002)
Interceptor Force 2, also known as Alpha Force and They Have Returned, is the sequel to the apparently successful low budget sci-fi action movie from 1999 Interceptor Force (also known as Interceptor). Directed by Phillip Roth (sometimes credited as "Phillip J. Roth," he also directed the first movie as well as Gruner vehicle Velocity Trap, which occasionally shows up on Sci Fi along with this movie, and low budget sci-fi action classics like Digital Man and AP.E.X.), IF 2 has Gruner return as Lt. Sean Lambert, a member of the "Interceptor Force," the world's last line of defense against alien invasion. Now an unofficial/official agency of the U.S. government, the agency is run by uber hard ass bald douchebag Jack Bavaro (Nigel Bennett), who doesn't like Lambert at all (he never really comes out and says it but you get the sense that Bavaro sees Lambert as too much of a loose cannon). Bavaro isn't too thrilled with Lambert's best buddy and fellow IF agent Nathan McCallister (Roger R. Cross), either. But when the hooey hits the fan Lambert and McCallister are the two IF agents Bavaro calls into action. And so, after kicking the crap out of a bunch of evil Russian bad guys for stealing an alien space probe or something and escaping via bridge jumping into the seat of a waiting remote controlled F-16 fighter jet, Bavaro sends Lambert and McCallister to Grozny, Chechnya to deal with a possible nuclear emergency.
This "nuclear" emergency, though, isn't some run of the mill nuclear emergency. Aliens are involved. Well, mostly one alien, an alien capable of changing shape and size and appearance by touching a human and becoming a kind of clone of that human (the original human is killed in the process, burned up and turned into dust). The local forces aren't all that interested in having Lambert and his fellow IF agents in town but the Russian and Chechen governments want the IF there. However, local commander Gorshkov (Hristo Shopov, of Command Performance and Double Identity fame) isn't ready to cooperate. Gorshkov understands what's going on (the transmorphing alien is incredibly dangerous, but Gorshkov has major financial interests at stake within the plant). As soon as the IF team arrives (Lambert, McCallister, German bad ass Bjorn Hatch, as played by Alex Jolig, bad ass chick Adriana Sikes, as played by Elizabeth Gracen, and nerdy science officer Dawn DeSilvia, as played by Adrienne Wilkinson) Gorshkov warns them that they must stay outside until he says it's okay for them to enter, that he and his crack team will handle the situation.
As expected, Gorshkov's crack team gets destroyed by the alien (either in full on low budget CGI animation or in the guise of hot blonde chick Eve Scheer) and Gorshkov finds out personally just how out of his league he is. Before long. Lambert and his IF team enter the plant and try to track down the alien before it blows up the nuclear plant, causing a massive cloud of radioactivity to spread across the globe, potentially killing one hundred million people. I don't want to say any more because the story does contain a few surprises here and there. I also want to say that you don't have to see the first movie to understand what's going on. It probably helps add context to the story when Gruner's Lambert starts talking about what happened "four years ago in Mexico," but, again, you don't have to know the ins and outs of that movie to understand its sequel.
The flick's ending is a bit anti-climatic. The movie ends on a nice bit of defiance but it all happens so slowly you're not sure what the heck is going on until you stop and think about it for a minute. It also seems to suggest that there's a third Interceptor Force adventure in the making but, as of this moment, that hasn't happened (imdb.com claims that the movie Shadow Force is a spin-off of Interceptor Force 2 but Gruner wasn't in that movie so how can it be a proper sequel/spin-off? This isn't the Nemesis franchise). Interceptor Force 2 has appeared several times on the old Sci Fi Channel, meaning people must like watching it. It's been almost ten years since part two, so what the heck is the hold up? The world needs another proper Interceptor Force movie.
Well, that's what I think, anyway.
Gruner is his usual awesome self as Lt. Lambert. He starts kicking Russian bad guy ass as soon as the movie starts and he never really lets up. He's also not that bad in the flick's "quiet" moments. He has excellent chemistry with Roger R. Cross and he has no problem getting his ass kicked by a CGI alien. You don't see that kind of thing all that often in the martial arts movie star world. Great stuff.
Cross, as I said, is great as Nathan McCallister. Alex Jolig does a pretty decent job as the German bad ass Bjorn Hatch (he knows how to wield a big, fake looking plastic alien gun). Elizabeth Gracen is kind of weird at first as the bad ass Adriana Sikes. When you first see her you expect to see her do a scene in her underwear (she flips out a covered boob in a flashback but that's as far as she goes, even when she has to go swimming). She's good, though. Adrienne Wilkinson is more or less invisible as the IF science nerd Dawn DeSilvia but she becomes more of a factor later on. Hristo Shopov does his usual superb job as the corrupt Russian commander Gorshkov. Like Gruner, I don't quite understand how Shopov doesn't have a more high profile movie career. He knows how to be a good guy and how to be an ultra sleazy bad guy. Why the heck doesn't he have bigger movie offers?
And Nigel Bennett's Jack Bavaro... man, what a douchebag. A great douchebag, sure, but a douchebag nonetheless. If and when there's a proper sequel I want to see him back.
Interceptor Force 2 is a worthwhile low budget sci-fi action flick. You should definitely check it out at your earliest convenience, either on TV or on DVD. And if you can try to see the first Interceptor Force, too, and tell me how it is. I can't wait to find out.
See Interceptor Force 2 now. See it, see it, see it.
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: 20+
Explosions: close to 10
Nudity?: None, unless you want to count the transmorpher alien in full on CGI mode, and that's really up to you.
Doobage: An eight guy beat down by Olivier Gruner, stick fu, multiple sleeper holds, torture, attempted foot and knee removal by axe, massive kick to the face, slow motion flip through the air, clothesline, face punching, old motorcycle stealing, exploding building, remote control F-16, alien spaceship attack on Russian jet fighters, hookers, cheating at chess, flashy green alien eyes, body dissolving to dust, gut stabbing, rocket launcher stealing, satellite destruction, exploding guard tower, man on fire, slow motion explosions, nuclear power plant infiltration, a potential nuclear disaster, air sickness, weird stuff in big tubes, electromagnetic disruptor machine gun, a microwave rifle, a rock cutting chain gun, some series ass kicking, bloody bodies, black market weapons, alien electricity bolts, a vicious head butt, taser hooey, a nice head shot, exploding alien leg, a big gun that shoots out what appears to be a net, a bloody chest shot, swimming in radioactive water, low budget CGI fighter jets, alien goo, exploding lungs, caustic substances, wall running, metal pole through a barrel, a nice acid pool, and a slow ending.
Kim Richards?: Implied (a potential world wide disaster would kill plenty of people, including Kim Richards)
Gratuitous: Low budget CGI space animation, Olivier Gruner, Olivier Gruner in disguise, slow motion flip through the air, Russian pilots saying "bogey," Chechnya, generic beer drinking, boring underground lab, handprint and eye identification, walking in slow motion, Olivier Gruner training while blindfolded, new team assembling, old school computer monitors, bald guy *beep* radiation testing, people talking about silicon, alien camouflage, Interceptor Force calling the alien "the specimen," AK-47's, double AK-47's, the President's voice, kissing, and potential sequel.
Best lines: "American? No doubt. So when did the Americans start working for the Russians?," "Corporal, where are you taking that weapon?," "Fits the patter," "A little motion sickness?," "My gig is ops. I'm not trained for radiation work," "Welcome to Russia, Mr. Lambert," "Doesn't look so dangerous," "We didn't come here to baby-sit," "Remember, we're in Russia," "Who are you eyeballing, boys?," "I think you just bought yourself an old fashioned behind the woodshed ass whooping," "What do you mean you can't locate the commander?," "What's wrong? Afraid to fight woman?," "The fun is just starting," "What? I said probably fine," "You just shot a Russian commander! We're never going to get out of this country alive!," "You guys don't look any better," "We have to think the way it thinks," "You're barking up the wrong tree," "Do you know what I hate about the human body? It breaks too easy," "It's been fun," "You are nothing without your weapon," "Sorry I can't join you for a swim," "Looks like you took a hit," and "Specimen destroyed. I repeat, specimen destroyed."
Rating: 8.0/10.0
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The Gratuitous B-Movie Column: The Facebook Page!
Please check out The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Facebook page, which can be seen here. It just started so there's not much there at the moment. But, as time goes by, expect to see daily questions and musings and other B-movie hooey. And it would be cool if you "liked" it, too.
The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Facebook page! Yeah!
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And now, the weekly Fearnet update
Do you have Fearnet on your cable/satellite system? If you do, you're lucky because it's the only free all horror/thriller on Demand station going (it's also one of the few places that is proud of B-movies). If you're a Time Warner cable subscriber, you don't have it. You probably used to have it, but it was snatched away from you. But there is a way to see what Fearnet has to offer. Just go here.
Yes, that's the Fearnet website, where you can check out the free movies Fearnet has to offer (the site gets new ones every Wednesday), horror news, and more. The Eye 2 and The Eye 3 were on there last week. Are they still there?Check and see (you can also read my review of Drive Thru here). The site also has a pretty nifty web series featuring Freddy Krueger hisself, Robert Englund, and Kane "Jason Voorhees" Hodder, Fear Clinic that's definitely worth a look (the series is directed by Robert Hall, the writer/director of Laid to Rest. How cool is that?).
Oh, and be sure to check out the ultra cool web series Zombie Roadkill starring Thomas Haden Church. It's about zombies and whatnot.
If you're a Facebook nerd you can check out the Fearnet fans Facebook page, which can be seen here. There are plenty of people out there interested in Fearnet. Come join them.
(As always, thanks to both Mark Lindsey and Mathew Hirsch for info regarding the Fearnet fan movement).
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Live Evil is now on DVD. You need to see it now!
Live Evil the movie I've been talking about for seemingly forever and reviewed here is now on DVD and available to purchase.
It's been a long time coming but Live Evil is finally on store shelves all over the country. If you don't have a reputable DVD seller near you (and by reputable I mean a seller that deals in damn near everything that comes out on DVD, from major studio releases to small independent movies like Live Evil) go to the movie's website and order it from there or you can go here to amazon. You can also rent the flick from various video rental places, but you'll have to go to those places to find out if they have it.
The DVD contains the following:
- Unrated movie
- 5.1 Surround Sound
- Audio commentary with director Jay Woelfel, producer Mark Terry, and Mark Hengst ("Benedict")
- Deleted scenes
- Q & A with star Tim Thomerson and director Jay Woelfel at Fangoria LA convention
- Tim Thomerson intro from Flashback Weekend 2009
- Promo video of Live Evil at Fangoria Weekend of Horror 2009
- Theatrical trailer
- And more!
With all of those cool special features how could you not want to own Live Evil?
So go out right now (well, you can wait until after you finish reading this column) and purchase Live Evil. You'll be glad you did.
Long live the Priest!
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Well, I think that'll be about it for this issue, issue number one hundred and fifty. I didn't think I'd get this far. I hope you've enjoyed the column as much as I enjoy putting it together. B-movies rule, always remember that. And here's to, at least, one hundred and fifty more.
If there's anything you want to see reviewed here in this column, feel free to offer a comment below or send me an e-mail. I'm always on the lookout for new stuff to watch.
And don't forget to bookmark 411 via the little line below. You'll be glad you did.
Interceptor Force 2
Olivier Gruner- Lt. Sean Lambert
Roger R. Cross- Nathan McCallister
Adrienne Wilkinson- Dawn DeSilvia
Elizabeth Gracen- Adriana Sikes
Alex Joilg- Bjorn Hatch
Eve Scheer- The Woman
Nigel Bennett- Jack Bavaro
Hristo Shopov- Gorshkov
Directed by Phillip Roth
Screenplay by Patrick Phillips
Distributed by The Sci-Fi Channel and Interforce Productions LLC and Image Entertainment
Rated R for violence
Runtime- 91 minutes
Buy it here
Unfortunately there are no trailers on the internets for Interceptor Force 2 (I looked everywhere). I will use this space, however, to showcase trailers for the first Interceptor Force movie and some of director Phillip Roth's other movies.
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