MovieChat Forums > Showdown at Area 51 (2009) Discussion > Decent production, much better than expe...

Decent production, much better than expected


I realize the tag of "Saturday Sci-Fi Original" gets the B-movie alarm ringing in a hurry, and yes, some of the dialogue, the so-so edits and the props needed some work. (The title really does scream "camp-fest" on its own.)

But much of the criticism is overdone-- it seems as though, because it's a Sci-Fi Original and there's been some subpar work in many cases, there's a penchant to automatically tar this one with the same brush.

Which isn't fair to the people working on the project, because they did a more than solid job with this. The plot and script had some depth to them this time. The "how in the world can we decide whom to trust" angle was surprisingly well-framed here-- both of the aliens doing shifty things, with the humans not having the foggiest idea whether the ether rod genuinely activated or shut down the Omega Seed. Their uncertainty and the general confusion of the situation were well-portrayed, and the muddle about friend vs. foe under high-pressure circumstances was fairly compelling. Kronnan, the enemy here, was subtler and more menacing than most villains in this genre, simply because he and Jude were both so difficult to read in the fog of their little war.

The invasion scenario was more original than usual. It did have some plot holes or at least question marks-- the alien civilization living on our toxic waste like that, having sufficient technology to launch a major interplanetary invasion but depending on the invaded planets to produce the required fossil fuel emissions and radioactive waste to begin with. (Seems like they'd have the tech know-how to produce more than enough toxic waste-- or its equivalent-- from other sources.) But then again, it seems that their first priority was invasion and colonization, and only secondarily the accumulation of those "waste products"-- so maybe it was just the best timing for them, the writers' way of addressing the old Fermi's question about why the aliens hadn't invaded long before (they were waiting for people to lay the groundwork for them). It was at least interesting, and the writers did more than just rip off some plot on a weekend and hash it out. They put some thought into the premise.

The acting was occasionally a mishmash and the dialogue needed some tweaking in places, but it wasn't bad, and Coby Bell did a solid job as Jude, in a role where he had to be an ally in the frustrating position of knowing he would not be trusted, and having to make tough (and often questionable) decisions under great pressure. He had nice fight scenes with Kronnan, and the set design (especially down in the air duct facility) was pretty well-done.

All in all, given the limited budget and time pressures, I'd rate this one a solid 6-6.5, definitely not a 3.6. Regarded independently on its own merits, it was a decent production that deserves some credit.

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I enjoyed this film, as did my three friends. We saw the ads on SciFi and made an evening of it; beer and popcorn, selected herbs, the all American retarded evening. The special effects weren't top notch, but the story was pretty good and the actors did a darned good job considering what they had to work with. This is a pretty good made for TV SyFy film. It can't all be "Gone with the Wind", but to tell you the truth "Gone with the Wind" wouldn't stand up that well against "The Godfather", "Raiders of the Lost Ark" or Schindler's List". But, that's a completely different conversation.

Beauhooligan

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