Aidan Doyle
By god does this movie suck really bad. My first review i shall use as a starter to reviewing this awful mess of was is seen to others as cinematic enjoyment. This movie has a basic plot made complicated. I had no idea of what the hell was going on at times. The story is (i think?) of some guy who is obviously the guy who survives at all times in this cheesy sci-fi some crytography who is somehow needed for coding some alien message that crashed landed with a ship in the south pole (or north, it does't even matter where). People their are dead as alien kills, is killed and people escape. Is this not cinematic genius such as alien in which had me excited to see an alien kill people, but alien hunter the thing only appears for like ten minutes and dies easily. The title is misleading as well (in a way) as the alien hardly hunts and i thought this would have been a spin off of the predator movie. The acting is bad and effects are lame, script writing is bad and silly. This film bored me completely and is a horrific mess made. Hardly worth anyones time. I would not recommend this film, but if you really want to see a film that is worse than batman and robin or home alone 4. Check it out. Horrible film. 0/5
Richard Hawes
James Spader returns to territory familiar from his experience on the doomed Supernova (2001), as a cryptographer brought in to consult on a possible extra-terrestrial discovery. But instead of developing a traditional Alien (1979) scenario, which it appears to initially, this combines elements from several much more complex SF films.The Andromeda Strain (1971): Confined within their laboratory, a skeleton crew have to deal with the possibility that they have been exposed to an alien contagion which will threaten the world.The Thing (1982): After an alien is thawed out, tensions rise amid the group, who are isolated in the Antarctic.Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977): The aliens, which bear a striking resemblance to those in Independence Day (1996), are discovered to be benign.Shot in Bulgaria by the prolific Nu Image, this quickie also has a notable supporting cast. Spader is joined by familiar Scots actor John Lynch, champion Olympic sprinter Carl Lewis (!), Heather Graham's sister, Aimee, Kier Dullea, aka Dave from 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and character actor Roy Dotrice.Despite being derivative, Alien Hunter is actually a pretty good movie. A charismatic performance from Spader and some excellent computer effects work elevates this beyond the usual B-movie expectations.
clive-13
SPOILERS AHEAD!!Someone once said something like "there are only ten basic plot lines". Now you notice I don't know who said it, why, when. etc. I don't even know if the correct number was 10. This piece of vaguely remembered trivia did come to mind after reading some of the reviews of "Alien Hunter". Yes, I would agree, there are more that a couple of similarities with such films as "Alien", "The Thing (1982 version), "Coccoon" and others. Does the use of proved and successful elements from great Sci-Fi make this well written, atmospherically haunting, and intelligent film a poor quality rip-off? I think not. Let me share with you why I believe "borrowing" elements of previous Sci-Fi winners makes "Alien Hunter" a very good film of this genre.First, I do admit that the title of this film does not bring about confidence in an aficionado of what I like to call "Speculative" Science/Horror films. A little imagination could have been used here.....maybe something upfront like "Alien Warning", or something sly and esoteric like "Prime Directive!". Even something as recycled and trite as "We Came in Peace" would have certainly brought more interest from the film's target audience than"Alien Hunter" That sounds like a stupid computer game title. Oh well, back to why I liked this film regardless of it's meaningless title.I love this genre of film and have since seeing at the age of six, "It Came From Beneath the Sea". at the Rialto Theater in Loveland, Colorado in 1951. I have made it one of my life's not so secret "guilty pleasures" to see not all ( I wish), but hundreds of films of this general type. From the excellent "Them" in 1954 to the recently seen DVD mess of a film, "Absolute Zero", a film so bad it never got a theatrical release. My point is......whether it's trips to mars by NASA, DNA sucking androids in Seattle, aliens in deep space or Wyoming, viral insanity from defense labs, volcanoes in New York, mind eating parasites in Toronto, plagues in London, giant leeches in Louisiana, mad scientists in the desert, killer bees in LA or computer viruses that kill you by getting into your brain synapses while your writing a review on IMDb.....IF THE FILM DOESN'T HAVE A GOOD STORY AND IF THAT STORY IS POORLY WRITTEN THE FILM WILL BE DOA! That said, it's fine that the writers place the story in the depths of an underground NASA lab in Antarctica in a howling days long blizzard. Sure it's been used before. But it works because of the interesting story line and believable dialog. They find an object under the ice. Done before? Of course. Yet this object means something different than past films in the "WHY" it's there. That comes from an intelligent and NOT USED before story line that hooks together "Roswell" and the contemporary story. Yes, the object contains an alien. Done so many times now you would think there wasn't another direction for this element to move towards. Yet there is a unique and haunting difference between this "coccoon" which contains the alien and past films where there is an object that falls from the skies and contains an alien.Why? It's called good writing. I could go on. People are infected. People fight each other. The big, bad U.S. Government knows all and must act to save the world. All done before, but many times.... done poorly. In this oddly named film all these elements come together differently because of a good back story, good, realistic dialog, reasonably good acting, effective editing and, for the most part, excellent CG.What I really LIKED......The disturbing and hauntingly claustrophobic underground station, with its endless round and darkly lit corridors and Star Trek "sliding entryways". Theunderground genetically altered and hydroponically grown corn fields, that through the magic of CG and the terror of a fleeing "infected"scientist, start turning black with infection and curl up in steaming black rot before your eyes. The opening sequence in Roswell primes you with an interesting and ultimately satisfying explanation for that curious and still mystifying event. I liked the Russian officers on the submarine. Although it;s hard to believe that submarine officers are always in "Dress Parade" uniforms. I liked the way they began to SWEATbefore the launch of the missile. I liked the suspense and terror of being underground with IT!, the alien. I liked the characters and the subplots Well done all around. All in all this is an excellent representative addition to the Sci-Fi genre. The writing makes this film. It does use many clichéd concepts, but it uses them WELL, with good dialog, acting CG and, to me, a satisfying ending. I know some reviewers felt there should have been more of an explanation of the future of the four survivors, but they want TOO much. Speculative Fiction shouldn't spell out EVERYTHING. Use your Imagination.7 stars out of 10 Recommended! Clive 13 in Denver, Colorado
