gavin6942 On a distant mining planet ravaged by a decade of war, scientists have created the perfect weapon: a blade-wielding, self-replicating race of killing devices known as Screamers designed for one purpose only -- to hunt down and destroy all enemy life forms.This is a film that should be successful. Start with producer Antony I. Ginnane, who had great genre films dating back to Patrick" and "Strange Behavior". Add a story by Philip K. Dick, which was turned into a screenplay by Dan O'Bannon. Add on great actors like Peter Weller and Jennifer Rubin. Heck, even add the Chiodo brothers for special effects. How can this fail? And yet it does. Visually, it just looks a mess. The opening narration is off-putting. The cinematography is sloppy (though this may be because of the CGI and not the fault of the camera). This is the sort of film that would benefit from a remake, but there is always the fear they would botch it again.

david-sarkies This movie is an awesome movie and is one that leaves you wondering what really was the truth. In the end you find out but what seems basic at the beginning of the movie, that is the nature of the screamer, in the end becomes a plot with many twists. This movie is about what you think you know is really what you do not know.Screamers is set a little way in the future (2078) and is on a planet, Sirius 6B, that has been totally ravaged by nuclear war. An energy corporation, the New Economic Block (NEB), has discovered Berynium, a new source of energy. The problem is that mining it is incredibly lethal and the miners want protection. The NEB won't give it to them so they form an alliance and declare war on the NEB. The war turns into a cold war on Earth between the NEB and the Alliance while NEB obliterates Sirius 6B with Nuclear bombing raids. The movie opens at the tail end of this where both sides are holed up in bunkers and want to negotiate peace.This war seems to the something similar to the union disputes occurring today. The workers are being forced to work in harsh conditions and the corporation doesn't want to fund the extra money to protect them. The protests today are of a different matter, namely removing union control, but what we see here is the same sort of thing happening, except the war between the unions and the corporations has resulted in a shooting war.There is also the idea of the arms race. Both sides have struck with destructive weapons. The NEBs used nuclear weapons while the Alliance developed the Autonomous Mobile Sword, or the Screamer. They are called Screamers because they scream when they attack. At first they are just little nasties that burrow under the ground and attack anything with a pulse, but we learn a little way into the movie that the are built in an underground bunker, operated completely by automation, and they upgrade themselves. At first the Alliance believe they know all about the screamers, but when a new guy arrives, ignorant of it, they slowly begin to realise that what they accepted for so long they really don't understand.Then there is the nature of the war. It seems at first that the war is coming to the end and negotiations are nearby so they prepare to travel to the NEB bunker to talk, but then a transport crashes and they learn that the war is nowhere near over, but just moving to another planet. With the nuclear wasteland and the screamers, Sirius 6B has become uninhabitable. It is also interesting to note that Hendricksson says a number of times, "We were all NEBs once." The whole nature of war is that we are the same and in the end the whole reason of the war becomes moot and we just fight because we can.

breakdownthatfilm-blogspot-com It's hard for filmmakers to adapt stories to the screen, especially when they resemble stories that have been previously told. Turns out though director Christian Duguay evens out the story and though it still recalls other movies before its time, it still has elements in it that make it have a quality worth watching.The story of Screamers is loosely based off of Second Variety, a short story written by Philip K. Dick, the novelist of Blade Runner (1982) and Total Recall (1990). Dick is a very prestigious science fiction writer. His work has multiple twists and it always was a pleasant read. I also read Second Variety and much of it was fairly close to this movie. I actually enjoyed the film adaptation more than the story itself.Peter Weller is Joseph A. Hendricksson, an eccentric commander of an alliance bunker located on a planet known as Sirius 6B. Years before on Earth, there was nuclear fallout between two major groups; the N.E.B. (New Economic Block) and alliance workers over a special mineral that could change energy usage for transportation. So the fighting was moved to Sirius 6B where there has been a "Cold War" ever since. For the alliance to defend themselves, they created the Autonomous Mobile Sword or better known as, the screamer. The screamer is a mechanical life form that was equipped with a razor sharp blade so it could kill its enemy. But like all man made robots, they become self-aware and are now deciding for themselves who they should kill. Strangely enough, they are always updating their software, even making screamers that look like humans. So from there, audiences might make the connection of these traits between Skynet from The Terminator (1984), and characters not knowing who's real and who isn't from the novel Who Goes There, by John W. Campbell Jr.But for those few relations, Screamers can hold it's own as an entertaining sci-fi horror movie. It does not contain a lot of blood but it can be very suspenseful. Weller's performances are always a welcome to the screen. His ability to make his character sarcastic as is serious is a great touch. Andrew Lauer plays a innocent rookie named Ace Jefferson who tags along Hendricksson to meet with the N.E.B. command. The N.E.B. group these two visit is lead by the lovely Jennifer Ruben as Jessica Hanson. And with her is Roy Dupuis, who looks like Matthew McConaughey's distant cousin, who likes bugging another soldier who has some serious patience issues. The special effects are definitely dated. And it's really obvious when the camera is focused on the screamer itself but hey, the creature looks cool enough to look at. I think the most baffling part is how the machine keep upgrading their models. It makes you wonder, "What's going on down there". The set design is also something to see. A lot of does have the same color like from the movie Soldier (1998) but it at least looks real. The backgrounds actually resemble Chernobyl; which is eerie. Normand Corbeil composed the soundtrack and it also another strong point. When Hedricksson runs into a homeless child, the music makes the scene so heartbreaking. It's emotional and soft on the ears.The film variation of Second Variety does borough ideas from previous movies, but it's put together in such a way that it won't matter to the audience. The music is good and so is Weller's performance as a tired out war veteran.

picturetaker I originally saw this movie in the theatre. Many reviewers comment saying it should have gone straight to video but I don't think so. As this movie for its time was not that bad. I have seen this movie about 6 times since 1995 and every time I have enjoyed it.Could this movie have been better? Of course! But for what it cost and for what kind of movie it is, it is alright! Its such an interesting premise I would LOVE to see this movie remade with a good director and a large movie budget! As that would be GREAT! Screamers did have a OK script, it had a great story, OK character and storyline development. All in all it was an OK 1995 film. As most sci-fi goes it is not the worst at all! Screamers was an original movie and it is entertaining so if you get the opportunity to see it, I recommend you check it out if you like sci-fi movies.