gavin6942 An astronaut gets infected with alien DNA during the first mission on Mars and runs amok on earth. Preston and Laura team up with a peaceful, genetically re-engineered Sil (Natasha Henstridge) to track the monster down.The first film became a cult favorite mostly because of the excessive nudity, near as I can tell. The plot was pretty straightforward and it does not stand out as one of those films that needed multiple sequels and its own franchise. And yet, here we are.Writer Chris Brancato was working with MGM and knew the studio was interested in making a follow-up to Species. He pitched an idea to executive Greg Foster where this time two hybrid alien women would strike. Foster liked it, but once Brancato went to "Species" producer Frank Mancuso Jr., he asked to "approach this from a different angle, so that we don't have a tired retread of the original, as sequels often are." So Brancato took inspiration from "The Manchurian Candidate", where "somebody on a mission comes back, apparently a hero, but actually with some terrible demon inside." We get much of the original cast back, and some really fine additional casting, including James Cromwell and a memorable role by Peter Boyle. We also get director Peter Medak on board, one of the great Masters of Horror (given his background in Hammer and "The Changeling")... and even aliens designed by no less an artistic authority than H. R. Giger. In many ways, this film exceeds the original.Having Medak on board brought a few key changes. When Medak was approached by producer Frank Mancuso, a condition of Medak's agreement was to hire on composer Edward Shearmur ("Die Hard"). Also, Peter Boyle is a friend of Medak's and they have worked together many times since the 1970s, so we have Medak to thank for this key bit of casting. Even production designer Miljen Kreka Kljakovic came through Medak. (Kljakovic is not a household name, but look him up -- from "Delicatessen" on, he has made a long list of great films.)And yet, the critics hated it and even the cast was disappointed. Michael Madsen expressed his opinion saying, "Species II was a crock of (doody). There are a number I'm not very proud of. The movie studios can't mind that much, as they haven't contacted me to tell me off about it. I'm honest - if I've made a bad movie, I want my fans to know what they're letting themselves in for." (Regardless of what Madsen thinks of the film, Medak loved working with him.)I have to disagree with Madsen. The film is actually intelligent and clever in a way. The special effects were ahead of their time, even if they may appear dated today. The head regeneration scene is a bit cheesy, but even that allegedly cost $75,000. So it was not a cheap effect. I suspect when people look back now (2016), they will see this is a better film than given credit for.The Scream Factory disc has an old audio commentary ported over (and it is as good as ever). We also have a new interview with Natasha Henstridge, which gives us a bit of a rundown on her career and how she transitioned from modeling to "Species". Oh, and don't forget new interviews with the effects crew. Whether you think this is a good movie or not, these interviews are valuable and really put 1990s horror and science fiction in context.

Dom Nickson Spoiler Alert!!! This film is almost as good as the original with a similar plot where an alien like creature suddenly appears and starts mating in order to reproduce. Here though it's a male alien like creature so he doesn't have a problem going around having sex with any girl he sees. Another good thing about this film is that it brought back Michael and Marge to help keep the feeling of originality! And I'm so happy Forest Whitaker wasn't in this he is one of the most useless characters in cinema history. Seriously I wanted him to die from the very beginning because he is such a waste of a character. The only thing I didn't like about this film is the missing performance of Ben Kingsley where he acted like a jerk. Here though I don't remember there being any jerk in charge of the project which is kind of disappointing because I wanted to see a jerk in charge like the original. Other than that I must say this movie lives up to the original and is just as interesting I give it a 6.5 out of 10.

elliott78212 OK its not trash its where the first film had some sexy scenes this one is down right adult with a twist of red. Peter Medal is an accomplished director just see the Krays or David Copperfield and given what I'm certain was a tight budget an even tighter shooting schedule he makes the best of it, bringing back cast members was a good thing and to be honest the actor playing Patrick was perfect he has that all American guy good looks to match Natasha Henstridge. Putting the somewhat weak space fx aside this movie goes for the guts blood and gore shock value in a big way. They also try not to rehash to much but move on from the previous film. Yes it could use some improvement yet I still enjoyed it, get not one but two aliens ready for mating season the creature FX are good final encounter worth the wait. I got the box set for Christmas so having a marathon onto part 3.

oops i forgot While nowhere as overly lovable as the original, and far less interesting than the succeeder, Species 2 is commonly regarded as the downfall of the series.I don't blame those who say that. It may just be me but the CGI looks worse. And the gore is piled on by the bucket load. Since the gore was one of the reasons the original got a cult following. Guess they thought "Hey, people like the blood. Lets add more this time..." The gore appears to be a desperation move in this flick. And speaking of desperation, we move to the...other....reason the original got a cult following. The soft core porn and, almost random, nudity. Taking that little ingrediant, and like gore, doubling it. Not to be funny, but watching the original on your own...when the nudity arrived...its hard to keep your friend down...this time it just over doses it a tad, almost making it feel awkward considering this is not meant to be a porn video. I'm giving it 7, which kind of sounds contradictory considering all I talked about was the bad things. But it is...at times...decent. And if you want "fan service" then this film is the mecca of them all. Just consider this is a little less action chick, a little more skin flick.