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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 1.85:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  • Dual Layer ( )
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Commentary - English: Dolby Digital Stereo
  Subtitles
    English, Spanish, Italian, Czech, Greek, Polish, Hungarian, Russian, Dutch, Arabic, Portuguese, Turkish, Icelandic, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Hindi, Romanian, Serbian, Commentary - Italian, Commentary - Dutch
  Extras
  • Deleted scenes - Optional audio commentary
  • 3 Theatrical trailer - Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Bad Boys 2, Terminator 3
  • Audio commentary - Director Ron Krauss
  • 2 Featurette - Director's Location Scout, Making Of
  • 6 Photo gallery
  • Animated menus
  • Storyboards - Stroyboard to film comparison
  • Dolby Digital trailer - Space

Alien Hunter

Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment . R4 . COLOR . 88 mins . M15+ . PAL

  Feature
Contract

For a start it’s a pretty B-grade name for a movie, isn’t it? It sounds like an old TV show or something – a curious pre-X-Files hybrid of ‘sci-fi’ and a cop show.

Well, while it may be attempting the first, it’s nothing like the second. Being shot in Bulgaria and set in Antarctica, Alien Hunter actually follows the SETI set (SETI standing for Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) and should have been aimed at the scriptwriter. It’s a thin premise playing with an old theme, but does have a fresh angle on it that is mildly intriguing. For a while.

Julian Rome (James Spader) is a humble college professor sleeping with college students after being dumped from the SETI project several years earlier. When something is uncovered in the Antarctic ice that is emitting an alien code, naturally Rome must get down there to investigate. Upon his arrival he hooks up with an old flame as they await the cracking open of what looks like a giant yummy chocky Easter egg. What it actually contains is something quite otherworldly of course, and it soon becomes a ‘track down the alien before it gets loose and kills the world or something.

"It’s gone... the Thing – it’s gone!"

However, then things take a twist. Stopping the monster isn’t enough, as it’s brought with it a horrible alien virus that eats people alive with special effects. Some people in the underground bunker are naturally immune though and it becomes a race against time to beat the government from bombing the shit out of the place to destroy the virus... curiously, the same virus that reduced Mars to a stinking red rock devoid of life.

Yes, an interesting idea if not entirely new, however it hasn’t been handled as well as it could have been as director Ron Krauss loads the film with homage to other movies, sub-par special effects and some truly wooden acting. Oh, and there’s even a chance for people under the eternal iceflow of Antarctica to work in revealing white bathing suits. Perfect.

Containing deliberate cast additions from classic science fiction films like Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and John Carpenter’s The Thing, Krauss has somehow attempted to ally himself with such classics and he even boasts about it in the audio commentary! Not to mention his references to studio stock footage from other pieces Contact and even Twins! Unfortunately for Krauss, this film isn’t on anywhere near the same level as all those others (alright, except perhaps Twins).

The story itself has far too many clumsy story revelations as well. Some relatively easily-understood information will be given and some cast moron will pipe up with ‘What the hell’s she talking about?’ or ‘What do you mean?’ and so on. Give us a little credit, please.

I’ve seen this on the shelf at my local video store and I’d recommend hiring it first and see how you go.

  Video
Contract

Delivered in the cinema aspect of 1.85:1 with 16:9 enhancement, the film looks like it would had it ever made it to cinemas. The transfer isn’t the best thing about it though, that’s for sure. There is some lacking shadow detail which is fairly important in an Alien style pursuit and that’s not good. While being artefact-free, we still get ourselves some camera shake and wavering of picture. The picture itself looks okay in mostly earthy colours with drab olives and ochres, but the film mostly echoes television quality.

Some of the special effects are really, really obvious even to the untrained eye here and add to the dodgy value of the whole film. Another thing – I know space might look boring on screen, but stars don’t twinkle when we are outside the atmosphere of Earth. Any scientist will tell you that. Also, some grain makes its way to the DVD with a particularly heavy example at 10:44-50. There are also some camera shakes and clunky stop motion to add impact, but they just add cheap.

  Audio
Contract

Granted us is Dolby Digital 5.1, it is mostly fairly good for the duration of the film. Dialogue is all pretty well spoken and understood, but for some confusion with trickier accents. I tried to hear one guy a couple of times and couldn’t make out what he was saying and had to resort to the subtitles to fill me in. However, this isn’t too frequent.

Sound effects are fine without being too overdone and help create the mood aimed for. Music does the same and has that creepy piano/X-Files thing going on that does well to bolster the tension. Tim Jones has created the score, fashioning it similarly to Jerry Goldsmith’s work on Alien (according to the director) and it does lend the correct atmosphere in being understated or dominating as required.

  Extras
Contract

A total surprise in the fullness of the disc here. Firstly, the menus are interesting in that the selections don’t appear until called up by your moving cursor. Haven’t seen that before and it was a nice touch.

The director’s audio commentary is rather full, though he does shoot himself in the foot a bit by giving away all his secrets (including his influences, his homages, stock footage and special effects). While being informative, this is too chatty and he states the obvious a little bit and kisses arse too much.

Several featurettes are next, though one is a storyboard comparison featuring three windows of storyboard, raw footage and final rendered effects. Running for 8:27 it is interesting enough, particularly in some of the hidden effects we may miss in the goings on of the film.

The next featurette is entitled Director’s Location Scout and is infrared video footage of the director scouting locations at night. Barely worth a look and runs too long at 10:24 in 4:3. Finally, the making of featurette is the usual sell job with soundbite interviews and presented in the old school TV format of 4:3.

Deleted scenes contain an optional commentary as well as being titled with film context and even markers at the start of some scenes. The photo gallery contains lots of behind the scenes shots under six sub-menus entitled Alien, Alien Build, Maintenance, Mess Hall, Pod and Tunnel. In total these contain 60 pics and are mildly interesting.

Finally, three trailers for better films than this in Bad Boys 2, Charlie’s Angels and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (well, maybe not Bad Boys 2).

For a rather pedestrian film, this is a swag of extras that contribute in some way to the value of the disc.

  Overall  
Contract

I’ve never seen so many names ending in ‘V’ as I did in the closing credits. That’s Bulgaria I guess. Anyway, this film is really rental fodder, though it may find a certain fanbase of sorts. It may not, I dunno, but as a film it looked a little bit too much like it was hanging onto it’s bigger brother’s shirt-tails trying to be with the gang, but it was told to go home.

Rent it first if it sounds any good to you is my advice.


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      And I quote...
    "Hmmm... Alien thing loose in Antarctica... sound familiar?"
    - Jules Faber
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Nintaus DVD-N9901
    • TV:
          Sony 51cm
    • Receiver:
          Diamond
    • Speakers:
          Diamond
    • Surrounds:
          No Name
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard Optical
    • Video Cables:
          Standard Component RCA
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