Screamers is a fine B-movie science fiction film that works mostly for the charisma and weight Peter Weller brought to the role as well as Jennifer Rubin who was wonderful in the female lead.
Screamers
(1995)
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Horror, Thriller
Shout Factory | R – 108 min. – $29.99 | January 29, 2019
Date Published: 01/19/2019 | Author: The Movieman
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Shout Factory provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3.75/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Cmdr. Joe Hendricksson (PETER WELLER) and new recruit Ace Jefferson (ANDY LAUER) set out across the surface of Sirius 6B, where they hope to settle a violent labor dispute at a remote mining outpost. After going too far to turn back, they find the desert riddled with deadly Autonomous Mobile Swords, or “Screamers.” Created to protect the mines, these burrowing weapons have learned to replicate themselves. To make matters worse, recent generations of Screamers can assume humanoid form. Aiding in their journey is a member of the opposition, Jessica Hanson (JENNIFER RUBIN).
Quick Hit Review: Screamers was a surprisingly well made, low budget sci-fi horror movie, mostly due to the strong and steely performance from Peter Weller as well as Jennifer Rubin, who does share some, albeit brief, chemistry with Weller. The script, based off yet another Philip K. Dick short story, by Dan O’Bannon (Alien) and Miguel Tejada-Flores (Fright Night Part 2), isn’t the best as it lacked some set-up with the Tremors-like creatures that could’ve been expanded, however with a $11 million budget (~$18 million with inflation), I will give it credit for being economical in its storytelling. Beyond the acting, which had a supporting cast that wasn’t half bad all things considered, some of the technical aspects were rather impressive. Yes, you do have the cheesy looking visual effects that are on the laughable side, but the matte painting backgrounds were fairly good as were the screamer designs and quality miniature works.
The film was directed by Christian Duguay whose credits include Scanners II and III as well as the Pierce Brosnan action-vehicle, Live Wire and The Art of War starring Wesley Snipes. Nothing particularly special about Duguay’s direction but he does well with the generally barren landscape and the limitations of the visual effects for that time and budget. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.25/5 |
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No slip cover on this but the artwork is reversible. Features include new Interviews with Director Christian Duguay (21:11; HD), Actress Jennifer Rubin (18:58; HD), Producer Tom Berry (23:56; HD) and Co-Writer Miguel Tejada-Flores (11:03; HD) and the Theatrical Trailer (1:56; HD). The interviews were routine with each going over their beginnings of their careers and memories of working on Screamers; but it’s always nice getting anything new for these B-film flicks. |
VIDEO – 3.5/5 |
| Screamers carves its way onto the Blu-ray format presented with a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 1080p high-definition transfer. Given there is no mention of some new scan from the original camera negative scanned in 2K, I assume this was what was given to Shout by Sony. As such, it’s an okay looking picture though there was some artifact-like texture while colors were on the muted side, but that was by design while black levels were fairly deep. On the downside, there were some instances of minor dust marks and specs, however nothing overly distracting. |
AUDIO – 3.75/5 |
| The disc comes with a decent enough DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo track. There is quite a bit to judge with a balance of dialogue which came through with good clarity as well as some decent depth for the action-centric sequences with gunfire or the screamers coming out of the ground and carving up its victims. |
OVERALL – 3.0/5 |
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Overall, Screamers is a fine B-movie science fiction film that works mostly for the charisma and weight Peter Weller brought to the role as well as Jennifer Rubin who was wonderful in the female lead, while the story was just good enough to keep one entertained. This Blu-ray release offers decent/good video and audio transfers respectively and some okay bonus material with a few new interviews. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.