{"id":7641,"date":"2014-07-10T07:43:57","date_gmt":"2014-07-10T14:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=7641"},"modified":"2014-07-10T07:46:12","modified_gmt":"2014-07-10T14:46:12","slug":"review-amberalert-dvd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2014\/07\/review-amberalert-dvd\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Amber Alert: Terror on the Highway DVD"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Amber Alert: Terror on the Highway<\/em><\/strong> is an all around bad movie with poorly written characters not helped by inane dialogue but most of all, it\u2019s just a mess of a plot where the villain\u2019s motivation isn\u2019t entirely clear; it\u2019s also filled with side stories, some character struggles which offer nothing but to bad out the running time.<\/p>\n

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Amber Alert: Terror on the Highway<\/span>
\n(2008)<\/strong><\/p>\n


\nREVIEW NAVIGATION<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe Movie<\/a> | Special Features<\/a> | Video Quality<\/a> | Audio Quality<\/a> | Overall<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Genre(s): <\/strong>Drama, Suspense\/Thriller
\nNasser Group | NR \u2013 90 min. \u2013 $14.99 | July 29, 2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n <\/b>MOVIE INFO:<\/span>
\nDirected by: <\/strong>George Mandeluk
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Luis Cruz and Jack Nasser & Joseph Nasser (written by)
\nCast: <\/strong>Tom Berenger, Torri Higginson, Britt McKillip, Genevieve Buechner<\/p>\n

DISC INFO:<\/span>
\nFeatures: <\/strong>Trailer
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>1<\/p>\n

Audio: <\/strong>English (Dolby Digital Surround)
\nVideo: <\/strong>Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>None
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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THE MOVIE<\/strong> \u2013 1.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There was a transition scene that summarized what a piece of crap Amber Alert: Terror on the Highway<\/em><\/strong> was: after some inane dialogue we cut to our antagonist throwing up behind a tree. That in a nutshell described this 2008 TV movie (with a reportedly $2M budget) that, for some reason, someone thought needed a home video release…<\/p>\n

The story, such as it is, follows recently released convict Larsan (TOM BERENGER) who has no place to stay after his ex won\u2019t allow him to crash at their old house, not to mention won\u2019t allow to see his teenage daughter, though being the caring fellow he is, did get his daughter a birthday gift… which he had stolen from a gas station attendant\u2019s daughter. So he sets off from Washington State to Oregon, having previously stolen a Caddy from a pair of older nagging twins.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, we also are introduced into the lives of our two soon-to-be victims as one, Katie (BRITT MCKILLIP) fights with her mother about going to Italy with her friends while the other, Debra (GENEVIEVE BUECHNER), having a good time with her best friend Sandy (JESSICA PARKER KENNEDY), along with some other characters that honestly don\u2019t matter and don\u2019t offer anything amounting to honest or convincing emotional support to an expanded story that served better in an episode of \u201cLaw & Order: SVU\u201d.<\/p>\n

In any case, as Larsan rambles across the state, the car gets a flatten tire and while waiting, and drinking, sees Debra and Sandy pull up to a lookout point hoping to come across a couple cute guys. Needing a ride, Larsan pulls a gun on them and when Debra offers to be taken instead of Sandy, he ties one up to a fence and the other in the back of the SUV. However, his plans, which aren\u2019t entirely clear, are spoiled when Katie and her quasi-boyfriend pull up, so Larsan robs them and tapes the guy to the steering wheel and proceeds to kidnap Katie. Again, I have no idea why he did this especially when he says to himself he only wanted a car… so why have two additional passengers?<\/p>\n

As the boy manages to call 911, Klamath Falls Police Chief Geiger (TORRI HIGINSON) gets the permission to send out the Amber Alert, after an awkward check list that seems more appropriate as a PSA than a movie. The parents are then informed and of course mass panic, and \u201craw\u201d emotions are emoted. As laughable as some of these performances were in this sequence, which makes anything on the Lifetime Network look like Academy Award worthy material, it\u2019s only compounded by cheesy direction, in particular a jump-zoom as Geiger utters the words, \u201cAmber Alert\u201d that would put David Caruso\u2019s \u201cCSI: Miami\u201d line readings to shame.<\/p>\n

The rest of Amber Alert: Terror on the Highway<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 which is only around 86-minutes (sans end credits) \u2013 is filled with uninspiring performances, thinly written side characters, inane dialogue, a mess of a plot and an antagonist with messy development. Even the normally reliable Tom Berenger can\u2019t help this flick despite some so bad it\u2019s funny moments that you and some friends can go \u201cMST3K\u201d on it.<\/p>\n

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SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 0.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The only feature is the trailer (1:54)<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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VIDEO \u2013 3.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Amber Alert: Terror on the Highway<\/em><\/strong> is presented with a 16×9 enhanced 1.78 widescreen transfer and like any low production film doesn\u2019t look the best with drabbed colors, in spite of some of the forest locales, and there are some minor artifacting and banding issues.
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AUDIO \u2013 3.75\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Dolby Digital Surround track is adequate enough showcasing crisp and clear dialogue levels, the cheesy music\/score as well as general ambient noises. Not amazing or noteworthy but a reasonable track all things considered.<\/p>\n

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OVERALL \u2013 1.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Overall, Amber Alert: Terror on the Highway<\/em><\/strong> is an all around bad movie with poorly written characters not helped by inane dialogue but most of all, it\u2019s just a mess of a plot where the villain\u2019s motivation isn\u2019t entirely clear; it\u2019s also filled with side stories, some character struggles which offer nothing but to bad out the running time. For his part Berenger is fine though he can\u2019t do anything to save this trainwreck.<\/p>\n


\nPublished: <\/strong>07\/10\/2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amber Alert: Terror on the Highway is an all around bad movie with poorly written characters not helped by inane dialogue but most of all, it\u2019s just a mess of a plot where the villain\u2019s motivation isn\u2019t entirely clear; it\u2019s also filled with side stories, some character struggles which offer nothing but to bad out … Continue reading “Review: Amber Alert: Terror on the Highway DVD”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[3023,3024,700,968],"class_list":["post-7641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dvd-reviews","tag-britt-mckillip","tag-genevieve-buechner","tag-tom-berenger","tag-torri-higginson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7641"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7645,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7641\/revisions\/7645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}