Terminal Invasion (2002)

Simply A Masterpiece

As Good As It Gets

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I watched this movie because it had Sean Cunningham (director of Friday the 13th) with Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead) and thought it would be a high tension and suspense action-thriller. However, I think it was some more like some mystery-thriller a la Stephen King. The Langoliers was the first movie that popped into my mind.People are stranded on an airport that is filled with aliens. Yes, we've seen movies like this a million times and it is what you would suspect. Nothing more, nothing less. OK, I found Bruce a bit like a whining wimp and some of the characters were very annoying and the monsters looked ridiculous. However, I found it interesting how they would get out of this trouble and the twist at the end was also welcome. The reason why the aliens invaded is well explained at the end Here is the reason why they invaded, that is explained at the very end (minor PLOT SPOILER ahead) They invaded the airport as a test before a bigger invasion. Their reason for invading earth is because they found humans had the strongest spirit and would therefore make the best slave labor (why these high-tech aliens would use human labour instead of high-tech machinery could be questioned?;) PLOTSPOILER END They do not invade us "because they hate us and want us dead" as the alien says in one of the first scenes and people here complain about this as "a stupid plot". You get what you expect and if this sounds something that you would like, go ahead and rent it, but do not expect anything groundbreaking.

Oh dear. This reminded me of the kinds of films that I used to rent on VHS purely because of the cover.I bought this because of Bruce. And to be honest, he is, as is usual, the highpoint of this film which has the qualities of a day time soap.The average X files episode used to sweep this kind of stuff in 45 minutes and there is a high degree of stretch to the story. The acting is pretty poor as well with some fairly desperate stereotyping.As a cable production Cunningham (Director) probably had little to work with budget wise but this looks and feels cheap from the opening scene.Avoid.

Friday the 13th's Sean S. Cunningham directs The Evil Dead's Bruce Campbell in this entertaining piece of B-movie sci-fi/horror hokum. Although made for TV, 'Terminal Invasion' has its fair share of decent moments and Cunningham, no stranger to the genre, delivers a slick fun-filled film. Only the iffy editing and some dodgy scene transitions belie the movie's TV origins.In a script that draws comparison with John Carpenter's (far superior) The Thing, a group of people, trapped inside a remote airport terminal during a severe blizzard, discover a malign alien presence intent on enslaving mankind. But with the extra-terrestrial creatures in human guise, paranoia and panic soon sets in.Bruce Campbell, not the greatest of actors put possessing a strong screen presence, hams it up the only way he can, bringing a welcome familiarity to his role of Jack; this is basically Ash from Army of Darkness, minus his boom-stick! The rest of the cast give credible performances; a commendable feat given the cheesy lines they are forced to deliver.The special effects are sparse, but effective; once out of their human form, the aliens are a creepy bunch of ugly critters, and there is even a tiny smattering of gore to keep horror fans happy.Despite 'Terminal Invasion' being a made for TV offering, it is great to see Sean S. Cunningham directing again after a long hiatus—this is, after all, the man who gave us Jason Vorhees—and I look forward to 'Trapped Ashes', a horror anthology which will contain segments from four different directors (Cunningham directs the second segment) plus non-segment portions by Joe Dante. The film has been described as 'extremely twisted'. Sounds promising.

Lets be honest.....this movie isn't Gone with the wind, or Ghandi....its not even Alien or Independence day. But its clever, well written and an alien movie with a unique storyline. Reminiscent of the paranoia in the best of the sci-fi movies of the 50's. Are they or aren't they. Bunch of folks in a confined area....unable to tell who's who. I recorded it...because of my fondness for Army of Darkness, fully expecting to bail out after 15 or 20 minutes. Instead I watched it all...and enjoyed it enough to encourage others to give it a try. I gave it a 7. I would have preferred to end this review a line above, but apparently I was too concise for my own good, falling short of the content minimum