Showdown at Area 51 (2007)

Load of rubbish!!

It is a performances centric movie

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

The energy crisis has been solved. Turns out an alien race can use our carbon emissions for their own planet. Easy answer to all our current issue with the planet.Jude and some dude in ancient alien underwater "flight"suit, battle it out on our planet. They are both visitors from outer space. This costume reminded me of the old 50's A whopping 3 million was spent on this flick. I think making these films does provide employment and training ground for film/video folks and good experience before they graduate to making a commercial movie. These SyFy movies are the fast food of the industry. You start flipping burgers and move up to management. Direct a few SyFy movies and move up to theatrical release.The costume for the "gas mask" alien was surely inspired by Road Warrior. But the cutout butt cheeks were missing on this thrown together, jury rigged design. Visit a salvage store, buy tons of surplus, thrown them on an alien. His outfit reminded me of the 50's flick with the gorilla with the diving helmet.Jason and GiGi work with Jude, the other alien, to save the planet. Jason seems unable to master the RPG. Perhaps they should have given it to a Russian. Jason took about 5 minutes to aim but never fire the RPG. He should take a training class. At one time he has the aim but is distracted. I like the scene where he "debates" the bad alien, who tries to convince him that he is really the good guy. He turns off his squealing vocals to English. "I am saving the planet the other guy is a terrorist." In movies like this you really need a few hot chicks with 36DD cleavage to keep a guys interest. Really. And tight shorts and t-tops. GiGi just doesn't make the grade, but she is cute. And you need a "get wet" scene somewhere, like in P2.The only sexy scene is where Jude tells GiGi to "slide the ether rod into the terminal port" to save the planet from invasion. She is carrying around a dildo type device for a lot of the movie and this dialog is loaded with innuendo.If it comes on the SyFy channel, you might check it out. The squealing alien sounded like a lifted audio track from a Godzilla movie.

I watched this because of the intriguing title, and a bit out of "Party of Five" sentiment. I've seen over 2500 films, yet none of the actor I had seen before, so I thought hey nice! unknown actors! But I was thoroughly disappointed by the story. And the cinematography.I just don't like that a film, which is supposed to have sweltering skies and a desert backdrop is played out under a leaden sky. All right, so I like the sun, sue me. Yeah yeah, I know they explained it, and they're Canadians, so can you blame them for using their own country? I guess not.Still, this movie had 2nd rate written all over it. There is nothing which annoys me so much as Stupid Characters. Prime Example: the Tough Sarge. Why was he so stupid as not to distinguish between the two aliens? and on the other hand, Our Hero could just as easily have said: Look, he's the local Interstellar Cop, that is an Intergalactic Hoodlum and he wants to kill us all for profit/food/our minerals. Easy explanation, but yeah that would kinda kill the story .... But wait! that is the mark of a good writer, that presents his lore in such a way that believable obstacles are given, which do not rely on the stupidity of the characters. Wouldn't Our Hero say everything that sounds reasonable to keep the world from being poisoned? It's bad, very bad. Then, they try to throw in a totally unbelievable plot twist near the end, which could explain the rapid progress of the villain to the scene of the Bomb, but TOTALLY unbelievable, since we get no background info on Bad Alien at all, whereas we do get background info on Good Alien, he has a GF, she died, etc etc. Minor detail: They used the same bike they used in Tinman!!! I mean, how cheap can a channel get!!84 mins of my life ... anyway, it's that I get somewhat paid to review these, or else ...

This movie was bad within the first 5 minutes. It only takes minimal research to find out some basic info about Area 51. 1. It's on a dry lake bed in the Nevada Desert. Not a whole lot of lush green vegetation in the countryside there. 2. It's an actual military installation, not a disguised park. The people at Area 51 are military and in uniform, again no disguises are necessary. So think of a dry fenced in airbase with soldiers. Not a National Park with Rangers. Anyone in uniform has his hair trimmed short and neat. Just putting on a uniform won't fool anyone closer than 50 ft. That was what I noticed in the first 5 minutes. It went downhill from there when I found out that most of the cast can't act and the plot was thin. This doesn't even belong in the Bargain Bin, If anyone makes a DVD of this it's worth more as a coaster.

Let's start with the things that are patently idiotic. Area 51 isn't in the desert as we have all been told, it's actually in a national park near St. Louis! Apparently that whole desert thing is just Government misdirection. Damn clever! Can you say "tax break for setting your film in our crappy backyard"? Apparently, a group of bad Aliens, the "Cronen" are waiting for us to generate enough pollution to meet their needs when they they will swoop in, kill us all and swipe our toxic waste. When the requisite female scientist asked the obvious question "Why kill us, we'd be glad to give them all they want for free" the only answer is "They don't negotiate". What are they, the Bush Administration? Not to mention the obvious fact that if they kill us all our ability to generate more pollution is zero, whereas if they just hauled it all away we'd make more than ever (just imagine if the EPA removed all restrictions, we would be a toxic goldmine). This is kind of like harvesting apples by cutting down the trees with a chainsaw and burning the stumps. And what kind of civilization doesn't know how to create pollution? The Bizarro world? "Me make car runs on smog and makes clean air. Me sad." Anyway, the plot revolves around a good alien sent here by someone to try to stop them by shutting down the "Omega Seed", which is the alien sensor that determines when the pollution level is adequate for harvesting. Turns out it's buried under a futuristic manhole cover in a barn. Makes you wonder what the farmer thought it was. "Dang it Clem, I done told ya not to park the tractor on the Omega Seed". The acting is semi-adequate, with the standout being Gigi Edgely, much missed since Farscape got axed ( a show superior in every conceivable way). Watching her try, and occasionally fail, to hide her Aussie accent is enchanting. The SFX and fight scenes are OK. All in all, better than most SF movies, which makes it just sub-par for anyone else.