Screamers - L'armée souterraine

Screamers is like one of those made-for-HBO science fiction programmers from the mid 90s, except that there's some brighter things going for it. One of these is that it's based on a short story by one of the hallmark authors of science fiction, Philip K Dick, and another is that the script mostly got work done (and seems most noticeable) by Dan O'Bannon, writer behind Alien and Return of the Living Dead. There's more weight in levels of irony, not always the uproarious variety but more nuanced and violent, more in putting some good twists to the clichés that are taken for granted in stories set in desolate futuristic environments (the discovery of a cute abandoned child, the devilish nature of the 'screamers' themselves and how their more advanced counterparts work, the personalities of the crew that Peter Weller's character discovers at the base, and how each member soon dies/gets killed off). This might also be attributable to O'Bannon, who tackled this in his previous successes in films, but to say who is totally responsible for what can only be said for those who've read Dick's story Second Variety, which I have not. However it should be said, if only on some level of understanding from reading past works of his, it feels like it has a level of faith to the source, albeit changing locations and certain details in the situations, by being approximately cynical to the characters.

The only problem then comes in with it being directed, more or less, as a standard slightly-higher-in-quality made for TV movie. It's by no means a sci-fi channel movie of the week, however Screamers might have fared a little better with its challenging and darkly funny bits without director Christian Duguay, who is professional enough to make it watchable on such a low budget (low for how it looks anyway), but doesn't give certain scenes enough juice to really fly past where it stays at being average. The cast too is a little more of the regular variety, with isn't totally a bad thing; by having character actors, B-level character actors (if that), it helps add to the levels of slight subversion in this story they're in about technology gone to the dogs on a snow planet in 2078. I liked seeing actors cast to type, like Andrew Lauer as the 'kid' who's got enough experience as a soldier but is still pretty naive in other ways; Roy Dupis in a sublimely duplicitous role; Jennifer Rubin as the token tough girl. Even Weller has his right place in the framework, not too cocky a hero but with enough confidence to carry a picture without the Robocop gear. I even enjoyed some of the action set-pieces, with one especially involving a whole field of Davids (the little robot boy).

There's also a slight issue that has to be contended which is too many 'gotcha' addendums to the climax. It's not enough that one character suddenly appears as another cyborg, but that there's another, and then another...and then finally one last wink in the final shot (which actually does work as a creepy last bit), and it's detracting from what is attempting to be a little more substantial. It's only when the hints of things not staying all happy-in-the-end do the director and actors really hit good ground. Screamers has more than its share of moments, and it will continue to be an underrated find by sci-fi fans as the years go by. That it's nowhere near the best of Dick's adaptations- and not the worst- is understandable. 6.5/10

Thats right. Those small kid robot things. Uhhhhhh *shudders*.

Anyway, a good sci-fi flick that sometimes a bit cheesy but otherwise it dosen't let you down as far as action and suspense goes. Christian Duguay, Dan O'Bannon and Philip K. Dick did a fair job at a movie that has a decent jab at the sci-fo genre. Although one of the lesser sci-fis(in my opinion) the storyline would have to be one of the best and the characters fit in perfectly. Peter Weller does a splendid job as Hendricksson. His acting performance is probably up there with his robocop one and it probably lifted his career to new heights. Special effects impress for 1995, as this helps lift 'Screamers' to new heights. A good movie for anyone who wants a creepy sci-fi.

Overall: 70%

Based on an Philip K Dick's short story 'Second Variety', 'Screamers' is set on the planet Sirius 6B in the year 2078 and focuses on two warring factions and the weapons they develop in order to defeat one another. Given the paltry budget, I was pleasantly surprised to find this a relatively high quality production, with reasonable performances by the lead actors. Both Peter Wellers and Roy Dupuis do the film credit. Although the plot suffers from a cumbersome backdrop and some rather far-stretched concepts, the film moves along at a reasonable pace and is sprinkled with its fare share of tension-filled moments. My biggest disappoint with this film is that it takes what is Philip K. Dick's greatest polemic against the cold war and the arms race and fails to translate this onto the big screen. the neurosis and paranoia, so prevalent in the short story, are missing from this adaptation. 7 out of 10.

OK this film has virtually no budget for a sci-fi movie and no real stars to speak of other than Peter 'Robocop' Weller but that doesn't matter because what it does have is a good story well told. It's a shame that bigger budget sci-fi productions never seem to remember that sci-fi should be have an interesting premise and not just throw a few explosions at the screen every few minutes.

What is on offer in Screamers is a solidly entertaining 1hr 40mins of sci fi fun, reasonable acting and a great story based on a Phillip K Dick short. The main idea of screamers is a very scary one a war that had been taken over by machines that fight on our behalf a war that can't be stopped.

For sci-fi fans this is a must see, for everyone else it's still solidly entertaining 7/10

This movie aptly showed that you don't need a huge budget to make a good picture, even when that picture is a sci fi. It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, but for crying out loud it was a heck of a lot smarter than Independence Day and that movie cost a mint. I had read Phillip K Dick's 'Second Variety', the short story upon which this movie is based, before I ever saw Screamers, and I didn't realize Screamers was even based on the story until I watched it. Being a big fan of the original story I was glad to see it brought to the screen, and more or less faithfully - I thought Peter Weller did a great job in this movie, the atmosphere was actually somewhat as I had imagined it reading the story (they updated it somewhat by placing it in a totally different location, since the original story's wasteland was a result of nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia; something which I'm sure seemed plausible at the time it was written but is a little dated now), and although I don't think they pulled off the sort of paranoia we saw in The Thing, there was some nice tension as the story unfolded, although it fell apart a bit at the end.

Bottom line - if you're a sci fi fan sniffing around for some sci fi you haven't seen but don't want to sit through a total dog, it's not a bad renter.