The Pandora Project

In watching, I should say wasting, my time with this film, I couldn't help but notice at least 4 scenes in the movie which were in "Clear & Present Danger".

The scene with the Columbia mansion, the blowing up of the airplane in the hanger, the view of the Capital in Washington DC and scenes of the Columbia jungle were all in "Clear and Present Danger".

Don't waste your time with this turkey ...

Probably because of the huge success "Under Seige" enjoyed, and I imagine continues to enjoy on video with action fans, Erika Eleniak of "Baywatch" fame has molded a career in and out of military action films. Most have been direct-to-video, all have been duds, including the Dennis Hopper comedy "Chasers." Considering that most ex-Playboy centerfolds concentrate on erotic videos it could be worse. If Erika's handlers were trying to mold her into a female Chuck Norris, okay, great idea, but she's mostly the damsel in distress, hence, a second banana. That's too bad, because Erika Eleniak is a good actress, easy on the eyes, and the type of star a studio used to mold into academy award winning status. She should have easily taken the roles offered to Sharon Stone and moved onto the roles offered Julia Roberts. I suppose when a great actress is saddled into cheap flicks she eventually reaches cult status (film noir queen Sally Forrest comes to mind).

A government agent (Daniel Baldwin) must find a stolen secret military weapon before a renegade (Richard Tyson) wreaks havoc upon the world.

Please, don't expect a masterpiece, but, in my opinion, it's a very watchable movie!

I know...there are better films in this genre... But it doesn't deserve the grade that many are giving here.

The plot is simple, and similar to the most action movies. The film's outcome is not surprising, it is quite predictable.

The action scenes are well done!

The cast's performance is good. Daniel Baldwin, Richard Tyson and Erika Eleniak were fine.

The ending is classic, don't expect surprises!

Rating: 6/10.

Due to the character limit I'll toss good grammar to the wind and just do some run-on listing.

Pro's: possibly *zero* gratuitous swearing, pockets of appropriate orchestral music, some beautiful aerial photography and ground scenery, some experienced acting, a few nods/tributes paid to other movies including a funny Clint Eastwood-ish scene, no young-and-cookie-cutter actors, good/believable explosions, some pretty good "energy bomb" effects, excellent voice track, especially compared to some other B-movies, and the credits show *two* fire safety advisors, an excellent thing. Unfortunately, the credits got cut off to start a Pokecrap cartoon.

Con's: movie can't hold my attention for long spurts, something about Baldwin's hair is very bad, some amateurish and over-cooked acting, a guy gets shot on left and spins to the right, another guy gets shot on left and falls backward, straight to the floor like a stiff board that got hit dead-center, some unnecessary "Old West" guitar-twangin' and some attempts at humor that seem badly written and/or poorly acted.

This movie is probably one of the worst action movies I've ever seen. The plot (if there is one) is the same as in all simple action movies. That's not too bad really. However, they managed to make it even worse. Seeing an overweight guy walking in the middle of nowhere pretending he's a super marine is terrible. The special effects are a disaster... Eye candy consists of the occasional bright flash (*duh*). The stupid girl-gets-caught-by-enemy; guy-frees-girl; guy-kills-enemy routine is mind-numbingly dull. In short: I wouldn't recommend this movie even to my arch-enemy.