The Arrival

At least "The Arrival" doesn't fall into the car chases and gratuitous explosions category of sci-fi. It has some semblance of scientific reason, and some pretty original ideas. The vortex balls were an intriguing touch, and the gigantic satellite dish scenes quite effective. It is necessary to suspend disbelief on several occasions, but overall the film succeeds as entertainment. Having the kid along seemed like kind of a stretch as well. If you can look past the faults in logic, "The Arrival" is totally acceptable. If you are going to tear it apart for every little thing, then I suggest you look elsewhere. - MERK

Charlie Sheen plays Zane, a radio astronomer who accidentally discovers an alien signal from space, that also has origins on Earth. When he tries to tell his boss(Ron Silver, very good) he downplays and denies the importance of the find. Zane then finds out he has been fired, and the tape he gave to his boss disappears, so now very suspicious, he undertakes his own investigation, which leads him to an alarming truth about aliens who are indeed very much among us...

Well written and directed by David Twohy, this science fiction film is a pleasant surprise, and Charlie Sheen is appealing and believable as the man determined to find the truth, and warn the world; sounds like a certain FBI agent from "The X-Files"...

A film made for me. The theme is for my taste, sf mystery, strange things happen, at first there is no explanation or meaning, but as the plot progresses it will slowly reveal more and more. It looks like one of the episodes of The X-Files, and I adore that series. The technology was a bit backward at the time, but it's understandable because it's a movie from the nineties. Unfortunately, my impression is spoiled by some supporting characters and their destinies as well as the end of the film. The last third of the film is the weakest part because I don't like the way it all unfolded. Too bad because the start was promising and Charlie Sheen did a really good job in the lead role.

After reading some of the negative reviews here I almost didn't watch it. Glad I watched. As one reviewer said, it's a bit like an extended X-files episode. That's not a bad thing, especially today when most of what passes for sci-fi is little more than cowboys in space with both sides shooting at each other with "advanced" weapons that cannot hit the side of a barn.

The Premise here is aliens are on earth and using Climate change as cover for their plot to warm up the earth quickly (they like it hot) so they can displace us.

No need to detail all that happens, suffice it to say there are a few minor twists but no real surprises. Yet it flows along well, characters get just the amount of development they need and no more. No huge plot holes once you accept the premises that underlay the aliens being here in the first place.

This is a cool film. Very solid story, good performances, catchy SFX. Better than most sci-fi out there.