A prime example of the "stoner comedy." This was a rather strange genre of movies which placed immature and unmotivated Gen-X white males (privileged, in today's parlance) into odd situations, and chronicled the hijinks which followed, in hit or miss fashion.
We can probably trace the roots to Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, with Cheech and Chong and Bob and Doug McKenzie perhaps being the grandfathers. Other examples include Wayne's World, Encino Man, Airheads, Mallrats, In the Army Now, Jury Duty, Billy Madison, Grandma's Boy, Happy Gilmore, Dude, Where is My Car?, the Harold & Kumar series, and so on. MTV's Beavis & Butthead capitalized on the same phenonium in cartoon format.
The genre might seem perplexing now but it was very popular during its heyday. Paulie Shore, Brendan Fraser, Adam Sandler, Mike Judge, and Kevin Smith all owe their fortunes to it. And the rest of us perhaps a slight loss of IQ points to it.
If Clerks represents the high end of the spectrum, then Bio-Dome represents the low end. The movie is definitely dumb as hell, and it's sub-5 point rating accurately sums it up. Still though, I give it a 5 because it might be worth watching now. It's a historical curiosity for one thing. The movie is very Gen X. I suspect that Millennials and Gen Zers might find it hard to relate to and more of a novelty, and thus perhaps less annoying than intelligent people did nearly 25 years ago. And those who were around at the time might find it more tolerable now since they're not being subjected to Paulie Shore and these types of movies on a regular basis like they were back then.
Also, if today's shrill Green New Deal progressives annoy you in any way, this movie might actually be something of a treat. The movie and the two buffones who serve as its protagonists of course make a complete and utter mockery out of the subject of environmentalism and those who have dedicated their lives to the cause. So depending on your disposition, it may be worth taking a trip back in time if it's on Netflix for free.
