Code Red

1/2 out of ****

Stealing more than liberally from Predator and Aliens, Code Red has precious little of the qualities that made both those films action/horror classics. The plot's generally not much to speak of, just a group of highly-trained soldiers who are sent into the jungle on a covert operation, but find themselves amuck in gooey aliens. A couple of sub-plots involving sibling "rivalry" add absolutely nothing to the film or the characters, it's just there to pad the running time and add "depth" to our hero.

The movie spends most of its time inserting and virtually re-making scenes from those aforementioned films. The opening, with its blurry video images and flatline heart rates, is taken straight from the first shootout in Aliens. Later "odes" to the James Cameron thriller include nasty aliens (which look pretty cheesy), red lighting, and loud door poundings. The shootouts are also in the same tradition of Aliens, but are poorly directed, lacking a good sense of direction and clarity.

Most of everything else is taken from Predator: the soldiers trapped and hunted in the jungle, the alien with the mask and high-tech equipment, and there's even a "spiritual," quiet and tough soldier who bears more than a passing resemblance to Sonny Landham's Billy. These riffs actually make D.N.A. look completely subtle in comparison. If it wasn't completely horrible throughout, then the movie still falls apart in the climax, when the silly secrets are revealed and it turns out our so-called cyborg alien (who doesn't appear to be a cyborg at all) is actually a good guy. His revelation of how this whole mess began is mind-blowingly idiotic ("They're bugs.").

An abundance of problems are evident throughout. The gooey aliens are kept inside these glass chambers which apparently can hold them in, except on occasions when it requires a cast member to die. These containers have held these things for thirty years and they somehow get out without a hitch. Uh-huh. The guy playing General Pembroke sounds like he's dubbed over (that can't be his real voice), said general also begins to approach the site before confirmation that the nuclear fail-safe has been deactivated, and the final shootout has such a high body count, I swear more mercenaries were killed than were even involved.

I think the filmmakers don't seem to understand the qualities that made Predator a classic; that film gave us great action, likeable characters, a good macho sense of humor, and kept its plot simple but engrossing. Code Red vies for the same aspects, but decides to muck it up with an ever escalating series of hilariously bad plot twists and revelations. Avoid it, and just watch Predator again for the fifteenth time.

What a crap movie this film was. A mix between Predator and Aliens, but just could not pull it off. The effects were cheesy, the 'Predator' dude looked like that creature from Enemy Mine, the acting was terrible, in fact, the only good bit about this movie were the credits at the end. Watch it if you're looking for an additional reason to commit suicide!

Yes, this film is obviously influenced in great part by Predator and is in no way an equal to that classic. But you know what? It's not supposed to be! It's not a big budget Hollywood flick. It's a B-movie. A made-for-TV one at that. By that standard, Code Red is actually a bit above average. The acting is decent and the directing is competent. It's not ultra stylish, but the director knows where to put the camera and there is vigor in some of the action scenes. Most surprisingly, the weapons and costumes aren't laughably inaccurate like many B-movies. Which is not to say it's perfectly authentic (eg, they fly around in a civilian helicopter), but at least you don't have American soldiers carrying around low-end foreign weapons because that's all the production could find at that filming location.

Finally, the concept is fun and goes beyond simply being a Predator clone. With its secret government bases, alien conspiracies, and other pulpy sci-fi novel elements, the whole thing takes on a fun, "X-Files by way of action movie" feel. If you can accept that you won't be seeing Hollywood production values, then you may find Code Red to be an enjoyable little film.

I won't disagree with the prior comments - it's a cheesy film with bad acting and so-so special effects. The macho attitude crap poisons the storytelling throughout. The story is kind of interesting, however. What would have happened with a better director, and more money in the budget? Oh wait ... that would be Predator!

I cannot believe that I sat through this film. I should be able to sue someone for wasting 90mins of my life.

Essentially it's Predator without the big names, good locations or great effects. This film should be brought up under the Trades Description Act. It's one of those films that you know is terrible but you cannot take your eyes off - more out of morbid curiosity than anything else.

Do yourself a favour, if you ever find yourself starting to watch this film...Stop and go and have some root canal work done instead...it will be less painful.