Truly Dreadful Film

As Good As It Gets

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

I'm a big fan of movies that make you think. I'm still thinking long and hard about this one, fully seven minutes after the credits have rolled. What's really confounding my neurons is the attempt to fathom the relevance to the plot of the naked girlie fondling her slick oily body, made extra-tacky by being filmed on cheap video. This happens three times and I was certain it would be explained in the end. I put my trust in the film-makers that this lurid attempt to lure viewers would be justified. It was not.The movie has to be the most apathetic I've come across in the genre. The sets look like a cross between a 1970s Dr Who set and someone's ill-formed idea of a sponge-painted living room. The lighting is unimaginative (if your sets are going to be that bad, at least film them in semi-darkness to hide the plasterboard and create some ambiance). Of the abducted quartet, the girl stands out as being particularly lame, but none of them is given a personality. The aliens' plans for world domination are just plain silly - all they need is a birth control pill and their problems are solved. Most of the movie consists of people running down corridors. Yes, it really is that exciting. The "ray gun" special effect is ... curious, to say the least (what use is a weapon that takes a 15-second concentrated blast to kill, and even then the guy comes back for more?). The script is like a bad episode of The A-Team, and the ladies' hairstyles come from the same era, so they look like school teachers instead of an advance team of murderous alien invaders. When we finally get to see what the aliens really look like, they're in suspended animation and never even get out of their boxes. The resolution of the story - traitor alien simply has a few words with invading fleet commander and without a second thought he heads home - is truly the sign of a writer who's never had an idea more complex than a Saturday morning cartoon (I mean the bad ones with no plot, action, or characterization) in his or her life.But seriously, what is with the naked chick?! Was it really just so they could justify putting flesh on the DVD cover to boost sales?

This thing was bad. Really bad. I mean, low budget can sometimes be very inspiring, but not this. The story was so off-the-shelf, the alien's behaviour so illogical, the characters so clichéed. I found nothing good in it. And I did try.

I didn't realise this was a "made for TV movie" when I rented the DVD. Even by that standard this movie is very tedious and cliched. Not to be recommended. I didn't understand the significance of the naked female that appears a couple of times at the beginning of the movie. Well, perhaps I do now.

While it seemed long and drawn out in a few places, it was put into context so that you can understand why it had to be that bland in places. The aliens were searching for a world to use the bodies for own shells. Each world they destroyed supplied the bodies they needed to survive. They could not stay in their own bodies for long. The use of the new bodies was normally only a year long. Their bodies used the energy in their new bodies so that they would have to recharge their new bodies on a daily basis. The signs of courage, caring and self sacrifice demonstrated by the earthlings was the cause for the saving of the earth. Kept you wondering what was going to happen next and which of the alien examiners would win, the good or the bad.