Fantastic!

An action-packed slog

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Zachary Wheeler (Bradford Dillman), a state senator with great potential, gets into a horrific traffic accident in the opening minutes of this film. It doesn't seem that he will make it, and Harry Walsh (Leslie Nielsen), a reporter who arrives on the scene, accompanies him to Bethesda, where Harry witnesses the senator being whisked away to parts unknown. A cover-up is engineered regarding the senators' whereabouts, and Harry is right to smell a rat. He doggedly pursues his story, despite some risk to life and limb, while a revived Senator Wheeler discovers the incredible medical breakthrough that prolonged his life."The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler" is telling a tried-and-true Dr. Frankenstein-type story (scripted by Jay Simms and Tom Rolf), complete with the expected indignant reaction as the senator can't believe the gall of these doctors. The plot is rather reminiscent of the more well-known "Parts: The Clonus Horror", except that RoZW predates "Parts" by several years. It leads to some effectively creepy moments, and the yarn concocted by Simms & Rolf is utterly absorbing and interesting. The eventual resolution is not very satisfying, but up until then the film is quite fun, with plenty of location shooting in New Mexico, and a quick-thinking, likeable protagonist in the form of Walsh. You have to respect this guy for being so tenacious.The whole cast is great. Dillman and Angie Dickinson, as one of the clinic doctors, strike up a warm relationship, James Daly is authoritative as the not-that-good doctor who's pioneered this revolutionary surgery, and Robert J. Wilke is an appropriately cold-blooded antagonist determined to keep the operations a secret. Other familiar faces like Jack Carter, Don Haggerty, William Bryant, Tristram Coffin, Byron Morrow, Harry Holcombe, and Tyler McVey also turn up.Mildly flashy opening credits do give this the feeling of a classic B picture from decades past, which is fitting, since this was clearly done on a somewhat limited budget. But the moral / ethical questions posed here are still extremely relevant 47 years later.The sole theatrical directing effort for Bob Wynn, who mostly worked in TV.Eight out of 10.

THE RESURRECTION OF ZACHARY WHEELER is a weird little sci fi movie most probably forgotten by today's audiences. Certainly the low budget of the thing is off-putting, but if you can overcome the film's deficiencies then you might just enjoy it nonetheless. This is a fun little cloning thriller that plays out with the same kind of verve as a Michael Crichton film or the likes of THE CHINA SYNDROME.Leslie Nielsen stars in the straight role of a reporter who witnesses a politician being mortally injured in a car accident. Before long the whole thing is hushed up, so he takes it upon himself to investigate and uncover the truth, which is that the government have begun a cloning scheme in order to harvest spare parts. There are a few chase scenes here, alongside some moments involving people in dodgy blue make up, and it's all very limited. But the film covers the same paranoid government conspiracy ground as many a '70s thriller, and Nielsen gives a solid performance as the lead. Bradford Dillman and Angie Dickinson play in support.

I just had to write a review of this film because every sci-fi fan mistakenly believes that 'The Island' 2005 was plagiarized from 'Parts: The Clonus Horror' 1979. Well actually both films were remakes of 'The Resurrection of Zackary Wheeler' which puts them both to shame.The plot: Leslie Neilson stars as TV reporter who just happens to witness the fatal car accident of Senator Zachary Wheeler, whose in line to be elected the next US president.The plot moves at a fast pace and Neilson is immediately fired for reporting a false story. The mass media, government, and industry are all covering up Zachary Wheeler's car accident and apparent death. Neilson isn't taking this lying down and is determined to find the truth no matter how many men in black agents are chasing him.Meanwhile Senator Wheeler awakes in a private super secret hospital with only minor injuries. As we know from the other films, the hospital's miracle secret is clones. By cloning Zachary Wheeler they have enough spare body parts to keep him alive for as long as he's useful.Much to the surprise of the Illuminati shadow government the Senator isn't grateful he's sickened by their illegal cloning project and also very upset to learn what everyone else in the free world already knows, America isn't a democracy. An Illuminati commission of government and industry manipulates all aspects of human life. Their cloning project is just another aspect of their well established power. Wheeler is only a senator because they will it. He will only be elected the next president because they will it. And now he's only alive because they will it and he benefits them.As Wheeler recovers and wrestles with the moral dilemmas of absolute power corrupting absolutely he sparks love with his nurse and the two debate the moral issues. Clearly she's a Jezebel.The other 50% of the film is everyman Neilson outwitting the army of government agents after him. Think, 'North By North West.' 'The Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler isn't going to win any award for production quality but the screenplay is very solid and fast paced. The acting is also outstanding from both Neilson and Bradford Dillman as Wheeler.This is a must see and proves the evil cloning conspiracy story actually started out great. It was 'Parts The Clonus Horror' and 'The Island' which mucked it up.

This film did remind me of the kinds of ideas in Crichton's novels - especially his early medical fiction. Who would have guessed that a now-forgotten low-budget B-movie would actually end up more timely almost 40 years after its original release? I don't know of any earlier film treatments of the subject of cloning than this film - I really wonder what audiences thought when this first came out, as the plot line of the film must have seemed really wild back then. I don't particularly care for remakes - especially of good movies like this - but now would be a terrific time for a remake of this story, possibly with a better budget. As it is, the film stretches its budget pretty well, but I would have appreciated greater attention to the scientific aspects of the cloning (possibly with some special effects). Additionally, because all of the real-life politicians seem to be weighing in on the stem cell and medical ethics issues, the political aspects of the story would fit perfectly into a remake, where they could be fleshed out in greater detail. I guess this movie just has me thinking more of what it could have been than what it is. On its own level, it is a surprisingly thoughtful low-budget film that concentrates on ideas, rather than action. For that, it is well worth searching out.On a final note, it has a ridiculous non-sequitur ending that had me giggling, but the ending seems to fit a cheap movie like this, whose filmmakers certainly couldn't afford a lot of explosions and gunfights .