Showdown at Area 51 (2007) Reviews

• More holes than script but slightly interesting

  rlange-32008-05-02

  gigi edgely and coby bell deliver decent acting considering the horrible script and swiss cheese plot full of holes. both are attractive and manage to deliver their lines pretty convincingly in spite of the preposterous situation. At a fundamental level, the plot has potential. Two aliens, one bad, one good, but you aren't sure which is which until the end of the film. Clues point in different directions (especially the girl on the swing part). It's a low budget flick so don't expect much on special effects. That may be an understatement. The problem is that it is really hard to suspend disbelief when so much of the movie borders on the absurd, and most of the acting is so awful. The frat boy scene introducing the brothers is unconvincing but at least short. The military part at the base is in part ruined by the overacting and unbelievable stupidity of the officer in charge. And then come the aliens, one with tattoos and leathers and the other in something that looks like he crawled out of an army navy surplus store. Hoses are are everywhere. He wears a holey summer shirt with a couple tears that apparently repels armor piercing bullets. It's a see to believe mess. The fights are worse. Bullets are bouncing off the aliens, one of whom has a little shield that he waves around that nobody can miss. An RPG (what is Mr. Redneck doing with an RPG?) is used to threaten one of the aliens, held about 2 feet from him -- as it if wouldn't blow up the hero as well. The clunk clunk fat guy gets delivered in an ice cream truck. No, wait, a bulletproof car comes first, then the ice cream truck which has some awful fake bullet holes in the side. They run through a squad of soldiers like a knife through butter -- somehow the vehicles are bulletproof, then, in one of the funniest scenes of the movie someone hits the rear bumper of the car and it falls off. Just... falls off. Nobody in these elite military squads can hit the tires which survive the entire encounter intact. How much budget does it take to deflate a tire? Its not that bad of a way to pass a boring night, primarily because of edgely (at least if you are male), but I'd have a hard time recommending it to anyone.

• It doesn't even have much humor

  Sollus2007-12-18

  This movie was bad within the first 5 minutes. It only takes minimal research to find out some basic info about Area 51. 1. It's on a dry lake bed in the Nevada Desert. Not a whole lot of lush green vegetation in the countryside there. 2. It's an actual military installation, not a disguised park. The people at Area 51 are military and in uniform, again no disguises are necessary. So think of a dry fenced in airbase with soldiers. Not a National Park with Rangers. Anyone in uniform has his hair trimmed short and neat. Just putting on a uniform won't fool anyone closer than 50 ft. That was what I noticed in the first 5 minutes. It went downhill from there when I found out that most of the cast can't act and the plot was thin. This doesn't even belong in the Bargain Bin, If anyone makes a DVD of this it's worth more as a coaster.

• About average for the SF channel

  StediEng2007-12-16

  Let's start with the things that are patently idiotic. Area 51 isn't in the desert as we have all been told, it's actually in a national park near St. Louis! Apparently that whole desert thing is just Government misdirection. Damn clever! Can you say "tax break for setting your film in our crappy backyard"? Apparently, a group of bad Aliens, the "Cronen" are waiting for us to generate enough pollution to meet their needs when they they will swoop in, kill us all and swipe our toxic waste. When the requisite female scientist asked the obvious question "Why kill us, we'd be glad to give them all they want for free" the only answer is "They don't negotiate". What are they, the Bush Administration? Not to mention the obvious fact that if they kill us all our ability to generate more pollution is zero, whereas if they just hauled it all away we'd make more than ever (just imagine if the EPA removed all restrictions, we would be a toxic goldmine). This is kind of like harvesting apples by cutting down the trees with a chainsaw and burning the stumps. And what kind of civilization doesn't know how to create pollution? The Bizarro world? "Me make car runs on smog and makes clean air. Me sad." Anyway, the plot revolves around a good alien sent here by someone to try to stop them by shutting down the "Omega Seed", which is the alien sensor that determines when the pollution level is adequate for harvesting. Turns out it's buried under a futuristic manhole cover in a barn. Makes you wonder what the farmer thought it was. "Dang it Clem, I done told ya not to park the tractor on the Omega Seed". The acting is semi-adequate, with the standout being Gigi Edgely, much missed since Farscape got axed ( a show superior in every conceivable way). Watching her try, and occasionally fail, to hide her Aussie accent is enchanting. The SFX and fight scenes are OK. All in all, better than most SF movies, which makes it just sub-par for anyone else.

• Lame and Dull

  claudio_carvalho2016-03-22

  When two aliens fighting against each other in their spacecrafts crash on Earth at Area 51, a military group goes to the location but they are killed. The former military Jake Townsend (Jason London) seeks news from his brother in the base where his brother serves, and stumbles with the alien Jude (Coby Bell). He is wounded and explains that he needs to find a weapon before the other alien, Kronnan (Jahidi White), activates it to destroy Earth. They team-up with Jake's former girlfriend Monica Gray (Gigi Edgley) to search the weapon while they are hunted down by Kronnan and a paramilitary team. But when Jake meets Kronnan, he tells that Jude is the one who intends to activate the destructive weapon. Who is telling the truth? "Showdown at Area 51" is a lame and dull film with an awfully written story. There are so many flaws that irritates. For example, Jake is angry with Jude in a moment, when the alien is accused of killing his brother, and teams-up with him on the next moment. Jake impersonates a military, trespasses the base perimeter, kills the leader of the paramilitary and the film has a happy end. My vote is three. Title (Brazil): Not Available

• Jason, what befell thee?

  ctomvelu12010-03-21

  The movie is not even worth reviewing, except for the fact that it stars a one-time legitimate actor named Jason London. I know he is pretty much just a pretty boy, but there was a time when he appeared in legit movies. I wonder what happened to him? I can guess, but I dare not say for fear of being sued. Anyhow, the movie is a very bad -- and I mean very bad --- copy of I COME IN PEACE, which was about two enemy aliens duking it out on Earth. In that incredibly silly but fun movie, which starred another has-been, Dolph Lundgren, the aliens at least looked like something from another planet. In this movie, the aliens are an ordinary-looking black guy and someone dressed in what appears to be an ancient aviator outfit. I have seen worse, but not by much. I only watched it for London, who fails to deliver the goods. He reminds me a little of Kyle McLaughlin, another pretty boy who seems unable to act -- at least ever since SHOWGIRLS. Please avoid this one.