Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Wuchak I wasn't expecting much from this film since I've never heard of it and the cover of the DVD is cheesy, but I was pleasantly surprised that 2003's "Alien Hunter" is a worthwhile sci-fi flick.James Spader plays the main protagonist in this story about a small group of scientists at an Antarctic station who find some kind of alien pod emitting a repeating transmission. Should they open it or shouldn't they? As you can probably tell, the plot borrows heavily from "Alien" and "The Thing." In fact, the film even includes footage from the original "The Thing;" no doubt an homage. You'll also see aspects of other films like "Outbreak," "Close Encounters," "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (the classroom scene) and Star Trek (the mind-meld). Despite its lack of originality "Alien Hunter" is an interesting, well-done sci-fi flick. It's not as good as "Alien" but it's almost as good as "The Thing" remake and blows drivel like "Independence Day" out of the water.The film has creepy elements and good suspense, but hardly any hardcore horror or gore, so if you're a horror/gore hound you might want to pass.As stated above, I thought this would have been more of a "B" movie, and I suppose it is, but it's technically impressive (in other words, this isn't the work of amateurs) and has a serious vibe; the score's great too. Another reviewer insists that it's a parody but this isn't even remotely true. "Alien Hunter" is an intelligent and fairly austere sci-fi story with almost zero humor (regular, black or satirical). Does he even know what a parody is? The film's only sin is that it borrows too heavily from other films. If it had been released in the late 70s it would be deemed a great film like "Close Encounters" and "Alien."James Spader plays a good protagonist. I like him for some reason. The rest of the characters are likable except one antagonistic scientist and Spader's ex-student/girlfriend, who comes off bland and lifeless. This is made up by the appearance of Leslie Stefanson who plays Nyla. Leslie is a hot girl-next-door type who will melt any man's heart in seconds. Watch out for the visuals of her in the "cornfield." The film runs an hour and a half.Bottom line: If you're not an exclusive horror/gore aficionado and appreciate intelligent sci-fi films like "Alien," "Close Encounters" Star Trek and "Outbreak," be sure to check out "Alien Hunter," as long as you can forgive lack of originality.GRADE: B

vhensley-1 I would not necessarily consider this to be just a throw-a-way Sci Fi flick only suitable to pass the time and consume your popcorn. I agree that the plot definitely "borrowed" from several other movies, some of which were no where near as good as this one. Among these of course were "Alien"; "The Thing" and "Cocoon". There are, in my humble opinion, only so many plausible or semi-plausible plots in any movie and this especially holds true for a Science Fiction movie. Having this in mind, it is rare if not impossible to write about something that has not been written about before. I feel that this movie was excellent for what it was trying to accomplish, was well written, acted and photographed. It was well paced and exciting. And the special effects were first rate. I think most viewers have given an excellent movie a bad rap.

puppies Cheers! Surprisingly decent. A lot better than I expected from the title. Familiar science fiction themes from other movies rehashed, but handled well. I like the twists. I won't ruin the movie for you by discussing them. Decent performances from most of the actors and some good cgi. If your a science fiction fan than it is entertaining enough to sit through unlike a lot of stuff out there. Note - check out the appearance by Kier Dullea (2001 Space Odyssey) - Interesting choice. Bravo. J. Spader is good in it as expected. His character is similar to his Stargate character. If you are a fan of that then you should check this out as well. This film has a much darker tone to it reminiscent to The Thing.

Enchorde Recap: Something mysteriously dense that transmits radio signals is discovered in the ice of Antarctica. The mysterious block is dug out and brought to a research station on Antarctica. Julian Rome, a former SETI-worker, is brought in to decipher the message. Problem is that one of the researchers is a old girlfriend of his, and the situation quickly turns awkward, especially since the other female researchers practically throw themselves at him. And the block of ice with the thing inside is melting unnaturally quickly. Soon the object is in the open. The mystery continues though as the object generates a huge amount of electricity. It is decided to open the object, but just before that is done, Julian decodes the signal. "Do not open". But too late, and the object explodes as it is finally breached, and two things unleashed on earth. The first is an alien, that had been dormant in the object, and the other is a virus that instantly kills the research staff. And Washington, that is suspiciously updated on this historic event, decides that those things can not be unleashed upon the earth. So a Russian nuclear submarine, carrying nuclear weapons is sent to Antarctica.Comments: The movie holds a few surprises. One is Carl Lewis who surprisingly puts in a good acting performance, and the other is that the special effects that are beautiful, well worked through and a lot better than expected. Unfortunately the story holds a lot of surprises of its own, and this time not in a good way. Actually it is so full of plot holes that sometimes the movies seem to consist of almost randomly connected scenes. It is never really explained why Washington know so much, why Washington is able to command Russian submarines, why the object is in the Antarctic and has woken up now. It is really puzzling that the alien pod is transmitting in understandable English. Some might want to explain this with that the alien had been to Earth before and knew the language (and obviously chose English, why?). But then it is very confusing why the nice aliens that apparently want to save the Earth from the virus, send their "Do not open" message encoded! And finally the end is as open as an end can be.The movie is a little entertaining but too much energy (from me) must be diverted to fill in the voids in the plot. Therefore the total impression of the movie is not too good.3/10