Synopsis
Tribes in the Amazonian rain forest have been sabotaging American oil concerns in an effortto preserve their home. Heroine Gabrielle Anwar is reporting on what is supposed to be asuccessful compromise, but finds herself in the middle of a war. It seems the compromise is alie, and the State Department is using Rutger Hauer and his mercenaries to ethnically cleanse thelocals with genetically modified killer bees. As if this weren’t enough, a case of bees winds up ona plane. Among the…passengers is Anwar’s estranged husband Craig Sheffer, and he is sooncaught up in the struggle to survive the escaped bees in-flight attack.
As you can see, quite a lot packed in to this little film, and the political subtext is unusuallycharged for a flick of this kind, making it that much more interesting. There are plenty ofexplosions (though some look re-used, and others smell of stock footage), and the CGI beesaren’t terribly impressive. Still, a pretty loopy and fun time-waster.
Audio
The 2.0 kicks the surround into overdrive, often with more enthusiasm than judgement. Thus,the explosions tend to be rear-heavy, while gunshots aren’t always well placed or properlyexploited. Still, the sense of environment is fairly well sustained. Then why, you ask, the low,low rating? Because about 80 minutes into the film, the picture freezes, but the sound keepsgoing. Then the picture unfreezes, but the audio is now fully 8 seconds ahead of the video forthe remaining 20 minutes of the film. That’s the climax, gentle reader, and the result is well nighunwatchable.
Video
The video gets its single star for the same reason, since the problem is a spectacular audioAND video screw-up. I’ve never seen the like. People speak with each other’s voices, things goboom long before you see them, calm dialogue coincides with visual mayhem, and so on.Meanwhile, the picture is fullscreen and a bit soft. Nice colours and all, but the fact remains thatthe viewing experience is destroyed by the de-synchronization.
Special Features
The trailer. The menu is scored.
Closing Thoughts
Hello, quality control. Somebody fall asleep at the switch? Too bad, because the movie wasfun in a jovially dumb way.
Special Features List
- Trailer
