Since the early 80s, it seems the only way to convey a "bad guy" in a sci-fi movie is to use a guttural, speaking-while-burping, type voice most commonly associated with Dr. Claw in the cartoon version of "Inspector Gadget". That voice is SO PLAYED now that I literally have to just stop whatever is using it and walk away because I find it so annoying and irritating. This movie had a chance, albeit a tiny one, for me as I enjoy sci-fi with a good larf to it but that chance evaporated as soon as the "bad guy" made his appearance and sounded like Dr. Claw. It's weak, stupid, trite, LAZY and awful. NO MORE DOCTOR CLAW PLEASE!!!! Please, God, PLEASE!! LOL What a star studded cast too. Justina Evans, who's been associated with all things silly, was a nice add. Poor John Neville, who must have rued the day he signed the contract for this A-Bomb, could have saved this. And my favorite, Tim Russ from "Star Trek: Voyager" - who also could have saved this.
Why did this potential serial fail? First, because they went with a script that had no ending! Even if you plan on sequels or an entire TV series, the big "crisis" that draws the audience in has to have some kind of resolution with an obvious hint that more such adventures are to come. This movie just dead-ended with plot holes everywhere you could drive a truck through. Second, the special effects were just god-awful. "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" was out at this exact same time and even with a different nose prosthesis for each species separating out the various space characters (Note to Star Trek, be more creative please! Tentacles shouldn't be out of the question), the special effects in DS9 were infinitely better than this piece of dog doo! Honestly - drooling, fanged-manta-ray puppets?! C'MON! Last, BORING! This was so god awful boring and silly and hokey and just inspidly stupid it never should have seen a millisecond on air. Worst movie EVER! (And I sat through all of "Howard the Duck" - IN THE THEATRE!) You know what's really sad? To date, the 1959 version of this title still sets the high bar. Even the most recent production wasn't as interesting to me as the original. Sad.
I gladly give this a 1. They got it the old fashioned way, they EARNED it. *grin*
Why did this potential serial fail? First, because they went with a script that had no ending! Even if you plan on sequels or an entire TV series, the big "crisis" that draws the audience in has to have some kind of resolution with an obvious hint that more such adventures are to come. This movie just dead-ended with plot holes everywhere you could drive a truck through. Second, the special effects were just god-awful. "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" was out at this exact same time and even with a different nose prosthesis for each species separating out the various space characters (Note to Star Trek, be more creative please! Tentacles shouldn't be out of the question), the special effects in DS9 were infinitely better than this piece of dog doo! Honestly - drooling, fanged-manta-ray puppets?! C'MON! Last, BORING! This was so god awful boring and silly and hokey and just inspidly stupid it never should have seen a millisecond on air. Worst movie EVER! (And I sat through all of "Howard the Duck" - IN THE THEATRE!) You know what's really sad? To date, the 1959 version of this title still sets the high bar. Even the most recent production wasn't as interesting to me as the original. Sad.
I gladly give this a 1. They got it the old fashioned way, they EARNED it. *grin*