Screamers (1995)

Director:

Christian Duguay

Writers (WGA):

Philip K. Dick (short story "Second Variety")
Dan O'Bannon (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 January 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The silence of space is about to be shattered.

Plot:

(SIRIUS 6B, Year 2078) On a distant mining planet ravaged by a decade of war, scientists have created the perfect weapon: a blade-wielding...

Plot Keywords:

Nudity | Dead Children | Nose Bleed | Soldier | Ruins

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Peter Weller	...	Joe Hendricksson
Roy Dupuis	...	Becker
Jennifer Rubin	...	Jessica Hanson
Andrew Lauer	...	Ace Jefferson (as Andy Lauer)
Charles Edwin Powell	...	Ross (as Charles Powell)
Ron White	...	Chuck Elbarak
Michael Caloz	...	David
Liliana Komorowska	...	Landowska
Jason Cavalier	...	Leone
Leni Parker	...	Cpl. McDonald
Sylvain Massé	...	N.E.B. Soldier
Bruce Boa	...	Secretary Green
Tom Berry	...	Technician
Henry Ramer	...	Screamers Crawl Narration (voice)

Also Known As:

Claw (USA) (working title)
Screamers - L'armée souterraine (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sci-fi violence and terror, some language and a brief moment of nudity.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

Canada | USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

Australia:M (re-rating on appeal) | Australia:MA (original rating) | New Zealand:M | Iceland:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | UK:18 | USA:R | Canada:18A

Filming Locations:

Joliette, Québec, Canada

Company:

Allegro Films

Trivia:

Dan O'Bannon had been working on the screenplay for Screamers (1995) as early as 1981. The October 10, 1984 draft credits Michael Campus as co-writer. It is unknown whether Campus also intended to direct.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Hendricksson is the last one running out of Richard Cooper's command bunker, he falls in a large puddle of water, however, once he gets up, he is not wet.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Screamers Crawl Narration: [voice over narration] For the last fifty years, the new economic block, the 'N.E.B.' Corporation, has controlled mining operations throughout the known solar systems.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

Worth watching

I saw this late one night on TV, and to my surprise i actually thought it was pretty good. The thing about movies today is that not many have a good solid idea, it's just not original enough. Here though i thought they had at least a decent concept and tried to capitalize on that.

On a distant world a war has raged for many years. One side however have developed a weapon capable of winning the conflict. It's a weapon called Screamers, small machines that hunt down and kill anyone not wearing a special bracelet identifying them as friendlies. The problem is that the weapon has now developed itself further, and is no longer capable of separating friend from foe...

In the half-asleep state of mind that i was when i started watching the movie i thought the idea of these weapons was rather interesting. And even when i had become more or less awake that thought stayed with me. Peter Weller is as usual decent enough in the lead. I can't say he's my favorite actor by far, but he always keeps a certain dignity in his performance. The rest of the actors left rather much to wish for though.

The special effects feel dated when watched today, but they are not too bad. Considering that this is not a high-budget movie they were sufficient. What really carries the movie though is the story and the surprises throughout. A sappy ending lowers the grade a notch, but this is still worth watching in my opinion. I rate it 5/10.