Customer Reviews

Shockwave

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you have seen the movie Curse of the Komodo then you will recognize a lot of this film. Artificially intelligent war machines prove to be more indestructible and less controllable than designed (they look like they stepped out of The Incredibles). On goes berserk in the film's opening and we never learn its final fate. Two more are being carried on a plane that crashes in the Pacific. The military puts together a team to locate the plane and the missing war machines. Meanwhile, a group of crooks rob a cruise ship, flee in a helicopter, and are forced down onto a Pacific island by a storm. On the island they run into the activated war machines who attack and steal their helicopter (an interesting new twist). The military arrives, runs into the crooks, and they all join forces to stop the robots and get off of the island.

The robots prove to be very hard to stop even with a special weapon meant to be able to do so. There are two deadlines that the team must meet. One is to get off the island before the military nukes the island to stop the robots. The second is to stop the robots before they rig the helicopter to get them off the island. Of course the team needs the helicopter to leave as another storm is preventing their radio from working to summon their own. The film is then filled with action, special effects, and peppered with scenes of the military debating how to handle the situation. Who survives and how will have to be left to the viewer.

The main difference between this film and Curse of the Komodo is that this cast has been filled out with a lot of recognizable names. There are three Star Trek members from three different series, one from Lost in Space, and Tim Thomerson of so many Full Moon projects. The characters act much the same, like getting too close to the robots while only armed with a pistol. Of course these are amazing pistols as they have infinite shots without reloading. Still this movie never intended to be intelligent or original so it doesn't really fail in those respects. If you are looking for some relatively mindless entertainment with plenty of gunfire then this one is for you.

The story line itself is not entirely bad. A bit worn, but workable for a sci-fi flick. Tired old "set 'em up, pick 'em off" plot. And some awful acting. Awful to the point of funny. One girl, on the plane at the beginning, gripped by the machine's claw, frees herself, and then, with the machine not even touching her, she runs, jumps and throws herself on the floor in a heap. I keep thinking this must have been the setup act for a CGI scene that they forgot to do. It's hilarious.

But the movie spends what seems about half it's entire length reiterating the same scene. Guys standing in front of the machine shooting at it with AR-15's. I mean, it doesn't work, and they continue to spend their entire time trying to shoot it with guns they know won't do the job.

After the twentieth gun battle with two guys standing on front of the machine shooting at it, and the machine standing there unfazed, I'm yawning.

with tons and tons of direct to video junk coming out every month i thought this was kind of cool. the cg that they can pull off these days with little budgets is amazing. i thought this movie was pretty entertaining for the most part. you gotta love the robots that just kill everything. if you want a goofy-action-robots-killing-people movie this one is for you. give it a shot. you can do lots worse.

First, just let me say, that the four star review I gave this movie is reflective of B-movies only, not theatrical releases. That being said, this is one of the better B-movies I've seen in awhile.
The story isn't anything special, nor is it as silly and contrived as so many I've seen. A plane full of military robots crash on a deserted island and a crack military team is brought in to recover them. Also in the mix is a group of thieves whose own helicopter crashed on the island after a heist(what are the odds???).
As one reviewer mentioned, the soliders spend a lot of time shooting at the robots, but it is either to try and divert their attention away from one of their own before the person gets killed, or in an attempt to hit a small weak point on their heads. Personally, I didn't find it all that boring. The only scene where it really got on my nerves was in the very beginning, when a solider in the back of a pick-up fires off about fifty continuous rounds from a handgun while trying to escape...over rough terrain...and the robot is a hundred yards away...and he has no idea the thing has a weak spot. I would have rather listened to him scream like a little girl for five minutes then keep shooting that stupid gun. At least that would have been funny.
Speaking of funny, as another reviewer mentioned, there is a early scene(on the plane that is carrying the robots) when a woman throws herself to the floor as if one of the robots tentacles did it, but the closest one to her is going after somebody else. Priceless. In most of the "Making of" segments, you never really get to see the actors reacting to the CGI effects that aren't there. This is probably why; they would look ridicules
and become YouTube fodder for the next month-in-a-half (look, there's Hugh Jackman pretending that he has claws on his hands again, hahaha!!!)
While the story is nothing special and the acting is pretty spotty, the effects are actually a step above most in the B-movie genre(while being a step or two below the big budgets). But, all-in-all, the movie was entertaining and dealt with large robots instead of the usual large creatures, and those don't come around too often(unless you count Transmorphers...Eeeewwwww). So if your renting this movie or buying it on the cheap, I would definitly recommend it.

Want to see Michael Dorn without his head-ridges? How about Robert Picardo in non-holographic form? Well, they're both right here in SHOCKWAVE! Dorn plays an army general and Picardo is a scientist in this Jim Wynorski cheeze-log. Luckily, Jim's a big fan of killer robots (and who isn't??), so SHOCKWAVE has two unstoppable, clanking metal marauders running amok. We also get a 5-man SEAL team, a trio of homicidal robbers, a chopper pilot, and a science babe to serve as robo-fodder. As added attractions, there's Bill Mumy (Lost In Space, Babylon 5),and Tim Thomerson (Trancers, Near Dark) in fairly useless cameos! Plus, George Tekei (Don't call him Sulu!) as an airline pilot. SHOCKWAVE is a watchable saturday afternoon time-annihilator... P.S.- My favorite part is when one of the robots hurls the head robber guy into a 6-ton boulder, and it wobbles! Priceless!...

An entertaining film with many cool tweaks and loads of defaults. The ci-Fi Channle has finaly released a "decent" film with just about average CGI and acting. better than any of thier other films. Fun war of the Worlds meets Terminator flick. The story is a downed plane crasheds on an island carrying two super smart war machines bent on leaving the island and causing major damage in a populated area. A team of Navy Seals are sent to stop the machines and return them to the project headquarters for reprograming. at the same time a group of bank robbers have crashed on the island to and are stranded with a half-working helicopter that the machines would very much like to repair and fly off the island with ther help of a branwashed scientist(Robert Picardo) to pilot it. In order to save countless lives the Navy Seals must find a way to stop the machines at all costs.

If you want to have some fun watch a movie called Curse of the Komodo which is Komodo 2 .
It's about 3 casino robbers who crash their helicopter on an island full of giant komodo dragons.
This movie was obviously made by the same company as they have 2 of the same actors in it and lifted the entire sub-plot and dialogue,sometimes word for word, from Curse of the Komodo.
They just replaced Komodos with robots.
I've never seen a non-remake scavenge a film like this.
Komodo was much better with better acting.
Anyways it's worth watching for the fun of it.
Very low budget.

After seeing the cast and all the Star Trek actors involved, I was shocked to see acting this bad. So bad it borders on hilarious. All this while a silver slinky robot with long legs searches out to destroy. This is one that could evolve to be a cult favourite, it's just that bad. Thought Robert Picardo was a good actor? Wait until you see this one!
The best realised scenes are those of the secret military robots. If I was voting for hilarity I would give this a 5. There is a part of this where a plane crashes, and something breaks out on the plane, and insanity enuses. Keep in mind this is before Snakes on a Plane came out. Don't take this film seriously, but have fun with it.