Product Details

• Actors: Sarah Bibb, Blake Clark, Elyssa Davalos, Sandra Francis (II), Ernest Harden Jr.
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: August 8, 2000
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305942528
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #415,182 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The idea behind Tycus is one of those high-concept brainstorms that can restore your faith in no-budget filmmaking: Rip off the "astral body racing to destroy Earth" scenario of Deep Impact and Armageddon, but replace the chest-thumping heroics and patriotism of those films with a touch of X-Files-lite paranoia. That the film fails to deliver on its premise is unfortunate, if not very surprising. Sleepy-eyed, bulked-up Peter Onorati stars as an idealistic journalist who, following a dishonorable discharge from the Army for hunting down a story too doggedly, has been reduced to taking photographs for a sleazy tabloid. When he gets a call from an old buddy he'd thought long dead, it doesn't take this ace reporter long to figure out he's onto something big. After a visit from the requisite mysterious messenger in a dark suit, Onorati quickly learns about a secret mining project going on in the Sierra Nevada, complete with plenty of armed guards, run by a goateed Dennis Hopper. It's a nice touch, if somewhat annoying, that our hero is so slow to pick up on what's obviously going on, and the cheap sets and special effects aren't tacky enough to annoy. The audience is asked to swallow a lot of implausible narrative touches, though--most stunningly, that no one besides Hopper and his crew have noticed a killer comet heading our way. Which makes Tycus no better or worse than plenty of other sci-fi films that are bereft of imagination; too bad after that nifty setup. --Bruce Reid

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars End of the world morality tale, June 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Tycus [VHS] (VHS Tape)

For a smaller, independent sci-fi adventure movie, Tycus poses the 'who plays god' question with intelligence and humor.

Scientist Peter Crawford (Dennis Hopper), discovers that a comet, Tycus, is on a collision course with the moon. The politcally affluent Crawford raises billions of dollars in a last ditch effort to save a cross section of humanity before the comet's affects erases all life on earth.

Journalist Jake Lowe (Peter Onorati) stumbles upon Crawford's underground city, hidden deep within the sierra mountain range. A modern day's Noah's ark. As the apocalypse nears, both men must travel through the social upheaval of Los Angeles, searching to bring their loved ones to the safe haven before it's too late.

Good special effects, good perfs by Onorati, Finola Hughes, Blake Clark and film icon Dennis Hopper. With solid support from Todd Allen and cameos by Art La Fluer and the late/great character actor Bert Remsen.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars DENNIS THE MENACE, August 5, 2004

By 

Michael Butts (Berkeley Springs, WV USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tycus [VHS] (VHS Tape)

TYCUS is a mess, I agree. Footage from other movies...a stiff performance from perennial bad boy Dennis Hopper...why haven't other scientists acknowledged the comet....why is Peter Onorati so dumb he can't see what's going on? And why did Chick Venerra as Onorati's partner disappear and not contact him?
However, I must admit I'm a sucker for disaster flicks and even if the stolen footage isn't the greatest, I found this movie mildly entertaining. Onorati is a good actor, though this is not his best role. He did very well in DONOR UNKNOWN. Finola Hughes as his wife didn't have a lot to work with, but a valiant effort nonetheless. And remember Amy Steel from the first FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH? She has a cameo as a nasty mother who uses her child to steal Onorati's truck! That's entertainment, folks!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Oh Boy!, November 7, 2000

By 

Ralph Cramdem (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tycus [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is one bad flick. You can tell Dennis Hooper was unconfortable making it. The hero, who was a brainless brawny jerk who had no common sense, only made things worse. Come on, the earth is going to be distroyed, the hero needed to get his act together. It started out OK, but it quickly got bad. There were some good looking babes in it though and the special effects wern't too bad for a low buck flick. While some may feel it has a lot of merrit for a low budget film, the average joe is gonna be kinda dissapointed.