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A 2010 alien invasion film directed by Greg Strause.
< read all 10 reviews
Rating:
-3
Being one of those conspiracy guys who likes to look up at the night sky and wonder when the hell we're going to have an alien invasion, or at least be paid a visit, (we've been around for quite a while now, where's the planet warming present?) so this type of film would usually be right up my street. Naturally, the concept of a film crossing Independence Day with Cloverfield would be a good one, as we frequently get alien invasion films set on a larger scale, so the impact on the everyday person becomes lost in the more epic global story. The Strauss Brothers had the perfect opportunity to finally tell such a story and make it memorable to the point where people would be talking about it for years, along the same lines as the former films mentioned. They failed to properly capitalise on what, on paper was a decent premise, and delivered a boring, shallow and pointless piece of garbage.
The main characters of this story are Elaine (Scottie Thompson, if you're familiar with her then good for you) and Jarrod (man with pointy face and the charisma of a jellied eel), two people with the emotional depth of an iPod nano, who have recently arrived in LA to celebrate their friend, Terry's (the black one from Scrubs) birthday party. While there aliens with a penchant for blue lighting, decide us Earthlings are causing too much mess and start hoovering us up. Being scared, our heroes decide they're going to attempt to get to the harbour, because aliens don't like water, and they must just hate LA and decide not to invade anywhere else. That doesn't go very well so they decide to stay indoors, which doesn't go very well either as it turns out the aliens are almost invincible and have a liking of brains.
The acting, if you can call it that, is absolutely horrendous. The concept of the blue light turning people into zombies is a nice idea and I can't fault the special effects, but the overall execution of the film is just painful. The majority of the film is spent indoors as these people attempt to wait out the invasion hoping for the best, it possibly wouldn't be that bad if the actors were better, or the dialogue was intense or at least interesting. The whole thing was just drab and pointless, a genuine waste of time and, if you've spent any on viewing this, money. One thing I will give credit to this movie for, is the way they used the budget. The SFX were astonishing for a meagre $10 million, especially when you compare this to the bigger budget flicks that seem unable to be completed unless the budget passes $100 million.
This film was just dire, and the fact that the Strauss Brothers seem to think a sequel is a good idea just makes this all the more horrifying. Should a sequel ever see the light of day, I'd like to think they would learn from their mistakes and deliver something a lot better than this pointless piece of cinema.
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woopak_the_thrill
January 03, 2011
I was so disappointed with this one. Welcome back, Steveo!! Happy New Year!!
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Scotman
January 03, 2011
I could not agree more. The acting was pretty bad!
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More Skyline (2010 movie) reviews
Alien invasion movies; gosh, these films are a dime-a-dozen. When I saw the trailer for Strause Brothers’ latest alien invasion flick “SKYLINE“, I admit, I was intrigued. I thought perhaps we are finally going to get a flick that can “go there” when it came to the darkness of such a premise. Well, I wasn’t that impressed with “Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem” but hey, I respected it; the Strause brothers displayed their talent in making a low-budget monster … more
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review by Sharrie.
January 17, 2011
Look at the light and it controls you. The city is under attack by aliens. And it is GROSS! You’ve a replay of the ALIEN except that they now “reside” in the city and swallow up any human in their paths! Slimy king kongs, that’s what they are. It’s a movie that shows human misplaced trust in the unknown until they are proved otherwise. When under attack, the occupants in an L.A. apartment have only one choice, … more
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Half a star out of **** "Skyline" is what a casual movie-going audience would want to see out of an alien invasion flick, although it falls just a little bit short of the average film (of the like). However, with that being said, this means that it's hard to imagine that even the mindless monkeys who munch on this crap daily will be particularly impressed, and that's saying something. However, if you're a real movie-goer who doesn't want explosions and CGI in the place of … more
Comments (1)
Compliments (12)
Its very rare for me to write a negative review usually i only feel its worth my time to review if i liked it and think others will enjoy it to, this however is an exception. After being told by several reliable sources that i would like this movie i watched it, it left me wondering where i go to file a petition to get the wasted time back. This movie stars off confusing and rushed from the start when are leading happy couple make a trip to LA to celebrate the birthday of a friend who has made it … more
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Compliments (24)
There is something about films that just suck the life right out of you. No I do not mean that because I went to an 11pm screening, I mean it literally sucked the life out of me. The monster child of Colin and Greg Strause takes all that was great about Independence Day, Cloverfield, and District 9 and gives you a crack baby called Skyline. I'm sure they will make their money many times over since this film was shot on the "measly" budget of $1m, but … more
Comments (3)
Compliments (24)
Pros: One or two alien ideas; the movie's trailer. Cons: Pretty much everything else The Bottom Line: Let's face it - the trailer for this movie was better than the movie itself. Hey, at least it's only an hour and thirty minutes. I do give away just a few things, so if you want to go into this movie blind, read someone else's review. So I just finished watching Skyline. My reaction? I just … more
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Compliments (12)
You no longer need a screenplay to make an alien invasion movie. All you need is a special effects studio, a lot of computers, and creature designers that go for all the reliable hallmarks, like flailing tentacles. You also need plenty of death and destruction, and it must all be contained within the borders of a major city - say Los Angeles or New York, because God knows an alien species prefers them to cities like Pittsburg or Chicago or Seattle or Cleveland. Scenes like that serve as a nice counterpoint … more
Comments (4)
Compliments (21)
There is no way on earth, a movie could fail in presentation like Skyline does. Originality is not even worth talking about since Independence Day or War of the Worlds are one of the many films this movie tried to copy. What the director did not understood is that you cannot steal ideas, concepts and give orders within the total chaos you have just created. This so-called "science-fiction" movie has no character development, matter of fact, it has no characters … more
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Quick Tip by woopak_the_thrill.
November 04, 2010
This movie appear to promise to be what the dumb film "Independence Day" should/could have been. The trailer promises earth-shattering battles and Greg Strause does know how to shoot battle scenes. It is his lack of stroytelling skills that worries me...I'll have to check this out to judge for myself. Added: I managed to see it and posted this review. Better as a rental.
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About the reviewer
Steven Stewart (Steveo)
Ranked #46
Ranked #46
Currently studying Law at University, my main interests revolve around Politics. I read quite a lot and love learning about History. Not just the history of a specific time, place and person, but I'm … more
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About this movie
PG-13
For sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, some language and brief sexual content
Movies, Movie, Action, Science Fiction, In Theaters, Movie Hype, Alien Invasion, Alien Invasion Movie
Cast:
Eric Balfour,
Donald Faison
Director:
Greg Strause
Genre:
Fantasy,
Sci-Fi
Release Date:
November 12, 2010
MPAA Rating:
PG-13
Runtime:
92 minutes
Studio:
Universal Studios
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