Tubi Thursday: Alien Rubicon (2024)

 After The Asylum's Predator Film was only so-so, how about their Alien Film?

As long as we get some low-budget Xenomorphs, I'm good!

A Scientist is preparing to go on Vacation with his kids.

A stop at the Observatory, however, leads to a UAP sighting and he's dragged into it.

A big, metal ball of a ship lands by New York and starts moving.

Picture Katamari Damacy, but not fun or whimsical.

It appears to be invulnerable to any weaponry.

It blasts any vehicle that gets near it.

Meanwhile, our Hero is flying around in a Helicopter with the Star of Ballistica and Mega Piranha.
Joy.

Can our Heroes find a way to stop this floating Pachinko Ball?

Will the folks over at CERN help?

Will shooting it somehow do a damn thing?

I mean, obviously not on that last one.

Now, about those Xenomorphs.  What do you got?

Sure- 10 seconds of that is enough.

Wow, this sure...wasn't what you were promising.

Scroll back up and look at that Poster again...

...and back to me now.
That's a creature not in this Film.
There's not even like a single shot of it as, for instance, the Leader of the Aliens.

Sadly, the bar for them is so low that I would have accepted that.

Instead, we get a pretty boring tale of President Michael Pare in a bunker (he's only ever in one), Ballistica Guy making constipated faces, Scientist guy alternating between pitching ideas and calling his kids & occasional shots of the ball.

A rush to a Third Act Climax does not make up for things.

When your Film is 40% Ballistica Guy making faces in an obviously fake Helicopter Rig, 20% a ball shooting lasers and 40% people pitching ideas to stop said ball, you're not doing well.

Imagine if they gave this thing an actual Premiere! 

A Film somehow less exciting and inspired than the last one.  There's a hint of a good idea hidden somewhere, but it's trapped inside a metaphorical big, round object. 
What do you call those again?

Forgotten TV: The Outer Limits - 'The Light Brigade'

 A rare Sequel in this otherwise self-contained Series.

We return to the World of Humans vs. Aliens in this Episode.

In deep space, a human warship is traveling towards the alien home planet when it comes under attack!

There are only a few survivors, specifically Will Wheaton, Robert Parrick and another guy in the Engine Room.

They keep the ship going, as they plan to drop a big-ass bomb on the alien home world!

The group is joined by Graham Greene, who also survived.  

They work towards the front to keep the ship going and arm the bomb.
They lose the wounded guy along the way.

They are dealing with radiation sickness (from the damaged generators), but they must keep going.

Intrigue builds as well, as they talk about the aliens using spies.
Patrick notes that he was freed from a Prison Camp.

As it turns out, Patrick is an alien spy!  He was replaced after the events of Quality of Mercy.
He is trying to arm the bomb, but Wheaton tries to escape with the key.

He manages to kill 'Patrick' and releases the bomb.

Someone cuts open the shaft and Will realizes that he's dropping the bomb on Earth (as Patrick turned the ship around while the others were unconscious).

Whoops.  The End.

An upgraded version of a classic Bottle Episode of the Series.

This one builds upon that concept and raises the stakes.
It's about as bad as of an Ending- at least as far as Earth is concerned.

This one is done with zero aliens (save for a tease of a reveal near the end) in this one.
In their place, we get some nice, CGI shots of the ship and other digital effects.

They aren't mind-blowing, but they are good for their time and not distractingly bad.

The Ending is a point of contention, as some people love the bleak nature of it.
It is clever- no question.
Should Wheaton have figured out that something was off when he dropped the bomb after trying to stop Patrick from dropping it?  Probably.

I think the point is that the blind pursuit of heroism is a bad thing and that's what he does.

No matter how you feel, don't fight about it.

Next time, we get to the final Episode in the Top 10.  A man seeks a cure and it goes horribly wrong.  See you then.

Forgotten TV: The Outer Limits- 'Dead Man's Switch'

 Another trip to the 1990s Sci-Fi/Horror Anthology Show.

In this Episode, we see a tale that might have been the (partial) inspiration for a popular ABC Show made less than a decade later.

In 'Dead Man's Switch,' we first see a Helicopter fly to an Arctic Base.
If your first thought is 'This is probably Stock Footage from John Carpenter's The Thing,' then you are correct!

A guy is left down in a Bunker and told that he must push a button every 24 hours to keep a doomsday weapon from going off.

Aliens are coming and he's a backup to- essentially- avenge the Earth.

He's left alone with just this guy sometimes doing seamless video calls to the Bunker.

...but he's not alone.

Four other Countries- including Russia, South Africa, South Korea and, I think, Australia- have people manning (or woman-ning their respective switches.

Any one push will stop them all, but one must happen!

To keep from getting Lost in desolation, our Hero starts to flirt with and falls for the Russian lady.

They actually tease the idea of nudity here, but nothing comes of it.
Given how superfluous it is throughout the first 6 Seasons, that's odd.

Things get serious between them, as they even have a date night.

Can you imagine romancing someone solely through a screen because you're stuck inside?  True Sci-Fi, right people who lived through 2020-21?!?

As time goes by, news gets sparser and what they get doesn't sound good.

It gets worse when the other people in their Bunkers start to die!

One is by what could be an accident, as is the second.
The third, however, is much more overt!

Will they keep pressing the button?
To find out, stream it now.

A really strong case for how you can make a great Story by omitting so many details.

The best example I can give of this is Pontypool, which constantly does Tell, Don't Show...but is somehow really great for doing so.
Like this Episode, they describe things that would be hard to match how we picture them happening.

This one takes 5 people away from the World and then puts them in charge of its safety.
They never break from the Bunker setting until the ending reveal.

We know what they know and it's so good for doing so.

Our Lead- James LeGros (the new Mike in Phantasm II)- is quite good here in a Role that could easily be under or overplayed.

With all of that said, no amount of TV Shows or Movies can make THIS look anything but unpleasant!

Next time, we get a rare Outer Limits Sequel.  It's also to one of the Episodes in the Top 10 ranked Episodes as we get to #9.

Forgotten TV: The Outer Limits- 'Quality of Mercy'

 A famous Episode of this Revival gets its due.

Time to explore...

In 'Quality of Mercy,' we get the cruelest of all Bottle Episodes.

A Space Soldier (Robert Patrick) is captured and thrown in a cell with a woman Prisoner.

They're both held by some powerful Aliens that are trying to destroy humanity.

He feels for her after he learns that she's being experimented on.
They are trying to turn her into one of them!

He knows that he has to expedite their escape!

He can get into the vents, but getting anywhere else is another matter!

Meanwhile, the poor lady gets more and more deformed by the experiments.

Can he save her?!?

His attempts continue to fail, ending with him getting a wounded leg and losing one of his hands to an alien!

She asks him to kill her, but he can't bring himself to do that.

Instead, he gives her hope- all that he can, at least.

He tells her about an Earth Fleet hiding and preparing to attack the alien home world.  She thanks him for this.

The Guard enters and this time she doesn't fight him.

She reveals that they have been transforming her- turning her BACK into one of them.
He just gave away Earth intel that they needed!

Whoops!

The End.

Wow.  That one was something!

It's a great example of how you can do so much with so little.

We get two people in a Cell.
We get weird little puppet creatures.
We get one big alien in a suit.

That's it.

In spite of that, they milk so much emotion, drama and intrigue out of things.
It's a master class in minimalist execution.

The twist is contentious as some people go 'I figured it out right away.'
If you did, more power to you.  You still got to enjoy the Episode.

It's a must-see for fans of the Show- no question.

Now why did they pose for this?

Next time, we jump to Season 2 and a Time Jump is part of the Plot.  What happens when you're gone?  See you then...

Forgotten TV: The Outer Limits - 'Afterlife'

 We continue to look at the BEST Episodes of the 1990s Series, at least as far as User Ratings are concerned.

This time, a familiar Character Actor + The Military + Aliens = Excitement?

This is...

A man- Clancy Brown- is sentenced to death for the Murder of 11 People.

He says that he's innocent...and then suddenly he's offered a new lease on life!

There's a catch, of course.

To live, he must submit to an experiment for the Military.

Sadly, he does not become Captain America.

Instead, he's being injected with Alien DNA to see how his body reacts to it.

'Not well' is the answer.

He continues to state his innocence and outright blames the Military for framing him.

His higher ups (including the Hippie Dad from Dharma and Greg) don't believe him or care.

Brown continues to transform.

He eventually seems to become a brand new, hybrid life form and escapes from his cell.
Aliens were big at this time, with Species and all that.

He escapes, but that was the plan.
He also KNEW it was the plan and went along with it.

However, there's still one more twist...that I won't SPOIL for once.

To find out, stream the Episode now.

Is this truly the best non-Time Travel Episode?  I'd argue 'yes,' but it is a close one.

The Plot is pretty good here, with Brown's Character and his transformation getting the right focus.  We get a hint of the other stuff going on, but he's the main attraction.

He's really good here too.  You really believe him and feel for his plight.  
Clancy Brown 100% makes this work.

The make-up work is well done, as you get a nice hint of in this piece.  We see the change gradually happen and they do it with no morphing effects.
Was it even legal to NOT use morphing effects in the 1990s?!?

Joking aside, this one is really, really good.  The Acting across the board makes it work, the intrigue as it plays out is nice and the resolution works very well.

It's also a thrifty Episode, as we see the cryogenic container from 'The Heist' make a reappearance!

Next time, we go on Air Force One for a 'Bottle Episode' of sorts.  Do you risk your life or trust a stranger?  Stay tuned...

Tubi Thursday: Without Warning (1980)

 I was going to promote this, but, you know...

This is definitely a Cult Classic and somehow escaped my attention until today.

Let's jump right into the terror that is...

In the Cold Open, a Hunter- Cameron Mitchell- is out with his Son- who is a dead ringer for William Smith.

He's attacked by...something that throw alien creatures onto its neck and it seems to kill the son as well.

The Story proper involves a pair of couples going out to the same Woods.

Greg- a 70s TV Star that never broke out- is the real lead, but that is also a young David Caruso in his Film Debut.

I bet he wishes that it was First Blood.

We also get a long setup involving a Boy Scout Troop led by F-Troop's Larry Storch.

It leads to him being killed and they run away.
That's it.

The duos go swimming.  Our Heroes leave when Caruso and the lady start to make out.

Good call.

They wander back and the pair are gone.
They wander around until they find a shack and they find...

They drive to Town- after the unseen creature attacks the van- and run across the creepy guy from earlier- Martin Landau.

He believes their claims, but nobody believes him.

It all comes down to Jack Palance- who owned the Gas Station- and things don't go well.

The creature finally makes himself known when the duo hide out at a nearby House!

Early Kevin Peter Hall here to 'Serve Man.'

Greg is sadly killed, so our Final Girl must run away.

Fortunately, Palance and Landau (whose salaries were half of the Budget) are here for the big climax.

To see how it all plays out, stream it now.

A Film with really good moments, but boy does it take way too long between them.

The basic idea- an Alien comes to Earth to hunt Humans- sure is a good one.  Maybe you could get a big, Action Director like, say, John McTiernan to do it.
Hell, keep Kevin Peter Hall.

Oh, right.

The make-up work with the discs look good.  The effect of them flying...not always great.
Think of them less like frisbees and more like a creature throwing face huggers.

The Alien looks great.  More of it please.

If you can deal with the slower pace, this Film- which is close enough to the 1970s to be a '70s Film- has good moments of effects and action.

Now let's play a Game called Where's Alien?

A Greydon Clark Film that could have been really good.  If you can accept the slow pace, it's worth a watch as a Cult Classic.

Forgotten TV: The Outer Limits - 'Dark Child'

 The 7th lowest rated Episode also comes from Season 7.

It's also the last Episode that is not, in some way, a Clip Show.
So, I guess the 2nd to last Episode is one too? 
I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.

For now, let's look at the Episode known as...

A woman- SNL's Nora Dunn- is just trying to live a normal life.

That all changes when a story about her ends up in a local tabloid.
The story?

She was abducted by Aliens 17 years ago!

They experimented on her and life moved on.

Oh, and these guys are Stock Footage from a Season 1 Episode.
This is also the final Episode to explicitly be about Aliens in the Series.

Her Daughter- Katherine Isabelle?!?- has had a hard time with the whole thing, especially Mom waking up screaming all of the time.

With the story out, there's even more tension.

She's been confiding in her English Teacher and things have generally been improving in the last year.

What could go wrong?

Oh right- the guy is actually one of the Aliens!  He's here to take Isabelle because she is a product of the abduction.

Somehow Mom never pieced one and two together.

His plan ultimately fails when Mom frees the Daughter from the necklace and stabs the guy, making him slowly morph into a Grey...and then a puddle.

A decent bit of melodrama that leads to a decent conclusion.

For starters, Dunn and Isabelle both do really good jobs here.  They feel 'natural' and I believe that they are Mother-Daughter.

The Abduction Scenes are done well, with a different glow (see below), edited into quick shots (to show missing seconds of memory) and lots of implied bad stuff.
Season 7 was apparently the one with no 'bad stuff' like Nudity and implied sex.

Dunn's flashback double is quite convincing too.

The final segment is a bit too rushed for me.  We get the twist, the full reveal, the rejection, the fight and then the death.
I would also love to know how things followed up with them, given that the Teacher is now goop.

Did they move?  I want to know!

Regardless, this isn't a bad Episode per se- just one that is light on the hard sci-fi and heavy on the melodrama.

Next time, we jump back to Season 6.  Will this one be an indictment of GMOs before everyone really knew what they were?  See you then...