Screamers

In the not so distant future - I think; it wasn't really specified - anyway, there's a desolate planet where there are robotic creatures under the ground. They are called screamers. Because they well, scream.  Apparently they were built by the Alliance to help fight the war that's been waging between the Alliance and the N.E.B, but now they kill indiscriminately.  A N.E.B officer comes running into the Alliance base camp with a request for a truce.   The commanding officer, Joe Hendriksson (Peter Weller) calls headquarters and they think it's a good idea. Before they can continue a commercial transport asks to land. Instead of landing it crashes. There's only one survivor, Ace Jefferson (Andrew Lauer).  Joe's friend and second in command Chuck Elbarak (Ron White) discovers that there was a nuclear reactor on the transport, i.e. it wasn't a commercial transport at all.

They question Jefferson and find out that the soldiers were on their way to another planet to continue fighting the war. He also informs them that the man that they spoke to at HQ was executed for a traitor two years earlier. Joe puts it together that the Alliance no longer needs this planet and have abandoned them all.

Joe decides to go the N.E.B's and work out a peace treaty. He takes Jefferson with him and on the way we get a nice history lesson. Apparently Joe and all the Alliance soldier out here used to be N.E.B minors. There were mining some mineral that powered the entire planet Earth. Then radiation started pouring out of the mines. The minors stopped digging, but the government told them to continue. Hence the Alliance was born, those who rebelled against the N.E.B. The Alliance built the screamers, but they have been totally automated since the guys hit the one switch. They build themselves.

One the way they discover a boy, David (Michael Colz), who has been living in the ruins of the mining station and they decide to take him with them. When they reach the N.E.B HQ David is shot and they discover that he isn't human, he's really a screamer.  The screamers have been evolving, to better kill the humans and one of the forms is a small boy.

The find two N.E.Bs, Ross (Charles Powell) and Becker (Roy Dupuis). They are hiding out with a freelance... something, I'm guessing arm's dealer, Jessica Hanson (Jennifer Rubin). Together they go to the N.E.B HQ only to find everyone dead. Well, we assume everyone is dead because there's blood everywhere.

Becker gives them a little speech about the different kinds of screamers. There's the Type 1: the under the ground ones, Type 2: a wounded soldier who keeps repeating 'help me' over and over again and can have any face, and the Type 3: David. Then he freaks out thinking Ross is one and kills him, only Ross isn't one. They leave, heading for the Alliance base only to discover that it has been taken over by Davids. They blow up the base and Becker is injured. When Jefferson goes over to help him, he discovers the hard way that Becker was a screamer. Becker kills Ace and Joe kills Becker and then he and Jessica go to the only way off the planet. There's a small shuttle that only the commanding officers know about.

Thirty seconds later after Joe slices Jessica's hand to make sure she's human and they kiss and they are at the spaceship. Then Chuck pops out and attacks Joe. Apparently the screamers can take any face they want, or at least take one off a dead guy. Joe kills Chuck and goes to where Jessica is waiting, only to discover that the ship only has room for one. Joe is all gallant and gives his seat to her only to have a second Jessica pop out of nowhere. Didn't they close the door after they came in? Anyway the two Jessica's fight and kill each other, or whatever and Joe leaves. As he flies towards Earth we see a teddy bear that David was carrying in the front of the ship. And it starts to move.

This movie was fine until the ending, then it kind of fell apart. Was everybody screamers on this planet? Maybe they replaced Becker with a screamer after the blast. I suppose that's possible, I mean they do live underground and Becker was on the ground.

 Anyway I don't believe two things about this movie. 1) That people would build robots that build more robots to fight a war and not have a fail safe. That's just asking to die a horrible, horrible death. You always have at least one backup plan. Two or three if you are very prepared. 2) That the screamers would be stupid enough to build a robot that had human emotions. That's just dumb. Why would they do that? Maybe in their quest to replicate human behavior so it can facilitate their conquest of the human race, they went one step too far.

Or maybe the stupid writers just wanted the romantic subplot to be triadic at the end. I'm going with the second one.

Grade: 5.5/10