|
“Species
III”
|
 |
Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Science Fiction
|
| Video: |
1.78:1 Anamorphic
Widescreen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
Surround 5.1 |
| Languages |
English
|
| Subtitles |
English |
| Length |
110 minutes
|
| Rating |
NR and R
rated editions |
| Release Date |
12/07/04
|
| Studio |
MGM Home
Video |
| Commentary:
|
Director
Brad Turner, writer Ben Ripley and actress Robin Dunne |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
“Alien Technology”, “Species
DNA”, “Evolution”, “Intelligent Lifeforms” |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Previews |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
Photo gallery
|
| Cast
and Crew: |
Robin Dunne,
Robert Knepper, Amelia Cooke, J. P. Pitoc, Michael Warren, Christopher
Neame, Sunny Mabry and Natasha Henstridge |
| Written
By: |
Ben Ripley
based on characters created by Dennis Feldman |
| Produced
By: |
Frank Mancuso
Jr., David Dwiggins |
| Directed
By: |
Brad Turner
|
| Music:
|
Elia Cmiral
|
| The
Review: |
Models make the perfect killers.
It seems that the more perfect the body, the less perfect
the soul in this case. It seems that “Species 3”, like the
previous two movies is more concerned about the evil of female
empowerment and sex as a metaphor for death than it is in
telling a coherent story. Originally made for the Sci-Fi Channel,
“Species 3” isn’t bad just lacks originality. I’m amazed that
the same channel that approved this movie to be made cancelled
such an original show as “Farscape”. It seems as if Sci-Fi
Channel’s priorities are seriously screwed up. Now that I’ve
got that out of my system, let’s take a look at the third
movie in the most unlikely franchise since “Friday the 13th”
and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. It seems as if the film
coasts on the goodwill of the previous two “successful” films
in the series. ***
The plot, essentially, is the same
as the previous installments of this stagnate but popular
film franchise. Eve (Natasha Henstridge in a cameo) achieves
her biological goal by giving birth to a daughter Amelia (played
by newcomer Sunny Mabrey). Sara is saved by Dr. Arnold (Robert
Knepper). Sara begins pursuing her biological imperative almost
immediately and dead bodies of guys interested in getting
laid begin showing up all over the place. ---
|
| Image
and Sound: |
“Species
3” doesn’t have any alien DNA muddying up the picture here.
The film looks sharp with natural skin tones, and solid blacks.
The clarity of the image is actually superior to that of the
previous editions of the first two films in the series. The
film sports a nice 5.1 sound mix but lacks effective use of
the surround channels during key action sequences. |
| The
Extras: |
We live
in an enlightened age. Even direct-to-video movies come with
extras as selling points once a film has aired on TV. Actually,
many of the featurettes included here are superior to some
that have been produced for older major motion pictures. We
get a featurette discussing the optical effects, the various
creature effects and a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the
making of the movie in Canada. ---
|
| Commentary:
|
The nuts
and bolts of making a low budget movie are explained by director
Brad Turner. Ben Ripley focuses much of his discussion about
the changes through various drafts of the screenplay including
a discussion of some of the abandoned ideas for the third film.
Actor Robin Dunne also chimes in with comments from time to
time about the difficulty of shooting on location and some of
the production challenges faced by the cast and crew. |
| Final
Words: |
“Species
III” isn’t a bad film per se, just an underachiever. It’s amazing
to me that so many resources are wasted on essentially remaking
the same premise again and again. The original film in the series
was entertaining in a lurid B-movie sort of way but lacked much
of the wit and imagination of many of the better films that
came out around the same time. I’m amazed that the Sci-Fi Channel
continues to churn out crap and poorly realized TV movies while
canceling better written and made TV shows. |
