Alien Hunter 2003 Written by Boaz Davidson and J S Cardone, directed by Ronald Klauss. An American Bulgarian co-production.
James Spader is a cryptologist that studies signals from space. He's worked for SETI in the past but currently he's working at University of California at Berkley. He gets invited to observe an object buried in the snow in Antarctica. It's giving off a signal that seems alien. The object has been retrieved and taken to a genetically modified plant research station.
They cut open the object just before James figures out the code on the signal. It says DO NO OPEN but it's too late and the alien gets out. The critter releases a virus that kills organic matter. They battle the creature and kill it. The US government isn't wanting to let the virus get out of the research station so they hire the Russians to toss a nuke into the place. Lucky for James and the few people that are left the aliens show up and rescue them. Off they go bathed in the light of the nuclear glow.
The first half the movie is fairly good but it gets less interesting after the alien gets out. I watched to the end but doubt I'd bother with it again.
Red Rover 2010 Written by Shane Belcort and Duane Murray, directed by Shane Belcort. A Canadian film.
I thought I would check this out because it's main character is played by Kristian Bruun, he also played Constable Jackson on Murdoch Mysteries. He's a dumb policeman in that show. Sadly here he's a weak character who's living in the basement of his house while his girlfriend lives in the rest of the house with her new boyfriend. The couple want to buy Kristian's share of the house. He gets the paperwork the same day he gets fired. He's not got much good going on in his life.
Kristian meets a loud and annoying young woman who's handing out flyers for a reality show set on Mars. The studio will pay NASA to send some people to Mars. The trip is one way. People on Earth can watch them to see if they live or die. Kristian and the young woman have a bit of a fling and she drops him. He spends the rest of the movie moping about. Kristian gets accepted for the Mars shot but turns it down. Kristian and the annoying gal have a bit of a reconcile before the end credits run.
There's nothing really SF about the film other than the hint of space travel to Mars. A real bore most of the time. I should have given it a miss.
Alpha Gateway 2017 Written by John V Soto and Michael White, directed by John V Solo. An Australian film.
A scientist called Jane has invented a matter transporter. Before the movie starts her husband had died in a car accident. She's trying to work through that with her two teenage children. Back at her lab there's a bit of a breakthrough. They've established a connection with another planet. She sends a camera through and the video shows a woman scientist who looks like Jane. She chances a trip to the planet and to look for the man who looks like her husband. She takes him back to Earth where he proves to be a different sort of man. He kills a man in a park, he kills Jane's co-worker, he nearly kills Jane before she knocks him out. He's given a one way trip to a horrible place far away. It's all pretty vague. There's a poor ending.
I was disappointed for the most part. Not something I'd want to watch again.
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