I first saw A.P.E.X. a long, long while back, I couldn't have been more than about 10 years old at the time and my understanding of it was negligible. All I really remembered was cool robots and a complicated story involving time travel and a plague, which was about enough to convince me to give it a second shot when it appeared on TV, since the passage of years has given early 90's straight to video science fiction of this sort a curious fascination for me that actually outstrips the excitement that they originally induced. Remarkably A.P.E.X. actually repaid my interest, its certainly no classic but as far as its genre goes it certainly ain't too bad. The key is the plot, the film deals in a pretty interesting science fiction concept with a neat emotional hook for its main character. Basically, a mishap involving an exploratory time travelling robot results in our hero landing in a parallel reality that has branched off from his own, confronting him with his greatest fear, that of losing his beloved wife. The film tries to deal with post apocalyptic themes, parallel worlds and the consequences of paradoxes upon the time line, and though it can't quite keep itself together its imaginative and intriguing stuff. The plot actually holds up better than a number of reviews here would suggest, although there are one or two notable holes and clear contrivances. Despite problems the ambition is laudable, it's just a shame that the same ambition didn't carry over to the action, which mostly consists of repetitious shoots outs with robots. The pyrotechnics budget was clearly decent so there are plenty of explosions, plus the robots are pretty cool, shining golden creates with ridge plated armour and both shoulder and hand cannons. But the action gets dull pretty quickly and neither the robots nor humans have realistic or interesting tactics. Acting turns do a better than expected job of sustaining interest, though nobody is much more than merely "there" certain of the cast do convey a certain sympathy and interest. Richard Keats for example as the hero, he can't put across much reaction to the situation but is likable enough, Lisa Anne Russell has a sullen attractiveness, Marcus Aurelius appropriately grating as the token a-hole character, it's all fair enough for this level of film. Some of the writing works, some doesn't and while I appreciated that the film wasn't bogged down with techno-babble it could have done with a bit more explanation. The direction from Philip J. Roth (who turned out to be a low budget sci fi regular and also wrote the film) is occasionally stylish in its use of lighting, with green, red and dark moments put to good effect, he has a fair handling on atmosphere but I wish he had put more flair into the action. Altogether I thought this was a fair enough film. Only likely to appeal to sci fi buffs and they'll probably have a field day tearing it apart, but I had a reasonable enough time. 5/10 from me then.
30 Reviews
Those infected by the virus go on suicide missions. All I can hope is that she survived. ...wait, what?
TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews16 November 2010
Time travel usually goes wrong. I think all machines designed for that purpose are legally required to have something like that written on a sticker on it. Someone certainly should have told the people of 2072. They decided to mess around with it to... "check out time". With their Advanced Prototype EXploration units(yeah, that *is* a pretty dumb abbreviation), they... well, do so. Apparently. And one of the trips have Nicholas Sinclair going back, because, uhm, something didn't go as planned(...who'da thunk?). He's recently been having nightmares about his wife disappearing by way of a cheap editing trick. This gives him a nasty case of Must Narrate Everything, in spite of the fact that, with two exceptions, what he says, *we already know*. Anyway, he ends up in an alternate time-line where the robots(and yes, there is a nice amount of sequences of humans fighting them in this... and the suits aren't bad, nor is the weaponry on them, with rockets and machineguns) they would send back(to combat the virus that going back in time would create... and they've been programmed to destroy all biological life, I guess... that was good thinking guys, honestly... how could *anyone* think that would backfire?), as these have been constantly been sent back(... automatically? And they keep being made... by who or what?) for 100 years(...wait, we've survived a century of this war?). Don't worry, the people there have figured out how to smash those metal mf-ers into... oh, wait... plus, he meets up with Duke Nukem. Perhaps you've already realized that this script wasn't authored by someone holding a Ph.d. It's pretty straightforward, and the paradoxes don't hold up to scrutiny. Yes, the AI's aim sucks when it needs to. No, the characters are stereotypical. Yes, the lead being in love with this "universe's" version of his spouse(who resembles her by appearance *only*) means he's really superficial. However, if you watched The Terminator and spent the whole time wishing the entire thing was set in the future... well, this is a fix for you. This is 96 minutes sans credits, and most of it is in a post apocalyptic, dystopian future with plenty of explosions, shooting and... well, attempts at tension. The acting is decent. There is lot of bloody violence and disturbing content and a sex scene(not graphic) in this. I recommend this to those that just want to unwind with something like this. 5/10
Bogus physics and the baddies are totally x-eyed.
aramo122 September 2001
This is billed as a time travel paradox movie - it's really a poorly thought out cardboard shoot-em up. It's full of inconsistencies and even the supposed paradox is flimsy at best.
Berserk robo fans might [at 2am on a stormy night] see something in it but science/sci-fi it ain't.
Berserk robo fans might [at 2am on a stormy night] see something in it but science/sci-fi it ain't.
Like I said,enjoyable stuff
wellthatswhatithinkanyway12 January 2004
STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs
In the year 2073,Nicholas Sinclair (Richard Keats) is a scientist working at a time travelling research facility.He has a wife,the beautiful Natasha (Lisa Ann Russell) and works under the command of Dr Elgin (David Jean Thomas).One day,they send a probe 100 years in to the past and completely change the course of history.While attempting to sort out the peoblem,Sinclair finds himself convulted to a present where he finds himself a member of an elite squadron of soldiers,including pent-up muscle man Shepherd (Mitchell Cox),volatile macho man Taylor (Marcus Aurelis) and reserved background man Rasheed (Adam Lawson),not to mention Natasha,who in the present he could remember was his sweet,humble wife but who here is a 'hardened combat soldier',battling an army of robots who can't shoot straight.Sinclair must survive in this hostile environment long enough to find a way back to the present he remembers and stop the accident from ever happening.
The plot is as blatant a rip off of T2 as you could hope to find without the producers being sued for copyright theft,right down to the grey robots causing lots of death and destruction.Said robots are actually really cool,though rather clunky in both their appearance and movement,cruelly exposing the production values of a film that must have had a pretty high budget for a film of it's made-for-video magnitude.
They're not the only problems the film must contend with,however.It must also reckon with a dodgy,confused storyline that never seems to move from one sequence to the next with much in the way of coherence and one or two characters who are just that little bit too contrived in the mould in which they were sculpted to be taken that seriously.There is,however,some good,involving acting on display,not to mention some enjoyable action and one inventive sequence involving a music CD being inserted in to one of the robots when it really shouldn't.You didn't get a scene like that in T2,did you?
Speaking of which,both films are enjoyable enough on their own seperate levels.It's just,I dunno.T2 is Alton Towers,this is the mop fair.Y' know what I'm sayin'?***
In the year 2073,Nicholas Sinclair (Richard Keats) is a scientist working at a time travelling research facility.He has a wife,the beautiful Natasha (Lisa Ann Russell) and works under the command of Dr Elgin (David Jean Thomas).One day,they send a probe 100 years in to the past and completely change the course of history.While attempting to sort out the peoblem,Sinclair finds himself convulted to a present where he finds himself a member of an elite squadron of soldiers,including pent-up muscle man Shepherd (Mitchell Cox),volatile macho man Taylor (Marcus Aurelis) and reserved background man Rasheed (Adam Lawson),not to mention Natasha,who in the present he could remember was his sweet,humble wife but who here is a 'hardened combat soldier',battling an army of robots who can't shoot straight.Sinclair must survive in this hostile environment long enough to find a way back to the present he remembers and stop the accident from ever happening.
The plot is as blatant a rip off of T2 as you could hope to find without the producers being sued for copyright theft,right down to the grey robots causing lots of death and destruction.Said robots are actually really cool,though rather clunky in both their appearance and movement,cruelly exposing the production values of a film that must have had a pretty high budget for a film of it's made-for-video magnitude.
They're not the only problems the film must contend with,however.It must also reckon with a dodgy,confused storyline that never seems to move from one sequence to the next with much in the way of coherence and one or two characters who are just that little bit too contrived in the mould in which they were sculpted to be taken that seriously.There is,however,some good,involving acting on display,not to mention some enjoyable action and one inventive sequence involving a music CD being inserted in to one of the robots when it really shouldn't.You didn't get a scene like that in T2,did you?
Speaking of which,both films are enjoyable enough on their own seperate levels.It's just,I dunno.T2 is Alton Towers,this is the mop fair.Y' know what I'm sayin'?***
One of the worst!
Jonathan Horner17 March 2001
Wow! Hold the phone! This is one BAD movie! I bought it for £2.99 in the b-movie section, I suppose you can't ask for much, but this takes the cake!
A.P.E.X stars a load of useless actors who I've never heard of before. The evil robots which get sent back in time look like something out of the Power Rangers! Also, the robots I.Q is very low, they stand there in the line of fire getting shot to pieces and don't even attempt to eliminate the enemy! Plus they have really, really bad aim!
The group of marines who are sent to kill these evil robots are useless and don't look like professional soldiers at all. They simply stand there in the middle of the carnage which is riddled with evil robots and have a conversation! Oh yeah, and there's one really annoying soldier who has a very serious attitude problem.
If your a really big die hard sci-fi action movie fan then you may, like this movie, otherwise forget it!
3/10
A.P.E.X stars a load of useless actors who I've never heard of before. The evil robots which get sent back in time look like something out of the Power Rangers! Also, the robots I.Q is very low, they stand there in the line of fire getting shot to pieces and don't even attempt to eliminate the enemy! Plus they have really, really bad aim!
The group of marines who are sent to kill these evil robots are useless and don't look like professional soldiers at all. They simply stand there in the middle of the carnage which is riddled with evil robots and have a conversation! Oh yeah, and there's one really annoying soldier who has a very serious attitude problem.
If your a really big die hard sci-fi action movie fan then you may, like this movie, otherwise forget it!
3/10
No redeeming characteristics
matlock-630 March 2002
APEX is one in a long line of horrible Sci-Fi films made during the 1990's, by people attempting to take advantage of special effects technology, with little or no movie to go along with them. They appear daily on the Sci-Fi channel, which is a complete waste of time itself, with the exception of Mystery Science Theatre 3000.
Don't waste your time.
There is little or no story to this movie. Some people end up on a planet (why, exactly, I forget) and they spend the rest of film blowing up one robot after another. For an equivalent experience, dress up a couple friends in SWAT uniforms and videotape them shooting beer cans for 2 hours. Make sure one of the friends is female, and have a dull, pointless, and totally unsexy love scene at some point.
The obligatory horrible dialogue is omnipresent, and would make Mark Hammill retch. And it's not so bad that it's funny, it's just nauseatingly bad.
Why the Sci-Fi channel insists on showing this garbage repeatedly escapes me. They seem to prefer showing tripe to good Science Fiction films, or even silly camp films like Godzilla. It's probably why my cable company doesn't carry them anymore.
APEX is a complete waste of space. Let it collect dust on the shelf at your local rental store until they get tired of looking at it and pitch it in the bargain bin for $2.99. Buy it and record record hockey games or something over it.
Don't waste your time.
There is little or no story to this movie. Some people end up on a planet (why, exactly, I forget) and they spend the rest of film blowing up one robot after another. For an equivalent experience, dress up a couple friends in SWAT uniforms and videotape them shooting beer cans for 2 hours. Make sure one of the friends is female, and have a dull, pointless, and totally unsexy love scene at some point.
The obligatory horrible dialogue is omnipresent, and would make Mark Hammill retch. And it's not so bad that it's funny, it's just nauseatingly bad.
Why the Sci-Fi channel insists on showing this garbage repeatedly escapes me. They seem to prefer showing tripe to good Science Fiction films, or even silly camp films like Godzilla. It's probably why my cable company doesn't carry them anymore.
APEX is a complete waste of space. Let it collect dust on the shelf at your local rental store until they get tired of looking at it and pitch it in the bargain bin for $2.99. Buy it and record record hockey games or something over it.
Going APEX...
fmarkland3217 March 2008
A soldier is sent back to the past and after apprehending a robot, finds out that he has changed his present day and a virus has been spread which has started a war against humans and robots. You know the drill. Phillip J. Roth's tiresome effort is very frustrating because of how it refuses to take advantage of its intriguing ideas. The future is turned into a wasteland and the film is a long fight sequence with boring opponents for our soldier hero to fight, there is also a love angle but unlike say The Terminator, it just slows the movie down and adds nothing of depth. The problem is that the hero spends too much time in his future wasteland rather than going back to change what went wrong, making this into a standard action flick. The movie does have impressive production values, some of the action sequences are well staged and the movie is directed well but for me I missed the science fiction and was disappointed. Roth fared much better with 1998's Total Reality which played on the time paradoxes.
* * out of 4-(Fair)
* * out of 4-(Fair)
Bad
bsinc13 March 2002
I saw this movie a long time ago, so I don't remember much of it. I remember some silly looking robots with large CDs popping out their abdominal area and killing people. And I remember it being very boring. I got tired of it before it even developed a plot. I don't remember though, if there was any. It was a movie that couldn't stand fro itself, but shamelessly copied ideas from famous movies.
No reason to see this one. Nada. 3/10
No reason to see this one. Nada. 3/10
Not, unfortunately, one of those "so bad it's funny" movies - it's just pure dead bad
junk-monkey13 May 2005
I flopped down on the sofa to watch something at the end of a long week looking after my kids. I was exhausted. I wanted to switch my brain off for a bit and just stare into middle distance. Anything would have done. I was in that sort of place where I could have happily watched shopping channels (well nearly). I grabbed the the movie on top of the pile by the VCR and shoved it in. Unfortunately it was APEX...
I have been reading and watching crappy SF for 35 or so years now and I have read and seen many Time Paradox stories; none of them comes close to being as ill though out, ill written, and downright incoherent as this pile of drek. Even with the central character's voice-overs trying to slap patches over the gaps in the narrative it still makes no sense whatsoever.
What makes this movie a SLIGHT (very slight) cut above the rest is the arty pretentiousness that creeps out from time to time from behind the endless explosions, especially in the camera work. There is a curious use of colour in some shots where the whole set is lit in pure red, or green, or cyan with lots of deep shadows. It looks very peculiar. Almost like black and white film that has been tinted in the lab. Having said that, it's still a bad bad bad bad bad bad movie (I'm tempted to see how many time IMDb will allow me to type the word BAD before they bounce this review).
A Stinker - but not, unfortunately one of those, so bad it's funny movies. It's a bad in a "Who do I have to screw to get OFF this movie?" sort of way.
I have been reading and watching crappy SF for 35 or so years now and I have read and seen many Time Paradox stories; none of them comes close to being as ill though out, ill written, and downright incoherent as this pile of drek. Even with the central character's voice-overs trying to slap patches over the gaps in the narrative it still makes no sense whatsoever.
What makes this movie a SLIGHT (very slight) cut above the rest is the arty pretentiousness that creeps out from time to time from behind the endless explosions, especially in the camera work. There is a curious use of colour in some shots where the whole set is lit in pure red, or green, or cyan with lots of deep shadows. It looks very peculiar. Almost like black and white film that has been tinted in the lab. Having said that, it's still a bad bad bad bad bad bad movie (I'm tempted to see how many time IMDb will allow me to type the word BAD before they bounce this review).
A Stinker - but not, unfortunately one of those, so bad it's funny movies. It's a bad in a "Who do I have to screw to get OFF this movie?" sort of way.
Imaginative effort.
DigitalRevenantX710 December 2007
In the year 2072, a top secret, military-funded experiment dedicated to exploring time sends an APEX (Advanced Prototype Explorer) robot 100 years back in time. Technician Nicholas Sinclair is accidentally thrown back in time after the robot self-destructs. When he returns to the future, he finds himself in a timeline alien to him where mankind is fighting an army of APEX robot soldiers as well as a killer virus caused by time travel.
At first glance, this direct-to-video clone of The Terminator is clearly a B-grade low budget effort, as evidenced by cheap special effects (although the robots are very convincing). However, the film has something which sets it apart from the rest of the killer robot films around a dose of imagination. The time-travel plot is very well conducted & plausible, although there is a plot hole where are the robots coming from? With this in mind, the story is well written. The acting is extremely effective, with the actors giving a fair go as far as performances are concerned. Director Roth, known for his slick B-grade action films, conducts the film with a flair for realistic action scenarios.
Grade: B
Review by M. K. Geist.
At first glance, this direct-to-video clone of The Terminator is clearly a B-grade low budget effort, as evidenced by cheap special effects (although the robots are very convincing). However, the film has something which sets it apart from the rest of the killer robot films around a dose of imagination. The time-travel plot is very well conducted & plausible, although there is a plot hole where are the robots coming from? With this in mind, the story is well written. The acting is extremely effective, with the actors giving a fair go as far as performances are concerned. Director Roth, known for his slick B-grade action films, conducts the film with a flair for realistic action scenarios.
Grade: B
Review by M. K. Geist.
The perfect cliché of "modern" B-grade Sci-Fi movies...
Misanthropic_Disease14 December 2006
In opposite to my usual reviews, I won't spend too much time on this one... 'cause, whoever you are(age, sex, etc.) it sucks. Period.
BUT - it doesn't mean that we can't enjoy some of its elements!
I accidentally fell on used VHS versions of this movie a few times. The cover wasn't subtle, you knew it was B-grade from the very beginning, so it never reached my very heart... Then, one day, I bought a small lot of used VHS movies at 1$CND each, and I included this one: I was curious, that's all.
Now that you know how I came to know this piece of poo, here's my opinion: The story is more obvious on the back of the VHS box, than in the movie. But once you get it, it leaves you cold and indifferent. Some Terminator influences can't hide behind this medium-budget production: Metallic humanoids robots with red eye who start to hunt down humans in a post-apocalyptic future, preceded and succeeded by time travels, sick and poor humans living underground, etc.
Add a love story to that, a perfect collection of stereotyped characters, a good "made in USA" feeling, fantastic CGI special effects right out of the 90's, armors made from roller-blade protectors, LOTS of identical explosions (which are clearly exploding behind of before the target), a very pathetic, inconsequently and problematic use of "the butterfly effect" theory, all of this obviously taking place in the same repetitive vicinities and played by average actors. You get the idea? Great.
As I said earlier, it is not original. But I'm pretty sure that if you take the same budget and the same idea, and give it to any b-grade producer, you couldn't really do better.
Finally, if, as I did, you don't take it seriously, you may get entertained a little bit by it's very cliché sequences, but it won't change the fact that this movie still sucks.
BUT - it doesn't mean that we can't enjoy some of its elements!
I accidentally fell on used VHS versions of this movie a few times. The cover wasn't subtle, you knew it was B-grade from the very beginning, so it never reached my very heart... Then, one day, I bought a small lot of used VHS movies at 1$CND each, and I included this one: I was curious, that's all.
Now that you know how I came to know this piece of poo, here's my opinion: The story is more obvious on the back of the VHS box, than in the movie. But once you get it, it leaves you cold and indifferent. Some Terminator influences can't hide behind this medium-budget production: Metallic humanoids robots with red eye who start to hunt down humans in a post-apocalyptic future, preceded and succeeded by time travels, sick and poor humans living underground, etc.
Add a love story to that, a perfect collection of stereotyped characters, a good "made in USA" feeling, fantastic CGI special effects right out of the 90's, armors made from roller-blade protectors, LOTS of identical explosions (which are clearly exploding behind of before the target), a very pathetic, inconsequently and problematic use of "the butterfly effect" theory, all of this obviously taking place in the same repetitive vicinities and played by average actors. You get the idea? Great.
As I said earlier, it is not original. But I'm pretty sure that if you take the same budget and the same idea, and give it to any b-grade producer, you couldn't really do better.
Finally, if, as I did, you don't take it seriously, you may get entertained a little bit by it's very cliché sequences, but it won't change the fact that this movie still sucks.
Really made me think
wackyfuncrazy4 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I'm sick of reading how bad this film is I really enjoy it every time I watch it. I first saw this film by accident on late night Channel 4 and to my horror I forgot what it was called. Years later in a used video shop I saw one that caught my eye. The spine had a strange looking robot and I picked it up read the synopsis and to my sheer delight it was the film! The film is about a scientist who sends robots back in time to explore the past. One time the experiment goes wrong and the robot encounters some humans which the robot tries to exterminate so as not to pollute the time line. Nicholas Sinclair goes back in time to stop the death and inadvertently causes a virus to mutate into a disease and gives it to everyone. He goes back to his own time and finds everything different. In this reality, robots are being sent to clean the time line thus kill everyone and we follow Sinclair's attempts to stop this from ever happening. I loved the narration during the film. it creates a depressing apocalyptic atmosphere throughout the film and I only saw a couple of bits with bad acting. These were done by the black man who was playing a stereotype. Others found the stereotype offensive, I found it refreshing to see the black man as you'd expect and not some sort of hero. The group of soldiers are good together and it was a nice touch not to have them like each other but still under the command of Shepherd. I always think he would make a great Duke Nukem. The robots did look a little cheap and nasty but are still scary and quite believable. The whole apocalyptic feel is done particularly well with the cities and landscape adding to the pretence that the world is in ruins. The final twenty minutes are gripping. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen. I loved the bits where the people vanished from reality especially Taylor. The last scene with Shepherd and Sinclair was epic and made excellent cinema and the sound made the film eerie and atmospheric at the end when Sinclair sees himself save the world by stopping the units being sent in the first place. The whole film is thoroughly enjoyable with the fight scenes, dialogue and sets seem too good for a made-to-TV movie.
interesting premise
westpac28 May 2003
An interesting premise, where scientists send time-traveling robots to do research with the caveat that they must not leave any traces of their presence in the past, including witnesses. An accident involving the elimination of said witnesses causes a paradox where one of the scientists in charge of the time-travel experiment finds himself in a parallel post-apocalyptic world where soldiers constantly battle a seemingly never-ending supply of time-traveling robots. The low budget shows and the tactics employed to eliminate the robots (gunfire at close quarters for the most part) seem silly, but the movie's an entertaining weekend time-filler.
One of the most pathetic SciFi movies!
Pitus17 February 2004
Can't believe this one is from 1994, it's far worse than any SciFi movie from even 70's ... and I mean, not just the so called "special effects" that look like some amateur has played with few explosives, but the "acting" couldn't be more artificial than this and the story, wait, what story?
Avoid at all cost, I made a mistake of actually trying to watch it against all warnings from other IMDB users :(
Avoid at all cost, I made a mistake of actually trying to watch it against all warnings from other IMDB users :(
Good Science Fiction
teuthis13 August 2003
I really like the premise of the film; time travel; time continuum violation; a scientist trapped in a violent world. His wife in his own world, is now,in his new world, a tough soldier, stricken with a fatal virus; and she doesn't even like him. He is trying desperately to repair the damage to time, and return the world from that of a violent war zone, beset by robots trying to exterminate all human life, to his own advanced and sophisticated culture. The idea, and the low budget presentation, are intriguing.
I do not believe that every science fiction film can or will have a huge budget and expensive special effects. I enjoyed the actors, the acting and the adventure. I was able to immerse myself in the characters and flow right through the film with them. A.P.E.X has a strong plot, excellent continuity, good science, adventure, suspense and lots of excitement. The director did an excellent job of creating a world on the verge of extinction, hanging onto its humanity by slender threads.
The only elements I did not care for at all, were the extremely foul language that pervaded the entire film; and the degrading stereotyping of the black soldier. He was a good actor, and had a lot more to offer than that of a modern day ghetto brute. His character could have been rough and crude without being completely obscene. All they had to do was leave out all the bad language. The actor did a fine job with his role anyway. I enjoyed his rendition of his character.
I often think that some day, in a more enlightened cultural time frame, we are going to be completely ashamed of the foul language that currently pervades and debases even our finest films. There will possibly be an effort to clean up the old films, and a debate will rage as to whether this is akin to colorization, and destroys the artistic intent of the films. Let us hope.
At any rate, A.P.E.X. is an enjoyable science fiction experience, even with the obscenities intact. I recommend it for mature science fiction fans.
I do not believe that every science fiction film can or will have a huge budget and expensive special effects. I enjoyed the actors, the acting and the adventure. I was able to immerse myself in the characters and flow right through the film with them. A.P.E.X has a strong plot, excellent continuity, good science, adventure, suspense and lots of excitement. The director did an excellent job of creating a world on the verge of extinction, hanging onto its humanity by slender threads.
The only elements I did not care for at all, were the extremely foul language that pervaded the entire film; and the degrading stereotyping of the black soldier. He was a good actor, and had a lot more to offer than that of a modern day ghetto brute. His character could have been rough and crude without being completely obscene. All they had to do was leave out all the bad language. The actor did a fine job with his role anyway. I enjoyed his rendition of his character.
I often think that some day, in a more enlightened cultural time frame, we are going to be completely ashamed of the foul language that currently pervades and debases even our finest films. There will possibly be an effort to clean up the old films, and a debate will rage as to whether this is akin to colorization, and destroys the artistic intent of the films. Let us hope.
At any rate, A.P.E.X. is an enjoyable science fiction experience, even with the obscenities intact. I recommend it for mature science fiction fans.
Oh,Dear!!!!!?
jamie-787 January 2000
With apologies to all concerned this has to be the absolute worst film OF ALL TIME! I mean,ask yourself,have you ever seen a film so bad that you were prompted to go online asap to review it? A more complete waste of time & resources you'll be hard pressed to find
Judge for yourself if you can a) suspend disbelief long enough and b)can follow a storyline so absurd and convoluted IT CONFUSES ITSELF!
Judge for yourself if you can a) suspend disbelief long enough and b)can follow a storyline so absurd and convoluted IT CONFUSES ITSELF!
Confusing.
gridoon29 August 2003
This confusing sci-fi entry is a mixture of clever ideas (the main character turns out to be the key to the spreading of a deadly virus) and logic loopholes (when the hero finds himself in the "alternate future", the other characters seem to have known him for years; so where is the other version of himself - the soldier - that apparently has been living there all this time? How can two labs communicate when one of them isn't supposed to exist?), but the production looks as slick as the budget will allow, and there are plenty of explosions for those who like them. (**)
A.P.E.X. Blast from a forgotten past...
CJ_Parker25 January 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Well to be cathartic about the experience which is A.P.E.X is a mixture of both confusion, potato chips with garlic dip and a boy with too much time on his hands as a 10 year old.
The film A.P.E.X can only be described as coming from an era of Anrold Schwarzenneger fetish films in which macho, machismo, army types are slapped together hap hazardly to a point where they only appear as a talking ken doll with really razor sharp hair. Confused, i know i was A.P.E.X is one of those films thats lacking in what could possible make a film credible and that is... Actors, Sets, Money, Time, Effort and finally a plot. Now i can bitch about the obvious but i wont i will in fact do the unthinkable i will credit it as a bloody crap film for a mad laugh.
Now not to generalise but to enjoy this film you need to remember one thing, its a film. Do not expect to have your face melted here, just remember when watching A.P.E.X. it has a sense of humour only common in a few films where the creator go's " Tom, we just lost funding, we can shoot scenes 14 to 22." "Right, OK do you have anymore morticians wax and that plastic head?" "Yeah sure i do" "The cow intestines on the way?" "I was gonna call them off, why?" "We are gonna make an exploding robot or possibly a face and hope not to get a c rating." The following sentence was omitted but to let you know. It involved firing the grip and using his wages to buy something class 'A' and (you can stick it on cakes if you feel fruity) sniff something out of somewhere that belonged to the casting directors daughter etc.
Remember... Nexus 2.431, Fortress, Warlock The Armageddon, Aracnophobia, Hellrazer 3 and beyond to Hellraiser 9 i think is around now, The Gyver, Space Kid (the exact copy of Gyver for children), Pit and Pendulum (1990 version with Lance Henrikson), New Nightmare, Pumpkinhead, Wishmaster, Relic, Anaconda, Cyborg, Highlander 2, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Children of the Korn 2 (the famous 'Granny' through a shop window cannot and should not be missed!)Friday the 13th Jason goes to hell, Phantasom 3, John Carpenters Vampires... I could go on and on but most of these are from in between 1989 to 94. All are foul, daft, crap and abysmal pieces to add to film history, but, and lets get this right, they are fan favourites and are held as the best of the worst. They are also the most watched because they have a nostalgia and a feeling you get that this is homegrown, fun spirited work. So if you cant remember any of these SERIOUSLY, don't watch A.P.E.X because it falls on SIMILAR category but, is actually better in some places.
Now to start if you know these films and know them as being bad but you love them like puppies wearing sign saying " i need a hug" then please read on, if not, there is not a soul within your cracking husk of a torso, merely a rock on string swinging loosely in a draft. A.P.E.X is actually fairly decent because it sets out to tell what it damn well says it will. A robot travels through time, decides to kill innocents in the 1970's, the man who made the robot goes back to stop it, creates a super virus and an altered future by the paradox created by the robot and the man being discovered (the family is safe by the way). Yeah Yeah all bread and butter sci fi a bit like Terminator so far but, the fun comes out of the bad sets, the big breasts, the hammy acting, the black guy dies, robots are about as bright as pond scum, you know, all the crap all the time, type stuff out of memory i remember one set is just a crummy futuristic office with a big fan and a light shinning through it, with lots of people coughing and red lighting everywhere. Also the virus is great its green/black oatmeal stuff that looks like a bad tattoo, well, thats what its supposed to be like, futuristic leprosy (Classic!). When things go this bad you have to at least appreciate the nadgers to continue and make it actually work which it does, its fun film and it ends happily, why not get drunk and give it a go.
If you like the sound of a semi alright film give it a shot, if this makes you want to put forks in the maker of this film then quite simply don't. Simple as pie.
The film A.P.E.X can only be described as coming from an era of Anrold Schwarzenneger fetish films in which macho, machismo, army types are slapped together hap hazardly to a point where they only appear as a talking ken doll with really razor sharp hair. Confused, i know i was A.P.E.X is one of those films thats lacking in what could possible make a film credible and that is... Actors, Sets, Money, Time, Effort and finally a plot. Now i can bitch about the obvious but i wont i will in fact do the unthinkable i will credit it as a bloody crap film for a mad laugh.
Now not to generalise but to enjoy this film you need to remember one thing, its a film. Do not expect to have your face melted here, just remember when watching A.P.E.X. it has a sense of humour only common in a few films where the creator go's " Tom, we just lost funding, we can shoot scenes 14 to 22." "Right, OK do you have anymore morticians wax and that plastic head?" "Yeah sure i do" "The cow intestines on the way?" "I was gonna call them off, why?" "We are gonna make an exploding robot or possibly a face and hope not to get a c rating." The following sentence was omitted but to let you know. It involved firing the grip and using his wages to buy something class 'A' and (you can stick it on cakes if you feel fruity) sniff something out of somewhere that belonged to the casting directors daughter etc.
Remember... Nexus 2.431, Fortress, Warlock The Armageddon, Aracnophobia, Hellrazer 3 and beyond to Hellraiser 9 i think is around now, The Gyver, Space Kid (the exact copy of Gyver for children), Pit and Pendulum (1990 version with Lance Henrikson), New Nightmare, Pumpkinhead, Wishmaster, Relic, Anaconda, Cyborg, Highlander 2, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Children of the Korn 2 (the famous 'Granny' through a shop window cannot and should not be missed!)Friday the 13th Jason goes to hell, Phantasom 3, John Carpenters Vampires... I could go on and on but most of these are from in between 1989 to 94. All are foul, daft, crap and abysmal pieces to add to film history, but, and lets get this right, they are fan favourites and are held as the best of the worst. They are also the most watched because they have a nostalgia and a feeling you get that this is homegrown, fun spirited work. So if you cant remember any of these SERIOUSLY, don't watch A.P.E.X because it falls on SIMILAR category but, is actually better in some places.
Now to start if you know these films and know them as being bad but you love them like puppies wearing sign saying " i need a hug" then please read on, if not, there is not a soul within your cracking husk of a torso, merely a rock on string swinging loosely in a draft. A.P.E.X is actually fairly decent because it sets out to tell what it damn well says it will. A robot travels through time, decides to kill innocents in the 1970's, the man who made the robot goes back to stop it, creates a super virus and an altered future by the paradox created by the robot and the man being discovered (the family is safe by the way). Yeah Yeah all bread and butter sci fi a bit like Terminator so far but, the fun comes out of the bad sets, the big breasts, the hammy acting, the black guy dies, robots are about as bright as pond scum, you know, all the crap all the time, type stuff out of memory i remember one set is just a crummy futuristic office with a big fan and a light shinning through it, with lots of people coughing and red lighting everywhere. Also the virus is great its green/black oatmeal stuff that looks like a bad tattoo, well, thats what its supposed to be like, futuristic leprosy (Classic!). When things go this bad you have to at least appreciate the nadgers to continue and make it actually work which it does, its fun film and it ends happily, why not get drunk and give it a go.
If you like the sound of a semi alright film give it a shot, if this makes you want to put forks in the maker of this film then quite simply don't. Simple as pie.
A great sci-fi adventure!
bannonanthony10 November 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I only just saw this film yesterday after picking it up from a charity shop. The cover, which showed one of the really cool-looking APEX robots from the film caught my attention immediately. When I watched the picture, I was not let down. In some ways, I guess the plot could be seen as a bit of a TERMINATOR rip off, but there's more to it than that. Time travel is a reality in a Utopian future but only robots, known as APEX units are sent to avoid messing up the time line. But when one APEX sterilisation unit nearly kills a family in 1973, a guy called Nicholas Sinclair travels back to stop it.
The alternate future that Sinclair returns to after accidentally altering the past is truly hellish. An unknown virus has decimated the population and to cap it all, the surviving humans have to battle with the APEX robots. People infected with the virus are shown no compassion whatsoever. Soldiers infected with it are sent on suicide missions. This particularly rattles Sinclair as the woman who was his wife in his own time line is such a person.
Sinclair struggles to set things right while facing hostility from some troop members and attacks from the robots. For a low budget sci-fi movie, this picture is very good. The action scenes are handled brilliantly and the acting from the ensemble group is very good and the robots are a very menacing threat.
There were no real big names in the cast but the cast that the film does have are great in their roles. I don't like how much of a jerk they made black soldier Taylor (troop leader Shepherd is forever telling him to shut up) but I guess no film is completely perfect. I intend to try and see some more of Mr. Phillip J. Roth's films to see what they're like. I must say though that I am glad to have APEX in my possession.
The alternate future that Sinclair returns to after accidentally altering the past is truly hellish. An unknown virus has decimated the population and to cap it all, the surviving humans have to battle with the APEX robots. People infected with the virus are shown no compassion whatsoever. Soldiers infected with it are sent on suicide missions. This particularly rattles Sinclair as the woman who was his wife in his own time line is such a person.
Sinclair struggles to set things right while facing hostility from some troop members and attacks from the robots. For a low budget sci-fi movie, this picture is very good. The action scenes are handled brilliantly and the acting from the ensemble group is very good and the robots are a very menacing threat.
There were no real big names in the cast but the cast that the film does have are great in their roles. I don't like how much of a jerk they made black soldier Taylor (troop leader Shepherd is forever telling him to shut up) but I guess no film is completely perfect. I intend to try and see some more of Mr. Phillip J. Roth's films to see what they're like. I must say though that I am glad to have APEX in my possession.
Enjoyed Terminator?
valdyr27 October 1998
Heavily influenced by The Terminator, APEX features time-travel, heavy weaponry and battle robots. The APEX units are rather strangely behaved and incredibly inaccurate with their weapons (although to its credit, the movie does claim that the firefights are occurring at distances of several hundred meters - if only the camera work backed that assertion up...) Still, it's good dumb fun.
not bad at all !!!
backto-basics29 December 2006
Got this as a present about a month ago (don't ask!!) and watched it Christmas Day in work whilst on-call. I must say I never thought I would watch this film as I no longer have a VHS machine and the box didn't exactly inspire me but since there is a TV with built in Video in work I thought it would pass the time. It certainly did. I reckon the acting was good and the story believable (I know this sounds ridiculous)You could tell they didn't have much of a budget but made the most of it. They certainly didn't like showing the robots being blown up as they probably cost a few bob to construct them. All in all a damn good 2 hours not wasted.
A TVM with swearing reasonable story
..zero budget
bob the moo29 March 2002
Nicolas Sinclair is one of the team operating the time travelling APEX (Advanced Prototype EXploration unit) in the year 2073. When one of the APEX probes is accidentally sent back to an area containing a family in 1973, a sterilisation probe is launched to destroy any chance of a time paradox. However Sinclair himself goes back to 1973 to stop the unit but in doing so he creates a paradox and unleashes a virus. When he returns to 2073 he finds the paradox has created a new timeline where the humans are in a war with APEX units sent from hi timeline to destroy the paradox.
Have you seen Terminator you bet your ass that Phillip J. Roth has! He certainly drew a lot of inspiration from it when he wrote this. Having said that, the story is actually alright the whole time travel, killer robots thing has been done before, but that doesn't make it less interesting. It doesn't go anywhere unexpected but it is not as bad as you suspect it might be.
What does let the story down a little is the rest of the production. Produced by Talaat Captan (strangely no Oscar nominations yet!) it seems his biggest input was to get his son cast in one of the roles. The whole thing has a TVM feel despite the swearing and violence. The special effects are cheap and very reminiscent of a straight to video sci-fi, the locations are good if basic only the occasional interior shot looks like cardboard. But really you can see the budget constraints up there on screen.
The tight budget goes through to the cast they aren't great and aren't helped by some poor dialogue. Keats, Cox, Russell etc are all TVM actors but they do actually do alright considering. The APEX units themselves are mixed they look cheap at first, but then you forget that they look cheap. But then after a while you realise that they're rubbish they can't shoot straight at all while the humans just need one powerful hit to get them (or even a music CD!). This takes away from the tension of the film at least with Arnie you knew without a doubt that he was one mean mother who wasn't going to miss!
Overall this has some entertaining moments but is really a TVM with attitude catch it now on the bottom shelf of your video store .
Have you seen Terminator you bet your ass that Phillip J. Roth has! He certainly drew a lot of inspiration from it when he wrote this. Having said that, the story is actually alright the whole time travel, killer robots thing has been done before, but that doesn't make it less interesting. It doesn't go anywhere unexpected but it is not as bad as you suspect it might be.
What does let the story down a little is the rest of the production. Produced by Talaat Captan (strangely no Oscar nominations yet!) it seems his biggest input was to get his son cast in one of the roles. The whole thing has a TVM feel despite the swearing and violence. The special effects are cheap and very reminiscent of a straight to video sci-fi, the locations are good if basic only the occasional interior shot looks like cardboard. But really you can see the budget constraints up there on screen.
The tight budget goes through to the cast they aren't great and aren't helped by some poor dialogue. Keats, Cox, Russell etc are all TVM actors but they do actually do alright considering. The APEX units themselves are mixed they look cheap at first, but then you forget that they look cheap. But then after a while you realise that they're rubbish they can't shoot straight at all while the humans just need one powerful hit to get them (or even a music CD!). This takes away from the tension of the film at least with Arnie you knew without a doubt that he was one mean mother who wasn't going to miss!
Overall this has some entertaining moments but is really a TVM with attitude catch it now on the bottom shelf of your video store .
Experiments to extinction
gritfrombray-12 June 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Watched this film on late TV one night and found it quite good. I like time travel stories and how one event changed can unravel that which has been completely. In the future Mankind is using probe robots to monitor the past by sending them back to it. When a massive failure occurs and the computer from the future sends back sterilization units to cleanse the paradox a war breaks out between Man of the past and these sterilization units from the alternate future. The leading character meets his friends from this now different present and even his wife, Natasha to whom in this time frame he is not married to! He must work out how to right the present to change the past and his solution is interesting. This is a good film for those who like time travel and the complexities that go with it.
If you like low budget B Movie action...this may be the movie for you
jackdeth_200611 May 2019
I watched this film again today after remembering enjoying it as a kid. I wanted to find out if it really was a good sci-fi B Movie actioner...or if I was just younger and more stupid back then.
I also convinced the other half to watch it with me as she enjoys similar films.
This film then proceeded to divide the house. My missus insists I must have been much stupider all those years ago; but I stand by my original assessment. It's pretty good actually.
There are no big stars, the writing isnt great, some of the effects are ropey and the plot is incomprehensible at times; with holes so big you could fit a starship through them.
...But there is grace in its failings.
It still makes for enjoyable viewing, its strong on action scenes and the robots actually look sharp. Some of the characters are quite likeable too.
You're not going to see oscar bait here. But if you enjoy low budget B Movie action, park your brain in neutral and coast through the film...you'll probabaly like it.
I also convinced the other half to watch it with me as she enjoys similar films.
This film then proceeded to divide the house. My missus insists I must have been much stupider all those years ago; but I stand by my original assessment. It's pretty good actually.
There are no big stars, the writing isnt great, some of the effects are ropey and the plot is incomprehensible at times; with holes so big you could fit a starship through them.
...But there is grace in its failings.
It still makes for enjoyable viewing, its strong on action scenes and the robots actually look sharp. Some of the characters are quite likeable too.
You're not going to see oscar bait here. But if you enjoy low budget B Movie action, park your brain in neutral and coast through the film...you'll probabaly like it.
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