Screamers (1995)

Director:

Christian Duguay

Writers (WGA):

Philip K. Dick (short story "Second Variety")
Dan O'Bannon (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 January 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The silence of space is about to be shattered.

Plot:

(SIRIUS 6B, Year 2078) On a distant mining planet ravaged by a decade of war, scientists have created the perfect weapon: a blade-wielding...

Plot Keywords:

Soldier | Nudity | Syndicate | Future War | Roman Coin

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Peter Weller	...	Joe Hendricksson
Roy Dupuis	...	Becker
Jennifer Rubin	...	Jessica Hanson
Andrew Lauer	...	Ace Jefferson (as Andy Lauer)
Charles Edwin Powell	...	Ross (as Charles Powell)
Ron White	...	Chuck Elbarak
Michael Caloz	...	David
Liliana Komorowska	...	Landowska
Jason Cavalier	...	Leone
Leni Parker	...	Cpl. McDonald
Sylvain Massé	...	N.E.B. Soldier
Bruce Boa	...	Secretary Green
Tom Berry	...	Technician
Henry Ramer	...	Screamers Crawl Narration (voice)

Also Known As:

Claw (USA) (working title)
Screamers - L'armée souterraine (Canada: French title)
Sukurîmâzu (Japan)

MPAA:

Rated R for sci-fi violence and terror, some language and a brief moment of nudity.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

Canada | USA | Japan

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

Australia:M (re-rating on appeal) | New Zealand:M | Australia:MA (original rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | UK:18 | USA:R | Canada:18A

Filming Locations:

Joliette, Québec, Canada

Company:

Allegro Films

Trivia:

In the original short story by P. K. Dick the plot takes place on Earth, instead of Sirius 6B. Originally, Screamers were designed by Americans troops hiding in the moon to destroy the Russian Army after the Soviet Union had completely wiped out the United States.

Goofs:

Continuity: Becker is the last to go through the hatch into the NEB bunker, but when the camera switches to the view inside the bunker, Becker is seen already on the walkway while the others are still climbing down the ladder.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Screamers Crawl Narration: [voice over narration] For the last fifty years, the new economic block, the 'N.E.B.' Corporation, has controlled mining operations throughout the known solar systems.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Game-On: (#3.2)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

Naya

A very, very good movie

Screamers impressed the heck out of me. Reviews I'd read of it called it a "slasher" movie and said that it was highly derivative of other movies, such as Aliens and Blade Runner.

In fact, I found it to be highly imaginative and original, very much in the spirit of the Philip K. Dick story that inspired it, pondering the ultimate meanings of humanity, war and technology. The scenery and story surrounding the film were both intriguing: despite the film's low budget, the director did an excellent job of constructing the devastated planet. Peter Weller and Jennifer Rubin turned in excellent performances, and the supporting cast was also quite good. Finally, every scene is shot with a real urgency to it; particularly well done are the nightmarish confrontation 2/3 of the way through the movie and the poignant and shattering ending. In short, this is a very very good movie and well worth renting. It will stay with you for quite a while.

Before signing off, I should say something about construing one science fiction movie as a ripoff of others. Screamers had elements of its plot which can be found in other films (ie men and machines, monsters) but it blends them seamlessly into its own original story. The mere presence of identifiable elements from other films has given people ground to criticize this movie as unoriginal. By their standards, I don't think it would be possible at all to make new movies or novels or anything. These surface similarities will always be there. One can argue that the Matrix is merely an update of Socrates' cave allegory. In conclusion: ignore the critics and see Screamers!!