The Advanced Guard (1998 TV Movie) User Reviews

Cheesy effects, wooden acting

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 16 June 2018]

THE COLONY is an early TV movie that comes from the Sci-Fi Channel and turns out to be just as bad as the CGI monstrosities they were churning out throughout the 2000s. It's a trite and low budget story that feels a bit like an episode of the 1990s version of THE OUTER LIMITS, except not as well written. A bunch of aliens (in human form, of course) visit Earth and capture an array of people they plan to experiment upon and analyse; the humans aren't too chuffed about this and fight back. Thankfully, one of the aliens is sentimental and comes across to their way of thinking. Cheesy effects and wooden acting are the order of the day here, with an occasional familiar face (such as THE WALKING DEAD's Jeff Kober) popping up in support.

Silly sci-fi from Sci-Fi channel.. and yet, humorous..

[sirvaun · 18 March 2004]

Yes, it was a bad sci-fi flick. Yes, it had plenty of bad acting. However, what you might miss is a good representation of the typical uncaring alien (Bravo.. yes, that's his name) and the science-minded alien (Harper). They both do a good job and it's actually funny to watch them. I had little to no empathy for the human victims, in fact watching Bravo get his licks in when the humans got out of line was all too funny. Plus, if you watch the DvD, you can see the three short scenes of some blonde naked woman enjoying her body as if she was an alien who just started inhabiting it (Yeah, well, it helped when the movie started getting slow). Overall just a fun campy movie to watch if you're looking to see something you don't have to pay too much attention to or you want a laugh (or both!).

One star for the oil

[sarausa · 1/10 · 1 February 2006]

I'm a big fan of movies that make you think. I'm still thinking long and hard about this one, fully seven minutes after the credits have rolled. What's really confounding my neurons is the attempt to fathom the relevance to the plot of the naked girlie fondling her slick oily body, made extra-tacky by being filmed on cheap video. This happens three times and I was certain it would be explained in the end. I put my trust in the film-makers that this lurid attempt to lure viewers would be justified. It was not.

The movie has to be the most apathetic I've come across in the genre. The sets look like a cross between a 1970s Dr Who set and someone's ill-formed idea of a sponge-painted living room. The lighting is unimaginative (if your sets are going to be that bad, at least film them in semi-darkness to hide the plasterboard and create some ambiance). Of the abducted quartet, the girl stands out as being particularly lame, but none of them is given a personality. The aliens' plans for world domination are just plain silly - all they need is a birth control pill and their problems are solved. Most of the movie consists of people running down corridors. Yes, it really is that exciting. The "ray gun" special effect is ... curious, to say the least (what use is a weapon that takes a 15-second concentrated blast to kill, and even then the guy comes back for more?). The script is like a bad episode of The A-Team, and the ladies' hairstyles come from the same era, so they look like school teachers instead of an advance team of murderous alien invaders. When we finally get to see what the aliens really look like, they're in suspended animation and never even get out of their boxes. The resolution of the story - traitor alien simply has a few words with invading fleet commander and without a second thought he heads home - is truly the sign of a writer who's never had an idea more complex than a Saturday morning cartoon (I mean the bad ones with no plot, action, or characterization) in his or her life.

But seriously, what is with the naked chick?! Was it really just so they could justify putting flesh on the DVD cover to boost sales?

pure rubbish

[andre-71 · 1/10 · 4 April 2002]

This thing was bad. Really bad. I mean, low budget can sometimes be very inspiring, but not this. The story was so off-the-shelf, the alien's behaviour so illogical, the characters so clichéed. I found nothing good in it. And I did try.

The Shockingly-bad Guard

[TheLittleSongbird · 1/10 · 16 April 2013]

Admittedly, I wasn't expecting much from The Advanced Guard, but part of me was hoping for a somewhat watchable movie even with flaws. The Advanced Guard in the end was as far away from watchable. I know it's low budget, this wouldn't have mattered so much if it did look halfway decent. Instead it was pure tack, with the lighting lacking any kind of atmosphere and imagination and the sets looking gaudy in colour and like a cheaply done television show set. The editing also looked like it was done on a bacon slicer and that's being kind, and the special effects for the aliens(using suspended animation that wasn't very subtly used, both in how it looked and how often it was used)were so fake-looking. The way people look, dress and act looks dated also and would look more at home in the 70s. The dialogue was stilted and corny and not in an infectious way, this was really poor lazy scripting with not one single memorable line. The story was so silly to the point it was illogical(the naked woman thing I too don't get the significance of and consider her utilisation irrelevant), and also tedious and predictable. The ending also showed a writer who had very quickly run out of ideas. I'd forgive the characters being clichéd if they were interesting, but actually these characters- applying to the aliens as well as the victims- had no personality or development whatsoever so at the end you are like why should I care? The acting is pretty much non-existent. All in all, shockingly bad in all departments. 1/10 Bethany Cox

Pretty Good Sci-Fi

[Bishoptrue · 7/10 · 21 October 2000]

I caught this movie on the Sci-Fi channel, and was pleasantly surprised. It is somewhat formulaic, but if you are a fan of Sci-Fi in general, you may enjoy it. I felt that the cast acted quite well, and the special effects were quite well done for the obviously low budget. All and all, I'm glad I watched it.

Four alien scouts capture four humans and run tests to determine if humans are suitable for slavery.

[songbird-7 · 8/10 · 4 May 1999]

This is a very enjoyable TV movie. Yes, it is a low-budget film. But the writing is strong and the sets are done well. What is nice about the human characters in this movie is that they all act like real people. Each one has moments of anger and fear, but each also show strong, decent, heroic sides. There aren't any "weakling" or selfish jerk characters. The ending is no surprise, but getting there is what counts. And this nice little film delivers the goods.

Alien's body search

[pops-9 · 6 June 1999]

While it seemed long and drawn out in a few places, it was put into context so that you can understand why it had to be that bland in places. The aliens were searching for a world to use the bodies for own shells. Each world they destroyed supplied the bodies they needed to survive. They could not stay in their own bodies for long. The use of the new bodies was normally only a year long. Their bodies used the energy in their new bodies so that they would have to recharge their new bodies on a daily basis. The signs of courage, caring and self sacrifice demonstrated by the earthlings was the cause for the saving of the earth. Kept you wondering what was going to happen next and which of the alien examiners would win, the good or the bad.

Tedium in extremis.

[Keith-196 · 28 October 1999]

I didn't realise this was a "made for TV movie" when I rented the DVD. Even by that standard this movie is very tedious and cliched. Not to be recommended. I didn't understand the significance of the naked female that appears a couple of times at the beginning of the movie. Well, perhaps I do now.