Survivor (1999 TV Movie) User Reviews

Aliens, The Thing, Predator: all in one economy-size package!

[smartbomb · 5/10 · 5 September 2000]

Yup, you've seen it a hundred times before. Alien monster on the loose, people trapped in remote location surrounded by industrial equipment, only this time they're being stalked by an unusually cheap-looking creature.

To be fair, I sure am glad the "disease of the week" movie seems to have bitten the dust. I'll take a "Survivor" sci-fi movie over a rare-disease-afflicts-family-member melodrama any day. Survivor is especially fun to watch if you're Canadian as the cast is full of our kinfolk: a couple of "Traders", some guy I recognized from beer commercials, rounded out by an experienced American lead to save the day. Wonder if it was shot here, maybe other Torontonians will recognize some friends in the credits. Bottom line: keep the sci-fi movies of the week coming!

Patient monster

[unbrokenmetal · 5/10 · 2 December 2007]

1,000,000,000 years ago extraterrestrial beings land on earth which is still devoid of life. One of the aliens is trapped by a volcano eruption and waits patiently until... human beings drill for oil and release it from its underground cave. Soon the usual story unfolds: some want to kill the beast, while others want to make money from the sensational creature, even at the risk of everyone's life. Although the elements of the movie are obviously taken from "Alien" (evil corporation), "Predator" (just look at the creature) and "The Thing" (isolated station in Antarctica), this is a better monster movie than some others. It has at least one good story idea: the monster carries a blue healing glue and sometimes doesn't seem hostile despite the kills. Well, it surely must know everything about longevity! The actors (including David Hewlett from "Stargate Atlantis" and German actress Claudia Michelsen) provide some human conflicts that are more interesting than the mercenary chat in other direct-to-video monster flicks.

Required field

[agof · 5/10 · 19 December 2022]

It is a low-budget "television" film, with everything that entails. Though, the premise is really cool, and it left an impression on me since the childhood. I didn't get to finish the film then, so i decided to fix that now.

In some sense the story uses the same structure as the events of The Thing (the prequel-reboot one from 2011).

It is filmed in a trivial industrial basement with pipes on the walls, so sometimes it is kinda barren. But the monster's design looks very cool. Also there is a performance from David Hewlett, who have later played Rodney McKay in the Stargate: Atlantis television serial.

Odd

[Tin Man-5 · 15 May 1999]

This film is an Alien clone even down to the opening credits. Well actually, it's a clone and combo of several sci-fi classics. Is had the plot of "Alien," the setting of "The Thing," and a creature that's a cross between the Predator and the Queen Alien from "Aliens." However, it does have a pretty interesting premise. Turn out that human were bred billions of years ago at the dawn of evolution as harvest for a race of aliens. But the alien crashed and was frozen in the Arctic, and he was perserved until the humans revived him in present day. No kidding. And now he want to finish the job he started: eat us!

The cast was good, and it completely ignored traits of the genre (i.e. the star-crossed lovers' fate, the African-American character's didn't die first, and the DOCTOR's fate! WOW). However, the ending is similar: the old "let's blow the monster up" idea is used.

It was pretty good, but it was an assault on original plot. Don't watch it unless you're feeling really goofy.

Enjoyed the movie tremendously, a great Greg Evigan fan.

[dodih · 10/10 · 26 December 1999]

I thought the script was well written and the acting ability of the actors was unparalleled. The filming of the movie was clear and the plot was excellent. The visual effects were very creative and almost believable.