The Arrival (1996)
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The Arrival (1996)
CHARLIE SHEEN in THE ARRIVAL
also starring LINDSAY CROUSE * TERI POLO * RON SILVER
Written and Directed by DAVID TWOHY
In the case of The Arrival, the astronomer is Zane Zaminsky (what a name, eh?), played by Sheen with a goatee. He's fairly smart and dangerously curious; after he hears the predictable unexpected signal and informs his boss (Silver), he suddenly finds himself without a job and targeted by unknown agents. At the same time, a scientist (Crouse) is finding strange evidence of the Earth's climate heating up in certain areas; her projections estimate that our planet will be 12 degrees hotter in about a decade! We all know by this time (year 2010) how catastrophic that would be. Where is Al Gore when we really need him? (save us, Al - insert sarcasm).
This turns out to be a combo relationship story (Zane has trust issues with his girlfriend, played by Polo), detective story (Zane travels to Mexico to find out what's up) and aliens-among-us story. It turns out, the aliens are already here, infiltrating us using super-disguise technology (much like the earlier They Live in '88 ) and Zane has real trust issues by the time the film nears its conclusion. To keep their plans quiet, the aliens eliminate anyone who has an inkling of what's happening, sometimes employing a weird gizmo that functions like a super vacuum cleaner. The computer FX, including the aliens themselves, were state-of-the-art back then, but are a bit cheesy now - including the weird counter-jointed legs the invaders have.
Also, Twohy sort of turns this into a lecture, as many Hollywood elites tend to do; at one point, an alien tells Zane that we, the Earthlings, would have caused the temperature increase anyway in about a century. This can stir up the whole global warming debate again, yippee. But, there is an elegance and intriguing quality to this deceptively simple story which is missing from most films these days; these days, filmmakers tend to bash the audience over the head with their ideas. But, that's a rant for another post. BoG's Score: 7 out of 10
There was a direct-to-video sequel a couple of years later, called Arrival II or The 2nd Arrival. It starred Patrick Muldoon (Starship Troopers), Jane Sibbett and Michael Sarrazin. Muldoon played Zane's brother (these long lost brothers always turn up in cheap sequels). It basically repeated the plot of aliens hidden among us and a couple of people getting wind of the nefarious plan that no one else has figured out. It was set in Canada to reduce costs (one quarter the budget of the original) and was a bit more action-oriented. See it here: ARRIVAL II (<click)
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