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Screamers | 
| Director: Christian Duguay
Actors: Peter Weller, Roy Dupuis, Jennifer Rubin, Andrew Lauer, Charles Powell
Studio: Columbia TriStar
Category: DVD
List Price: CDN$ 22.95
Buy New: CDN$ 7.02
You Save: CDN$ 15.93 (69%)
New (13) Used (2) from CDN$ 7.02
Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 16325
Format: Ntsc, Widescreen, Color, Dolby, Closed-captioned, Full Screen
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 2
Picture Format: Array
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 108 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6
MPN: COLD11869D
ISBN: 0767810880
UPC: 043396118690
EAN: 9780767810883
ASIN: 0767810880
Theatrical Release Date: January 26, 1996
Release Date: March 12, 2002
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW items direct from the USA. Please allow 8 to 12 business days for delivery. Customs charges may apply.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.ca
Despite the obvious, superficial similarities to movies like iAliens/i or the 1982 version of iThe Thing/i, this sci-fi/horror thriller is definitely aiming for something more profound. The story is set in the distant future on a colonized mining planet. The planet has been caught in a civil war for years, the population of both sides reduced to living in bunkers in a constant state of siege. When they realize that Earth has betrayed both sides and is uninterested in resolving the conflict, the leader of one side (Peter Weller) decides to set out across no-man's land to negotiate peace with the other side. He takes with him a green recruit (Andy Lauer) and picks up a war orphan along the way. Unfortunately, both sides have been relying on Screamers-automated killer robots that can adopt human forms as disguises-that are now out of control and out to kill all humans, no matter which side they're on. This leads to paranoia and uncertainty about who's really human when Weller's band meets up with the few survivors in the enemy camp (Jennifer Rubin and Roy Dupuis). Written by veteran Hollywood science fiction screenwriter Dan O'Bannon and Canadian Miguel Tejada-Flores and directed by Christian Duguay, it's based on the story "Second Variety" by writer Philip K. Dick. i--D.K. Latta/i
Chronique amazon.fr
Il n'est pas necessaire de disposer des moyens faramineux des grosses machines hollywoodiennes pour reussir un film de science- fiction. On n'a pas le petrole, mais on a les idees ! IPlanete hurlante/I est l'un des premiers films de SF a avoir su judicieusement utiliser les techniques du numerique et rivaliser ainsi avec certains poids lourds du genre (comme ITotal Recall/I). Sur la base d'un sujet du maitre de la SF, Philip K. Dick, dont les romans et les nouvelles ont inspire, entre autres, ITotal Recall/I et IBlade Runner/I, le Canadien Christian Duguay propose un film de serie B muscle et violent qui a le merite de ne pas s'embarrasser de details. Les amateurs de poussees d'adrenaline et de jets d'hemoglobine apprecieront. I-- Ambroise Ecorcheville/I
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
 sream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ers January 27, 2006
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
I only saw half of this movie so um i will try to be perfect.brAt first,I thought it would be real dumb belive me I say that alot.anyway......i would give it four stars cause the acting was good, real thats all i can say cause like i only saw 6 minutes of it.sorry if this didnt help you.
 A blade runner style investigation of humanity June 1, 2004
Lisa Shea
If you look at this movie as a version of Aliens, you're missing most of the theme here. The movie isn't about people fighting robots. It is how people initially create mindless devices to slay other humans. These devices grow on their own from spinning blades, to crawling lizards, to simple happy children, to help me! heart-string-tugging hurt soldiers, all the way up to Shakespeare-quoting men and real-love-feeling women.pWhen the robots reach that human-like point of development, they no longer simply focus on breeding and staying alive as a collective race. Now the ROBOTS start slaying each other for reasons that humans find all to understandable - love and personal desire.pYes, there's the tension as you keep thinking what will the NEXT robot look like. You begin to examine the actions of each character, wondering if he or she is a robot too. The line between real human and mechanical device becomes blurred. At one point Hendricksson grabs Jessica's hand and slices it open on purpose, to see if she really is human or a robot. She bleeds, and he apologizes profusely - leading to them falling in love. But of course the blood was fake - this was merely the next evolution in the robot progression. And it brings to mind the classic line, If you prick us, do we not bleed? (Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Scene 1). Given the large number of other Shakespeare quotes in the movie, the symbolism was quite apt.pIt was impressive that Hendricksson treats the people around him with casual disregard many times - but the robots are showing emotions. The humans are often brusque and untalkative - but the robots make insightful comments drawing from Shakespeare and other great thinkers. It is almost the robots who are the better race here - they have managed to wipe all the humans off the planet, evolved themselves to higher levels, and have their sights set on Planet Earth next. In that sense, Screamers is VERY much like Blade Runner, making us really think about how we would differ from intelligent robots - and if we would measure up. A movie to watch over many times.
Philip K. Dick Does It Again May 18, 2004
Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States)
A movie that I rented this weekend was Screamers staring Peter Weller, Roy Dupuis and Jennifer Rubin. I was expecting some sort of monster movie but what I got was a bit different. Now I have to buy a copy.pBased on Philip K. Dick's short story Second Variety, this story plays on the theme of what is real. A mining colony on Sirius 6B went on strike because of radiation released by the mining operations. The company did not like that and the two have been at war for ten years. The miners managed to survive by creating screamers, underground flying buzz saws. Now the company wants peace. Both sides have found out that the war is a lie and want to band together. The trouble is the screamers have an automatic production facility and it has started turning out new versions.pProperly advertised this could have been a pretty big film, but it wasn't. Instead it was lost in obscurity. But if you like Philip K. Dick, the man behind Total Recall and Blade Runner, then you will get a kick out of this movie (and all of the surprise twists in the plot).
VISUAL STUNNER March 10, 2004
Michael Butts (Martinsburg, WV USA)
THE STORY: Based on Philip Dick's short story, SCREAMERS plot becomes very convoluted at times, and I found myself wondering just what the heck was going on; however, as the movie progressed, it's storyline became more cohesive, and I found myself understanding it. Score: 3brTHE CAST: Peter Weller is both likeable and dislikeable at the same time; he doesnt' seem to possess a wide range of emotions, and his laconic behavior tends to weaken his performance; Jennifer Rubin does okay, but doesn't seem to possess a lot of energy; Roy DuPuis and Andrew Lauer are excellent---DuPuis with his hypnotic blue eyes is quite sinister as Becker, and Lauer with his gungho militarism is brilliant as the grunt. Score: 3brTHE EFFECTS AND SETTING: Marvelous; some of the nicest vistas and landscapes captured in some time; effects are above average, I think. Score: 5
Great science fiction movie January 23, 2004
Jeffrey Leach (Omaha, NE USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Peter Weller is one of those actors you either love or hate. I know my opinions about him vary widely depending on which film I see him in. I thought "Buckaroo Banzai" a ridiculous waste of time largely because I couldn't stand Weller's smarmy performance as a brain surgeon/rock musician who takes time out to save the world. Even his turn as the doomed Officer Murphy in "Robocop" gives the audience little incentive to appreciate this actor, mainly because he undergoes the transformation into cyborg so rapidly. I admit I did enjoy his turn as a sadistic, drug dealing dad in "Firstborn." Then there is the 1995 science fiction film "Screamers," a movie where Weller really comes into his own as a gruff, laconic soldier attempting to battle his way off a distant planet. Based on a book from the science fiction novelist Philip K. Dick, "Screamers" is definitely a low budget film, but it is one of the more effective B movies I have seen recently. pThe age-old battle between management and labor finally erupts into open warfare when the corporations involved in mining operations on distant planets decide to strike back when miners refuse to work after a spate of radiation induced deaths. The managers--now formed into an economic bloc called the NEB--decided to retaliate with atomic strikes on mining bases on Sirius 6-B, thereby turning the planet into a desolate plain populated by increasingly diminishing numbers of soldiers on both sides. The commander of the "good" guys, if there are any good guys, is Hendricksson (Weller), a miner turned soldier rapidly tiring of the attrition warfare raging on the planet. A message that the war may soon be over allows Hendricksson and his men a brief respite from their miseries until a shuttle crash lands near their base. The only survivor of this mission tells Hendricksson some disturbing news about the situation on earth, information that contradicts what he thought he knew about the cease-fire. In an effort to discover just what in the heck is going on, Weller's character, with the survivor from the shuttle crash in tow, sets out across the planet's surface to meet with the leader of the enemy forces. It is a risky mission but a necessary one. If things go well, Hendricksson and his fellow soldiers may yet get off this miserable ball of dirt.pSignificantly complicating matters are the screamers, nasty little pieces of military hardware cooked up on earth for the miners to use against the NEB forces. Essentially, these tools of death are small machines bristling with saws and razors that cruise beneath the soil looking for unprotected soldiers. Only a grunt wearing a special bracelet that sends an "I'm O.K." signal to the screamer will be safe; all others are fair game. Even worse, after some ten years in use the screamers have somehow mutated underneath the earth, so much so that even the miners know little about the devices anymore. Not only does Hendricksson have to trek through the dangerous landscape of Sirius-B, he also must worry about what the screamers are doing. By the way, the radiation levels on the planet are still so high that anyone venturing outside for an extended period of time must smoke a special type of cigarette to neutralize the toxins building up in the body. By the time Hendricksson reaches the enemy base he realizes things are going on that bode ill for himself and his men. Mutated screamers wiped out NEB headquarters except for three hardy souls who somehow managed to survive. When Hendricksson makes a horrible discovery about his own base, he resolves to get off the planet any way he can. The conclusion to the movie is well done, to say the least, as is the entire movie. I enjoyed "Screamers."pThe movie is a lighter on the action than you would expect from a movie about an intergalactic war, and a little cheap on the set pieces, but director Christian Duguay wisely works within his budget to create a movie loaded with bleakness and despair. The snowy, desolate atmosphere of the nearly abandoned planet looks like it was shot on the dark side of the moon (it was Canada, apparently). The interior shots of the enemy base and the desperate escape the characters make from this fortress added even more claustrophobic mood to the movie. When the end of the film finally rolls around, you find yourself praying that Weller's character will escape from the planet and finally make his way back to earth. Throw in dashes of gory violence, the interesting effects work of the screamers, and Weller's hard-bitten performance and you have the makings of a minor cult classic. I have never read anything written by Philip K. Dick, so I cannot speak to the compatibility of this movie with the story it came from, but "Screamers" functions exceedingly well as a stand alone picture.pThe DVD doesn't offer very many extras, unfortunately. Only a trailer for the film and a choice between fullscreen and widescreen presentations graces this disc. A commentary from Weller would have been nice but is not a necessity in order to enjoy the film. Watching "Screamers" makes me want to check out some of Philip K. Dick's books. I have heard great things about him, along with some weird things about his personal life, which gives me reason to believe reading some of his writings would be worthwhile. In the meantime, I will probably rewatch "Screamers" a time or two.
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