“Alien Tracker” is actually the name of a series
that recently played on the Sci-Fi channel called, simply, “Tracker”.
I don’t know what channel it originally played on or why it didn’t
make it beyond the first season of 22 episodes, but Lions Gate has
created a feature length release that combines a number of the shows
into one. The only reason I know this is because while I missed the
premier, I did see the second episode and some of what I saw was
included here. Also, the story jumps around so much without rhyme or
reason that there’s no way the flow of the piece was written
specifically that way.
Cole (Adrian Paul, “Highlander”) is an
intergalactic policeman or tracker from a distant galaxy. While he
retired from service, someone betrayed him and a criminal killed his
wife and child. Oops. Man, you just don’t piss off a Highlander! Now
he’s using wormholes and traveling around trying to locate the being
that killed his family as well as others who escaped. The catch is that
while he possesses all of his lifeforce, the other prisoners only have a
partial amount of their own, which means Cole has some abilities they
don’t.
With the help of a Chicago bar owner named Mel (Amy
Price-Francis, “Little Men”), Cole attempts to hunt down the aliens left
on earth as well as their leader, Zin (Geraint Wyn Davies, “Cube 2:
Hypercube”), and send them back home. Complicating his search is, as
usual, some shady government agent wanting to learn all he can about the
aliens and what he can potentially use their knowledge and abilities
for. Will these people ever learn? Forming uneasy alliances in order
to combat the government and the bad aliens, Cole will have his hands
full…at least for 22 episodes or an hour and 45 minutes for this DVD
release.
Adrian Paul has gotten a little bit older, but the
man still has terrific form and a set of moves he uses from time to time
that recall his earlier stunt work in “Highlander”. He also serves as
an executive producer, which probably means he had a bit more input into
the show’s development. The script is moderately well written, the
special effects are used sparingly (though they suffer a little due to
its television budget) and it’s interesting to watch Paul’s character
develop from knowing nothing about earth culture to getting more
comfortable with it.
Lions Gate has released “Alien Tracker”,
surprisingly enough, in a Widescreen format instead of a Full Screen
one. Video quality is a tad bit grainy at times, but otherwise
acceptable. Audio quality is decent, so no complaints there at all. On
the subject of extras, there are a couple of trailers and that’s it. I
was kind of hoping for some text information about the show, the idea
behind the compilation of episodes here and why it didn’t make it past
its first season.
Perhaps if this release catches on and does
moderately well, Lions Gate will consider getting the rights to the
entire show and releasing a box set of it. “Alien Tracker” is a
confusing introduction to a much more involved series than it’s given
credit for. It jumps in leaps and bounds as far as time is concerned,
throws in flashbacks to sequences that happened less than 10 minutes
prior, introduces and then ditches characters seemingly without rhyme or
reason and overall becomes too difficult to follow. Believe me, a box
set is the way to go here.
