DVD
Review | Species (Special Edition)
Written by: Kage
Alan
The question of whether or not we’re the only
intelligent form of life in the universe has been asked many, many
times. If we are, the galaxy is screwed. What if, however, one of
those messages we sent out to tell everybody we’re here and
paranoid…received a response? Chances are that we’re already being
observed and I’ll bet they LOVE watching “Alias” and are just as eager
to see the final installment of “Star Wars.” Unfortunately, while they
were probably prepared to show themselves to the world, they promptly
changed their mind when Bush was re-elected. Oh, well. There’s
always four years from now.
So, getting back to the whole message being
answered thing. What if another intelligence sent us back some
directions to make something? That something that we of course would
never share with another government turns out to be a way of creating a
hybrid alien? After our young alien, Sil (Michelle Williams), is
sentenced to death, she makes a daring escape and soon metamorphasizes
into late teenager Sil (Natasha Henstridge). In order for our
illustrious Xavier Fitch (Ben Kingsley) to catch our national threat, he
enlists the help of a special team, each with their own expertise.
Preston (Michael Madsen) is the security expert, Stephen (Alfred Molina)
and Laura (Marg Helgenberger) are doctors, and Dan (Forest Whitaker) is
the empath.
Sil doesn’t understand who she is, what her very
unusual dreams mean or why she’s different from everybody else, but
she’s bound and determined to do a little mating. It’s bad enough
having one alien running around shape-shifting between her human and
alien forms, so kids would greatly complicate matters. Xavier can’t
allow that to happen, so he and his team desperately try to catch up to
her, only they’re always one step behind. When things turn a bit more
personal, Preston leads an all out life or death assault in the sewers
below LA. Will they succeed? Will the door be left open for “Species
2” and then “Species 3”? Silly humans!
The title sequence had me thinking this was going
to be a “B” movie. While it is, but it’s a fairly large-scale “B”
movie. The presence of Ben Kingsley and Forest Whitaker definitely
elevate this one above a number of others. Even Natasha Henstridge in
her first film role makes more of her character than is actually
written. It’s mostly an eye-candy piece for her, but she shows some
decent acting chops. Michael Madsen is a pleasure to watch, especially
when onscreen with Marg Helgenberger. This is, if nothing, a popcorn
movie through and through. As such, it’s an hour and 45 minutes of fun.
MGM has re-released “Species” in a high definition
Widescreen transfer. What’s that mean? It means that the picture
quality is damn fine and the DTS 5.1 Surround Sound has some kick. On
the subject of extras, while there aren’t any featurettes on the making
of the film or any behind-the-scenes bits on the special effects, we are
given two audio commentaries. The first is a chummy and informative
chat between Director Roger Donaldson, Producer Frank Mancuso, Jr.,
Visual Effects Supervisor Richard Edlund and Creature and Special Makeup
Effects Creator Steve Johnson. The second is a bit more casual with
discussion with Roger Donaldson and actors Natasha Henstridge and
Michael Madsen. Both commentaries are worth listening to. Beyond
those, we’re given a sneak peek at “Species 3,” which will be released
in December.
It’s too bad that “Species 2” couldn’t match the
original. You may find this difficult to believe, but this one is far
more believable than the sequel. I can’t speak for the third film yet,
though I will as soon as I get a chance to watch the unrated version.
In the meantime, fans of the genre and franchise will enjoy the new
insight into this one. MGM surprised me with this release. They could
have just re-released the original no-frills disc and tacked on the
sneak peek of the third film, except they didn’t. Good for them! It’s
worth the price of the disc.
Film Rating:
B
DVD Special Features: B
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