grizzledgeezer The /film itself/ is a spoiler (ie, something that spoils things, such as the viewers' mental balance), but as I describe how the heroes are able to avoid being killed by the aliens, I've marked this review with a spoiler alert.The portmanteau title -- "Alien" + "Species" -- is supposed to confuse potential viewers as to the provenance of this gobbler. Of course, "Species" is pretty bad, so if you're trying to ride the coattails of another film, you should at least pick a good one."Alien Species" suggests what Ed Wood Jr might have churned out on a decent budget. The script is nothing but quadruply recycled clichés and shopworn "humor" thrown together as rapidly as the writer could type them, without the charm (???) of Ed Wood's amusing non-sequiturs.I especially liked the way Our Heroes find a remote control that shuts off the force field surrounding the alien ships -- at which point they can be destroyed by what is (relative to the ships) small-arms fire. (Bright aliens, these.) It resembles a tarted-up BIO-BUG remote control. There's no explanation of why the dozens of alien ships don't just gang up on the humans and (as Dr Crab would say) "reduce them to icky grey slime".The 1996 special effects are, surprisingly, not at all bad, even by current standards. The result is that they make the rest of the film look even worse than its already low, low level of quality.If you want to avoid brain damage or digestive convulsions (that's the polite way of putting it), avoid this film.

Hitchcoc There are certainly a lot of explosions and death in this movie. A rip off of the movie Independence Day. There are incompetent police officers transporting prisoners, one of whom is a nice guy, wrongly convicted. It's the usual gang of people thrown together, having to form a united front against an overwhelming force. These are the bad guy aliens. They are ugly, sort of like Hollywood corpses from movies like Poltergeist. Somehow, they have mastered time travel, built awesome machines, and yet haven't conquered drool and slime. Anyway, there is lots of running through caves where it's hard to see. There is plenty of nerdiness to go around (ala Jeff Goldblume), but unlike its predecessor, this doesn't even have the bases revenge motive working for it. The heroes really have no place to go or any plan, other than to keep alive. The special effects are fair, but it's just a rambling mess.

mstomaso This movie is summed up by the most intelligent line uttered by one of its principal characters..."I feel like I am in a bad episode of The X-Files" ...Alien Species is a schlocky formulaic alien invasion film with decent special effects, a lot of mediocre action and decent acting, which is so poorly shot, and so uninspiringly written, that it reaches new lows. And don't get me started on the hideous sound track! This film could easily be lost among many of the early Sci-Fi Channel fiascoes. There are a number of CGI shots involving space ships, an impossibly globe-like earth and urban explosions straight out of Missile Command (complete with disappearing flame and temporary damage).Before I waste what little energy this film's review warrants I'll let you in on the plot. Aliens are invading the earth for no particular reason and everybody on earth is so freaked out and terrified that there is no military response and general panic and desperation predominate. A couple of prisoners are being transported to jail and a flying saucer knocks them off the road, after they pick up a few stranded victims of an automobile accident (including a famous astronomer and UFO expert of course!). One of the criminals turns out to be an innocent man and easily the worst actor in the film, but fortunately he doesn't speak until about half-way through (the X-Files comment being one of his first multi-word lines). Anyway, you get the picture.As usual, I handed this a 2 because its harmless - since I reserve single star ratings for bigger productions which pose serious mental health risks such as "Tin Cup" and "Runaway Bride". My advice - enjoy this if you're like me and have to see every bad sci fi film ever made. Otherwise, don't waste your time.

junk-monkey This movie has nothing going for it other than some adequate SFX; the alien ships are OK - about the level of first series Babylon 5. Other that that it is a total stinker with nothing to recommend it at all.Why is it that, in utter crap movies like this......the aliens are capable of building faster than light space ship and zapping entire cities to smithereens in moments but are reduced to skulking in caves, shambling along at half a mile an hour and grabbing people's ankles? ... American cars explode so easily? You just have to sneeze on the buggers and they go up like a roman candle.... nerdy boy college types when presented with an alien artifact he has never seen before, ripped from a dead aliens wrist, can "download its data" onto his laptop in seconds whilst under fire, when most of us have trouble working out which way round a USB plug goes in? Where did that loaded bazooka come from in the last scene? Hunky hero ran to get it out of the car but it was nerdy boy's car. Do nerdy boy college types always just happen to carry loaded anti-tank weapons around with them? The dialogue is pathetic. The "plot" (hah!) is thuddingly obvious and paper thin, and to call the characters and acting "wooden" would be generous.It does however contain a hilarious alien kidnapping. If you accidentally buy this movie watch it up to the point the girl gets sucked out of her bedroom window - then turn it off and put it on eBay.(Some of the comments here are about a different film. "Alien Terminator" (a Troma 'Alien' rip-off) made in the same year was released as "Alien Species" in Britain).