REVIEWS

JOE BOB BRIGGS

ALIEN FORCE review - JOE BOB BRIGGS -

And speaking of jittery weirdoes on a mission from God, this week's flick is ALIEN FORCE. starring Tyrone Wade as an outer-space nerd who gets turned into a kung-fu space warrior by the omnipresent supreme being Burt Ward (!) so he can journey to Earth and fight an evil bug-eyes monster for control of an ugly brown egg that contains a race of parasitic monsters that will destroy the world unless it's thrown into the bottom of Lake Renwyk, which is some lake in California where UFO vehicles stop to refuel, but if the evil bug-eyed monster gets the egg FIRST, then he'll go to Lake Renwyk and just dip it into the murky scum water on the EDGE of the lake and that's what will set all the parasitic monsters free.
Unfortunately , I might have gotten part of that wrong, because space warrior Tyrone Wade needs a few diction lessons. Tyrone is one of those guys they're trying to make into a martial arts hero -- first let's talk about the NAME, son -- and he's from either England or Australia or South Africa, one of those countries where they speak English but it sounds kinda WUSSIE, you know? Not a good comb when you're saying lines like "I find these Earthers a great hindrance" and -- when he talks to Burt Ward -- "Not yet, shining jewel of nobility, sir."
Of course, when the evil bug-eyed monster is on Earth, he can't assume evil bug-eyed monster form all the time, because who has the budget for THAT? So it's one of those movies where he assumes the shape of whoever he happens to kill, and the main shape he uses is FBI agent Jack Vincent, played by Michael Wayne. And even though Tyrone Wade is a space nerd in temporary possession of a bodybuilder's body, he falls in love with good-time gal Roxanne Coyne, the hapless young woman who finds the space egg and spends the next 90 minutes running all over Southern California being chased by cops, aliens and the U. S. Army.
Sure, we've seen the story before, but have we seen it with a guy who can make his pectoral muscles jump up and down like marionettes? I think NOT.
Eleven dead bodies. One fiery meteor crash. One attempted gang-rape. Goon-slicing. One silver insect-head alien with martial arts skills. Pipe to the head. Dancing pecs. One carjacking. One arm lasered off, then used as a weapon. Exploding helicopter. Three decaying corpses. Three motor-vehicle chases. Gratuitous shopping mall montage, including pet store footage. Twelve Kung Fu scenes. Baseball bat Fu. Nunchuk Fu. Drive-in Academy Award nominations for Michael Wayne, as the creepy FBI agent, for saying "Tell me what you know about the egg!"; Tyrone Wade, as the outer-space alien warrior with a speech impediment, for saying "Yes, magnitude, I know"; Roxanne Coyne, as the love interest, for saying "This belongs to me! It's my meteor!"; and Burt Ward as the almighty, for saying "It isn't easy being an omnipresent Praxima."
Two and a half stars.
Joe Bob says check it out.

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ALIEN FORCE  reviewed by SHOCKING IMAGES Magazine  April 1997 issue by Mark Jason Murray.

If you are wondering why there's nothing written by SI contributor Ron Ford in this issue, this should explain it. He is now doing the thing he has always wanted to do: making his own films.

A meteor containing the souls of millions of demons lands on Earth. The only remaining demon, Gorek, is out to release the demons and feed off of the Earth. Trace (Tyrone Wade) is sent to capture Gorek and destroy the egg, which has been discovered by Sandy Perkins (Roxanne Coyne). Gorek has the ability to infest any human life-form he so chooses, which makes him very hard to find. When Trace finally discovers that Sandy has the egg, they continually battle Gorek for it as they make their way to a lake located in a secret military base. The lake contains a special chemical that will destroy the egg and the souls within.

I must say I am proud of Ron for making a rather entertaining first feature. Remember to have your tongue planted firmly in cheek as you watch the film, as it has a very high underlying comedy content. When you see Burt Ward (Robbin from TV's Batman series) as the Omnipresent Praxima giving the command for Trace to head to Earth and destroy the evil, you have a pretty good idea there is a lot of fun ahead. The film starts off with a lot of action as well. Trace is transplanted to Earth and lands right in the middle of a gang of jerks harassing a young lady. The martial arts action is descent and much better than I expected, thanks to some very tight editing. Trace spends most of the movie fighting punks and Gorek in disguise.

Ron steals the show for me in his small role as a pathetic womanizer who gets his ass kicked and his car stolen. Hom many other writer-directors would do a scene like that? The film also features solid acting, as well. I could have done without the underlying love theme (complete with the "feed each other food at the mall" scene), but it does place more importance on their relationship together as they try to destroy the egg.

ALIEN FORCE is a fast-paced action film filled with humor and is much better than the Ford-written THE FEAR (see issue #5) and shows that Ron is a versatile writer and a capable director. He is currently busy with several more upcoming projects that I'm sure will be great as well.

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