Well, this is quite the week for B-Movie Actor Bruce Campbell. A lot of you might not know the name, but I would venture to guess that MOST of the audience for the various website I write for… do. This week alone we see the release of two DVDs of his films, as well as a “Book on CD” of his newest authorial endeavor, “Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way.” I was going to review all three releases together, but opted not to as they are so geometrically opposed in terms of quality, style and substance. As you might have guessed from the title, this particular review is going to focus on the Sci-Fi Channel film, “Alien Apocalypse.” The first thing I should probably do is give you a little bit of a plot synopsis for this little epic. It begins with the return to Earth of a group of astronauts who have been gone for 40 some odd years. Obviously, after that much time, things have changed… but not as expected. It seems in their absence the Earth was taken over by some giant space termites (yes… you read that right).

The population has been turned into slaves, who are forced to work in order to produce the wood the termites so live to eat. Of course, being that these are SPACE termites… the occasional human makes for quite the dish. The termites have teamed up with some mercenary ‘bounty hunter’ types who help with the rounding up of the humans, and these guys pretty much get the run of the land. But times being what they are, and humans not liking the old slavery bit, the astronauts help start a revolt against the big ol’ bugs.

If any of that description sounds a little cheesy… well… you’re right. It is an excessively cheesy movie, but in this case it is more of a compliment than a strike against it. You see, Bruce Campbell, in spite of being a very capable actor, has made a career out of cheesy, over the top films and characters. Moreover, the Sci-Fi Channel has produced tons of its own cheesy films, though not all are that way by choice… they just turn out that way.

“Alien Apocalypse” at least is meant to be cheesy and silly and while it isn’t the ‘Best’ bad movie I’ve ever seen, it’s still fairly enjoyable… if you know what you’re getting into. Don’t be looking for Academy Award writing, acting or special effects (especially special effects), and you might come out of this movie unscathed.

The film also stars Renee O’Connor, who is another name actress that is more familiar to ‘cult TV’ audiences than mainstream ones dues to her 6-season stint as Xena’s sidekick, Gabrielle. O’Connor is another fine actress who proved her worth on that series several times, but still hasn’t had the opportunity to ‘break out’ and star in an A-list film. Here, she just turns in a bit of a comic foil performance and that’s about it.

Now, as I am a bit of an aficionado of the B-Movie genre, I did expect more out of “Alien Apocalypse” because it was directed by Josh Becker. Again, a name that only a few of you have ever heard of. He’s a longtime friend of Campbell’s and has directed quite a few really good Independent Features (as well as some episodes of “Xena”). I’ve seen some of his other work, and he’s quite a good director, but I couldn’t help but feel that in spite of the B-Movie attitude that “Alien Apocalypse” was supposed to have, it was kind of pedestrian. The editing was a little choppy and the some of the humor didn’t really deliver in the way that it should have.

I was also rather disappointed with the DVD, which is a rarity when dealing with Anchor Bay Entertainment. Generally their DVD releases are phenomenal, but here it is only impressive in terms of extra features. The video portion of the DVD was worse than I am used to in any DVD release. The picture was rather blurry at times and nowhere near as sharp as I am accustomed to.

But, they did make up a little bit for that with the added commentary by Campbell and Becker. If you ever seen any of Campbell’s other films and listed to the commentary, you expect a lot of self-deprecating humor and he doesn’t disappoint. Plus since the two are old friends, their conversation comes across as such. Watching the film with the commentary is actually a lot funnier than watching it without. There is also a bit of a Behind the Scenes featurette, but it appears kind of thrown together.

It is mentioned on the cover that “Alien Apocalypse” was the all-time highest rated Sci Fi Pictures Original and one can only surmise it has a lot to do with the casting to Campbell. He has legions of fans and it a sure bet they tuned in. It has its moments that work, but overall it is not the best work of either the director or star.

Directed by: Josh Becker
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Renee O’Connor, Remington Franklin, Michael Cory Davis, Peter Jason
Extras: Audio Commentary with Bruce Campbell and Director Josh Becker, Behind the Scenes, Storyboard Gallery, Bruce Campbell Bio
Specifications: Widescreen (1.78:1) Enhanced for 16x9 Televisions, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 2.0
Studio: Anchor Bay
Release Date: 10/4/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Alien Apocalypse a C.