Screamers (1995)

Director:

Christian Duguay

Writers (WGA):

Philip K. Dick (short story "Second Variety")
Dan O'Bannon (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 January 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The silence of space is about to be shattered.

Plot:

(SIRIUS 6B, Year 2078) On a distant mining planet ravaged by a decade of war, scientists have created the perfect weapon: a blade-wielding...

Plot Keywords:

Soldier | Nudity | Syndicate | Future War | Roman Coin

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Peter Weller	...	Joe Hendricksson
Roy Dupuis	...	Becker
Jennifer Rubin	...	Jessica Hanson
Andrew Lauer	...	Ace Jefferson (as Andy Lauer)
Charles Edwin Powell	...	Ross (as Charles Powell)
Ron White	...	Chuck Elbarak
Michael Caloz	...	David
Liliana Komorowska	...	Landowska
Jason Cavalier	...	Leone
Leni Parker	...	Cpl. McDonald
Sylvain Massé	...	N.E.B. Soldier
Bruce Boa	...	Secretary Green
Tom Berry	...	Technician
Henry Ramer	...	Screamers Crawl Narration (voice)

Also Known As:

Claw (USA) (working title)
Screamers - L'armée souterraine (Canada: French title)
Sukurîmâzu (Japan)

MPAA:

Rated R for sci-fi violence and terror, some language and a brief moment of nudity.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

Canada | USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

New Zealand:M | Australia:M (re-rating on appeal) | Australia:MA (original rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | UK:18 | USA:R | Canada:18A

Filming Locations:

Joliette, Québec, Canada

Company:

Allegro Films

Trivia:

In the original short story by P. K. Dick the plot takes place on Earth, instead of Sirius 6B. Originally, Screamers were designed by Americans troops hiding in the moon to destroy the Russian Army after the Soviet Union had completely wiped out the United States.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the scene where Hendricksson, Jefferson and David first meet the two N.E.B. soldiers, David is shot and you can clearly see the wire use to lift and pull David backwards into the snow.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Screamers Crawl Narration: [voice over narration] For the last fifty years, the new economic block, the 'N.E.B.' Corporation, has controlled mining operations throughout the known solar systems.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

Soundtrack:

Hard Luck Solution

Underrated Sci-Fi Classic

OK this film has virtually no budget for a sci-fi movie and no real stars to speak of other than Peter 'Robocop' Weller but that doesn't matter because what it does have is a good story well told. It's a shame that bigger budget sci-fi productions never seem to remember that sci-fi should be have an interesting premise and not just throw a few explosions at the screen every few minutes.

What is on offer in Screamers is a solidly entertaining 1hr 40mins of sci fi fun, reasonable acting and a great story based on a Phillip K Dick short. The main idea of screamers is a very scary one a war that had been taken over by machines that fight on our behalf a war that can't be stopped.

For sci-fi fans this is a must see, for everyone else it's still solidly entertaining 7/10