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Specimen More at IMDbPro »
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| Index | 11 reviews in total |
2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
For a TV movie not bad!, 8 July 1999
Author:
anonymous from Eagle River, Alaska
I've seen this film and its not great,but not terrible. Mark-Paul did a good job as the alien. I liked the film and would like to see it again. I was wondering about it and couldn't remember the title,and then I looked it up. I also know other people who enjoyed the film. Granted, I respect other people's opinion's I don't think it deserved the trashing that the Joe guy gave it, It was actually not that terrible!
Saved by the Fireball., 29 April 2012
Author:
BA_Harrison from Hampshire, England
I deliberately try and opt for a bad movie sometimes, just so that I
can rag on it (I find doing so quite therapeutic), and Specimen bore
all the hallmarks of a real stinker: a no-name TV director, Saved by
the Bell's Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) in the lead, a dreadful
DVD cover bearing the lousy tag-line 'Be very quiet... They might want
you...'. But although the film is definitely a cheap piece of
derivative cheeze, a mish-mash of ideas stolen from 'Firestarter', 'The
Terminator' and a whole handful of other sci-fi films, it still managed
to be slightly more fun than I had expected.
The film begins with a pre-credits sequence in which a young boy, Mike,
somehow unwittingly causes fires in his sleep, resulting in the
accidental death of his mother. That boy grows up to be Gosselaar,
who—after the death of his grandmother—finds a box of his mother's
belongings which leads him to her hometown in search of the identity of
his father, and an answer to his uncontrollable pyrokinesis. All of
this is handled pretty well by director John Bradshaw, and Gosselaar is
actually decent; at this point, Specimen is shaping up to be a
surprisingly classy flick.
And then 'The Terminator' arrives—or rather Eleven, an extraterrestrial
in human guise (played by Doug O'Keefe, doing his best Schwarzeneggar),
arrives—and the film becomes an unintentionally laughable mess.
Eleven's mission is to find and destroy Mike, who is an alien/human
hybrid, the result of his mother being abducted and impregnated by
scientists from another world (and who can blame the naughty ETs?
Mike's mother is played by the very probe-worthy Carmelina Lamanna, who
flashes full-frontal during some flash-backs), but is thwarted by
another alien named Sixty-six who happens to be Mike's father!
Matters get progressively sillier here on in, with the two aliens
battling it out with each other while Mike tries to come to terms with
his bizarre lineage and the fact that he might not be able to get it on
with new girlfriend without causing her third degree burns. Expect a
lot of pyrotechnics, a Terminator-style synth score, plenty of dreadful
dialogue, no explanation as to why Eleven wants Mike dead, and an open
ending that makes one wonder whether this was intended as a pilot for a
TV series that (not surprisingly) never happened.
1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Don't waste your money and time, 17 March 2008
Author:
waflynn from United States
One of the worst movies ever made. At first I thought it was a made for
TV movie since there a number of pauses where the movie goes to black
(insert commercial here). However, since it has full frontal nudity
(female) and full rear nudity (males), eliminates it as a
made-for-TV-movie.
It took the best of "Firestarter" and "Terminator" and created a rather
anemic alien. If it looks like a Terminator, walks like a Termminator,
talks like a Terminator, and creates fire (it's only weapon), then it
must be "Termifirenator".
Awful special effects, acting, plot line, and continuity. Definitely
should be on the 100 worst movies ever made. Shining a search light on
the water for the effect of landing aliens was a insult to the viewers.
1 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Mark-Paul's acting was just fine, 20 July 2007
Author:
andrasta from Monroe, LA
Oh, overall, this movie is very cheesy, and I wish the aliens had been something other than walking blocks of muscle, but the story was a good idea in its inception. I thought Mark-Paul's acting was just fine, actually. He took the role seriously, regardless of the movie's lower budget, which denotes him as a good actor. Granted, it's been a while since I've seen it, so I can't give a good take on the supporting actors, but aside from the villain's one-note plot motivation, I don't remember groaning too badly. :) The handling of some of our main character's heritage problems (the whole problem with starting fires while asleep) was a particularly nice touch. Considering the budget, I thought they did the best they could--I'd like to see it redone.
2 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
If nothing else, see it for Mark Lutz., 2 April 2002
Author:
Cate from Adelaide, Australia
This is not an excellent film. It was released when all of the "new science
fiction films" were being released, The Faculty, The Relic etc.
The fact that the lead of Saved By The Bell, Mark-Paul Gosselaar is the
main
character is something to go on. The reason i watched this film is due to
the fact that Mark Lutz, Groo from the series Angel stars as Blaine
Masterson. Being a big fan of Angel i wanted to see Mark Lutz in another
role besides that of the Groosulaug.
The Specimen attempts to be a cross between The Faculty, Firestarter and
the
Terminator, it does not really succeed, scenes are boring and overdone,
there are shots of feet walking down corridors and the opening credits are
almost unbearable.
I said it before that this is not a good film, but for all fans of Angel
and
Buffy it is good to see Mark Lutz in a different role besides the
Groosulaug
and the "Hunky Security Man" in the film Dick. Watch it, but rent something
else too.
0 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Mark-Paul might be saved by the bell, but he needed to be saved by his agent, 28 April 2009
Author:
movieman_kev from United States
A child of extraterrestrial origins is found walking through the fires
of a burning building. He's promptly adopted, but still has questions
about where he came from. Years later, the boy, now a young man (played
by Mark-Paul Gosselaar of Saved by the Bell fame) can start fires with
his mind and frequently dreams of his forgotten earlier life while he
submerges himself in bathtub water. Another alien (Douglas O'Keeffe)
wants to get the young man back.
With shades of much better films (such as Firestarter, the Terminator,
and even Starman), this movie can't help but epicly fail in comparison.
It doesn't help that the film spots horrendous acting (especially by
Gosselaar and O'Keeffe extremely sub-par special effects, and a plot
that is a clichéd muddled mess. This is one movie that makes those that
are made for the Sci-fi channel (I refuse to call it by the insanely
stupid SyFy moniker, but that's another rant) look of Oscar-caliber.
That's no hyperbole, this movie is just that bad.
Eye Candy: Carmelina Lamanna gets fully nude
My Grade:D-
1 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
please, just don't buy this movie!, 16 December 2001
Author:
Andras_J from South Shields, England
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
POSSIBLE SPOILERS
First of, I saw a poster for this movie on the net. It looked like a
pretty
good sci-fi movie, and my sort of thing. I got interested.
Then I started reading up about it, the story line. Sounded
awesome!
But then I saw tons of reviews saying how bad it was, and I simply ignored
them. But how wrong was I to do that!
I bought it from amazon and watched it recently, and its
lame.
Lets start of: the movie opens up quite good. the musical score and
visuals, and the scenes of fire, showing how it all started. and how the
kid (mark paul gosslers) mother died. It reminded me of "Alien 3" and
"Terminator 2" and it looked quite tastefull and promising.
a real gem.
It soon went totally down hill though! It dragged on allot to the point
where it was irritating. and the special effects were laughable.
I understand its hard to make a good sci-fi/action "B" grade movie, but
this
was pathetic. Especially when that dude called Eleven got shot, what was
that, that came out of him!? It was red powder (very obviously!), yet it
was ment to be blood. This movie was made on the cheap, even for a TV "B"
movie.
Eleven was just pathetic, and was just a Terminator rip of!
This movie is paperweight although it has its odd moment.
Watch it if its on TV, but don't buy it! I don't think it is suitable for
any sci-fi fan and is a crap attempt at the genre.
The only people I could imagine this garbage apealing to, is a Mark Paul
Gossler fan. And I'm certainly not one!
This movie was a waste of $25.
2 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Not a great movie, but a decent time-filler, 20 October 2001
Author:
(waybourne@yahoo.com)
I wouldn't buy this movie; it simply isn't worth the money. However, if
you're a fan of the actor or the genre, or have a penchant for cheesy
movies, check it out when it comes on Sci-Fi.
The overall premise of the movie is bad, but it is poorly executed. In
particular, the young boy saying "Eleven" all the time makes little sense.
I assume he's supposed to be another hybrid, but then why don't the aliens
want him? Too young?
BTW, I would be extremely gratified if someone could tell me the name of
the
theme song. It's running rampant through my head, and it won't settle down
till I give it a name. :)
2 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
It wasn't that bad..., 22 April 2000
Author:
CupidGrl
Ok, well, maybe it was! But don't be too hard on Mark Paul Gosselaar! He didn't do that bad of a job. I actually rented the movie because of him. I guess you would have to be a fan of his to enjoy the movie. It really dosen't make any sense. So, if you think he is cute, get it. I guess I am one of those people who actually liked Saved By The Bell. I like him as Zack better.
4 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Hahaha... As you guessed it: terrible., 29 May 1999
Author:
Joe (deftoner84@aol.com) from St. Louis
Specimen, a direct-to-video science-fiction flick, is just about as
terrible
as you might guess. Mark-Paul Gosselaar (possibly one of the worst actors
that have ever even made a film) plays a man who has always had a strange
attraction to water and later finds out that he is the spawn of an alien
and
that another alien has come to Earth to kill him. Gosselaar--best known as
Zack Morris on the terrible sitcom Saved by the Bell--is beyond terrible in
a performance that makes Elizabeth Berkeley seem like the next Meryl
Streep.
(He is even worse in the even worse movie Dead Man on
Campus).
This movie is a total waste of the thirty dollars it probably cost to make.
Half a Star out of Four.
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