Scorcher (2002/I)

User Rating:

3.7/10   

Director:

James Seale

Writers:

Steve Latshaw (writer)
Rebecca Morrison (writer)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

After a disastrous nuclear accident, scientists discover the earth's tectonic plates are shifting and...

Plot Keywords:

Nuclear Accident

Cast

Mark Dacascos	...	Ryan Beckett
John Rhys-Davies	...	Dr. Matthew Sallin
Tamara Davies	...	Julie McGrath
Mark Rolston	...	Special Agent Kellaway
Rutger Hauer	...	President Nelson
Rayne Marcus	...	Faith Beckett
G.W. Bailey	...	General Timothy Moore
Thomas F. Duffy	...	Anderson
Sam Lloyd	...	Fingers (as Samuel Lloyd)
Michael Jace	...	MacVaughn
Jeffrey Johnson	...	Styles
Billy Maddox	...	Norris
Alex Datcher	...	Janet Hill
Cathleen Kaelyn	...	Tara Beckett
Joel West	...	Zero

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence and language.

Runtime:

UK:87 min | USA:91 min | Argentina:91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Germany:16 | UK:15 | USA:R

Trivia:

The earthquake in the tunnel scene used tunnel scenes from the movie Daylight (1996).

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Dr. Sallin describes the need for a 15 megaton device, 100 times the size of the Hiroshima bomb. 15 megatons would be 1,000 times the size of that bomb.

Movie Connections:

Features Mighty Joe Young (1998)

Run for the hills!

Scorcher is a doomsday film which depicts the end of the world if too many nuclear bombs are tested. In this one, the world's tectonic plates are jarred out of alignment and sets the world on a fiery collision course with the apocalypse. The exhausted end of the world scenario claims the end of the world can only be prevented by an elite group of men trained for just such an emergency. Taxing to watch, an avid movie fan can nearly anticipate what will happen next. Whoever suggested the making of this film, obviously was hampered by a limited budget and restrained by anything novel to include in the script. The actors are subjected to curious scrutiny as to why they accepted their roles. Mark Dacascos easily plays hero, Ryan Beckett. Veteran actor John Rhys-Davies is Dr. Matthew Sallin who is hindered by the traditional over achieving scientist daughter out to prove herself. Rutger Hauer, who usually plays the heavy or hero looks out of place as the President. Finally there's the duplicitous G.W. Bailey as the double-crossing General Timothy Moore. In the final analysis, this film is realized as nothing more than of a poor-man's 'Armaggodon', or 'Core' or Earthquake, etc, etc. You get the picture. *