Manticore (TV 2005)

Commandos in Iraq looking for terrorists find a man-eating monster instead.

Director:

Tripp Reed

Writer:

John Werner

Stars:

Robert Beltran, Jeff Fahey, Chase Masterson

Cast

Credited cast:
Robert Beltran	...	Sgt. Baxter
Jeff Fahey	...	Kramer
Chase Masterson	...	Ashley Pierce
Heather Donahue	...	Cpl. Keats
Faran Tahir	...	Umari
A.J. Buckley	...	Pvt. Sulley
Jeff M. Lewis	...	Ortiz (as Jeff Lewis)
Richard Gnolfo	...	John Busey
Jonas Talkington	...	Mouth
Michail Elenov	...	Fathi
George Zlatarev	...	Safa
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Benjamin Burdick	...	Ryan
Michael Cory Davis	...	Pvt. Davis
Edmund Druilhet	...	Sargent Cohen
Tripp Reed

Storyline

During Operation Iraqi Freedom, a US Army Squad is sent to a small Iraqi town to locate a missing news crew, only to find the residents of the town dead and a living Weapon of Mass Destruction, a Manticore, awaken from it's long slumber by a terrorist leader wanting to rid his land of the American invaders at any price.

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Plot Keywords:

u.s. army | ripped neck | female reporter | iraq war | female soldier | 

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Genres:

Action | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi | War

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

26 November 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bosszúálló ragadozó

Filming Locations:

Sofia, Bulgaria

Company Credits

Production Co:

Unified Film Organization (UFO), Sci Fi Pictures, Secure Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

The American flag patch on the right arms of the soldiers' uniforms is incorrect. It should have the stars on the right side, making it look backwards.

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Connections

References Faces of Death (1978)

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Soundtracks

"You Know You Want It"
Written by Brian Mashburn
Performed by Starpool

User Reviews

Typical Sci-Fi drivel.

Recipe on how to make a "Sci-Fi Channel (Un)Original production".

1) Get one or two out of work Star Trek actors. There are plenty of them nowadays. 2) Add low grade CGI special effects 3) a half-dozen no-name actors to be monster chow. 4) 3 Gallons of Catsup. (For the fake blood) 5) 1 Crappy illogical script.

Mix in movie for 2 hours (including commercial breaks).

The movie begins with some clips of Iraqis looting art treasures, and a squad of American soldiers lead by Robert Beltran, playing the kind of new-age castrati he played on Voyager for seven years. A reporter, played by Deep Space Nine's Chase Masterson, (who actually bothered to breath some life into a character) is trapped in a town menaced by the resurrected CGI Manticore. Beltran's squad is sent to rescue her.

Now, I often hate most military movies because they get so many things wrong, and this one is no exception. They have a Master Sergeant (E-8) leading a squad. They have a woman with an infantry team. They only send one vehicle on the rescue mission which they've deemed to be "important". The Sergeant is addressed as "Sir" by his squad. They use relaxed tactics in a hostile situation, allowing them to be picked off.

Other than that, what you see is a predictable mess, like you've seen in every other Sci-Fi production with a CGI monster.