Screamers (1995)

(SIRIUS 6B, Year 2078) On a distant mining planet ravaged by a decade of war, scientists have created the perfect weapon: a blade-wielding, self-replicating race of killing devices known as... See full summary »

Director:

Christian Duguay

Writers:

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

Stars:

Peter Weller, Roy Dupuis, Jennifer Rubin

3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited 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)

Storyline

(SIRIUS 6B, Year 2078) On a distant mining planet ravaged by a decade of war, scientists have created the perfect weapon: a blade-wielding, self-replicating race of killing devices known as Screamers designed for one purpose only -- to hunt down and destroy all enemy life forms But man's greatest weapon has continued to evolve without any human guidance, and now it has devised a new mission: to obliterate all life. Col. Hendricksson (Peter Weller) is commander of a handful of Alliance soldiers still alive on Sirius 6B. Betrayed by his own political leaders and disgusted by the atrocities of this never-ending war, Hendricksson decides he must negotiate a separate peace with the New Economic Bloc's decimated forces. But to do so, he will have to cross a treacherous wasteland where the deadliest threat comes from the very weapons he helped to create.

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Plot Keywords:

stop motion | matte painting | miniature model | shakespearean quotation | 2070s | 

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Taglines:

The Last Scream You Hear Will Be Your Own.

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Genres:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures

Country:

Canada USA Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 January 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Claw

Filming Locations:

Joliette, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

JPY 25,895,600 (Japan), 29 November 1996

Gross USA:

$5,781,885

Company Credits

Production Co:

Triumph Films, Fuji Eight Company Ltd., Fries Film Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS (8 channels)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dan O'Bannon had been working on the screenplay for Screamers (1995) as early as 1981. The October 10, 1984, draft credits Michael Campus as co-writer. It is unknown whether Campus also intended to direct.

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Goofs

When we first meet Becker on the snow, a close up of his "Oakley Blades" shows, very clearly, the reflection of the camera crew.

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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.

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Connections

Followed by Screamers: The Hunting (2009)

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Soundtracks

Naya
Music by Jerry Devilliers
Lyrics by Dwight Druick
Vocals by Loulou Hughes

User Reviews

Not bad at all

This movie aptly showed that you don't need a huge budget to make a good picture, even when that picture is a sci fi. It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, but for crying out loud it was a heck of a lot smarter than Independence Day and that movie cost a mint. I had read Phillip K Dick's 'Second Variety', the short story upon which this movie is based, before I ever saw Screamers, and I didn't realize Screamers was even based on the story until I watched it. Being a big fan of the original story I was glad to see it brought to the screen, and more or less faithfully - I thought Peter Weller did a great job in this movie, the atmosphere was actually somewhat as I had imagined it reading the story (they updated it somewhat by placing it in a totally different location, since the original story's wasteland was a result of nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia; something which I'm sure seemed plausible at the time it was written but is a little dated now), and although I don't think they pulled off the sort of paranoia we saw in The Thing, there was some nice tension as the story unfolded, although it fell apart a bit at the end.

Bottom line - if you're a sci fi fan sniffing around for some sci fi you haven't seen but don't want to sit through a total dog, it's not a bad renter.