Recon 2020 is a star ship troops kind of movie about a recon military group that gets caught on a planet with zombies, cyborgs, and aliens. Lots of action and bloody fights make this film only for gory action lovers. The acting and directing is passable but the very low budget doesn't leave much for the serious film watcher. This movie isn't meant to be anything more than a fun time for cheesy scifi action lovers. There are a handful of good scenes that make you think that the film will get better, but it doesn't. Makes good background noise and you don't miss anything by occasionally looking up to see what's going on. Not something you can just sit an pay attention to.
21 Reviews
Seriously underpowered melange of action and science fiction movie clichés
lemon_magic17 February 2007
Warning: Spoilers
If you thought "Wing Commander" was the ultimate space combat epic, then this might make you happy. But probably not. At least WC had Matthew Lillard and Saffron Burrows and David Suchet. There's no one with anything like that level of talent to be seen here.
Every once in a while, my curiosity gets the better of me - or is it my inner masochist? - and I feel the need to rent an obvious "Z" grade direct-to-DVD movie, just for the hell of it. My ostensible reason is to look for buried diamonds among the dross, and sometimes this does pay off - as in the recent gem from Down Under called "Undead", which I otherwise would never have seen. My gamble didn't pay off this time, though, OH no. No indeed. The only way a person can derive any enjoyment from "Recon 2020" is with their brains and discriminating sensibilities parked solidly in "neutral". Or drunk. Or high.
I will say a couple things in favor of "Recon 2020". First, although the film obviously had a tiny budget, the director and crew must have worked extremely hard to make the most out of every dollar they had for the movie's visuals. The movie looks as though it was shot on digital video (similar to "28 Days Later"), and like "Undead", it looks like someone spent a lot of time and effort in post production to add in filtered lighting and special effects to make the thing look decent. As a results,"Recon 2020" looks much better than it deserves - though I can't say the same for the sound design. Similarly, since the budget for props and scenery was minimal, the production crew went with spray paint graffiti and tagging on most of the backgrounds, a touch that lent weight and solidity to the surroundings that might have gone missing otherwise. (One drawback to this choice is that much of the movie appears to be taking place in the projects of Chicago, rather than an alien planet).
The drop ship looks pretty good, as do a few of the other mechanized SFX such as the mercenary ship and the ED-209 like "mecha" that the soldiers first encounter.
The other nice thing I can say is although the direction and acting are uneven, at its best there are a few moments of decent action and dialog: There's a cyborg tussle that has some "ooomph" to it, there are a couple of OK set speeches; there's an encounter with a 3 headed monster that evokes nostalgic memories of "Earth Vs. The Spider"; there's an unsettling gory look at the remains of tortured colonists; there's a nicely executed recording of a distress message on one of the "transponders" discovered by the soldiers; and a couple of exchanges of dialog sound as though human beings might actually utter them under some circumstance.
And that's about it. The rest of the movie (85% or so) is simply lame. The plot is an unconvincing mix of vampires and werewolves and cyborgs and jokes about anal probes and mercenaries and "Starship Troopers" and "Aliens". Most of the time, the acting is quite amateurish. Most of the soldiers' dialog is completely mishandled - these are supposed to be hard-bitten combat veterans? They whine and bitch like high school girls. And the poor guy cast to play "Seageant Sharpe" is in completely over his head. He's got some potential, but the director just leaves him flapping in the breeze most of the time. The blonde who plays "Fooks" is awful; she reads her lines as if her inspiration was Jennifer Aniston's character from "Friends". She's quite attractive, but she is still the most jarring and irritating actor in the film. On the positive side, the woman who plays the friendly cyborg is perhaps the best of the bunch, probably because the role doesn't require much of her beyond looking impassive and stoic.
Worst of all, the director simply does not know how to stage a convincing (and involving) combat scene..or even how to pace a simple dramatic scene when the weapons aren't firing. It's as if they just shot the actors in a bunch of poses and stunts they thought would look neat (or like their favorite movies) and relied on the post-production edit to force some sense and rhythm into it...but when it came time for the post production, the editor couldn't bear to throw any of it away, and so they just used "everything". The results are a mess, alternating between frenetic and incoherent and repetitious and boring. I often simply could not tell what was going on, and I couldn't find a reason to care.
The final scene leaves an opening for a sequel, and apparently one is being filmed. I find this hard to fathom, as does the idea that this film had any kind of audience or made a dime in profits. But believe me, I have no plans whatsoever to watch that sequel. My masochistic impulses only go so far. Totally devoted hardcore sci-fi action fans might get more out of this than I did...maybe.
Every once in a while, my curiosity gets the better of me - or is it my inner masochist? - and I feel the need to rent an obvious "Z" grade direct-to-DVD movie, just for the hell of it. My ostensible reason is to look for buried diamonds among the dross, and sometimes this does pay off - as in the recent gem from Down Under called "Undead", which I otherwise would never have seen. My gamble didn't pay off this time, though, OH no. No indeed. The only way a person can derive any enjoyment from "Recon 2020" is with their brains and discriminating sensibilities parked solidly in "neutral". Or drunk. Or high.
I will say a couple things in favor of "Recon 2020". First, although the film obviously had a tiny budget, the director and crew must have worked extremely hard to make the most out of every dollar they had for the movie's visuals. The movie looks as though it was shot on digital video (similar to "28 Days Later"), and like "Undead", it looks like someone spent a lot of time and effort in post production to add in filtered lighting and special effects to make the thing look decent. As a results,"Recon 2020" looks much better than it deserves - though I can't say the same for the sound design. Similarly, since the budget for props and scenery was minimal, the production crew went with spray paint graffiti and tagging on most of the backgrounds, a touch that lent weight and solidity to the surroundings that might have gone missing otherwise. (One drawback to this choice is that much of the movie appears to be taking place in the projects of Chicago, rather than an alien planet).
The drop ship looks pretty good, as do a few of the other mechanized SFX such as the mercenary ship and the ED-209 like "mecha" that the soldiers first encounter.
The other nice thing I can say is although the direction and acting are uneven, at its best there are a few moments of decent action and dialog: There's a cyborg tussle that has some "ooomph" to it, there are a couple of OK set speeches; there's an encounter with a 3 headed monster that evokes nostalgic memories of "Earth Vs. The Spider"; there's an unsettling gory look at the remains of tortured colonists; there's a nicely executed recording of a distress message on one of the "transponders" discovered by the soldiers; and a couple of exchanges of dialog sound as though human beings might actually utter them under some circumstance.
And that's about it. The rest of the movie (85% or so) is simply lame. The plot is an unconvincing mix of vampires and werewolves and cyborgs and jokes about anal probes and mercenaries and "Starship Troopers" and "Aliens". Most of the time, the acting is quite amateurish. Most of the soldiers' dialog is completely mishandled - these are supposed to be hard-bitten combat veterans? They whine and bitch like high school girls. And the poor guy cast to play "Seageant Sharpe" is in completely over his head. He's got some potential, but the director just leaves him flapping in the breeze most of the time. The blonde who plays "Fooks" is awful; she reads her lines as if her inspiration was Jennifer Aniston's character from "Friends". She's quite attractive, but she is still the most jarring and irritating actor in the film. On the positive side, the woman who plays the friendly cyborg is perhaps the best of the bunch, probably because the role doesn't require much of her beyond looking impassive and stoic.
Worst of all, the director simply does not know how to stage a convincing (and involving) combat scene..or even how to pace a simple dramatic scene when the weapons aren't firing. It's as if they just shot the actors in a bunch of poses and stunts they thought would look neat (or like their favorite movies) and relied on the post-production edit to force some sense and rhythm into it...but when it came time for the post production, the editor couldn't bear to throw any of it away, and so they just used "everything". The results are a mess, alternating between frenetic and incoherent and repetitious and boring. I often simply could not tell what was going on, and I couldn't find a reason to care.
The final scene leaves an opening for a sequel, and apparently one is being filmed. I find this hard to fathom, as does the idea that this film had any kind of audience or made a dime in profits. But believe me, I have no plans whatsoever to watch that sequel. My masochistic impulses only go so far. Totally devoted hardcore sci-fi action fans might get more out of this than I did...maybe.
What hasn't been said?
anarus7 January 2007
This movie is so incredibly easy to pick apart. My first laugh was when Sharp spoke for the first time, its completely ridiculous. And the green-screen effects, if they're gonna be that bad, why use them. I would have rather seen a $10 cardboard backdrop. Green-screen is not that hard, whats the problem?!?!? I've watched so many bad movies, but they've always had some redeeming quality, this movie has nothing. I wouldn't even count the gory head shots, modern video games have better special effects. This movie goes down as the ONLY movie I have ever seen that I would never watch again. I'm still stunned that a movie like this exists.
Bad? Let me count the ways.
helibobber11 December 2006
Words really fail me in describing how awful this movie is. I used a free coupon to rent it so my pain was reduced somewhat. Some of the acting was OK but the scenery, props etc. looked like they were from some home movie made by a group of high schoolers. There was a single brief scene involving a cool battle type droid but you could only see it from a distance and it lasted about five seconds. It probably was lifted from another movie and superimposed in the scene I guess. One of the soldiers wears a custom visor over his helmet which totally obstructs his side and top vision. Like a horse with visors on he could only see what was directly in front of him. How this guy could be a hardened marine and not die within the first minute of combat is beside me. Rent this movie for someone you don't like.
wow
debatem16 December 2006
This movie is- without a doubt- among the worst movies ever made. Not Mission Impossible: III bad, not Battlefield Earth bad, not even Bloodrayne bad, just flat out bad, and I say that as a true veteran of terrible movies. I wish I could say with some degree of confidence that if only a certain part of the movie had been removed, or a certain aspect of it improved, that it would have been good- but I would be lying. The plot is marginal. The acting is TERRIBLE. The special effects are positively laughable, and worst of all, the entire movie could best be described as a montage of the 10,000 most clichéd movie moments of all time. A cyborg steals a line from Terminator; the intro is stolen (tits and all) from the base camp scene in Starship Troopers; the ship is ripped wholesale from Wing Commander; the sound effects, as mentioned previously, are unbelievably close to half life... the list is endless. In short- it was everything I was looking for when I went to Blockbuster, but I feel a certain relief that I did not actually have to purchase this film in order to witness its violent imperfection.
A real stinker
gkline-110 December 2006
I've seen a lot of excellent as well as a lot of very bad movies. This is without question one of the very worst movies I have ever had the misfortune to rent. It was so bad that I actually watched it to its completion because of the uniqueness of being witness to such horrible film making. I experienced an almost overwhelming desire to slap the director, producer, actors and everyone associated with the making and release of this bomb. If you have never experienced those feelings then watch this film. I can not recommend this movie to anyone except someone that is such a die-hard sci-fi fan that they absolutely must see each and every release or else perish.
This film won an award???? Huh?? How??
greg_az211 December 2006
I agree with the first post. Many clichés, bad editing, RE-use of special effects (same two extras get blown up on the battlefield within a minute of each other--how dumb do they think we are?), acting comparable to a high school play--and much of the other things he said. I nearly split a gut laughing at the stolen line from Terminator. How this film supposedly WON an award for best sci-fi action film is beyond me...unless perhaps it was the ONLY film entered in that category? I didn't know about the award thing until AFTER I saw the film...and had to do a double-take, because I thought surely I had misread it. I was stunned. This film WON an award for something other than being one of the most lame sci-fi "action" films I have ever seen?? The only one I've seen that is worse was some Lorenzo Lamas lame thing called Alien 3000---don't be fooled on that one, either. Worst film ever made. If you think it has any connection with the Alien trilogy, you will be sadly mistaken, as I was about this film being anything in the range of Starship Troopers. Not even close! This film receives a vote of "2" from me because it's the SECOND worst sci-fi film ever made. Save your time and money....you can THINK about renting it...but DON'T DO IT! All the king's horses and all the king's men could not possibly put this film together again...as an exciting feature, anyway.
There is no hope
james-97122 July 2007
"Look, we have guns and costumes and special effects and a bunch of people to work on our movie and to be in our movie. We can't miss!!".. Well, you did. I rented this movie at CinemaNow.com with high hopes. I really wanted to like it but I thought is was so bad that I couldn't even watch the whole thing. It could not have been more boring if they tried to make it so. The directing and acting is uninspired. The pacing was so bad that I thought there was something wrong with my computer. I thought that maybe it kept playing the same scene over and over and over and over. I managed to sit through almost 30 minutes of this sci-fi action film before I decided that there was nothing at that point that could save the rest of it. The movie reminded me of an episode of the Simpsons that showed Krusty the Clown doing a bit on his television show. In the bit, he walks out with a pair of huge rubber ears on. He looks to the audience while motioning to the ears as though having them meant instant humor. He does the same thing when he pulls out a huge Q-tip to clean his huge ears. He doesn't understand why nobody thinks this is funny. Same with this movie. They have costumes and guns and explosions and many of the things that a good action film should have but they seem to think that it was enough. They forgot about an interesting story or good editing, dialog, lighting, and all the other things that make you want to watch a movie. Having a bag of tricks isn't enough. Especially when people are use to watching big budget films that have a much larger bag of tricks along with good stories, editing, lighting and the rest. Nice try but next time try to make a good movie rather than one that feeds your fantasy of wanting to be a big time film maker.
in full agreement...
zoffa20 March 2007
I have to agree with the previous poster. I love sci-fantasy stuff and the plot from the back of the box sounded intriguing enough to check out. Of course, I also tend to look for the "parental advisory" on these sorts of flicks b/c I like my T&A but, other than the opening scene, which was apparently thrown in just to be able to claim "nudity" on the ratings box, there wasn't much here. I watched for 30 minutes before just fast forwarding to at least see if there was any more nude scenes. Alas, they couldn't even get that right. The makeup is horrible and the acting is worse if that's possible. Even the casting was horrible. the pilot is some bimbo who is completely unbelievable as a military officer. At least we get a passing glance at her chest in a bra but that's still not nearly enough to warrant watching this trash.
Worse than a train wreck!
jaiden27 January 2007
Oh, my God. I can't believe I wasted my free movie rental coupon on this sorry excuse for a high school fantasy! I barely watched five minutes of it before asking my wife for the remote to turn it off.
Stunned silence followed - and a never ending feeling of hopelessness as I thought of all the ways I could make this disc unplayable for anyone else.
A half-naked sex scene just after the credits, terrible sound quality, bad lighting, bad acting - the list is endless of overt mistakes. The first and foremost being the writer and director ever being given actual money to make this garbage. If I were the production house, I'd ask for a refund.
Save yourself! Don't watch this movie!!!
Stunned silence followed - and a never ending feeling of hopelessness as I thought of all the ways I could make this disc unplayable for anyone else.
A half-naked sex scene just after the credits, terrible sound quality, bad lighting, bad acting - the list is endless of overt mistakes. The first and foremost being the writer and director ever being given actual money to make this garbage. If I were the production house, I'd ask for a refund.
Save yourself! Don't watch this movie!!!
The Best/Worst movie of all time
Mongorne13 April 2008
I have been reading nothing but bad reviews on this movie, and yes I have watched it. Although it is a horrible movie and an insult to film production, it is a great movie in it's same right. All of these people who tear this movie apart missed the beauty of the whole concept, hilarity. The movie is more of a joke than anything and as much as I wish I had been able to take those 2 hours of my life back, I LOVE this movie now. It is a movie that takes time to grow on you. Also, if you don't like B Rated movies and like the blockbuster Hits, then stop renting them :P lol. This movie and Ginger Dead man are both in my collection of the best/worst movies of all time. personally I recommend watching this movie at least once because I am sure that you will come to see that it is not a complete waste of your time, because there is always a silver lining. Just always keep in mind that it is a B RATED MOVIE AT BEST :P Man I love em!
FIRST TO GO LAST TO KNOW
nogodnomasters29 May 2019
Warning: Spoilers
The earth has been destroyed by a mysterious alien race called the Ma'hars. Using stolen alien technology mankind has ventured into space and vows to get its revenge against a race that can pass through various dimensions and have Grays probed people to death. This is the first of three in a campy series of films and admittedly the weakest one in group. In this film their task is to go to a distant colony and investigate what is going on. They are lead by Sgt. Sharp (Andy Bradshaw) who frequently confound his sayings. For instance when a marine complains he says: "Want some milk to go with that tea?"
In future episodes the monsters get campier and the women lose their clothes. This episode introduces the characters as they battle robots, werewolves, zombies, and a multi-headed thing.
6 stars as an introduction. As a stand alone film, it leaves much to be desired.
Parental Guide: F-bomb. Brief sex and nudity (Heidi Hawkins).
In future episodes the monsters get campier and the women lose their clothes. This episode introduces the characters as they battle robots, werewolves, zombies, and a multi-headed thing.
6 stars as an introduction. As a stand alone film, it leaves much to be desired.
Parental Guide: F-bomb. Brief sex and nudity (Heidi Hawkins).
Please Hit Me If I Ever Mention Recon 2020 Again
Patriotlad@aol.com20 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
What is there to do on a Saturday night when you don't have a date, and the kids are busy at the fair, and you can make your own fresh popcorn ? Rent a science-fiction movie !! Well, duh, that was easy.
OK -- so I am trolling in the big box movie rental joint and the case for this DVD falls on the floor while I am looking at something else.
So I pick it up and read the teaser on the back. So I don't recognize any of the people who are in the movie or who helped make this flick.
That's not always a bad thing. Like, when I first went to see "28 Days Later ..." in the cinema, I did not know anything about it or most of the actors associated with it. Man was that a great evening !! When it came out on DVD I rented it about five times and then finally got the DVD box set as a Christmas present, so in all I have seen that fine film about eleventeen times. In that story, the first fifteen and 1/2 minutes are so strong that it completely cancels out the one or two minutes of wandering angst that follow on.
Every character in "28 Days Later" is unforgettable, even the three Animal Rights radicals who kick off the whole shebang ( including the Finnish guy who's main lines are "oh my God, oh my God" ).
Fifteen minutes into this alleged science-fiction mini-epic, I was so hoping for a thunderstorm with lightning strikes so that I could just get up and go throw up, but no, I had to watch the whole thing.
Hell, I paid actual money to rent this dog, it wasn't a freebie ! My time would have been better spent logging on to some traffic cam network in some distant city and watching the cars go by, or not go by.
It was just that bad, and I do mean incompetent, confusing, badly recorded, badly edited, and did I mention confusing ?? Please help me. Please hit me hard if I ever mention this barking dog of a sci-fi adventure, again. No wonder they changed the name.
Arf Arf.
OK -- so I am trolling in the big box movie rental joint and the case for this DVD falls on the floor while I am looking at something else.
So I pick it up and read the teaser on the back. So I don't recognize any of the people who are in the movie or who helped make this flick.
That's not always a bad thing. Like, when I first went to see "28 Days Later ..." in the cinema, I did not know anything about it or most of the actors associated with it. Man was that a great evening !! When it came out on DVD I rented it about five times and then finally got the DVD box set as a Christmas present, so in all I have seen that fine film about eleventeen times. In that story, the first fifteen and 1/2 minutes are so strong that it completely cancels out the one or two minutes of wandering angst that follow on.
Every character in "28 Days Later" is unforgettable, even the three Animal Rights radicals who kick off the whole shebang ( including the Finnish guy who's main lines are "oh my God, oh my God" ).
Fifteen minutes into this alleged science-fiction mini-epic, I was so hoping for a thunderstorm with lightning strikes so that I could just get up and go throw up, but no, I had to watch the whole thing.
Hell, I paid actual money to rent this dog, it wasn't a freebie ! My time would have been better spent logging on to some traffic cam network in some distant city and watching the cars go by, or not go by.
It was just that bad, and I do mean incompetent, confusing, badly recorded, badly edited, and did I mention confusing ?? Please help me. Please hit me hard if I ever mention this barking dog of a sci-fi adventure, again. No wonder they changed the name.
Arf Arf.
It had all the makings to be the best movie in the world...
pschissler17 November 2007
Let me just start out by saying that in no way shape or form is this movie noteworthy of anything good...except one small thing. Its the only movie where I have seen the Lochness Monster, Frankenstein, Mummy, Zombies, a three headed dragon, Vampires, AND werewolf all in the same flick. If you consider the fact that all of these things are in one movie you would think it would have to be sweet.
Unfortunately, its far from the truth. The only reason I watched this movie is because I work in a video store and I like watching all of the movies that are campy and cheaply made because they are fun to watch. Even on the special features they rip on their own movie. \ "The actors we had were basically volunteers and we worked with virtually no budget." That was what the director said during commentary.
The actors and actresses in the movie had about as much talent as my left shoe. They used about as much emotion as Stephan Hawking does with his voice box. The effects are horrible. I could do a better job with the "fire" they used with a lighter and a roll of toilet paper, which is funny because toilet paper was the first thing I reached for when this movie was over.
I don't know if it was a sequel to something, but there were so many plot holes I thought I just turned the movie on halfway and was deaf. I mean, its so bad that SCI FI CHANNEL originally planned it to be a series on the network, but in the end they scrapped the plan and told them to make it into a movie. Good idea. I thank you Sci Fi channel. You spared me an hour and a half of my life I could use scratching myself or holding my breath until I passed out. I will say this though...watching it is something you should do in life. I know, hypocritical to say since I just ripped this movie apart, but let me finish. When you watch this you will feel much better about yourself. You will feel like you can achieve anything in life and all your dreams will come true. If someone can make this and actually have somebody to back it up enough to put in on a DVD and sell the thing, you can be king of France if you really tried. I hope this served as a nice insight on one of the worst movies I have ever seen.
Unfortunately, its far from the truth. The only reason I watched this movie is because I work in a video store and I like watching all of the movies that are campy and cheaply made because they are fun to watch. Even on the special features they rip on their own movie. \ "The actors we had were basically volunteers and we worked with virtually no budget." That was what the director said during commentary.
The actors and actresses in the movie had about as much talent as my left shoe. They used about as much emotion as Stephan Hawking does with his voice box. The effects are horrible. I could do a better job with the "fire" they used with a lighter and a roll of toilet paper, which is funny because toilet paper was the first thing I reached for when this movie was over.
I don't know if it was a sequel to something, but there were so many plot holes I thought I just turned the movie on halfway and was deaf. I mean, its so bad that SCI FI CHANNEL originally planned it to be a series on the network, but in the end they scrapped the plan and told them to make it into a movie. Good idea. I thank you Sci Fi channel. You spared me an hour and a half of my life I could use scratching myself or holding my breath until I passed out. I will say this though...watching it is something you should do in life. I know, hypocritical to say since I just ripped this movie apart, but let me finish. When you watch this you will feel much better about yourself. You will feel like you can achieve anything in life and all your dreams will come true. If someone can make this and actually have somebody to back it up enough to put in on a DVD and sell the thing, you can be king of France if you really tried. I hope this served as a nice insight on one of the worst movies I have ever seen.
Another homemade So-Bad-So-Funny movie.
snipr-112 October 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is such a joke, i don't remember i've laughed so much watching this so called "Movie". It's like watching a homemade comedy. All sound effects, like gunshots, are complete ripoff from games like Half-Life or Counter-Strike, anyone who played those games will definitely recognize them. And that's not all... they also riped off everything they could from the other movies like The Matrix, Starship troopers, The Terminator, even that famous quote - "I'll be Back" :D. The plot line ... o WTH am i talking about, there is no plot line at all :D. The movie is all about recon team sent to a weird planet with zombies, cyborgs, aliens, werewolves and even dinosaurs?? :D :D do i need to add anything else? :D
some fun to be had here
asinyne21 February 2016
The first thing one must do while viewing this is to get past the incredibly hokey looking costumes the space soldiers wear...wtf?? Otherwise, its a pretty decent action sci fi movie complete with zombies, evil cyborgs, androids, werewolves, dinosaurs and all manner of weirdness. There isn't much plot. The space marines are sent to check out this place and they spend the rest of the flick shooting everything that moves and trying to get out. The dialogue is mostly MF this MF that...etc. Still, it manages to entertain if you have a fondness for low budget, weird sci fi. The leading lady is VERY darn cute. Why she was left to fend for herself after being wounded is a serious plot hole, especially considering the top dog was in love with her obviously. OK, this is mildly entertaining action packed madness that could have used one familiar face in the cast.
This movie will make you homicidal or suicidal
getmeagasmask14 October 2007
I have never been so utterly disgusted with a film in my entire life.The entire movie I maintained the same expression-- brows furrowed, mouth hanging open, eyes squinted in disbelief. It is a blatant INSULT to the entire effing planet that some sociopath ignoramus decided to bring this torturous abomination to film. During the movie, you will want to vomit so frequently that you will want to make sure that you stay clear of any therapists for a week; they'll ask if you're bulimic. This vile, stinking, pile of garbage is basically about these idiotic military troopers who battle sci-fi monsters on an alien planet. And that's as far as the plot goes. All of you sad souls trying to give the movie little bits of credit, of approving nods... were you an acid? Perhaps in some pitiful, desperate attempt to be "cool," the movie had a few nude scenes. The first was right after opening credits, and this is when I suddenly realized I had begun to watch one of the worst movies of all time. The guy and girl appear to be on some metal platform in space, and for the love of god, I must say... pure shame on whoever was in charge of the backdrop for this scene, it made me want to stab my eyes out. Can I be any more clear? If you value your sanity and want to stay out of the psychiatric ward, stay away from this movie. If you see a DVD of it, help make the world a better place and set it on fire. If the store that was selling the DVD catches on fire too, then it serves them right for ever having the notion that this movie was worth ANYTHING.
Crap
celab9931 May 2009
At first, I was quite interested to see this film - the story line on the movie and the cover for the disc looked good and potentially some fresh sci-fi.
This story features terrible acting... no one is a believable actor in this movie.
That said, no good acting could overcome the poor writing and story, absolutely everything is foreseeable in each scene... it is like a story written by an average 12 year old kid...
The production errors (one scene at least i saw a cameraman in the film).
I wont even start on the low quality effects .... really not much reason to see this at all...
This story features terrible acting... no one is a believable actor in this movie.
That said, no good acting could overcome the poor writing and story, absolutely everything is foreseeable in each scene... it is like a story written by an average 12 year old kid...
The production errors (one scene at least i saw a cameraman in the film).
I wont even start on the low quality effects .... really not much reason to see this at all...
Who the hell thought this was a good idea???
soulexpress23 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
In the Near Future®, the Earth's surface has been reduced to a radioactive wasteland by a belligerent alien race called the Ma'hars. What was left of the human race took to the stars, where the Ma'Hars hunt them in the hope of wiping out humanity and putting an end to this long war. But those plucky humans aren't going down without a fight!
Led by one Sgt. Sharp—a self-proclaimed "bad mother****er but a fair one"--a company of Galactic Marines is sent on a recon mission to a planet that looks like the bad part of a U.S. city. They end up fighting zombies, vampires, werewolves, weaponized insects, a three- headed dinosaur, cyborg assassins, and a well-armed gang of dune- buggy riders. None of it makes a damned bit of sense until you assume that you're watching a video game. The set pieces, visual effects, and picture quality all suggest one from the Clinton era.
RECON 2020 is a badly written, acted, and produced amalgam of sci- fi, horror, and action clichés. It rips off everything from "Star Wars" to "Mad Max" to "Terminator" to "The X Files" to "Starship Troopers." Perhaps the filmmakers intended it as homage, but it feels more like plagiarism. A cyborg even says, "I'll be back." There is absolutely nothing to recommend this dreck, even to die- hard fans of bad cinema.
Item: One of the Marines wears a custom-made visor that blocks his side and rear vision. Not the smartest thing to wear in combat!
Item: The company's pilot is a college-aged blonde that I've nicknamed Galactic Marine Barbie. This chick is a battle-scarred pilot like I'm a Hair Club for Men "after" model. (You see, I'm bald on top.)
And now, some dialogue samples:
MARINE #1: "Sarge is a cool customer." MARINE #2: "Yes. He's kept us alive many times."
MARINE #3: "Why in God's name would anybody mess with sh*t that does this sh*t?"
ENEMY MERCENARY: "I want 'em all at my feet! Then we'll rip their hearts open and let the sun shine in."
MARINE #4: "I've been in some badass bush before, but this one takes the lemon tart."
Led by one Sgt. Sharp—a self-proclaimed "bad mother****er but a fair one"--a company of Galactic Marines is sent on a recon mission to a planet that looks like the bad part of a U.S. city. They end up fighting zombies, vampires, werewolves, weaponized insects, a three- headed dinosaur, cyborg assassins, and a well-armed gang of dune- buggy riders. None of it makes a damned bit of sense until you assume that you're watching a video game. The set pieces, visual effects, and picture quality all suggest one from the Clinton era.
RECON 2020 is a badly written, acted, and produced amalgam of sci- fi, horror, and action clichés. It rips off everything from "Star Wars" to "Mad Max" to "Terminator" to "The X Files" to "Starship Troopers." Perhaps the filmmakers intended it as homage, but it feels more like plagiarism. A cyborg even says, "I'll be back." There is absolutely nothing to recommend this dreck, even to die- hard fans of bad cinema.
Item: One of the Marines wears a custom-made visor that blocks his side and rear vision. Not the smartest thing to wear in combat!
Item: The company's pilot is a college-aged blonde that I've nicknamed Galactic Marine Barbie. This chick is a battle-scarred pilot like I'm a Hair Club for Men "after" model. (You see, I'm bald on top.)
And now, some dialogue samples:
MARINE #1: "Sarge is a cool customer." MARINE #2: "Yes. He's kept us alive many times."
MARINE #3: "Why in God's name would anybody mess with sh*t that does this sh*t?"
ENEMY MERCENARY: "I want 'em all at my feet! Then we'll rip their hearts open and let the sun shine in."
MARINE #4: "I've been in some badass bush before, but this one takes the lemon tart."
Low-budget Homage
Medacakathareal31 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Every time I go to Blockbuster I make sure to come back with a low-budget movie I've never heard of, with the specific purpose of trying to find hidden gems and in my ever ongoing search for the worst movie of all time (so far no film has bested Manos: The Hands of Fate in that search). Power Corps, or Recon 2020 as the version I rented is called, is a low-budget sci-fi film shot in what appears to be an abandoned factory complex. The plot is a rudimentary sci-fi one, a group of marines is sent to investigate some problems supposedly caused by a hostile alien race. Lines are stolen from various sci-fi films, most notably ALIENS, a film which is borrowed from ad infinitum in the sci-fi world. The dialogue is terribly written and not very well delivered and the action is poorly choreographed. You'd think that low budget film-makers could at least try to deliver a mindless action film sans any real plot, and that they would have learned to avoid the disgustingly cheap CGI and go for the practical effects.
The film isn't totally unbearable if you like this sort of cheesy, low-budget, rip off of every sci-fi film ever made, movie, and it couldn't hurt to have a sense of humor either.
The worst part of the movie is that its supposed to take place in the future, but the abandoned factory that they shoot most of the scenes in has graffiti all over it and bares about as much resemblance to a high tech colony/facility as a mud hut looks like a skyscraper...
Bad, but not enough to make me sick/suicidal, Manos still reigns as the worst film ever made...
The film isn't totally unbearable if you like this sort of cheesy, low-budget, rip off of every sci-fi film ever made, movie, and it couldn't hurt to have a sense of humor either.
The worst part of the movie is that its supposed to take place in the future, but the abandoned factory that they shoot most of the scenes in has graffiti all over it and bares about as much resemblance to a high tech colony/facility as a mud hut looks like a skyscraper...
Bad, but not enough to make me sick/suicidal, Manos still reigns as the worst film ever made...
WOW!!!!! 10 out of 10 in the CRAP O METER!!!!!!!!!!
rockdalecop29 May 2009
What the hell is wrong with the people behind this crap? Here is a better question, what the hell is wrong with me renting this crap?????? I was only able to stomach the first 15 minutes or so of this lame film. I knew that this would be an extremely low budget film. But, some of this actors were soooooooooooooooooo bad. From the Sergeant all the way to a pilot!!!. I've seen some movies that the budget was like 27.00 dollars but the acting was good. This had the worst special effects, the worst acting and the most stupid plot ever. Oh, and one more thing, in the beginning just before the movie started, they did an opening credit thing like in Star Wars but this time they had some guy reading the wording. It was soooooooooooo bad 'cause this guy sounded like he was dying to say "dude" at the end of every word. AVOID AT ALL COST!!!!
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
