Spectral (2016)

A sci-fi/thriller story centered on a special-ops team that is dispatched to fight supernatural beings.

Director:

Nic Mathieu

Writers:

Ian Fried (story), Nic Mathieu (story)

Stars:

James Badge Dale, Emily Mortimer, Bruce Greenwood

Cast

Credited cast:
James Badge Dale	...	Clyne
Emily Mortimer	...	Fran Madison
Bruce Greenwood	...	General Orland
Max Martini	...	Capt. Sessions
Cory Hardrict	...	Alessio
Clayne Crawford	...	Sgt. Toll
Gonzalo Menendez	...	Captain Marco Cabrera
Ursula Parker	...	Sari
Aaron Serban	...	Bogdan
Stephen Root	...	Dr. Mindala
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jimmy Akingbola	...	Sgt. Steve McFadden
Tsogbaatar Batzorig	...	Weapons Engineer
Mike Bodie	...	Efrem (as Michael Bodie)
Philip Bulcock	...	Sgt. Chris Davis
Miklós Bányai	...	Benson

Storyline

Civil Unrest in the European country of Moldova has US forces engaging the insurgents however there is a new threat who has decided both are their enemy. This new threat resides in an alternative spectrum that makes them invisible to the naked eye and instant death to anyone confronting them. Locals believe they are Spirits of War but others believe they are superior arms technology fabricated by the Moldova government..

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Plot Keywords:

moldova | technology | human experiment | last stand | fictional war | 

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Taglines:

A supernatural Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi combat action

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was originally produced for a theatrical release by Universal Pictures, who decided to offload it instead. It was subsequently acquired by Netflix.

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Goofs

The movie was said to have taken place in Moldova, but had no film footage/representation in Moldova.

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Quotes

Clyne: So, maybe there are things science can't answer.
[powering down]
Fran Madison: No. Wait, no. This is why we came here. This is the evidence. This is why you came, remember? Remember? So many people have died. You said it. You said, "I wanna know why."
Clyne: I know enough.
Fran Madison: You have to think about the bigger picture.
Clyne: I am.
[throws the switch]

User Reviews

Don't Expect Too Much ... and You Won't Be Disappointed

First, the Good: There is a lot of eye-candy - like a video game trailer. The production design, stunt-work, locations, visual FX (CG AND miniatures), score, and camera work are all very, very respectable - as good if not better than some more "mainstream" movies I've seen. The soldiers (for a change) look like they've actually handled a weapon before (although some of the tactics are kind of silly). The acting is decent -i.e. bland yet not so bad that it's distracting.

The Not-So-Good: The writing is borderline unforgivably bad - with more than a few parts ripped right out of other movies. I felt like I was getting hit with a cliché' club through most of it - and caught myself laughing out loud at how ridiculously BAD some of the dialog exchanges were. There IS one inkling of an original idea here (the genesis of the baddies) but that's about it. Everything else has been done before ... and probably too many times. The Deus Ex Machina factor plus the MacGuyver-esque solutions were really hard to stomach.

Overall, if you're bored and want to shut your brain down for 110 minutes, it's worth watching ... if only for the FX

Details

Country:

USA Hungary

Language:

English Russian Romanian Slovenian

Release Date:

9 December 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Spectral

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Legendary Entertainment, Mid Atlantic Films, Netflix

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1