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Scorcher
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment // R // August 26, 2003
List Price: $29.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
THE MOVIE
The heat is on in the ridiculously plotted Scorcher, a direct-to-video movie that tries to be a low-budget answer to movies like The Core and Deep Impact. This time, the earth is facing disaster because of some underground nuclear testing that the Chinese have been conducting. Their tests have not only heated up the earth's surface, but are causing the Pacific plate to shift at a rapid rate. If the plate's shifting can't be slowed down in three days, the planet will catch on fire!
It turns out that there is a way to stop the plate from shifting. A nuclear explosion at a precise location will save the earth. Where is target zero? Los Angeles, California! We've seen movies where a President of the United States lamented over exploding a nuclear weapon on one of his own cities (see Fail Safe), but the President in Scorcher seems to have an "Okay, let's blow it up!" attitude, never questioning the consequences of nuclear fallout on the rest of the United States. Perhaps that's because the President is played by Rutger Hauer…which must have been an embarrassing role for him, since he doesn't get to beat anyone up – or even raise his voice – for the entire movie.
A team is sent out to Los Angeles with the nuclear weapons, pretty much at the same time the President has ordered evacuation of the city…which may not have been the smartest move, considering they did have three days to do this. Even less smart is the decision to drive the weapons from the airport to their detonation location. Hello? Anyone heard of a helicopter? When you see the trouble our heroes get in, you'll be asking the same question.
Of course, as in all these disaster-themed movies, there's always other distractions…like the fact the leader of the group (Mark Dacascos) has a daughter living in L.A. who just happens to get kidnapped by a serial killer on the one day her father needed to plant a nuclear bomb in the very same city. Hey, sometimes life just isn't fair, is it?
As if this goofball storyline weren't silly enough, the actors in this movie are given laughably bad dialogue to spout throughout the film. It's supposed to provide comic relief at times and heroic bravado at other times, but it all comes off as plain cheesy.
However, for all its problems, Scorcher is one of the more watchable bad movies I've seen this year. It is quickly paced, and if you don't think too much about the actions of the characters (in fact, if you don't think at all) it might prove to be an okay rental…assuming your video store has already rented out The Core.
THE DVD
Video:
The video is presented in 1.85:1 anamoprhic widescreen, so when L.A. goes kablooey, you can see it in all its cheap digital effects glory. Seriously though, the transfer here is a pretty good one, with proper flesh tones and a nice sharpness to the video that viewers should be happy with.
Audio:
The audio is presented in 5.1 Surround, although it's not a very aggressive track, even at points of high action in the movie. Still, it's more than you'd expect from a title like this one, so – like the video – viewers should be happy with the quality.
Extras:
I'm guessing the reason that there is no behind the scenes material, interviews or commentary track is because no one wanted to admit that they actually were involved in this film! So all we get (other than the typical chapter selection) is four Trailers for other titles, all of which look about as silly as this movie was!
THE BOTTOM LINE
The problem with this film is more in the area of scripting and dialogue than it is in the way it is actually directed (although some of the effects are poor, as well). I'm not recommending this one for a rental, but there are a lot worse things you could be watching. I say skip it unless it's one of those nights where you are truly (and I mean truly) desperate for something new to watch.
The heat is on in the ridiculously plotted Scorcher, a direct-to-video movie that tries to be a low-budget answer to movies like The Core and Deep Impact. This time, the earth is facing disaster because of some underground nuclear testing that the Chinese have been conducting. Their tests have not only heated up the earth's surface, but are causing the Pacific plate to shift at a rapid rate. If the plate's shifting can't be slowed down in three days, the planet will catch on fire!
It turns out that there is a way to stop the plate from shifting. A nuclear explosion at a precise location will save the earth. Where is target zero? Los Angeles, California! We've seen movies where a President of the United States lamented over exploding a nuclear weapon on one of his own cities (see Fail Safe), but the President in Scorcher seems to have an "Okay, let's blow it up!" attitude, never questioning the consequences of nuclear fallout on the rest of the United States. Perhaps that's because the President is played by Rutger Hauer…which must have been an embarrassing role for him, since he doesn't get to beat anyone up – or even raise his voice – for the entire movie.
A team is sent out to Los Angeles with the nuclear weapons, pretty much at the same time the President has ordered evacuation of the city…which may not have been the smartest move, considering they did have three days to do this. Even less smart is the decision to drive the weapons from the airport to their detonation location. Hello? Anyone heard of a helicopter? When you see the trouble our heroes get in, you'll be asking the same question.
Of course, as in all these disaster-themed movies, there's always other distractions…like the fact the leader of the group (Mark Dacascos) has a daughter living in L.A. who just happens to get kidnapped by a serial killer on the one day her father needed to plant a nuclear bomb in the very same city. Hey, sometimes life just isn't fair, is it?
As if this goofball storyline weren't silly enough, the actors in this movie are given laughably bad dialogue to spout throughout the film. It's supposed to provide comic relief at times and heroic bravado at other times, but it all comes off as plain cheesy.
However, for all its problems, Scorcher is one of the more watchable bad movies I've seen this year. It is quickly paced, and if you don't think too much about the actions of the characters (in fact, if you don't think at all) it might prove to be an okay rental…assuming your video store has already rented out The Core.
THE DVD
Video:
The video is presented in 1.85:1 anamoprhic widescreen, so when L.A. goes kablooey, you can see it in all its cheap digital effects glory. Seriously though, the transfer here is a pretty good one, with proper flesh tones and a nice sharpness to the video that viewers should be happy with.
Audio:
The audio is presented in 5.1 Surround, although it's not a very aggressive track, even at points of high action in the movie. Still, it's more than you'd expect from a title like this one, so – like the video – viewers should be happy with the quality.
Extras:
I'm guessing the reason that there is no behind the scenes material, interviews or commentary track is because no one wanted to admit that they actually were involved in this film! So all we get (other than the typical chapter selection) is four Trailers for other titles, all of which look about as silly as this movie was!
THE BOTTOM LINE
The problem with this film is more in the area of scripting and dialogue than it is in the way it is actually directed (although some of the effects are poor, as well). I'm not recommending this one for a rental, but there are a lot worse things you could be watching. I say skip it unless it's one of those nights where you are truly (and I mean truly) desperate for something new to watch.
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