Title: The Arrival; Genre: Sci-Fi; Certificate: 15; Year: 1996; Director: David N Twohy
Starring: Charlie Sheen, Teri Polo, Ron Silver
With the renaissance of science fiction, (similar to the brief rebirth of westerns recently), there are many frustrated script writers only too eager to share their visions of alien invasions and futuristic apocalypse. This has lead to recent movies like "Strange Days", "Independence Day" and "The Arrival".
Charlie Sheen, who has slipped into freefall since the heady days of "Platoon", is Zane Ziminski, a radio telescope operator who searches the airwaves for alien contact from outer space. When he encounters a radio signal he is sure is of alien origin, he submits it to his boss, Gordian (Silver), who then fires him. When his equipment is confiscated and his partner is found dead in suspicious circumstances, he becomes fully aware that a cover-up of sorts is in operation.
He tracks the signals to an isolated Mexican village where he meets another scientist (Lindsay Crouse) who has similar suspicions. They are of the opinion that aliens are transmitting messages to aliens already on earth and he makes a startling discovery underneath the village...an underground alien lair who are speeding up the Greenhouse Effect in order to colonise the earth.
Bad haircut, bad goatee, bad glasses, bad lines. That is Charlie Sheen for the most part of this science fiction thriller; the same part that crawls along rather uneventfully making you wish you had chosen to watch "Braveheart" again. However, suddenly the heat is on when the aliens become aware that their plan is under threat and Ziminski loses the specs and becomes a bit of a (unlikely) hero.
For all its problems, "The Arrival" manages to create a small amount of tension as you start to wonder just who is on Ziminski's side and who is an alien. When you think things are looking up, the film fizzles out to an uninspiring end though and it's another missed opportunity for Sheen. The special effects are impressive yet subtle but they are not enough to warrant this movie a must see. Better luck next time Mr Sheen; if there is a next time.
Rating **
Starring: Charlie Sheen, Teri Polo, Ron Silver
With the renaissance of science fiction, (similar to the brief rebirth of westerns recently), there are many frustrated script writers only too eager to share their visions of alien invasions and futuristic apocalypse. This has lead to recent movies like "Strange Days", "Independence Day" and "The Arrival".
Charlie Sheen, who has slipped into freefall since the heady days of "Platoon", is Zane Ziminski, a radio telescope operator who searches the airwaves for alien contact from outer space. When he encounters a radio signal he is sure is of alien origin, he submits it to his boss, Gordian (Silver), who then fires him. When his equipment is confiscated and his partner is found dead in suspicious circumstances, he becomes fully aware that a cover-up of sorts is in operation.
He tracks the signals to an isolated Mexican village where he meets another scientist (Lindsay Crouse) who has similar suspicions. They are of the opinion that aliens are transmitting messages to aliens already on earth and he makes a startling discovery underneath the village...an underground alien lair who are speeding up the Greenhouse Effect in order to colonise the earth.
Bad haircut, bad goatee, bad glasses, bad lines. That is Charlie Sheen for the most part of this science fiction thriller; the same part that crawls along rather uneventfully making you wish you had chosen to watch "Braveheart" again. However, suddenly the heat is on when the aliens become aware that their plan is under threat and Ziminski loses the specs and becomes a bit of a (unlikely) hero.
For all its problems, "The Arrival" manages to create a small amount of tension as you start to wonder just who is on Ziminski's side and who is an alien. When you think things are looking up, the film fizzles out to an uninspiring end though and it's another missed opportunity for Sheen. The special effects are impressive yet subtle but they are not enough to warrant this movie a must see. Better luck next time Mr Sheen; if there is a next time.
Rating **