This is about some soldiers (Delta force, of course) who are sent into Chechnya to retrieve an American (mad) scientist who has decided to sell his services to the highest bidder. In this case, the Chechen rebels. He's made some killer bats for them. There are also some Russian soldiers (Spetsnaz of course) wandering around providing fodder for the bats. I don't think the Russians were too highly trained, they pile out of their truck and are ordered to secure the area, yet they stand around like a bunch of high school kids waiting for band practice to start. Anyhow, the Americans capture the mad scientist, but then the Chechen rebels show up and try to get him back. We get plenty of bat attacks, a lot of bats flying around ominously and unnoticed, and the requisite number of explosions.
The acting is actually pretty descent and the special effects looked alright. You can tell all the helicopters are CGI but it doesn't jump out at you like a laughable special effect, unlike most of these Sci-Fi Originals. The bats looked pretty good, though I find it a bit hard to believe that a bat has enough mass and velocity to actually sever someone's arm, but oh well...it's sci-fi. The story is a bit of a mess, especially near the end when one of the Americans is captured by the Russians and is about to be taken away on a helicopter. But then the helicopter pilot flips up her visor and it turns out to be the American CIA operative. So she infiltrated the Russian base, took out the pilot, hid his body someplace, changed into his clothes, and can even pilot a helicopter? I guess those Russian's really are poorly trained. You know they just had to have that flipping up the visor scene because it was sooooo cool, the "money shot", lol.
If you're the type of person who watches these Sci-Fi Channel Originals, this one is a cut above the majority of them. I'd recommend a few beers to dull your senses to some of its flaws, but it's a fairly enjoyable film overall. The characters are basically likable, the action moves along okay, and stuff blows up. The scene where the mad scientist meets his fate is quite cool and actually was a really interesting twist on the whole "camouflaging yourself from the enemy" thing.
The acting is actually pretty descent and the special effects looked alright. You can tell all the helicopters are CGI but it doesn't jump out at you like a laughable special effect, unlike most of these Sci-Fi Originals. The bats looked pretty good, though I find it a bit hard to believe that a bat has enough mass and velocity to actually sever someone's arm, but oh well...it's sci-fi. The story is a bit of a mess, especially near the end when one of the Americans is captured by the Russians and is about to be taken away on a helicopter. But then the helicopter pilot flips up her visor and it turns out to be the American CIA operative. So she infiltrated the Russian base, took out the pilot, hid his body someplace, changed into his clothes, and can even pilot a helicopter? I guess those Russian's really are poorly trained. You know they just had to have that flipping up the visor scene because it was sooooo cool, the "money shot", lol.
If you're the type of person who watches these Sci-Fi Channel Originals, this one is a cut above the majority of them. I'd recommend a few beers to dull your senses to some of its flaws, but it's a fairly enjoyable film overall. The characters are basically likable, the action moves along okay, and stuff blows up. The scene where the mad scientist meets his fate is quite cool and actually was a really interesting twist on the whole "camouflaging yourself from the enemy" thing.