Reviews

This is a thoughtful movie made outside the studio 'system'.

If you're not paying attention, it appears to be a movie about mostly 20-somethings getting together for an annual holiday, with an undercurrent of emo angst (minus the makeup and hair color).

If you are paying attention, you'll pick up on the undercurrents but it won't come together until after things turn sideways.

McCaleb Burnett's Henry hosts the group of long-time friends, but he's been distracted by recent events and seems to have an ulterior motive.

Richard Bekins makes the most of his brief screen time to establish his character (Walter) as the heavy.

The rest of the ensemble cast is so transparent that the group of friends is comprised of archetypes instead of the stereotypes you would see in a lesser movie.

Who does what and why does get explained, but you'll still have to pay attention to know just how they got away with it.

I liked this film. I went in expecting Shatner to be funny, and he was hilarious (in a self-deprecating way). His rap singing of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" at the end is a sight to behold.

The advertising promoted Shatner's presence in the film, but there are reasons for non-SF fans (i.e. women) to attend.

The two protagonists, who have memorized "Star Trek" episode air dates as well as titles and dialog, epitomize the two types of men women most like to complain about.

One plunges headlong into relationships and loves deeply, but is so immature that he will buy a laserdisk of a Japanese release of "Dawn of the Dead" before he will pay his utilities. When he gets the phone number of the girl of his dreams, he has to run down the street to a payphone to call her because his service has been cut off.

The other is responsible and successful enough that he can cover his friend's financial shortfalls, but is so afraid of commitment that he is leery of even starting a relationship, preferring to wine and dine an old girlfriend in the hope of sex, but ensuring the evening won't turn into anything more.

SF fans (mostly guys) will like the SF references while women will like how both Robert and Mark 'evolve' (God, I hate how women misuse that word). Both will like Shatner's scenes (he is very funny).

I caught this show by accident one Saturday night while overshooting SNL (it had no advertising I ever saw). It was funny. From the silliness of the bug-eyed alien gangster running for political office to the balls-to-the-wall action of the time travel episode, I just enjoyed watching.

The special effects hadn't changed much since "UFO" and "Space: 1999" (same producer for all 3 series), and some of the actors couldn't handle light comedy or romantic tension, but Ted Shackelford, Nancy Paul and a few others made this an enjoyable show, doing for police in the future what "Baywatch" did for lifeguards in the present.

There were several American actors in this British production because the United States was the country of first publication.