The little known, seldom heard of film known here as 'Virus' hit the UK shores on DVD in my local supermarket bargain bin for the grand total of three quid.
I took a chance and bought it ..
Actually this is surprisingly a very good story with an impressive cast list that must have been desperate for the cash although Chuck Connors as a British Royal Navy Captain does take a bit of getting used to! The story line is a well thought out scenario carefully planned and I am wondering what extra interest lurked in the reportedly missing 40 or so minutes of the full Japanese edit.
It was a pity therefore that this effectively straight to video effort was let down by some really bad editing, poor picture quality, duff soundtrack, too many stock images of icebergs and cities and an occasional bit of duff dialogue.
It does however keep running along nicely and unlike many examples of this genre, avoids getting bogged down in unnecessary scenes or throwaway dialogue with the possible exception of the rather bizarre ending.
With a bit of rewriting, some careful cast choices and a decent budget as well as modern effects, this excellent story could be remade to a standard of excellence that would put many of the big budget CGI laden super thrillers that seem to clog up cinemas these days to shame.
Now, is there a movie mogul prepared to take the gamble and put his cash on the line to give this story the proper treatment it deserves?
I took a chance and bought it ..
Actually this is surprisingly a very good story with an impressive cast list that must have been desperate for the cash although Chuck Connors as a British Royal Navy Captain does take a bit of getting used to! The story line is a well thought out scenario carefully planned and I am wondering what extra interest lurked in the reportedly missing 40 or so minutes of the full Japanese edit.
It was a pity therefore that this effectively straight to video effort was let down by some really bad editing, poor picture quality, duff soundtrack, too many stock images of icebergs and cities and an occasional bit of duff dialogue.
It does however keep running along nicely and unlike many examples of this genre, avoids getting bogged down in unnecessary scenes or throwaway dialogue with the possible exception of the rather bizarre ending.
With a bit of rewriting, some careful cast choices and a decent budget as well as modern effects, this excellent story could be remade to a standard of excellence that would put many of the big budget CGI laden super thrillers that seem to clog up cinemas these days to shame.
Now, is there a movie mogul prepared to take the gamble and put his cash on the line to give this story the proper treatment it deserves?