Screamers (1995) User Reviews

Underrated Sci-Fi Classic

[no-skyline · 7/10 · 28 December 2005]

OK this film has virtually no budget for a sci-fi movie and no real stars to speak of other than Peter 'Robocop' Weller but that doesn't matter because what it does have is a good story well told. It's a shame that bigger budget sci-fi productions never seem to remember that sci-fi should be have an interesting premise and not just throw a few explosions at the screen every few minutes.

What is on offer in Screamers is a solidly entertaining 1hr 40mins of sci fi fun, reasonable acting and a great story based on a Phillip K Dick short. The main idea of screamers is a very scary one a war that had been taken over by machines that fight on our behalf a war that can't be stopped.

For sci-fi fans this is a must see, for everyone else it's still solidly entertaining 7/10

Underrated Gem

[Lt_Coffey_182 · 7/10 · 2 November 2005]

Screamers is a futuristic Sci-Fi Horror set on another planet, Sirius 6B. The film starts off very poorly with a narrative spoken in a robotic voice, indicating that Screamers will be no more than Z-grade garbage. Luckily, Screamers proves to be a respectable, suspense filled film that superbly displays the extremes of raw human emotions.

Screamers always has the advantage that it was written by Philip K. Dick, the author whose stories lead to Blade Runner, Total Recall and Minority Report. Whilst Screamers is no way in the same league as these films, it is much more thought provoking and gripping than other Sci-Fi films on a similar budget. The pace at which the plot moves is extremely intense; it seizes the attention of the audience and leaves them waiting for the next scene. The relationships between each character are all very compelling; every character has their own little story which ensures Screamers does not become one dimensional.

Peter Weller is excellent in his role as Hendrickson. I've only seen him in Robocop so it is good to know he is not simply good at playing a robot. His character is complex as he misses earth, yet has submitted to being stuck on Sirius 6B. His relationship with Jessica (Jennifer Rubin) develops wonderfully throughout the film and is a good contrast to the horror taking place. Jennifer Rubin also puts on a great performance as her character starts as a mystery and gradually opens up in to someone the audience really cares for.

The "Screamers" are a tremendous idea as underground defence robots who adapt to produce a new, human looking batch of screamers. The sound they make is very chilling and really brings up the hairs on the back of your neck; this is greatly reflected in the characters reactions on hearing the screams. Sadly, poor stop motion effects mean it is a disappointment when it comes to seeing the screamers attack but it is not hard to overlook special effects for a good story.

It is a shame Screamers wasn't given more budget as it had potential to be a truly great film. I don't care about special effects very much but I feel the films vision could have been realised more if there was more money in this area. Also some of the sets are poorly designed as there appears to be a lack of effort in some places. The outlook is supposed to be bleak but the director does little to emphasise this.

Possibly the best thing about Screamers is the end. With paranoia levels reaching those in The Thing, the twist at the end is very surprising and tense. Weller and Rubin really shine in these scenes and do well to affect the audience's emotions. The script, which is good throughout, is also especially good in the final sequence.

With more money behind it and better direction, Screamers would be a Sci-Fi classic, as it is, Screamers is an underrated, well acted, great story.

Quality Sci Fi

[mobdick69 · 7/10 · 2 January 2001]

Screamers has all the tricks for a good science fiction flick. Alien planets, evil robots, paranoia of your fellow man and fancy weapons. All this is very well done in Screamers and I happen to enjoy watching this whenever I get the chance.

Weller does a superb job with his grizzled character, and manages to hold his own in the action scenes. Most of the other characters are throw away, but their lack of development doesnt set back the plot all too much.

All in all Screamers is a very good look at man's weapons gone awry. the Screamers are just more mobile landmines of today, still around long after their purpose is long past.

Gave it 7 outa 10. for a buck, its a great deal.

Not bad at all

[mr2times · 22 February 2002]

This movie aptly showed that you don't need a huge budget to make a good picture, even when that picture is a sci fi. It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, but for crying out loud it was a heck of a lot smarter than Independence Day and that movie cost a mint. I had read Phillip K Dick's 'Second Variety', the short story upon which this movie is based, before I ever saw Screamers, and I didn't realize Screamers was even based on the story until I watched it. Being a big fan of the original story I was glad to see it brought to the screen, and more or less faithfully - I thought Peter Weller did a great job in this movie, the atmosphere was actually somewhat as I had imagined it reading the story (they updated it somewhat by placing it in a totally different location, since the original story's wasteland was a result of nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia; something which I'm sure seemed plausible at the time it was written but is a little dated now), and although I don't think they pulled off the sort of paranoia we saw in The Thing, there was some nice tension as the story unfolded, although it fell apart a bit at the end.

Bottom line - if you're a sci fi fan sniffing around for some sci fi you haven't seen but don't want to sit through a total dog, it's not a bad renter.

B-Side at its best...

[Switcher1972 · 7/10 · 15 December 2002]

Woah... I saw it in 1996 in a theater near my small Provençal village, and i simply wasn't expecting that... Christian Duguay proved once again he was terribly underrated by both the press and the public, "Screamers" ("Planète Hurlante" in France i/e "Screaming Planet", nice title too...) is the B-side at its best, the B-efficiency with an almost-A script. The cast is OK (Roy Dupuis was almost a star here in the early 90s, the VFX impressive (for the most of them), and - as some viewers wrote earlier - the first part very promising. Overall, a good job. Take it on video with a couple of friends, some chips'n'soda (ok, beer if ya want).

a combination of Phillip K Dick and Dan O'Bannon in a better than average/less than great sci-fi flick

[Quinoa1984 · 6/10 · 18 May 2007]

Screamers is like one of those made-for-HBO science fiction programmers from the mid 90s, except that there's some brighter things going for it. One of these is that it's based on a short story by one of the hallmark authors of science fiction, Philip K Dick, and another is that the script mostly got work done (and seems most noticeable) by Dan O'Bannon, writer behind Alien and Return of the Living Dead. There's more weight in levels of irony, not always the uproarious variety but more nuanced and violent, more in putting some good twists to the clichés that are taken for granted in stories set in desolate futuristic environments (the discovery of a cute abandoned child, the devilish nature of the 'screamers' themselves and how their more advanced counterparts work, the personalities of the crew that Peter Weller's character discovers at the base, and how each member soon dies/gets killed off). This might also be attributable to O'Bannon, who tackled this in his previous successes in films, but to say who is totally responsible for what can only be said for those who've read Dick's story Second Variety, which I have not. However it should be said, if only on some level of understanding from reading past works of his, it feels like it has a level of faith to the source, albeit changing locations and certain details in the situations, by being approximately cynical to the characters.

The only problem then comes in with it being directed, more or less, as a standard slightly-higher-in-quality made for TV movie. It's by no means a sci-fi channel movie of the week, however Screamers might have fared a little better with its challenging and darkly funny bits without director Christian Duguay, who is professional enough to make it watchable on such a low budget (low for how it looks anyway), but doesn't give certain scenes enough juice to really fly past where it stays at being average. The cast too is a little more of the regular variety, with isn't totally a bad thing; by having character actors, B-level character actors (if that), it helps add to the levels of slight subversion in this story they're in about technology gone to the dogs on a snow planet in 2078. I liked seeing actors cast to type, like Andrew Lauer as the 'kid' who's got enough experience as a soldier but is still pretty naive in other ways; Roy Dupis in a sublimely duplicitous role; Jennifer Rubin as the token tough girl. Even Weller has his right place in the framework, not too cocky a hero but with enough confidence to carry a picture without the Robocop gear. I even enjoyed some of the action set-pieces, with one especially involving a whole field of Davids (the little robot boy).

There's also a slight issue that has to be contended which is too many 'gotcha' addendums to the climax. It's not enough that one character suddenly appears as another cyborg, but that there's another, and then another...and then finally one last wink in the final shot (which actually does work as a creepy last bit), and it's detracting from what is attempting to be a little more substantial. It's only when the hints of things not staying all happy-in-the-end do the director and actors really hit good ground. Screamers has more than its share of moments, and it will continue to be an underrated find by sci-fi fans as the years go by. That it's nowhere near the best of Dick's adaptations- and not the worst- is understandable. 6.5/10

Great movie for Peter Weller fans

[Agent10 · 7/10 · 6 May 2002]

For the few who happen to be fans of Peter Weller, this is certainly one to hang onto. A great little film that is just as brutal and vicious as any movie by Paul Verhoeven. I was surprised Verhoeven didn't direct a film like this. A little cheesy, but often times interesting, Screamers is a little film I like quite a bit. The funny thing is, I liked this film, even though I had watched Twelve Monkeys just a couple hours earlier (I did a little theater hopping). A cool little film with a freaky ending.

Worth watching

[Antagonisten · 5/10 · 20 March 2005]

I saw this late one night on TV, and to my surprise i actually thought it was pretty good. The thing about movies today is that not many have a good solid idea, it's just not original enough. Here though i thought they had at least a decent concept and tried to capitalize on that.

On a distant world a war has raged for many years. One side however have developed a weapon capable of winning the conflict. It's a weapon called Screamers, small machines that hunt down and kill anyone not wearing a special bracelet identifying them as friendlies. The problem is that the weapon has now developed itself further, and is no longer capable of separating friend from foe...

In the half-asleep state of mind that i was when i started watching the movie i thought the idea of these weapons was rather interesting. And even when i had become more or less awake that thought stayed with me. Peter Weller is as usual decent enough in the lead. I can't say he's my favorite actor by far, but he always keeps a certain dignity in his performance. The rest of the actors left rather much to wish for though.

The special effects feel dated when watched today, but they are not too bad. Considering that this is not a high-budget movie they were sufficient. What really carries the movie though is the story and the surprises throughout. A sappy ending lowers the grade a notch, but this is still worth watching in my opinion. I rate it 5/10.

A very, very good movie

[Calgon · 10/10 · 14 April 2000]

Screamers impressed the heck out of me. Reviews I'd read of it called it a "slasher" movie and said that it was highly derivative of other movies, such as Aliens and Blade Runner.

In fact, I found it to be highly imaginative and original, very much in the spirit of the Philip K. Dick story that inspired it, pondering the ultimate meanings of humanity, war and technology. The scenery and story surrounding the film were both intriguing: despite the film's low budget, the director did an excellent job of constructing the devastated planet. Peter Weller and Jennifer Rubin turned in excellent performances, and the supporting cast was also quite good. Finally, every scene is shot with a real urgency to it; particularly well done are the nightmarish confrontation 2/3 of the way through the movie and the poignant and shattering ending. In short, this is a very very good movie and well worth renting. It will stay with you for quite a while.

Before signing off, I should say something about construing one science fiction movie as a ripoff of others. Screamers had elements of its plot which can be found in other films (ie men and machines, monsters) but it blends them seamlessly into its own original story. The mere presence of identifiable elements from other films has given people ground to criticize this movie as unoriginal. By their standards, I don't think it would be possible at all to make new movies or novels or anything. These surface similarities will always be there. One can argue that the Matrix is merely an update of Socrates' cave allegory. In conclusion: ignore the critics and see Screamers!!

Creepy.

[rooboy84 · 7/10 · 23 June 2002]

Thats right. Those small kid robot things. Uhhhhhh *shudders*.

Anyway, a good sci-fi flick that sometimes a bit cheesy but otherwise it dosen't let you down as far as action and suspense goes. Christian Duguay, Dan O'Bannon and Philip K. Dick did a fair job at a movie that has a decent jab at the sci-fo genre. Although one of the lesser sci-fis(in my opinion) the storyline would have to be one of the best and the characters fit in perfectly. Peter Weller does a splendid job as Hendricksson. His acting performance is probably up there with his robocop one and it probably lifted his career to new heights. Special effects impress for 1995, as this helps lift 'Screamers' to new heights. A good movie for anyone who wants a creepy sci-fi.

Overall: 70%

A real stretch ..................................

[merklekranz · 2/10 · 4 May 2011]

"Screamers" is what it is, and what it is, is a short story STRETCHED beyond belief. Most of the film is Peter Weller and a cast of bad actors wandering around the landscape. Occasionally a mechanical "Tremors' sand worm buzzes through the soil or attacks in mutated form. Almost everything about "Screamers' is redundant, boring, and ultimately, forgettable. Character development is non existent, so you really could care less if someone gets buzz sawed. I saw glimpses of at least a half dozen far better science fiction films, and rode the fast forward button through a pointless romance towards a "couldn't wait for it to end" conclusion. - MERK

Good movie on a budget

[Fiona G. · 8/10 · 15 July 2000]

Based on a Phillip K. Dick story (the writer of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep," which was the background for "Blade Runner") this movie delivers, but suffers because of the apparently tight budget. Some scenes in here reminded me of the original "Star Trek" episodes, where the production crew had to become quite inventive to get effects on an almost non-existing budget.

So movies low on money have to rely on their scripts and on good actors, and "Screamers" has them both. The story and its subplots could serve for three movies and especially Peter Weller showed a superb performance here. Generally there are some weaknesses, but they can be forgiven, if you allow yourself to get into the story.

If you have enough of FX loaded movies that cover their thin plot with a multitude of explosions, then give it a try.

Stands the test of time

[xredgarnetx · 7/10 · 11 February 2006]

One of the very best Philip K. Dick adaptations, SCREAMERS relates the tale of a war between two groups on a barren planet that is complicated by a batch of killer robots that are beginning to replicate themselves to resemble humans. Dick's best stories often dealt with identity confusion (think TOTALL RECALL and BLADE RUNNER), and SCREAMERS fall squarely into that category as no one knows who to trust anymore. One of the more subversive scenes has an army of screamers in disguise as young boys being shot down by the "good" guys. Peter Weller of ROBOCOP fame stars, and he was at the top of his game when he made this. The only thing holding this picture back is the budget, which must have been minuscule. But the plot is dealt with in an imaginative way, somewhat along the lines of BODY SNATCHERS or John Carpenter's version of THE THING. Highly recommended.

This is definitely a direct to video.

[Big Jon-2 · 2/10 · 28 May 1999]

I am still amused and confused why this stinker ever made it to the theater. The poor plot and nonexistent story made this one of the worst movie going experiences that you could waste money seeing. It has all the look and acting of a really poor direct to video feature.

Not bad considering the budget

[bob the moo · 8 November 2001]

In the future the mining planet Sirius 6B has become a war zone with two warring factions. The ground is patrolled by underground robots called Screamers who target anyone not wearing identifying marks. One side receives a plea for peace negotiations after 10 years of war and discover from a lost soldier that the war has been forgotten on earth. The two sides have been left to die on Sirius 6B while another way is started on another planet. Commander Hendricksson (Weller) sets out with the lost soldier Jefferson (Lauer) to contact the other side and declare peace. However what they find will spell the end of their war one way or another.

This is based on a Phillip K. Dick story and has all the intelligence you would expect from a sci-fi from him - this is not a gory horror movie. This is an intelligent story about the creation of the Screamers and their "evolution". It also has a cynical edge lended by the way that the soldiers have been deserted by their leaders and continue to be tricked into fighting while the leaders get on with their business.

Weller is excellent as the world weary commander who finds his life sold out from under him. The supporting cast are OK with their stereotyped characters but the real stars are the Screamers who start out by small things with saw-blades and gradually take other forms. The child versions of Screamers are particularly creepy and perhaps a little disturbing.

However this is not as terrifying as it should be, nor is it as intelligent as it starts out being. The whole issue behind the different screamers is not explained and towards the end they just keep popping up without reason! It also has one of those "watch out for the sequel" style endings - although in fairness it isn't quite as bad as that. The special effects are a bit ropey but do the job - after all this is a very low budget movie.

The whole thing is not as good as it could have been but is certainly head and shoulders above a lot of low budget sci-fi thrillers.

In space noone can hear you scream?

[andertonmark · 7/10 · 14 October 2001]

It is particularly worth watching, in the light of Alien's tagline. Screamers then already has value, for any Science Fiction buff's collection.

The fact that it is based on a Philip K Dick novel gives it a worthwhile pedigree, because Philip is one of the most respected science fiction authors since Asimov.

Not having read the book, I am not in a position to advise as to how well the transposition to the silver screen has been performed, but it is unlikely to satisfy ardent Dick fans.

Essentially, Peter Weller is the leader of a group of Striking miners, who are at war with a government that wants them to mine energy efficient ore, but highly radioactive... The only reason that they have not been defeated, is that the alliance against the government has provided them with a defence weapon, called a screamer. A screamer is like a landmine, underground, but designed to recognize life and move through the soil in order to locate their target, which they do not explode, but rather slice apart. The miners have bracelets that electronically tell the screamers that they are not targets. Where this becomes classic science fiction material, is that the screamers are designed to utilise material of their victims to reproduce themselves and they have the capacity to upgrade, their own design.

Peter Weller acts his role with assured ability, of one of the most underestimated actors of our generation. The story builds well, leaving you to only guess at how the story will unravel, and the credit must go to Dick for this, but the direction does not fail to keep the page turning suspense element.

Once you start watching you become more and more engrossed. It is low budget science fiction, but the effects are simple and effective, and the money has been spent very wisely. I thoroughly enjoyed this film, and if you are reading this because its up on your cable guide for the night, do yourself a favour and watch it, especially if you are a science fiction fan.

Stands for its own self.

[smittie-1 · 7/10 · 21 January 2006]

Really, I mean that this is a self-contained movie; it sets up a premise, a backdrop, characters... and manages to deliver. The grainy/gritty look of this film is really commendable, and instead of just saying "Killer robots!" and putting it on autopilot the filmmakers kept throwing little bits and pieces of creativity out there. Peter Weller is perfect for his role and develops great repartee with the greenie who tags along with him to... some pretty nice matte paintings. Budgetary constraints aside the movie looks good, the spaceships look good, the robots look good, and this is simply the kind of unified enterprise that doesn't get made with $100,000,000 and Bruckheimer producing (what is it with the Germans? I mean, Devlin and Emmerich and Bruckheimer?). So watch it, it's enjoyable and competent until the last 15 minutes.

Better than you might think

[moby1974 · 7/10 · 5 February 2005]

Seen it years ago when it came out to rent and again this year on DVD, it is a good film but still in the straight to video bunch of films, some FX are really good for such a film and some are not so hot but it has been done to the best of there budget which has not been much, any weak parts are made up by a good story one i would like to have seen run another 20 mins or more as it seems to end just as its getting in full swing, this is all down to budget mind, if the film had more money, bit more gritty. bit more spent on FX, better lighting, more depth on story, then who knows this could of been a very very good film to push other films such as ALIEN and others, but as it is 7 out of 10

The Real Origin of "Screamers"

[crepeaud · 1/10 · 7 October 2006]

I am Doug Crepeau. Along with Daniel Gilbertson and Dan O'Bannon, my name is on the Original WGA # 239377 registration slip dated Oct 9 1980. The registration was under the original movie title C.L.A.W., an acronym for Cybernetic Lurking Anti-personnel Weapon.

I refer you to the Cinefantastique Jan 1998 page 52 article, "The Terminator and Philip K.Dick". You will find that Terminator contains original material I developed for C.L.A.W. (the product codes for one that were also used in Dark Angel and the half-machine face- Yes James Cameron had access to this script - the true origin of "The Terminator" as well.).

You will find our version was much closer to the original Second Variety story except for replacing the Moon Base with an L-5 Colony harboring the last of Humanity which Hendricks (not Hendrickson - a gimmick Teja-Flores used to build up his word count for screen credit.- We used Dick's original dialog from "Second Variety" which did not count for our final screen credit in the final Screamers script) saves in a spectacular battle in space with the female robot (Tasso) now in full kill mode.

To quote Dick from the Cinefantastique article "A winning script...Sensational ending. Better than my original story. The last line has tremendous punch. I read it, emitted a tremendous shriek and fell over backwards!" I wish everyone could have seen our version, especially if it had come out in 1982.

A good, fun video to rent

[Mat-23 · 8/10 · 21 February 1999]

I'm a big fan of Philip K. Dick, and so I already knew the basic story behind Screamers. (it was based on a short story of his). On seeing the film, I was satisfied with the way that they managed to work around the original's cold war trappings. Also, despite the low budget, the effects were sufficiently good to suspend disbelief. In fact, the attention to detail (surroundings, back-ground, odd gadgets etc.) was excellent, as is important in all sci-fi films...by creating a coherent world, the movie becomes that much more convincing. The performances were excellent, for such a low budget, and some of the lines were very quotable (up there with the script of 'Aliens' if you ask me). This is always an advantage. However, right at the end, I felt a little let down by the love-scene. It kind of destroyed Philip k. Dick's 'message'. Nevertheless, I managed to overlook that, considering how much fun it was.

This film is no classic, but it's well worth a look. It's really quite good!

Not bad considering

[CharltonBoy · 7/10 · 30 September 2002]

Screamers smacks of a B movie but is not bad at all considering the lack of a famous cast or big budget. The story is set 100 years in the future and revolves around a mining dispute between two faction one of who invented a robot called a screamer which has evolved itself to attack anything with a pulse. OK some of the acting is wooden and some of the special affects are hardly in the Star Wars catagory but there is something about this that makes it compelling. I would recommend this to any Sci Fi fan but maybe not to anybody who is not keen on the genre. 7 out of 10.

A good story made into a bad film

[stepurhan · 1/10 · 30 March 2006]

Yet again a Philip K Dick short story has got the Hollywood treatment and lost most of the subtlety of the original. The result is a poor mess of original concepts from the short story with the meaning abandoned in favour of inappropriate action scenes and moody set pieces. No-one tries to turn in a good performance, almost as if realising this is a way to pay the bills rather than a worthwhile project.

If you are considering seeing this film I's recommend investing your money in the short story collection titled "Second Variety" (the original story name) instead. You'll get a story with much more thought and 26 other stories of equal imagination.

Truly an under-rated file

[Fishbone-2 · 8/10 · 28 December 1999]

Obviously most people didn't think this movie to be much anything special, although I tend to disagree. I thought this movie was probably one of the best sci-fi films in years that I've seen. Peter Weller (best known as RoboCop) is also a very under-rated actor who deserves some good roles these days. The only problem with this movie was the very poorly done special fx. I'm sure if this movie would have been given a bigger budget it would have done better in theaters.

The Terrors of War

[Tweetienator · 7/10 · 29 January 2019]

Nice little sci-fi flick of the B-category based on a story by Philip K. Dick (his short story Second Variety) - no masterpiece but entertaining and with a good and dense atmosphere and solid actors. The restricted budget shows here and there but in general the movie is well made with an interesting story.

Well, Screamers may be no movie for the kids of today who expect to be blinded by CGI-finesse, but a good one for the sci-fi lover who likes some trash for his dish.

If you like movies like Event Horizon or Moon 44, this one may be a good watch for you too.

Ugh... sigh... yuck

[j_a_newton · 1/10 · 4 September 2006]

----SPOILERS INCLUDED---- not that it matters for such a horrible film, though...

Carnivorous robots in outer space that self-mutate and multiply underground before annihilating everyone on a forgotten planet in the future... does it sound like the recipe for a REAL turkey? Well, surprise, surprise: it is.

It's hard to even begin shredding this unwitting parody of a horror sci-fi. Maybe they should let some of those "screamers" do the job instead: let them loose on the original reels. Good riddance. And take the script too, as you go; if you can find one, that is.

Don't worry about the writers and producers; this film was probably the result of some alien self-mutating process deep down some forgotten Hollywood vault anyway. Oh, help us if these films start self-multiplying as well.

OK, Peter Weller is decent, that's one star. The rest? Hrm. A clue: don't waste money renting this film to find out.

If you're easily thrilled/scared by little lumps of unused screenplay crumpled up and dragged by string under a sand surface, then this is for you.

If not, you'll agree that the title "Screamers" probably was inspired by the envisioning of hordes of horrified moviegoers stampeding out of theatres, panicking at the thought of having spent any money on this crap. Now there's a sight that would probably have made a better horror movie, but that's beside the point.

Thank IMDb that there is a site like this to warn other people about wasting parts of their precious lives on this garbage.

FINAL GRADE: Epically bad.