Alpha Code (2020) User Reviews

Well shot but predictable and dull

[habakukofice · 3/10 · 30 July 2020]

This film has a real budget and real talent behind it. It has devent actors. Actors I've seen in other things. The problem is the plot. There isn't one.

Let me explain. The production values of this film are great. It's filmed well. There are a couple of horror sequences that have interesting props, good lighting... it's got Denise Richards. She's one of those straight to DVD actors now. There's an action scene, which is good enough. The main actor seems to know what he's doing in an action scene. But then he doesn't do anything. The main character is completely passive, and the plot is empty because of that.

At the start of the movie he takes his daughter to a cabin where they can have some bonding time, and she gets abducted by aliens. Theoretically he spends the rest of the movie trying to track her down. But he really doesn't do anything. He meets Denise Richards, he decodes a way to communicate with the aliens, and then he summons aliens, but he doesn't really do anything even with that. He can just read the code because the aliens put it in his head. Then an alien turns up and explains the plot of the movie. A deus ex machina exposition device.

The alien tells them that their dughter is an alien hybrid, and Wolf and Denise Richards aren't the characters we've seen in the movie. They were actually married and just don't remember it because they asked the aliens to wipe their memories. It would have been nice if they had set up any of this. I don't want to tell professionals how they should do their jobs, but maybe have Wolf and Denise Richards start to have feelings for each other to foreshadow this, maybe have them work it out on their own so they actually do something in the movie, maybe make any of this matter to the plot, but no. Just have an alien turn up five minutes before the end of the movie and explain what happened in the movie, and also resolve the entire plot.

Big thumbs down.

At least a 5 star

[xenafanok · 5/10 · 20 July 2020]

I like most films about aliens, and thought i'd check this out, which i normally wouldn't based o the dire review score of 3.6, but i have 2 say it was ok to decent, certainly not 3.6. It was worth a watch which with so many dire terrible pointless movies around, is actually a recommendation, as i give most films about 20 minutes to get me interested,or there off. it deserves a 5 and many sci fi folk may quite like it.

Something missing.......and too many questions left unanswered

[maggieverdejo · 3/10 · 29 May 2021]

I'm not sure what was going on in this movie. Yes the plot is main character Martin who is looking for his daughter Terri while hiding from secret UN agents, lead by Bowie. Martin then seeks help from Johanna and Lance, a secret Alien society who are studying all the phenomena. But there are questions not answered.

Martin just seems angry most of the movie and at times is overdone. Then Lance who has been hiding in the woods for a few years from Bowie and his high intelligent group. But how is it possible Lance has never been tracked by his ex coworker? Now let's go back to Martin - who should be in real life Milan? Or was Milan played by Lance? If Martin is portraying Milan, then this explains the expensive cars, amazing cottage, exclusive apartment/loft, his secret job we never know-what-type-of-company he works for. But Martin seems confused and lost until end of movie, when the Alien explains most of everything. Which is his memory had been erased......?

So what's confusing before and after Alien and Martin encounter.......well there is the plane at beginning which looses control and is going down, the women holding the baby committing suicide yet she appears throughout the entire movie (is this suppose to be Johanna/Anna?), the swirl (so the swirl was not an Alien message?), one of the secret agents seems to be boyfriend of Terri (which we see at the end), then at the end of movie was Johanna/Anna leaving again with the Aliens?, the alien world (so did Martin teleported to space?), did Martin and Terri get a second chance at end of movie? (the movie ends with the same scene Martin and Terri we first see them in), and was Bowie transported to an Alien world? Could Bowie had been a hybrid human? Finally, if (again) this is based on a true story, does it mean that Milan has/had a half alien daughter?

Way too many questions of which are not answered. It seems Director wants audience to create their own perspective, but it just becomes a lot of work and disappointing to watch.

Movie is creative but not so great projected visually. I fell asleep one hour after, had to rewind to view again what I missed 😠..........

Just don't bother.

[scotia001-768-860082 · 1/10 · 22 October 2020]

Painfully slow and 90 minutes of your life lost forever.

If you value your time

[CeladonScream · 2/10 · 30 May 2021]

The best part of this story is the written prologue, after that, argh.

Performance-wise: Foster is flat.

Couture shouldn't have speaking parts and needs to learn how to movie fight (yeah, I can't believe I'm saying this either) Richards needs to lay-off Botox; it distracts like Number Three's mole in Goldmember.

FX is substandard at best.

Aspects of scenes don't make sense, example, Fell (Foster) is in the hospital with broken ribs and a severe concussion followed by Agent Bowie (Couture) bashing Fell in the back of the head w/o further injury despite being knocked-out...again.

The thing that bothers me most about 'based on true stories' is that inevitably there's real people hoping their story gets told and then it's told so poorly that the subject matter is set-back several more decades.

A chore

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 23 July 2021]

Keoni Waxman spent around a decade shooting cheap Steven Seagal movies in Eastern Europe so it's no surprise to find him shooting this even cheaper sci-fi effort in the Czech Republic. It's an awful little film, slow and dull throughout and with a plot so ridiculous that I had no real idea of what was going on. Alien abduction is mixed up with the usual bad guy action with Randy Savage showing up as a heavy for a lame fight scene or two. Denise Richards is becoming unrecognisable at this point and it's one of those films that's a chore to sit through.

Confusing

[Gordon-11 · 8 August 2020]

The story is so suspenseful and mysterious, that I just don't have a clue what is going on. The ending twist just adds more confusion.

A chore

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 23 July 2021]

Keoni Waxman spent around a decade shooting cheap Steven Seagal movies in Eastern Europe so it's no surprise to find him shooting this even cheaper sci-fi effort in the Czech Republic. It's an awful little film, slow and dull throughout and with a plot so ridiculous that I had no real idea of what was going on. Alien abduction is mixed up with the usual bad guy action with Randy Couture showing up as a heavy for a lame fight scene or two. Denise Richards is becoming unrecognisable at this point and it's one of those films that's a chore to sit through.

incredibly horrible for absolutely no reason . . .

[info-90701 · 1/10 · 23 May 2021]

Other than lack of skill. The script is sophomoric and uninteresting. This is a case of a television baby trying to write a feature film without the understanding of how to do so. And the overdone continuous silly music that just repeats the same thing over and over again added to the horror of it all.

Where do people lacking talent get money like this, when there are so many truly talented filmmakers struggling horrifically to get brilliant films? It is an atrocity. I sat through the entire thing trying to give it every chance to become something an adult might create. It didn't reach that hope.

This Director should executive produce for other really talented filmmakers and spare us another horror show in the future. Finding money is truly his talent, not content, writing or making films.

Believe the negative reviews

[Snootz · 2/10 · 6 July 2021]

Despite the occasional glowing 8-10 star reviews, believe the negative reviews. This movie is pure tripe. It's very obviously not based on a true story-- it's as fanciful as they come. This is basic alien abduction with quite a bit of fictional nonsense thrown in for good measure.

While it maintains an air of mystery 2/3 of the way through (making one think it might wind up being a good movie), the last third is a nonsensical, ridiculous premise that one would have to be uber-gullible to believe. The explanation is convoluted, absurd, and ties nothing together.

In short, this is simply a poorly-made movie that relies on a claim of being a true story-- and Denise Richards-- to carry the film. This lacks all the elements of a well-made film. I don't often give a film 2 stars unless it's really bad, but this didn't deserve 3. Alien UFO abduction / whatever cow plop.

Confusing Sci-Fi that lacks focus

[simonboothey · 3/10 · 21 August 2021]

Alpha Code is a movie that claims to be a true story, for any Alien Abduction movie that claims to be true, it will instantly have its believers and detractors.

The movie itself lost its way early with very little character development, whilst throwing the major plot at you almost instantly. I never felt invested in the characters and was unable to keep track of what was meant to be happening.

The main story centring around Martin Fell played by Bren Foster; is ultimately a search for his abducted daughter with the help of Johana played by Denise Richards. All while having a loss of memory and getting chased by an Anti Alien Government Taskforce. Its just convoluted, confusing and lacking its focus, it was trying to do too much and did it all poorly as a result.

The ending, without providing any spoilers just went completely over my head. It tried to close the loops, how things tie together and explain what happened, but I felt like I had more questions as a result.

Overall it is a poor movie 3/10 IMO, in no way is it horrible, but definitely not good. I would think that it will peak the interest of some people, but for most it will be a sub par watch.

Hold up

[dmadd-01299 · 8/10 · 5 May 2021]

Is the fact that this movie is based on a true story lost on everyone? That fact alone increases ratings and reviews. Please do some research if you're not a believer. Get the views up so that more people will watch. We're almost at disclosure from our government, it's going to take a little more. LET"S WAKE PEOPLE UUUUP!

Good sci-fi

[jerrytubb · 6/10 · 29 May 2021]

Good sci-fi, not pop culture sci-fi, but more pure sci-fi. Not exactly a star wars budget, but still an interesting story. Pulp sci-fi.

Could have been SO much better

[thebrucecarter · 4/10 · 16 June 2021]

Based on a true story? What story, the one about how the writer couldn't come up with one?

Horrible movie

[jvstockto · 1/10 · 4 September 2023]

For a supposedly 'true story,' this sorry tale is awfully derivative of a number of earlier sci-fi flicks, all far better than this one. The slightestly astute viewer will notice the shameless inclusion of elements of Close Encounters, Village of the Damned, Deep Space Nine, Contact, and Stargate. Bren Foster is a terrible lead man; his acting is appropriate for first semester acting class. Denise Richards looks awful; her lips appear so full of silicone and her face rendered motionless with botox that her mouth barely moves as she delivers her lines. It surprise one to note that Randy Couture is the only actor to portray range and depth, despite playing a character that could have been as atrociously predictable as every other in this vapid script. Nothing original, absolutely nothing, happens in this movie. Literally, very little happens at all. The cinematography is uninspired film school quality and the direction seems have been completely absent. If the production had taken the matter less seriously, dropped the whole claim to a 'true story,' and played it up big for a campy B sci-fi flick, this empty story might have been more fun for the crew and actors to make, and so, more fun for an audience to watch. As it is, it is dreadful.

Gave it a go.

[Nemesis42 · 3/10 · 16 March 2024]

The Men in Black, they are excelent in this film. Their facial prosthetics were outstanding, just making them look normal enough to perhaps be human, but, maybe not :) Riveting lines for them and ideal acting from them. The make up people in this are good regarding the MIB design.

Confusion is an issue with the rest of the film, as is bad acting, terrible sound mix, I mean really bad sound, so much sound missing it ruined the film, plus highly distracting ADR.

The shot framing is poor, casting fair to poor, direction lapse, and stylistic continuity across the film is poor.

The story, well it was a good concept but very hard to swallow because the film didn't suspend disbelief very well. Comes across like a film student's first film's rough cut before the editing began.

Bad movie, cool cars

[sparklemeandu-09047 · 4/10 · 28 May 2021]

Its a really bad movie. Bad acting, bad movie sets, bad story. The only reason I gave it 4 stars was cool cars and nice houses. A good movie to have on in the background while you play on your phone. 4/10.

I Just Couldn't Connect.

[tunetrackersystems · 2/10 · 9 August 2023]

I felt the acting was very non-believable and stylized, and the characters emoted primarily through gaspy breathing through the whole movie. I couldn't relate to or find much real humanity in any of the characters other than the daughter, and her role is regrettably brief. The story itself was vaporous and hard to follow, but what is worst, I came not to care what even developed anymore, which is rare for me. I want to enjoy every movie I watch, but this one...couldn't. The whole thing was kind of a nothing burger; uninteresting, artificial, even annoying. And that crying baby. How much of that is enough?!

There is always another way

[Speekeezy · 1/10 · 20 July 2023]

Yeah, like watch something else. Or throw a brick through the tv screen. Or jab knitting needles into your eyeballs. Or gag into a bucket.

The director's daddy is rich? And not very bright? Who else would underwrite this mess?

I love the reviewer who said 'Wake up people. This is based on a true story.' Um, no it's not. Do you believe everything you read? This is incoherent dribble. The closest it comes to true is, well, yeah, the roads were real. So was the river. The rest is tosh: a tale, told by an idiot, based on nothing at all.

And only 58 characters to go...

Why is there smoke in just about every scene? Supposed to be fog? Well it isn't. It's smoke and it's senseless, like the... oh, there we go!

Lots of unexplained plot holes

[jayadair · 5/10 · 10 May 2021]

It seemed pretty obvious that his daughter was partially or fully extra-terrestrial, but the disjoint attempts to misdirect one's thinking were just confusing plot hole contrivances, rather than having actual, intriguing plot deviations which ALL of which might come together at the end.

SFX were fair. (A little too much horizontal filter on night lighted scenes)

Sort of maybe an okay idea badly executed

[DellrayRotar · 1/10 · 22 April 2024]

I consider myself a generous man when it comes to reviewing indie sci-fi. I have given 7 stars to Russian dubbed science fiction with a good idea where others gave it 2 stars. I say this so you don't think I am being harsh.

I was attracted to this film by the intriguing cover and some actors I have heard of. MMA stars and Denise Richards? Must be a high-end B movie with decent producers and directors...right?

The opening scene was laughable. I'm not sure if the plane was a toy or from Playstation 2. The cockpit scene was terrible. And what is up with those TRS-80 graphics they show over and over? The first 15 minutes made zero sense but instead of it creating a mystery you want to solve, it made me want to turn it off and go to bed. But I slogged through this as it is a sci-fi film.

The good? Well...there was a hint of an essence of a whiff of an idea that was okay. Forgetting his wife to cover up the alien secret of hybrid kids...dang it...that's the whole plot. Sorry. I just saved you 90 minutes of your life. So not sorry.

Anyway, the fight scenes were so bad that my wrestling matches in grade 4 were better. The acting was not good at all. And why did the MMA fighter get beat up consistently with punches that a blind lady in a wheelchair could dodge?

The plot is a guy running from this group of agents. Getting caught. Escaping. Getting caught. Being let go. Running. Getting caught. Running some more. I mean, how bad are these agents that some bum with a head injury that just got out of the hospital is getting away 5 seconds after he jumped out a window and should have broken both ankles? And he hides behind the only retaining wall in sight...and you drive away?

I could go on but I just can't. The ending is ambiguous. Some guy with a head full of stars reveals the alien plot. The guys dead daughter is resurrected with the power of a baby with glowing green eyes. Some emotionless lady holding the baby makes the earth explode and agents disappear and reappear on Mars or something. But none of that matters because I guess there is time travel where it all goes back to the beginning of the movie but with one small change.

If you mash up 12 monkeys, Star Gate, Alf and The Fugitive...then hire a 7 year old using a ChatGPT to feed it prompts...you are getting close.

Idiots

[marchuggard-78531 · 8/10 · 16 July 2020]

I can't believe the people that are making reviews without watching this movie. I have no idea why the producers tagged this movie with such an idiotic introduction. I watched this movie and I never lost interest or knew what was going to happen next. In my opinion, this is a very well made movie and very much worth a watch. I am a science fiction fanatic. This is either very pure realistic science fiction, or it could be true.

Particularly harsh reviews.

[machrf · 6/10 · 4 July 2023]

I cannot say that I "enjoyed" the movie, but I certainly did not hate it. I did see a lot of potential that was wasted and the film is made to by mysterious for a reason that fell short. Then the ending showed that it did not know where it wanted to go. It had a bit of matrix, Stargate, and riverworld mixed in with other alien abduction movies. I feel bad for the actors who had to work this movie though I think they allowed me to give it a 6.

I think you have to be a die hard alien fan and be into all the alien stories over the decades to have enjoyed it. Its following or referencing things such as Roswell ruins it for those who know the stories have been debunked or shown not to be true. Also, coming from a science background shows how shaky some of the concepts were in the movie. Yet, I enjoyed it enough that I would watch it if it was a boring day and nothing better was on TV. At least, it is not as bad as some movies I have wasted time on. That is why I give it a 6. Its an ok movie at best.

Enjoyed this

[filmdaytoday · 10/10 · 31 August 2020]

I enjoyed this movie. Interesting story- Bren Foster carried the movie and I would honestly watch it again

Previous reviewer forgot part of the synopsis...

[trainman269 · 10/10 · 14 July 2020]

Johana (Denise Richards), a woman with no past, is hiding from a UN Agent Bowie (Randy Couture) a head of secret space program. On her run she meets Martin (Bren Foster), and with help of Bowie's ex-colleague Lance they both help Martin to find his half alien daughter. One of the most important parts of the movie is a demonstration of a real meditation which the main protagonist uses to tune in to a higher frequency, and enables him to use telepathy and more.

Truly this looks like a materpiece to behold....

Cover me boys Im going in. Will report back. If im not abducted or whatever.