Ed Neumeier Movies
The bugs are back in this straight-to-DVD third entry in the Starship Troopers film series, this time with Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) back in the lead after being absent from the first follow up, Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation. Also back is Edward Neumeier, the writer of the original, who takes on the directing reigns with this action-packed installment. Star Trek Enterprise's Jolene Blaylock co-stars in the Stage 6 Films production. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Casper Van Dien, Jolene Blalock, (more)
- 2004
- R
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Humanity's war against the bugs continues in this sequel to Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi soap opera epic, Starship Troopers. This time, when a squad of troopers is stranded on a bug-infested planet, their only hope for survival lies in an abandoned outpost, where things take a turn for the worse. A lone survivor by the name of Captain Dax (Richard Burgi) awaits them there, locked away for killing his crazed commanding officer. When a group of strangers arrives at the base, the squad is faced with a new threat from their alien enemy that will pit every surviving human against each other. With an army of bugs surrounding the compound and mysterious internal forces plotting against the group, it's up to Dax and Pvt. Lei Sahara (Colleen Porch) to try and hold out before the rescue team arrives. Effects maestro Phil Tippett (Star Wars, Jurassic Park) makes his directing debut in this made-for-cable movie that features a script by the series' original scribe, Edward Neumeier. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Burgi, Lawrence Monoson, (more)
- 2004
- PG13
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Directed by Dwight H. Little, Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid is the sequel to 1997's tongue-in-cheek Anaconda, though none of the original cast have returned. The film chronicles a fateful mission ordered by a pharmaceutical giant: to travel deep in to the jungles of Borneo, where a rare black orchid -- one that can be used to attain immortality -- has bloomed for hundreds of years, unbeknownst to man. The eager horticulturists sent have no idea that an indigenous population of bloodthirsty anacondas has been privy to the orchid's properties for years. Not only have the orchids augmented their already phenomenal size, strength, and vitality, they've substantially increased the snakes' appetites for flesh. Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid features Peter Curtis, Johnny Messner, Morris Chestnut, and Eugene Byrd. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Messner, KaDee Strickland, (more)
Director Paul Verhoeven (Showgirls, Total Recall) reunited many from his 1987 Robocop team for this $100-million science fiction adventure, adapted from Robert A. Heinlein's 1959 novel, originally serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (October-November, 1959). After graduation, Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) volunteers for the Mobile Infantry to do his Federal service -- but also to win over his girlfriend, Carmen Ibanez (Denise Richards), who has signed with the Fleet Academy to become a starship pilot. Johnny joins other boot-camp recruits -- Dizzy Flores (Dina Meyer), who has had a crush on Johnny since school, and Ace Levy (Jake Busey). Ace and Johnny become pals, and Johnny's abilities earn him the squad leader position. A training accident occurs on Johnny's watch, and he is about to resign when Earth is attacked by alien insects intent on eradicating all human life. Johnny's home, Buenos Aires, is no longer on the map. Horrified, he chooses to stay on and fight to destroy the insect threat. The Mobile Infantry travels to the planet Klendathu to battle the warrior bugs, a ruthless enemy with only one goal -- survival of their species no matter what. In the initial encounter, some 100,000 lives are lost. At a distant fort, Johnny's unit discovers that the bugs drain brains to acquire knowledge. Soon they are overwhelmed by an advancing arthropod army of immense proportions, attacking both in space and on the planet surface. The notion of human extinction becomes a possibility. For this $100-million production, some 300 artists and technicians combined models and miniatures with CGI effects to fashion a variety of creatures -- from breeder bugs to armored tanker bugs. The film employed hundreds of extras and has over 500 visual effects shots. Filming began 4/29/96 in California (LA and Long Beach, where Cal State's pyramid gym was used for the Jumpball game), New York, South Dakota, Wyoming (Casper, Hell's Half Acre), and Utah (an abandoned Wendover airstrip where the Enola Gay WWII bomber crew trained). At an abandoned airfield in Fountain Valley, California, an elaborate set was constructed to resemble a military boot camp of the future -- complete with an array of pup tents, gull-winged spaceships, hurdle obstacle course, and training facility buildings. Cinematography by Jost Vacano (Showgirls). Licensed products include Lewis Galoob Inc. toys. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, (more)
Legendary low-budget mogul Roger Corman made a somewhat inauspicious return to the director's chair for the first time in nearly twenty years (unless one counts his uncredited participation in "pickup" shoots for several New World Pictures productions) for this quaint sci-fi/horror outing, based on the popular novel by Brian Aldiss. Opening in the year 2031, the story begins with scientist Joseph Buchanan (John Hurt) working on a top-secret military project that creates a rift in time in space, hurtling him and his ultra-high-tech hotrod backwards through time to the early 19th century. Buchanan manages to adapt quite well to his new surroundings, particularly after making the acquaintance of fellow scientist Baron Frankenstein (Raul Julia). Curiously, the Baron is presented here as an authentic historical figure, and his monster-making efforts the basis for the famed book by Mary Shelley (Bridget Fonda), which was a work of fiction. After ruminating about his situation with Mary and her future husband Percy Shelley (late INXS frontman Michael Hutchence) at the villa of mad poet Lord Byron (Jason Patric), Buchanan is approached by the Baron to help construct a mate for his intelligent but homicidal creature (Nick Brimble). Unfortunately, things do not go according to plan, leading to an ironic denouement that finds Buchanan pondering the apocalyptic results of his life's work. The film boasts solid production values and some beautiful location photography (most of the film was shot in Italy); however, the classy look and high-profile casting can't disguise the overall feel of an early New World outing, albeit with a much larger budget. The script, adapted by Corman and writer F.X. Feeney, eliminates many of the novel's intellectual twists and turns; much of the remaining dialogue comes off as merely pretentious. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hurt, Raul Julia, (more)
The serialized story structure and barbed social commentary from comic book creator and co-writer Frank Miller earned critical respect in this satirical science fiction sequel directed by Irvin Kershner. Peter Weller returns as RoboCop, a futuristic cyborg fashioned from cutting-edge technology and the biological remains of slain Detroit police officer, Alex Murphy. Still patrolling the city streets, RoboCop is scheduled by his creator, Omni Consumer Products, to be replaced by a new "superior" model, RoboCop 2, that according to designer Juliette Faxx (Belinda Bauer), will contain the human remains not of a cop but a criminal. In the meantime, an instantly addictive drug called Nuke is sweeping through Detroit thanks to a kingpin named Cain (Tom Noonan). Taking Cain to task, RoboCop is captured and dismantled. When he's put back together, the cyborg is reprogrammed with a series of socially conscious commands (in a sly mocking of the then relatively new concept of "political correctness") that render him impotent as a law enforcer. Taking charge by rewiring himself with an electrical overload, RoboCop arrests Cain, who is injured in the process. Faxx secretly takes Cain's brain and inserts it into RoboCop 2, turning the robot immediately into a law-breaking murder machine and leading to a violent showdown between two generations of robotic crime-fighters. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, (more)
Paul Verhoeven's American breakthrough film, Robocop, is an exceedingly violent blend of black comedy, science fiction, and crime thriller. Set in Detroit sometime in the near future, the film is about a policeman (Peter Weller) killed in the line of duty whom the department decides to resurrect as a half-human, half-robot supercop. The RoboCop is indestructible, and within a matter of weeks he has removed crime from the streets of Detroit. However, his human side is tortured by his past, and he wants revenge on the thugs who killed him. The film was later followed by two feature-length sequels and a live-action television series, neither of which were as successful as the original film. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, (more)
