Reviews

Hollywood does not seem to understand that it isn't necessary to re-invent a classic story to keep it interesting, when the classic story has proven itself most interesting to generations of readers. This is a Disney-fied version of the Dumas story, as "improved" by Reynolds and Wolpert who are given the green-light by test audiences and studio executives to alter the original story. While one couldn't expect to compress a lengthy novel into a a few hours of film, this is a re-make for Americans who aren't literate enough to enjoy reading the book or watching an authentic European version that might require them to read subtitles.

I also do not appreciate IMBd promoting this movie, (selecting it automatically without any choice having been made, from several titles about MONTE CRISTO.

Any series about Canadian history that identifies the War of 1812 as "Canada's War of Independence" does not know much about history. Who did Canadians become independent from? The invaders from the United States, who were defeated, (and their capital burned in 1814)? Wasn't Canada, (or, the several colonies, of British North America, including Upper Canada and Lower Canada), still comprised of a few British colonies, after the Treaty of Ghent? Not until the Statute of Westminster, in 1931, did the Dominion of Canada achieve independence as a nation, (no longer a British colony); and, the Canada Act, in 1982, made Canada entirely independent of the British Parliament, (full legal sovereignty, including constitutional legislation). Whoever wrote, directed, and produced this series probably flunked their Canadian history tests.

I'm not wasting a minute watching this series. Real Canadians are not interested in this "alt-history"!

Somewhere, somehow, someone forgot what makes a good science fiction story when adapting Philip K. Dick's short story into a screenplay. This was to be a part of a triology of science fiction stories; but, instead of sticking with a short script, the producers and director decided to turn this into a feature-length film. What had looked like a good episode of the "Twilight Zone" turned into the "Fugitive" in a future setting, (done much better in "Total Recall" and "The 6th Day").

See Gary run. Run, run, Gary. See Gary climb into an air vent. See Gary run through an aquaduct. See Gary run away from the ESA militia-men. Run, run, run.

Half an hour of Gary Sinise running away from evil and incompetent security goons, (who manage to shoot lots of bystanders but not Gary), does not make interesting science fiction. The aliens that are attacking the Earth, (never shown), cannot figure how to win the war except by assassinating Earth's chancellor with a flesh-and-blood cyborg. Who is the impostor? This is as much science fiction as this story gets. Without the futuristic setting, we have a weak copy of "The Manchurian Candidate" stretched out into a "Chasing Gary" movie. Great cast and big budget, but a poor concept dragged out by a director, producers, and special effects crews that didn't understand the need for a meaningful story-line, (written in part by the same screenwriter responsible for "Waterworld" and the 1993 version of "The Fugitive").

I'm glad I got the DVD with a two-for-one coupon, otherwise I'd have felt completely cheated. Watch the "Original Short Film" on the DVD, or, better yet, get "Blade Runner," (which has a story with some character development with its "replicants").

The number of goofs in this movie almost had me laughing.

The fantastic doomsday device is "Tesla's Death Ray." In this movie, the device consists of some electrical apparatus and a set of headphones, which is crammed into a wooden box that can fit under an airline seat. After Tesla journeyed to a remote part of Siberia in 1908, to test his death ray, he found its destructive potential is so great that Tesla never spoke of it again, so say the characters in this movie.

Despite a wealth of information available about Tesla's inventions and his notes, the makers of this movie plod onward with this fantastic device and numerous goofs. A geiger counter is used to track down Tesla's electrical device, earphones are used to control and direct its destructive force, Tesla installed a self-destruct mechanism but hid the device in a cave, and Tesla tested the device on "the 13th day of June in the year of our Lord, 1908."

Unfortunately, the Tunguska explosion occurred on June 30th, 1908, (not the 13th). Anyone expecting any facts about Tesla, his death ray, or the Tunguska explosion should look elsewhere. This hodge-podge doomsday device is the only excuse for what follows, and with the exception of "Bongo the Bear," I must rate this movie a pointless zero, (no stars).