Review of DNA (1997) by Ed C — 03 Sep 2013

Fools resurrect alien monster in a film derivative of others.

Cinematography: 7/10 Usually OK, but suffers from darkness and graininess.

Sound: 8/10 The incidental music is a bit florid, but the recording is well done.

Acting: 3/10 Mark Dacascos and Robin McKee were just plain bad. Both are miscast, which makes matters worse. Veteran actors Jurgen Prochnow and Roger Aaron Brown were better, but had to deal with the mediocre script.

Screenplay: 5/10 Supposedly set in Malaysia, but some of the 'natives' use language one might find in the Philippines, where the filming was done. The expedition early on in the film had a Raiders of the Lost Ark feel to it, with a dash of King Solomon's Mines during the meetings with the locals. Perhaps the worst motivational piece was Carl asserting that many countries would pay large amounts of money for this bio-weapon. Please! They could not control it in the least, just as nothing could control the alien killers in Alien or its sequels. The is no military application here, so no source of money. If they had kept with the idea of immunity-enhancing enzymes, the film would have been more coherent.

Special Effects: 5/10 The monster, at least outside, was clearly a not-so-good man in a rubber suit. The helicopter crashes and explosions were between so-so and poor.