It was interesting to revisit this film now, many years after it first fell into your hands on a videotape. The age was different and the desires were different. It’s much easier to see the weak spots here today, but despite its flaws, the movie called DNA isn’t a bad one at all. That’s what it’s called, DNA. Deoxeribo Nucleic Acid. This is a scientific term.
Surprisingly, the problems of the picture are more related to the technical part than to the script and the characters, for example. Maybe when creative people have less money, they use their heads more? There is such an impression here, even if not everywhere.
The easiest thing to say is the flaws. First of all, the things that the authors borrowed from other films are very noticeable. Sometimes it's ideas. The fearsome creature with an elongated snout and toothy jaws resembled “Alien”, and its behavior in the rainforest is inspired by “Predator”. But it's on the surface. Another thing is the similarity with “Jurassic Park” about the revival of an extinct animal with the help of science, and then this animal breaks free and begins to eat human meat for pleasure. It's ideas. And there are whole scenes from those movies. The boy runs from the monster through some underground pipes. How Captain Dallas crawled through ventilation shafts aboard a spaceship. There is also one unexpected stolen moment from a movie that has nothing to do with alien hunters or fossils. From the fantastic action movie "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" about robots from the future. Surprisingly, the moment was right.
Other people's ideas are one thing. Another thing is visual effects. The computer animations are awful. Fortunately, there's not much. Unfortunately, she got into the crucial scenes. Exactly where you need to turn in all its glory. It spoiled the film's climax. Yes, there and the script lost its head, began to cross the line with stupidity. Even Mark Dacascos' muscles don't save the day. You can ruin a movie in different ways. One way is to make a bad ending. Not in the sense of unhappy, but in the sense of stupid, crooked and pale.
In general, the problems of the film are: using ideas from other films, poor visuals and a bad ending. The script is also far from perfect, but its oversights do not anger until the final battle of the protagonist and the monster comes. The advantages can be said briefly, but not because they are very few, but because it makes no sense to pour water.
To create something good, an artist can or even needs to borrow ideas from other artists. To create something great, you can or even need to steal someone’s ideas. Familiar plots do not interfere with the film if there are interesting heroes or villains in its space. The villain here is not a monster, but a man who is responsible for dangerous experiments. And that character wasn't very successful. At first it seems that he has good reasons to do things, but he becomes too abruptly bad. We missed it. But the main character is interesting, and Mark Dacascos is good in this role. The acting game here in general is surprisingly strong, even if the roles are poorly built, you believe in the performance. The monster is familiar, but it looks creepy. Beautiful nature and good musical accompaniment are also in the treasury of pluses.
5 out of 10
Very often, these or other high-profile Hollywood projects were victims of the gaze of little-known and second-rate film studios, which willingly copied the content of primary sources and brought to their works. Studio Asylum has long built on this principle all his work. One of such projects is this film directed by William Mesa.
The entire film directed by Williams Mesa creates the impression of a kind of symbiosis of the cult "Predator" John McTiernan and no less cult "Jurassic Park" Steven Spielberg. Copying not only the plot of both paintings, but even the staging and implementation of individual scenes with almost minimal changes. Clearly betraying the lack of directorial handwriting and creativity of the director on the screen.
There is no good to say about the story. As described above, the plot of this tape is a kind of compilation of elements of paintings by Steven Spielberg and John McTiernan. Naturally, with the implantation in the history of another unsuccessful genetic experiments, the theme of which was very fashionable in television films of the time. Like the Carnosaurus Experiment or other paintings in general.
The visual side of the picture also looks very poor. The film immediately reveals its involvement in films of low quality category. Sometimes even raising the question as to where was spent impressive at the time budget funds in the amount of $ 12 million? Since commensurate with all this action scenes in the picture is not so much. As if it were in terms of quantity or even quality. Pleases only not bad design Balakaya, who embodied on the screen famous for his participation in the series “The Walking Dead” and a number of good horror films Greg Nicotero. But again, copying someone else’s work and creating the impression of a hybrid of Predator and Xenomorph on the screen.
The situation is also saved by Marc Dacascos. The character turned out to be too fresh and cardboard, but the excellent physical data of Dacascos and his charismatic appearance took their toll. Quite interesting looks and Jurgen Prokhnov, who again embodied on the screen the image of another scoundrel and just an unpleasant type. Alas, with the exception of these two actors, will not fall into harsh criticism of the performance of other actors, very, very difficult.
2 out of 10
Genosaurus is a very passable and low-grade film of category B, which candidly and undisguisedly copies the content of such wonderful paintings as Jurassic Park and Predator. Even with a modest timekeeping of one and a half hours of screen time, allowing you to repeatedly catch yourself in a bored position.
The DNA of the Xenomorph Predator is the Balakai Genosaurus.
This film will always remind me of one simple thing: what could have happened to the film “Predator” if it was made by a talentless director and no less incompetent screenwriter. The fact that "Genosaurus" (original "DNA") is not so much ripped off from the film about an alien hunter in the jungle, collecting trophies, who under the distribution got a squad of commandos led by the hero Schwartz in the title role, not said only a lazy blind man. From the shadow of its famous predecessor, the film was not destined to come out.
The cast by the names of GG looks impressive, it is a pity, but the full potential of the game can be seen only in Prokhnov. He always knew how to play villains. Dacascos I always liked, but in this case, he does not demonstrate his talents, namely acting, and the ability to wave his feet here past the box office. The rest of the “mass” from the common key is not knocked out.
It seems that a good 10 years have passed since the release of the Predator, and nothing new in terms of graphics and action was used in the production of this picture. Very in vain.
I don’t know if it was originally planned to make a VHS film, i.e. low-grade, or everything went wrong in the process of filming, but the project’s stated budget was significant, so you can’t rely on the lack of money for the mediocre project.
One of my favorite reviews of horror movies is the monster and its thorough analysis. Here we go.
Dossier.
Name: "DNA", aka Balakai, aka Genosaurus.
Date and place of birth: Sarawak, North Borneo, circa 1997.
Anthropometric data: average height, 2 cents of a meter, 250-270 pounds of muscles, claws and teeth.
Creator screen: greedy, moderately insane and unencumbered by idealological framework scientist Karl Wessinger, ready to sacrifice everything, for the sake of science and money.
The creator on the film: a certain unknown to a small circle of people director William Mesa.
Appearance: a disgusting, remotely reminiscent of prehistoric reptiles, a visually close relative of a stranger from the film of the same name.
Ability: the ability to masquerade through computer fusion with the environment (a la camouflage of the predator), “color” vision, plasticity and speed of someone else, a fairly high level of intelligence. Bloodthirsty and ferocious.
Occupation: evisceration of people and part-time biological weapons, for which Wessinger wants to save money for a comfortable old age.
Actor: Mark McCracken with EFX Group, Inc.
Cause of death: look and find out.
Bottom line: a good example of an intimidating look for horror films, even sewn with pieces of images of his older predecessor colleagues, not without originality. The actor, who tried on the costume of the Genosaurus coped with the task normally, managed to convey the features and habits of the movie creature in a good way. A long time ago, and now a monster could and can scare the hell out of it.
As it was written in other annotations of reviewers for the film: the project was very ambitious, and there was not enough skill to implement the ideas of all the best horror films about monsters of that time. Description of the pros and cons of the picture abound in early reviews of users of film search, I will not overload my.
On the narrow focus and not distinguished by high-quality fashionable films of that era, you can put an end to this review. It's clear and familiar. Although, quite scary and creepy in the era of the formation of video salons of Russia. Worth seeing. I liked it at the time.
So, the thesis: kinzo DNA is not bad. It’s not bad if you haven’t seen a movie before. And in complete separation from them looks quite interesting. But this, you know, is a rare case, if the viewer, except for the DNA, saw nothing else. And that's where the fun starts. . .
The film is full of, first of all, stamps. Secondly, a lot of plot points - frank plagiarism.
Of the good should be noted beautiful landscapes. The hero of Dacascos, although positive, but not a dummy, which, unfortunately, cannot be said about Jurgen our Prokhnov - the actor he is not bad, but here he played a walking doll with eyes.
The main thing you care about is the boy. He is desperately sorry, and this is the main dramatic moment in the film.
Now let’s move on to flight control.
Stamp number 1. To a good and noble scientist comes an evil and bad scientist. He suggests further research. Of course not for free. A good scientist, swallowing a hungry saliva, agrees. He leads an expedition to the Terrible and Forbidden Place. Original, right? When everyone gets to the Place, it will become even more original: it is necessary that the Place be dotted with exotic rock reliefs, or frescoes, or something like that. But most importantly, the inscription should be on top! In an ancient incomprehensible language, which, of course, knows the main character! And he'll move it right away. And the inscription is frightening, and it says: "Daughter, buy any curtains, but not yellow." Or rather, “Never make a green record, or it will be a disaster!” Oh, something got me wrong... In a word, the inscription reads something like “Abandon hope, everyone who enters everywhere” and promises everyone the most terrible punishments if the ancient secret is discovered. Tell me what heroes do after reading it.
Stamp #2: An evil scientist is such a crazy fool that he’ll make a 1–2 speech in a movie that he created a new god, discovered a new universe, and that his slimy toothy creature is beautiful. Accompanying all this will be an ominous laugh.
Stamp #3: Is there a jungle in the movie? Be sure to have a couple of hackneyed jokes about the heat, snakes, some harmful arthropods and those city ladies who are going to storm the forest in high heels. What the heroes of Dacascos and McGee have been doing for some time.
Stamp #4: Savages are very superstitious and also wear feathers and battle coloring because they are savages. At any sneeze on the part of the main characters, they should immediately run away, screaming something incomprehensible in horror and waving their hands. And it does not matter that in the yard of the late 20th century, and civilization somehow penetrated into all corners of the planet. No, such savages have been in the cinema for 90 years.
I am amazed that this stamp was not brought to its logical conclusion - the blonde heroine calmly photographs savages, and they respond with nothing. They're not even going to stab her for putting their souls on film! Amazing!
Stamp No. 5: Well, of course, if a scientist is a goggle in a Hawaiian shirt. And at a critical moment, his knees necessarily shake, he shouts that he will not go anywhere and will not risk his life. Can you guess the sequel?
Now there's plagiarism. The most important thing that catches the eye: a stormy night with a shower and a thunderstorm, a research station where all computers are bugging. High voltage perimeter where Balakaya (monster) is held. At the right moment, the perimeter turns off. The programmer smokes and desperately hits the keys, hoping to restore the system. Meanwhile, Balakai is released and begins to eat. To restore power supply, you need to reconnect the generator, the control panel which looks like a series of switches on the wall. But, of course, the monster will not wait. It looks like Jurassic Park!
The #2 plagiarism I noticed was a monster. A mix of raptor from Park and Alien. And the way to disappear and see the world in infrared radiation, of course, from the Predator.
Plagiarism 3. After a dramatic scene, the hero of Dacascos decides to take revenge on the monster. The axe sharpens, and most importantly, tears off his shirt so that everyone can see his relief torso, smears his face with paint. After that, he goes to revenge - there is no harsher face. In the arsenal, in addition to the axe, he has a rocket launcher. It looks a lot like Rambo. . .
3 out of 10
Looking good, but nothing more.
P.S. Separately, the translators were “pleased” – “He has bones from Heaton!” – here I laughed for a long time, because ancient Greek clothes must be confused with chitin. . .
Once again, a mad scientist appears on the stage, who sleeps and sees an army of monsters that bring devastation and destruction to the surrounding lands, and naturally he and only he will control them. How he'll control them, Dr. Wessinger doesn't know, but he's sure he will. And from the alien’s DNA, he creates a murder machine, which breaks free and begins to terrorize the surrounding village. Oh, scientists, all evil is from you!
In the distant ninety-seventh year, I came across a picture by an unknown director, William Mesa, and even at such a young age, this film disappointed me. Now, after a long enough period of time, I decided to return to this painting to refresh my memories. Yeah, refreshed. I wish I hadn’t thought about Genosaurus, but since we’re all here, let me tell you why this movie is bad and why it’s not worth spending your time on. Here we go.
To begin with, a plot that can only be called such with a very large stretch. For the simple reason that the person in charge of the script did not bother much and decided to “borrow” ideas from other, more successful films. In other words, steal. Here and the main leitmotif of the picture tells about the adventures of a cool scientist, a stupid blonde and a little boy. Does that ring a bell? This is Indiana Jones: And the Temple of Destiny. Here and the monster, which inexorably resembles the “alien” with its appearance, and given the fact that it happens in the jungle, our animal knows how to become invisible, and the main character will be engaged in what will set many traps here in front of us tracing the “Predator”. They also thought it was a good idea to steal a couple of scenes from King Solomon’s Copy and Terminator 2, and why not? If you turn your movie into a nickname, it's better that it's a good cliché, because then our film will be good, right? Of course not. Because the stupidity of the film is seen in every frame. Here's a good example. Claire Summers, the blonde girl, is a CIA agent sent to this godforsaken country to destroy the monster and arrest Dr. Wessinger. That is, an unprepared girl was sent to this task, who shuffles any rustle she constantly hysterics and constantly gets into the binding, from which she cannot get out on her own. Is it me or was a careless employee sent to the slaughter? Here's another example, even better. Mercenaries, this is a separate song, but I don’t want to focus on them. So mercenaries want to catch a monster, but for some reason decide to mine the laboratory and in pursuit of the monster forget about it. So you've forgotten that you've mined ammunition depots and that you need to get out of here as soon as possible? Then why are you surprised when everything explodes? And this movie is more than half that stupid.
Now for the people involved in the film. So no one, I repeat, in this picture does not even try to portray something similar to emotions, so there is no question of any acting here. The characters of the characters are written out either too superficially, or, as in the case of a small boy, they are not discharged at all. And thanks to this, it becomes absolutely irrelevant whether the main characters survive the meeting with the monster or not.
As for camera work, in the eighties and nineties, there were virtually no twitching cameras and our guest today is no exception. However, Jerry Lively somehow managed to turn beautiful tropical landscapes into gray and lifeless. Well done, you managed to spoil even the little that could save the picture from complete collapse!
Summing up, I want to say that this picture can offer the viewer nothing but a waste of time. It is boring, predictable, and completely lacks drive. So my advice to you is to avoid this movie, thank you.
2 out of 10