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A Masterpiece!

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Blistering performances.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The first movie cop duo between a human and an alien. James Caan, as usual, makes a cool, charming role. Mandy Patinkin, very convincing, as the alien policeman. Terence Stamp, credible in the role of the wicked alien. It has a special atmosphere, I liked it, a pleasant surprise. The scene in the cabin of the bar, between Matthew Sykes (James Caan) and Cassandra (Leslie Bevis), an extraterrestrial stripper who wants to make love with him, is the most successful and funny scene in the movie.

When his partner is killed, racist and prejudiced cop Matthew Sykes (James Caan) teams up with an alien newcomer cop Sam Francisco(Mandy Patinkin) to try to find those that were responsible for killing his partner. Animosity is rife between the two cops almost immediately as it was one of Francisco's 'kind' that was responsible for his partner's death.For the first 5 minutes or so this film was great and it reminded me of the sort of thing that Paul Verhoeven might have directed - it suggests that there is going to be some satire between aliens and humans and humans being forced to integrate with the aliens, but this seems to have been established for no real reason other than Baker ripping off Verhoeven as this has precious bearing on the story....And what a pity because had Baker gone down this road then it certainly would have made the film a lot more fun. The problem with this film is that it is silly and daft, but when watching it I couldn't help but feel that no-one had let the director in on the joke? The whole film is dull and lacking in energy and it seems as though Baker was on Prozac when he directed this film. It is also drab and cheap looking (although this may be due to budget constraints). Baker isn't entirely to blame for this picture as the script doesn't have much to it either - given how daft the film is I didn't expect a lot of depth, but it perhaps would have been fun or interesting to show some of the cultural differences between the aliens and the humans or anything that might have made their co-existence together amusing.The really sad thing about this film is that it doesn't even get the best out of what can be considered as generally 'talented actors' - James Caan looked bored and mildly embarrassed throughout the film as well as putting in a pretty poor performance. Terrence Stamp (under heavy prosthetics) is playing the villain (again) which is something that he can do in his sleep, but even he isn't as effective or menacing as he normally is - although he still gives the best performance by a country mile. The chemistry between Caan and Patinkin is weak with only the odd exchange being amusing.Effectively what you have here is a reasonably good concept which is wasted on a director with no vision and a screenwriter with no imagination. Had it been a bit more fun and had the story been slightly more developed then it might have been passable, but in playing it straight as a 'buddy cop' film with next to none of the redeeming qualities of a good 'buddy cop' film Alien Nation simply doesn't work.

In the not too distant future, Aliens have landed in America. The nation has been forced to accept them; giving them citizenship, jobs, and English names. There are now just as many Aliens in the country as there are humans. Detective Sykes has just lost his partner is a shootout with some Alien streets thieves. The next day he agrees to be partners with the newly appointed detective Samuel Franscisco (an Alien) The further they proceed in their investigation for the partner's killer, the bigger the game becomes, and Sykes may have to put revenge issues aside in order to prevent something more potentially dangerous to the planet.Alien Nation feels pretty much like a throwback to the days of Earth vs. the Flying Sausers or Plan 9 from Outer Space. Such cheesy material is impossible to take seriously, but luckily the makers of this picture are aware of that. They add a subtle but useful dose comedy to the film. While it is easy to look at the movie allegorically, Alien Nation is best approached as a strait forward buddy movie. It is still fairly cheesy, but enjoyable nonetheless.The movie is driven mostly by the interplay of James Caan and Mandy Patinkin. Their screen presence is delightful, as they bounce one liners off each other until the movie decides that it is time to go into action mode. The climax is a bit loony, but not terribly harmful. I think I can give Alien Nation a pass. It's low brow-material, but it makes some good decisions, the most important of which is acknowledging its silliness. (Battlefield Earth could've leaned a lesson or two from Alien Nation)

The cross-culture buddy-cop movie is given a slightly implausible make-over.We've seen 'Red Heat' in which Russian cop, Arnie, is teemed-up with American James Belushi. James Belushi has also featured with a canine partner, as indeed has Tom Hanks. There was American/Japanese 'Black Rain' with Micheal Douglas, and even an item called 'Haven' in which one of the cops was an android. I cannot find that movie referenced on the IMDb, though it was quite fun. 'Robocop' pursued the theme with a human, female partner. There has also been '48 Hours' whereby a white cop teemed with a black crook, slob versus slick. This time the aliens really are alien, though sufficiently humanoid to be un-challenging. Apart from a lack of ear-lobes and a tendency to liver-spots on the scalp, they might pass for human beings. And, of course, white ones. Their appearance certainly didn't tax the special-effects department. If one were to cast about, stranger-looking humans could be found. It's a pretty lacklustre effort crammed with clichés, but is lifted out of the ordinary and given serious intent by the choice of James Caan in the starring role. Caan is a man who knows how to act, and he can be very expressive in an oddly undemonstrative way. It's all done with facial expression and body language. His scarcely concealed racism and contempt for cultural nicety is executed with aplomb, and as the aliens are not even humans, the subject is a ripe field for harvest. The chemistry between himself and his alien partner develops well. Both actors deserve good marks. It could hardly have been easy working with that sweaty cranial prosthetic. The other actors play their parts without express merit or criticism. A barely-recognisable Terrence Stamp has a lot more to offer than he was required to give here, and I wonder at his inclusion in such a limited role. I thought he was wasted. But his gravitas and slightly unplaceable English accent helped highlight his alien persona in such a manifestly American movie.Otherwise, you've seen it all a dozen times before. I was disappointed that the aliens brought no new technology. And nothing of any original value appeared to have been scavenged by either them or us, from their downed spaceship. That seemed highly unlikely. Even damaged technology can be understood and replicated. And if they survived, the ship must have been more-or-less intact. The species vive-la-difference routine was - well, routine, and unsurprising in its surprises. The aliens' favourite foods prove disgusting to human sensibilities. Gosh; that's clever. They drink sour milk rather than fresh. But apparently not cheese. They eat raw meat rather than cooked, and so on. They are soluble in sea-water, but not drinking water. Presumably, they themselves do not contain salt then. In a world so dangerously briney as ours (2 thirds of its surface are ocean) perhaps they would be happier and safer on the moon. There's a humdrum joke about the purpose and size of condoms - oh-dear. And - surprise, surprise - their females are vain and bitchy, and play the same 'seductress' card that human females have played since time immemorial, even having jobs as pole-dancers etc. I mean, come on! It's not exactly imaginative, is it? The plot is about the control of dangerous drugs. This time they're dangerous to aliens. And in an inevitably predictable turnaround of learning-curves, the hide-bound, by-the-book, alien side-kick starts to break the rules; the laissez-faire human cop learns to kerb his chauvinism; and in due course there is reconciliation and mutual respect all round. To describe this movie as science fiction is just a pose. There is no scientific/cultural prognosis whatsoever. Any study of our conflicting and contrasting aspirations is barely touched upon, never mind explored. The idea that these people would be allowed to wander freely amongst humans and develop their lives without the most careful scrutiny is quite absurd. Such liberal thinking certainly wouldn't have outlived 9/11. It is irrational socialist twaddle to suppose that two species of intelligent organisms could thrive side by side on the same planet in some sort of harmonious ideal. Just look how often things break down with our own species. Consider how the indigenous American Indian is still treated today. There is no reason to suppose that we would regard them any differently from a mutated chimpanzee, and exploit them for medical and pharmaceutical advantage. After all; even a normal chimp is intelligent, communicative, self-aware and has theory of mind. It is certainly more cognitive than a human with advanced Altzheimer's disease, and yet still no-one would ever dream of elevating its simian status above that of the vegetative human being. And this despite the fact that we have a common ancestral thread. We are, in effect, their animal cousins. Are we going to usurp them then, and confer equality to beings with which we share no heredity whatsoever, whilst still treating our nearest evolutionary relatives as 'animals'? That is neither rational nor just. Besides; Darwinian logic suggests that one species must otherwise out-compete the other, sooner or later. This happened on Earth many times before. Why should things be any different because one species has spotty heads and drinks putrid food? These 'newcomers' were just a ticking time-bomb.As an intelligent evaluation of inter-species relationships, this item was just vacuous and juvenile. Check-out 'The Day Of The Dolphin'; that was streets ahead. On the other hand; taken for what it actually is - a cross-cultural cop movie - it's an entertaining though predictable romp. James Caan alone redeems it from the ordinary. A TV series followed without him, and cemented its formulaic mediocrity for ever.