User Reviews

Well, since I watched this movie for the third time, I must like this rubbish, no? Damn right I do! This is one pretty bad PREDATOR rip-off. Actually, this movie borrows so many elements from so many other movies, you can't even bother beginning to count them. Jürgen Prochnow looks like he's on cocaine or something, over-acting every line he speaks intensely. He looks pretty insane as the mad scientist with no conscience or morality. Mark Dacascos plays a doctor (haha!) who suddenly turns into Rambo (hoho!) or (more appropriate) into Major Alan"Dutch"Schaeffer (hihi!). The special effects are hilarious (that helicopter crash!!!) and the monster-suit is cool (with red & green colors). Of course it looks extremely rubbery. Plus: that annoying native kid gets killed! Way to go scriptwriter! So yes, this is rubbish, but of the enjoyable kind!

This below average monster movie is about as original as a forger's art gallery. Freely copying from many, other, better films, the only reason I can think that someone would enjoy this is if they haven't seen any of the other films which it references, sorry, I mean steals from. INDIANA JONES, the first two in the ALIEN series, JURASSIC PARK, and PREDATOR are the inspirations here, with the film owing most to PREDATOR.

I had no problems with the cast in this film. Mark Dacascos (SABOTAGE) looks the part of an action hero although he is pretty bland and emotionless and not much of an actor, but then neither are Schwarzenegger or Van Damme and their films do well. Jurgen Prochnow (IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS) serves his role as respected-actor-turning-to-role-in-awful-film, just like Michael Caine did before him in ON DEADLY GROUND. Prochnow is a stereotypical ruthless scientist and he chews the scenery with aplomb. The rest of the cast are interchangeable, the female lead does absolutely nothing except carry around lots of baggage and help Dacascos occasionally, and everyone else is just cannon fodder.

The special effects of the monster range from being quite good (some CGI shots are used, and these are the most effective) to the poor man in a monster suit, where ALIEN is the most obvious influence. There are lots of explosions and a few fight scenes in the film too, including a hilariously unrealistic back projection of a helicopter crash which is at a totally different scale to the actors in front of it. You'll never see any effect quite so bad as this.

I would have enjoyed this film more if it hadn't been such a rip off, like when the alien turns invisible as it runs through the trees. The end sequences, where Dacascos strips off and makes traps for the alien in the jungle, and then jumps off a waterfall, and also hides in mud to avoid detection, are directly ripped from PREDATOR, a much better monster on the loose film, and comparisons are pointless as this is nowhere near as good. Still, if you're a fan of cheesy movies then I guess you could do worse, but the outright rip-offs on view here just left a nasty taste in my mouth.

Let's get it out of the way now - this movie has not an ounce of originality in its body. The creature is brazenly stolen from Predator, and the plot incorporates elements of Jurassic Park shamelessly.

It is also an incredibly fun film to just sit back and enjoy.

Part of this is the surprisingly earnest performances turned in by the main cast. Despite the silliness of his role morphing from a scientist to a doctor to an action hero as the plot demands, Mark Dacascos fills his part capably. Robin McKee is serviceable in a sidekick role that doesn't feel like a waste, and Tom Taus performs well as a surprisingly capable stock child companion. The underrated Roger Aaron Brown has a good part as a scientist working for the villain who has a crisis of conscience about the experiment. The real show-stealer, however, is Jurgen Prochnow, who chews the scenery but just avoids pushing it too far as the mad scientist main antagonist of the film. He is always entertaining when he is on screen, and his death comes far too soon.

The plot is standard, and the visual effects bounce between impressive and bad. Mark McCracken (of Pumpkinhead 2) has a dual role as a tough soldier and the man inside the creature's costume. When he is in the costume, the creature has a nicely slimy and menacing appearance. CGI, however, is poor, both for the creature and for other scenes, especially the infamous helicopter crash.

All in all, though, this is a very enjoyable film for fans of B-movies. If you're into such things, seek it out.

Watching this on TV I must say it was done fairly well. Good acting, average special effects with explosions, and a semi-storyline taken from other movies. The lead monster of the film looks okay. Some of the shots done in costume were below average while some of the CGI done at night were passable. The acting was good and made you feel the characters. I was surprised the writer killed off the lead child in the story. But on the down note the movie did rip-off a lot from other films. The African American computer expert is like the clone of Samuel L. Jackson from Jurassic Park. Wearing the same clothing and even has a cigarette in his mouth all the time. And the ending was the same as Predator. The monster is a mixture of a Xenomorph and a Predator. And the helicopter crash was VERY fake. But I enjoyed the movie. A plus is how the script didn't go dull like in Boa and Arachnid. It capitalized off other movies.

The bottom line. DNA may not be a masterpiece, and may not work out for everyone but for a late night movie it is more then some may need. 6/10

The film begins well with Ash Mattley and Dr. Carl Wessinger going off into the Sarawak jungle to look for a rare beetle that will cure lots of things with it's DNA. Something like that anyway. Then the film becomes 'Alien' then 'Predator' with a touch of 'Rambo' and 'Apocalypse Now' thrown into the mix. There is lots of action, particularly in the second half, but its 'borrowings' from other films eventually become laughable. In its favour it does have a few things to like. One, the location cinematography is colourful and attractive. Two, the music score by Christopher L. Stone. Three, Mark Dacascos being suitably sterling as the hero Ash. Four, Jürgen Prochnow being suitably unhinged as the villainous Wessinger. Could have been better.

The monster Balacau looks quite decent as a man in a rubbery suit but looks terrible in it's CGI incarnarnation.

LOL! As others have said, this was a pure cheese-fest. There were so many ripoffs from so many other superior movies I don't see how they weren't sued after showing it to the public. They also did a horrible job mimicking those other flicks as well. The special effects were unintentionally hilarious! I know it was 1996 but even back then the props they were using looked like kids' toys, especially the so-called "weapons". WTH was that grenade launcher/zap gun thingy supposed to be? The best two parts of this brainiac production are this: There's a stop motion helicopter crash so poorly done that it will have you rolling on the floor laughing just like the plastic model 'copter itself! And secondly, there's a bratty, annoying kid who actually bites the dust to everyone's surprise. That's why I didn't rank this wonderful gem any lower. Watch if you're really bored.

Well, this movies doesn't have stolen scenes but they do have some stolen ideas from other movies. So here we go...

A doctor in the movie finds some bones but a mad scientist wants to clone it so he can create a perfect war-machine. The beast is inside a cage like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. And the dude who is taking care of the computer system is a black dude smoking just like Samuel L. Jackson in JP...

Then the beast escapes. It looks like Alien but it can do everything that Predator can. You see? But the best part is the helicopter scene. Man, I laughed a lot, the worst special effect ever!!

Rating 1-10: 2

A bad movie but I really recommend this movie if you like b-movies. :D