This movie is somehow hugely underrated. I think it is a true piece of art. So many disciplines worked so well together that I feel it must be highlighted.
The first 5 minutes are simply top tier atmosphere building. Sound, camera, story board, editing. It is a well directed harmony. The viewer is invited to have a detailed look around at the details that are (by design) never superficially explained, continue to tempt me to have another viewing in the near future.
Not at my first viewing I confess, but later I started to regonise the devotion that went into making this world strangely believable and made me wonder how a director could have the long term vision to not take the viewer by the hand to point out every point of interest. Somehow everything seem to fit and likely has a back story?! The language, behaviour mechanics, clothing/armor. This is hard Sci fi! They paid extra to get the world right and for me it only became apparent when I started to zoom in.
Please enjoy and if I made you doubt your memory? Give it another try.
Death Machine
1994
Action / Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Death Machine
1994
Action / Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Keywords: psychopathkiller robot
Plot summary
Chaank Armaments is experimenting with the ultimate fighting machine which is part human - part machine. So far, the Hardman project has been unreliable and has killed a number of innocent people. The genius behind this project is Jack who lives in a world of models, toys and magazines. When he is fired by Cale for killing a few corporate officers, he unleashes the ultimate killing machine called the 'Warbeast' against Cale and those who would help her.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Movie Reviews
Such a gem!
It was actually good!
"Death Machine" was actually a nice surprise of a movie. Sure it is a spoof on movies such a "Robocop", "Aliens", "Terminator", "Die Hard" and movies in that caliber, but it was so much fun to watch.
The story in "Death Machine" is about Jack Dante who works at a big corporation, who unleash a killing machine that he has been working on in secret after he becomes fired from his job. And it is up to a small group of people to stand up to this ultimate killer and stop it before it kills them.
"Death Machine" was loads of fun to watch because it was so cheesy and campy. However, they had lots of nice stuff in the movie, lots of nice details and actually had decent enough props, sets and outfits. What I loved the most, personally, was the armored robotic suit that they put the guy in; in lots of scenes you could see it was just plastic covered foam he was wearing, as it was creasing and wrinkling as he bent and moved around. It was hilarious.
Take a look at the names of the people in the movie; John Carpenter, Weyland, Yutani, Scott Ridley, etc. that was just amusing. Lots of fun references here, and if you are an avid movie-watcher, then you are bound to pick up on lots of hints and references here, there and everywhere.
For a movie of this type, they had actually managed to put together a great cast ensemble, lots of faces that will be familiar to you if you watch a good deal of movies. It should be said, that the movie was being carried by Brad Dourif who played Jack Dante.
"Death Machine" has a lot of action and actually have a good amount of entertainment value. I was surprised at the movie, as I had expected it to be a very, very low budget Sci-Fi movie. I was thoroughly entertained by the movie and must say that it was actually a great homage to various movies over the years.
If you haven't seen "Death Machine" yet, get to it. Watch it for the cheesy movie that it is. Don't take it too serious. Watch it for all the references to other movies (if you are a movie fanatic). Watch it for the foamy body armor-suit. Watch it for the sheer fun that it is. Just watch it.
Entertaining for what it is.
In the "near future", a corporation named "Chaank" is in the business of exotic weapon technology. After the death of a higher-up, a new joint chief executive named Hayden Cale (model turned actress Ely Pouget) is brought in to clean house. One of her first orders of business is getting rid of utterly demented, childlike genius Jack Dante (veteran screen psycho Brad Dourif). But Dante has an ace up his sleeve: a lethal death-dispenser dubbed the Warbeast, complete with giant, gnashing steel teeth. Hayden must team up with some unlikely allies in her battle to stay alive.
Debuting writer / director Stephen Norrington doesn't set out to be particularly innovative or imaginative, with a script that's largely routine and not many characters one can truly care about. That said, he achieves a pretty good "futuristic" feel on a B level budget, and whatever "Death Machine" lacks in originality is compensated for by the fast pace and the sheer intensity on display. The Warbeast in particular is a cool antagonist of sorts, and Norrington makes it most effective when we get partial looks at the thing.
Matching the Warbeast for absolute ferocity is the great character actor Dourif, one of those thespians often at their best when allowed to utterly devour the scenery. He's the most interesting character here, although Pouget makes for a reasonably effective, Ellen Ripley-style heroine.
The supporting cast consists of such familiar faces as William Hootkins ("Hardware"),John Sharian ("The Machinist"),Martin McDougall ("Batman Begins"),Andreas Wisniewski ("Die Hard"),and Richard Brake ("31"),and the performances are generally quite capable, even if some of the characters are the type whom you hope will die gloriously. Look for Rachel Weisz ("The Mummy" '99) in her film debut as a "junior executive".
Norringtons' in-jokes range from the obvious (giving characters names like "John Carpenter", "Sam Raimi", and "Scott Ridley") to slightly less obvious (the character names Weyland and Yutani, "Weyland-Yutani" being the name of the evil corporation in the "Alien" franchise).
While reminiscent of earlier films in the sci-fi / horror genres, "Death Machine" is still a decent example of this sort of thing.
Seven out of 10.