Director Andrew Kightlinger's "Dust of War" drums up more dust than war. This lackluster pursuit thriller contains few thrills. Gary Graham, Tony Todd, and Doug Jones must have needed pocket change. Indeed, Todd clocks less than 15 minutes in it before he is shot by the villain. The action takes place at some unspecified time in the future after an alien invasion and an apocalyptic war. Scattered remnants of society have survived in this vast wasteland. The aliens resemble knights in ancient armor the color of red. A sadistic bald headed man with a beard and three stars on his collars, General Chizum (Bates Wilder),chases three determined individuals on a seemingly never ending quest once they break out of his prison camp. Abel (Stephen Luke of "War Pigs"),Ellie (Jordan McFadden),and Tom Dixie (Gary Graham) spend most of their time on the lam from Chizum's grimy henchmen. The action starts out on foot and then after an uneventful hour it hits the road with a pathetic excuse of an automotive chase. The widescreen lensing doesn't add any majesty to the story. The action choreography is abysmal. Land mines seem to be the chief obstacle in this yarn. Makes you wonder if mines were the preferred weapon against the aliens. Nothing memorable happens here until the last few minutes when a giant spaceship appears momentarily. They should have called it "Monotony of War." Rarely do I throw a DVD away, but "Dust of War" was so rotten that I refused to use it as a coaster!

The film opens with narration, not by Tony Todd, the best man for it. It seems the world has gone Mad Max because of an alien invasion. A girl is born who has a secret and she must be protected...and is not told the secret. Abel (Steven Luke) who is mostly mute during this film is tasked with her rescue, now that she is an adult (Jordan McFadden) and is being held by the evil General Chizum (Bates Wilder).

Most of the film is them getting away and the General and his men following.

The soundtrack was fairly lame. The General had a ridiculous glass eye. The alien appears twice in the film (once dead) and speaks a combination of Jabba and Predator looking like something out of one of the newer Star Wars...which were the earlier episodes.

There is a Native American tracker who does so by eating dirt. In one scene they say "we must follow on foot" only later to show up with a fleet of vehicles. In one scene Ellie our hero has a clean, well made up face and is told she needs a bath because she smells. In the subsequent bathing scene her face is suddenly dirty and bloody. Too low budget for a reshoot and like Ed Wood would say, "Who will notice?"

When we do discover the secret of the girl, in the closing seconds of the film, I had to just say, "Huh?" "What did I miss?"

Parental Guide: No f-bombs or sex. Brief magazine nudity. Attempted rape. Killing, torture, and blood.

I found the movie way better than the reviews say, and way better than I was expecting.

I hope there is a second helping of this, because I'm dying to see what happens.