Leofwine_draca
THE ARRIVAL is one of the earliest Hollywood films made to cash in on the success of THE X-FILES on TV, telling of astronomer Charlie Sheen who becomes convinced that he and he alone has detected an alien signal from deepest space. After a slightly slow introduction, the film picks up pace in its depiction of a large-scale conspiracy, an alien invasion done in a different style to most.I remember seeing and enjoying this film soon after release, even though it's only mid budget and features early CGI effects work which hasn't really stood the test of time. Something about it is endearing despite the faults; Sheen's heartfelt performance, perhaps, or the film's sense of paranoia which in some ways rivals the best this genre has to offer. The backwards legs effects still look great two decades on, and the reliable character actor Ron Silver gets to deliver a wonderfully sinister villainous performance. Don't bother with THE SECOND ARRIVAL, though, it just isn't of the same calibre.
SnoopyStyle
Ilana Green (Lindsay Crouse) examines a green field in the middle of the frozen Arctic. Her research is being blocked but she discovers a rapid climate change underway. Zane Zaminsky (Charlie Sheen) and Calvin (Richard Schiff) working a radio telescope discover a signal from 14.6 light years away. It goes away before confirmation. Their NASA JPL boss Phil Gordian (Ron Silver) cuts the program claiming budget cuts. Then he destroys the data and blackballs Zane. The only job he can get is installing TV satellites. His marriage to Char (Teri Polo) is under stress. Using satellite dishes, he creates a personal radio telescope to search for the signal with the help of nosy neighbor kid Kiki. Both Green and Zaminsky zero in on a Mexican location.This is a nice paranoid conspiracy alien invasion movie. I like Sheen's side of the story. I doubt that both investigations would lead to the exact same place. Climate science isn't that precise. As for assassination attempts, crushed by a bathtub is one of the most unusual and laughable. It seems so much easier and more common to simply shoot them. However, I do really like the black hole metallic spheres.After a really good first half, the movie starts to run into problems. It's still pretty good. David Twohy is most notable for the Riddick franchise. He needs to simplify the second half and ramp up the action. It tries to be too cute with the story. The movie needs to end in Mexico or else there is an obvious simpler way for Zane to expose the conspiracy.
The_Film_Cricket
I ask two things of alien invasion movies: 1.) Give us a good reason that the aliens are here and 2.) If their intentions are hostile give us an interesting method of how they plan to take us over. I am happy to say that 'The Arrival' succeeds at both.The movie stars Charlie Sheen as Zane a radio astronomer fearlessly listening the for the all-important voices from outer space. He is one of those science and computer experts that know how to set up an entire galactic tracking system in his house.He hits upon the information that aliens will take over our planet, not by destroying our environment but by helping finish what we have already started. Zane's investigation takes him deep inside their operation and to the big boss himself whose identity I will not reveal.This movie is smart. It isn't for the easily amused but rather for those seeking something a little different. There are no two more disreputable genres then horror and sci-fi so I look for new and different approaches in both. I liked the added touches in 'The Arrival'. There is a scene where a woman is getting ready for bed and doesn't know that there are scorpions all over the room. We know it and the scene builds a kind of fun terror. It wasn't necessary but I appreciated it.Like another great, underrated film of this genre, 'Body Snatchers' by Abel Ferrara, the movie argues that the aliens will take us over slowly, right under our noses. I like the way that the movie uses Global Warming as their function for taking over. That shows that writer/director David Twohy was thinking. He isn't content to just throw out special effects and fist fights. He wants to make a movie to entertain but he has good ideas and sees them through to the end.
AaronCapenBanner
Charlie Sheen plays Zane, a radio astronomer who accidentally discovers an alien signal from space, that also has origins on Earth. When he tries to tell his boss(Ron Silver, very good) he downplays and denies the importance of the find. Zane then finds out he has been fired, and the tape he gave to his boss disappears, so now very suspicious, he undertakes his own investigation, which leads him to an alarming truth about aliens who are indeed very much among us...Well written and directed by David Twohy, this science fiction film is a pleasant surprise, and Charlie Sheen is appealing and believable as the man determined to find the truth, and warn the world; sounds like a certain FBI agent from "The X-Files"...
AD
