Product Description

WHEN THE CREW OF A CRIPPLED TUGBOAT DISCOVERS A DESERTED, HI-TECH RUSSIAN MILITARY SHIP, THEY ALSO FIND A FEROCIOUS ALIEN ELECTRICAL LIFE FORM WAITING INSIDE, A BLOODTHIRSTY ENTITY, LEARNING FAST HOW TO DESTROY THE VIRUS KNOWN AS MAN.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24620 in DVD
• Brand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA)
• Released on: 1999-07-20
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 100 minutes

Amazon.com
In this fast-paced, sci-fi/horror shoot-'em-up based on the Dark Horse comic book, Jamie Lee Curtis plays the navigator of an ocean-going tug. When a typhoon cripples their boat, the crew sails into the eye of the storm, where they discover a high-tech Russian communications and research vessel adrift. Only one Russian crewmember is still alive, raving about "intelligent lightning." They soon discover that an alien life form has taken over the ship's computers and is churning out biomechanical warriors. With their own boat destroyed, the crew must battle the creature as the ship reenters the storm. If the basic story and characters all sound familiar, it may not surprise you that producer Gale Anne Hurd's other films include The Terminator and Aliens. This movie and its derivative screenplay aren't nearly as good as those were, and director John Bruno (who won an Oscar for best visual effects for The Abyss) seems more skilled at action choreography and special effects than character and story. Curtis plays another variation on her "scream queen" persona, while Donald Sutherland gives a deliciously hammy performance as the tug captain (in his words, "the dominant life form") who smells salvage money if he can claim the Russian ship for his own. For all the picture's flaws, the effects are good (and gory) and it moves at top speed for a brisk 100 minutes. A trivia factoid: at one point on this troubled production, film footage was seized at the airport because the shipping box was prominently marked with the film's title! --Geof Miller

Customer Reviews

Swiss cheese has fewer holes than this story
This has got to be THE worst movie I have ever seen, with the exception of Hardware.

In no particular order, here is what stood out to me about the sheer stupidity of the story: The russian woman who managed to stay alive for a week after the ship was initially taken over: She managed to cut off the power to the alien, so why didn't she destroy the computer it was inhabiting?

The crew: They allow themselves to be sent through a typhoon by a clearly unstable captain.

No background: Who are these people? The navigator (Jamie Lee) is ex-navy we learn thru a picture in the background. One guy is ex-navy also apparently. He mentions being a Ordnance Specialist at one point. So whats he doing on the crew? Apparently being a Ordnance Specialist makes one a mechanical genius capable of creating an escape device out of a rocket and spare parts.

Everytime the crew are attacked by a "monster" they attempt to shoot it dead even though it has no substantial body. Its also established early that the way it is kept under control of the alien entity is by a mass of cables dragging behind the "monster". So why not chop the cables? Would that be TOO easy?

The high point of the movie? The ending credits.

Virus can be fun!
Virus may seem like a god-awful movie at first, but with just a little work, you can make it surprisingly tolerable. Upon renting Virus, I decided to make it a little more interesting by playing a little drinking game. The game had the following rules (all based on the contents of the movie, incidentally):

1.) Every time the music swells for no reason whatsoever to heighten the "spooky" atmosphere -- take a drink.

2.) Every time Jamie Lee Curtis (she has a job on a boat -- and she's a WOMAN!) has an in-your-face confrontation with a male authority figure -- take a drink.

3.) Every time Jamie Lee Curtis is rescued by a male authority figure -- take a drink.

4.) Every scene Jamie Lee Curtis stops talking and starts screaming -- take a drink.

5.) Every time they pull the old "cat trick" (OH NO LOOK OUT BALDWIN CLONE -- oh, whew, it's just the cat!) -- take a drink.

6.) Every time the token Macho Black Guy says something macho ("I'm gonna mess you up, giant robot sucka") -- take a drink.

7.) Every time someone yells "It's gonna blow!" -- take a drink.

8.) Every time a rock-stupid supporting character hears a mysterious sound from an air vent and responds by sticking his damn hand in there -- take a drink.

9.) Every time a rock-stupid supporting character gets himself killed by attempting the previous, or something similar, or just because it's been ten minutes and no extras have died yet -- take a drink.

10.) Every time the characters enter a room full of billowing smoke, flashing lights, and random sparks (man, who hired the electrician for all these abandoned starships and boats, anyway?) -- take a drink.

Yes, Virus is an offensive mishmash of cliches, pounded sternly into something resembling a script, and filmed -- evidently in great haste -- for your viewing pleasure. If you like monster movies, Virus does have one thing going for it, and that's a pretty impressive Giant Robot Thing at the end. But the rest is swill. Trite, recycled, boring, warmed-over swill. You've seen this movie so many times you can probably -- oh, let's say -- make a drinking game based on it, without seeing the movie first -- and be right about almost all of it. Try not to watch it sober if you can help it at all. Incidentally, the movie does contain all these moments, in spades -- so play this game while watching Virus and your entertainment is practically guaranteed. Otherwise, you're on your own.

Choose another movie
I HAVE to say this was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Spend your money somewhere else.