Bugs (2003) Reviews

• Bugs is an Alien franchise wannabe - so bad its almost comical; in a teeth-pulling satirical way

  siit2006-02-17

  Seriously folks, if this movie was touted and marketed as a tongue in cheek satire of the 'Alien' franchise and they amended the movie so ever slightly - it would be hilarious. However, the producers; God love 'em, tried in vain for a serious horror sci-fi and failed in monumental proportions. Where do we start?? Nasty supposedly dormant 65 million year old bugs come to life in a subway. A terrible explanation of why the construction crew did not get attacked ... well leave that alone and utterly suspend disbelief... and not for the first time!! It is so obvious that the this movie was influenced extremely heavy by the 'Alien' franchise, and throw in a bit of 'Mimic' for good measure.. so the similarities?? (1) Aliens had the colonial Marines, Bugs have the S.W.A.T. (2) The S.W.A.T. mirror the Marines counterparts as well- Hudson, Hicks, Vasquez, Drake et al (3) Virtual copy of dialogue, death scenes - but VERY poorly done. (4) Alien; drones and Queen... yep same for Bugs. (5) Same corporate bad guy putting spanner in works... meets same demise!! (6) Ripley wannabee in the shape of C.D.C lady. (7) Poor attempt at copying the cinematography from 'Alien3' for Bugs sight. (8) Bug sounds, death knells, disintegration shots VERY similar to 'Aliens' (9) 'Can't afford to let even one of those...' and... the pièce de résistance .. and I wish I was joking (10) 'Aliens'; Ripley takes on the Queen with that way cool Loader... 'Bugs'; Takes on the Queen with, I kid you not, a fork lift!! Seriously, 'IF' for some extraordinarily torturous reason you wish to actively seek this movie out to view it, approach it as a violent satirical comedy/parody of 'Alien'. Even though I could safely disclose the ending of Bugs due to 'Contains Spoilers'... I can't. Let's just say that the writers/producers/director have no idea what constitutes a proved and successful ending to a horror movie. You have been warned... *grins*

• Better than most

  bruceleroy2004-03-06

  Most of SCI-FI channels movies are throwaway affairs, but Bugs is a large step above. Sure, the acting and writing are marginal, but who watches horror films for that??? All you want to know is: are there good special effects? (yes) is there a good amount of gore? (yes) and is there a good amount of action? (yes) The plot never gets bogged down with stupid character development or love stories and jumps into the action quickly, rarely stopping, and is frankly as satisfying as big budget, small minded feature films like Mimic, especially since you're not paying for it. A solid Saturday afternoon diversion. Much better than SCI-FI's similar films about giant killer snakes/spiders/cats/frogs/marmots.

• "Just because you've never seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist." Decent 'creatuire feature', one of the better examples in fact.

  poolandrews2006-01-21

  Bugs starts with a cop (Xuan Fraser) chasing a suspect into subway tunnel construction site, once inside the cop is killed by something nasty lurking in the shadows... FBI agent Matt Pollack (Antonio Sabato Jr.) is called in when the cops limbless torso is discovered & is thought to be the work of a serial killer whom Pollack is after. Pollack disagrees but stays on the case when he finds some strange slime on the body, it is sent to entomologist Emily Foster (Angie Everhart) who confirms the substance is insect enzyme & she has never seen anything like it before. Meanwhile the half completed subway tunnel is hosting a VIP party on a train when the guests are attacked & slaughtered by large scorpion type insects that have been awoke from they're centuries long hibernation by the construction. Word of the massacre gets to Pollack & Foster who call in a special marine unit lead by officer Benton (Duane Murray) to prevent whatever's lurking down there from making it out... This Canadian production was directed by Joseph Conti & I personally thought Bugs was a throughly entertaining & harmless way to pass 80 odd minutes (it states on the IMDb that with commercials it runs 120! Talk about ruining the pacing & flow of a film! But not the version I saw thankfully...). The script by Robinson Young, Patrick Doody & Chris Valenziano is at heart a pretty clichéd creature feature but I think one of the better ones that I have seen. Bugs has a conveyor belt script, the monster threat that become intelligent when the story needs them to be, the isolated location, the race against time, the hero, the scientist, the marines with big guns, the corrupt corporate official & the disposable creature food. Having said that the clichés aren't as annoying as usual, it moves along at a really nice pace has surprising amounts of gore, decent CGI & puppet creature effects, a neat underground subway location & has a good feel to it. One thing I did notice is how much it rips-off or pay homage, whichever way you want to look at it I suppose, to the film Aliens (1986) which in itself isn't a bad thing because every sci-fi horror lover knows how great Aliens is. I mean the marines sent into the creatures nest & their extermination relayed back via a video link & radio, the retreat from the nest to the safety of a getaway vehicle with the creatures in hot pursuit, the forming of barricades, the character's, one problem cropping up after another one being caused by an explosion, lots of dark tunnels & corridors, the strong female & male heroes, the fight with the queen at the end & just the overall feel of Bugs resembles Aliens very closely. Director Conti does an OK job & it is certainly better than it's made for TV status would have suggested, it isn't the best film ever but I think Bugs is far from the worst. The creatures themselves look like a cross between a scorpion & spider & are pretty cool, Conti wisely keeps them in the shadows & flickering lights to maintain their creepiness & try to hide any deficiencies in the CGI which I thought was actually rather good. There are pleasing amounts of gore, the cop at the beginning is impaled & his limbless torso is found & medically examined, there are severed arms, sliced throats & Conti doesn't forget about the red stuff either as every attack seems to feature fountains of blood spraying everywhere which is by no means a bad thing. Technically the Bugs is very good considering the TV budget limitations, it's somewhat bland & forgettable but it's well made & doesn't embarrass itself in any department. I must mention the computer systems in Bugs as they actually look plausible & realistic for a change. The acting was OK. Bugs was a pleasant surprise, maybe I've seen so many bad 'creature feature' type films that a film like Bugs seems like a masterpiece. Hell, it's definitely better than Python (2000). I think Bugs is well worth a watch especially if you like these monster films.

• Bugs on a train

  Chase_Witherspoon2011-04-29

  A subway tunnel under construction, unearths metre-long scorpion-like bugs who awake from their centuries old hibernation with a voracious appetite for human flesh. After a police officer is all but consumed (save for the graphically depicted dismembered torso), FBI agent and eminent entomologist lead a SWAT team into the tunnel to contain and destroy the bugs, with disastrous results. Economically paced with rapid momentum and frequent thrills, this made for TV action-thriller features a high-fatality rate, gory special effects and a couple of reasonable characterisations in the supporting ranks. Antonio Sabato, Jnr and Angie Everhart while initially looking overly alarmed, manage to tone it down as the film progresses. R.H. Thomson's performance as an easy-going engineer trying to right the wrongs of his megalomaniacal boss, seems (for a while) to only be capable of doom-saying and introducing myriad obstacles to the mission. But, as the story nears its climax, Thomson redeems his somewhat shady involvement, and closes the film with an unselfish act of heroism. Constrained by the obvious made-for-TV budget, the insect special effects are sometimes hokum, but the visual effects department spares no body part in depicting gory mutilations, with enough claret spilled to run a blood bank for an eternity. Some credit must go to director Joseph Conti, who, as the credits display, seemed to have a hand in most of the executive roles. His tight, frenetically paced direction maintains a lively and energetic pace that ensures "Bugs" never labours like most of the subway cars do in the film.

• Derivative but fun creature movie

  lorenellroy2004-09-23

  There is nothing remotely original about " Bugs" but while its ingredients are familiar ones they are served with economy and speed which makes it a passable time -filler . When a new underground railtrack is built through the heart of a mountain there is a consequence undreamed off by the builders -the tunnellling awakens a horde of prehistoric giant insects akin to the scorpion .They are hungry -and no wonder for they have slept for millions of years .They attack a train and make a meal of the passengers The authorities send in a SWAT team and an expert entomologist ( who just happens to be a strikingly beautiful woman ) along with a FBI agent and a company expert to drive the rescue train . The team is attacked and its numbers depleted ,and it is left to the bug lady ,the agent and a few others to battle to safety while striving to kill the creatures and deal with the head of the rail project who is intent on covering up the whole business even if it means killing the survivors of the rescue party . The acting might politely be described as functional and the writing is basic but some adequate special effects and a brisk pace compensate and there is fun to be had spotting the references to other better known pictures as for example Alien ,Mimic and Jaws Not bad at all