Dark Angel (1990)

The Worst Film Ever

Good concept, poorly executed.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

This project was initially titled "Lethal Contact" (as it was first written in 1984 as a spec script by Jonathan Tydor). A rewrite of the script was penned by writer/director David Koepp ("Jurassic park" , "Spiderman"). The production, filming and international title is "Dark Angel", and was released as such worldwide, before it was changed to "I Come in Peace" for the late U.S. release, because of two other existing movies entitled "The Dark Angel". The movie was released in 1990 , but it was made in 1988. This explains why it has 80's feel all over it. The cars , haircuts , clothes, music and special effects are all pure 80's , but don't worry. This movie had a 7 mln $ budget and it has dated really well. The production values are more than OK and there is some nice stunt work and decent special effects here. "Dark angel" is a good proof that practical effects are more timeless than CGI effects.At it's heart "Dark angel" is a buddy cop movie with a little bit of "Terminator" and "Predator" thrown in. Actually it makes me wonder was this movie some sort of inspiration for "Predator 2" ? Anyway , it's better than "Predator 2". This movie probably wouldn't have been made today , because people would say it's too cheesy. Is it cheesy ? Yes , but it's unpretentious and harmless fun. It's also NOT a brainless fun . There is some invention here -(CD disc as a weapon , aliens and drugs). "DA" is also pretty self aware of what kind of movie it is and through the whole movie you can feel a slight auto-parody feel to it ( The "White boys" gang ). Dolph Lundgren does a admirable job as the main hero making "Dirty Harry" Cain a easy to like character. Brian Benben is also good as his sidekick - Mister "everything by the book". The chemistry between them works well. Matthias Hues is quite memorable and intimidating as the villain. I also liked the actor who plays the wacky scientist and Betsy Brantley as the love interest.The dialogues and one liners might be the best thing about this movie . They very funny and very quotable : "It's like setting your radio dial to K-I-L-L!" , " I come in peace - And you go back in pieces" and few more. The script is blessed with some witty one-liners.In terms of action this movie also doesn't disappoints. It might be a movie with the largest number of exploding cars ever. There are also shootouts , some fights. Action fans shouldn't worry. The music by Jan Hammer ("Miami vice") is cool and catchy. The songs are cheesy , but fun. I like especially the song "Touch me tonight" by Shooting stars. It's fun , trashy , unpretentious action sci-fi movie . It's not something to put on the "The best science fiction movies ever" list , but the light, comic book style action is a good way to relax after hard day in work. I've heard it's a cult movie in some places and it's not really hard to understand why. A very likeable small movie and one of Lundgren's best. I give it 5/10.

For a Dolph Lundgren fan like me is I Come in Peace aka...Dark Angel (1990) Dolph's best action science fiction bad-ass flick! I grew up watching this film as a kid when I was 9. years old. Recently re watching this flick online Is still love it today. However, neither DVD nor Blu-ray disk for this film has been released in my country. I can't get it so I have downloaded from net. Dolph Lundgren did a lot of direct to video action movies that I haven't seen them yet, but I Come in Peace and Showdown in Little Tokyo are his best films he ever worked on them. I love this flick to death, I love it, it is my number 1 favorite film of Dolph Lundgren that I can always enjoy. I absolutely enjoy Jan Hammer music theme score, I absolutely love the soundtrack for this film Touch Me Tonight by Shooting Star I have a blast watching this bad-ass flick from the 90's.I come in peace...And you go in pieces, asshole! The title of the film I Come In Peace was released in the United States and it was released as Dark Angel in other territories including Europe. This flick was released in 1990 the same year the following flicks were released that year those are: Predator 2, Marked for Death and Total Recall, from Danny Glover, Steven Seagal and Arnold Schwarzenegger. I saw the trailer of Dark Angel on VHS tape- Total Recall when I was watching it and I absolutely loved this flick, it was my wish to see this movie. 1st science fiction film from 1990 about criminals being picked off by an extra terrestrial, which the main character, a policeman's partner is also killed, with "Predator 2" (which was produced months later). I Come In Peace and Predator 2 are actually similar movies but if I would had to choose between those two films I would definitely pick Predator 2 over this. Why? because Danny Glover is more bad ass than Dolph Lundgren is in here and Predator is more evil brilliant cruel villain than Bad Alien (Matthias Hues) is.Plot: Dolph Lundgren as Jack Caine, a Houston police detective who teams with an ambitious FBI agent when they discover the killer they are chasing is an alien who has come to Earth to extract chemicals from humans in order to produce a powerful drug.This action flick is about an alien drug lord that has arrived on earth, humans represent ideal drug factories of our endorphin's. To detective Jack Cain (Dolph Lundgren) the alien represents mankind's worst threat. If the alien's mission succeeds, our planet will be destroyed. Together with his straight-arrow FBI partner (Brian Benben) and his girlfriend, the city coroner (Betsy Brantley), Cain is going to send this alien home in pieces! I Come in Peace is not only a sci-fi action flick it is also a horror flick, like how Bad Alien is killing people to get endorphin's to creating a powerful drug. He throws disc killing criminals and he even thrusts a wire into people's chest killing them. He takes a knife out of his hand and he stabs people in the head, the one he feed on.There are a lot of scenes that I love in this film: small-time crooks enter a liquor store to rob it, Jack uses his martial art skill on one of the robbers, he shots the other in the head. Jack enters Warren bad guy's building him self, he uses his martial arts beating some bad guys. Jack kick's bad alien onto a broken tube. The car chase with a stolen police car is awesome and a bad-ass! Matthias Hues did an outstanding performance as the bad guy, I heard he is a really nice guy in real life, unlike his characters he was playing. I also love Brian Benben as Agent Smith FBI, he is such an underrated actor I wish he would be in more action films this days. Special Agent Smith (Brian Benben) pulls out what appears to be a customized Dan Wesson VH-15 fitted with a scope brilliant!Overall: I am giving a 10 to this flick, I only have a problem that Jack has a girlfriend in this film and a second partner helping him battle bad alien. Jack doesn't need sidekicks that is way I love Predator 2 more than I Come in peace. I Come in Peace (originally produced and released internationally as Dark Angel) is a 1990 American science fiction action film directed by Craig R. Baxley, and starring Dolph Lundgren, Brian Benben, Betsy Brantley and Matthias Hues. The film was released in the United States on September 28, 1990. The film is about a rule-breaking vice cop who becomes involved in the investigation of mysterious drug-related murders on the streets of Houston, Texas.10/10 Grade: Bad Ass Seal Of Approval Studio: Vision International Vision PDG, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Starring: Dolph Lundgren, Brian Benben, Betsy Brantley, Matthias Hues, Jay Bilas, Jim Haynie, David Ackroyd, Sherman Howard, Sam Anderson, Alex Morris Director: Craig R. Baxley Producers: Jeff Young, Jon Turtle, Rafael Eisenman Screenplay: Jonathan Tydor David Koepp Rated: R Running Time: 1 Hr. 31 Mins. Budget: $7.000.000 Box Office: $4,348,368

What on earth is going on with the film title here I dunno but I prefer 'Dark Angel' for sure. Anyways this was Matthias Hues big flick for which he is most remembered for, which isn't much to shout about.Very silly sci-fi flick about an alien drug dealer sucking endorphins out of human brains to sell all over the galaxy. Its very hokey even for its time and without Lundgren would be total B-movie schlock. Even with Lundgren its still pretty poor with bad effects, terrible acting and only a few impressive car stunts to hand. I mean really...how can you take this remotely seriously with a gang of thugs called 'The White Boys' that are all dressed in suits and look like killer yuppies.Its a classic dumb sci-fi B-movie for sure but I just didn't really like it that much. Benben was constantly annoying and the whole film was trying way too hard with the obvious mismatched buddy cop/hero duo squabbling with each other setup. All this did was come across as boring clichéd unoriginal and resulting in some majorly lame forced humour.4/10

It could have been just a drug-related cop thriller where "the bad guy" could have possessed much of the appearance and skills he used as an alien; the sci-fi addition gives some awkward undertone as there were no state-of-the-art technical solutions available in the end of 1980ies. The plot is OK (with several influences from Terminator, though) and the cast beginning with Dolph Lundgren (Houston cop Jack Caine) and Matthias Hues (extra-terrestrial drug dealer Talec) get the most out of it. The ending is a bit trivial and abrupt, but does not spoil the overall picture. If you like movies with Lundgren, you will know what to expect and you will hardly be disappointed, although it is not among the best ones.