Groom Lake (2002)

Strong and Moving!

As Good As It Gets

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

How does veteran actor William Shatner keep a straight face? He writes, directs and stars in this bargain basement Sci-Fi flick. Just pretend this film is not that far-fetched. Kate(Amy Acker)is a young woman that knows she is dying and she wants some kind of proof that there is life somewhere in the Universe. She talks her Tom Cruise-wannabe boyfriend Andy(Dan Gauthier)into taking her to where the answer may be...the Nevada desert near the notorious Area-51 and the waterless Groom Lake site where now Commander Gossner(Shatner) conducts classified experiments with captured extraterrestrials. This is the same place that for years alien lights and spacecraft have been seen. A desert inhabited by bizarre communities of folks that are certain there is life beyond the stars. Yep...for sure. Also in the cast: Dick Van Patten, Brenda Bakke, Duane Whitaker, Tom Towles and John Prosky.

To call this movie good would be an exaggeration, but it wasn't THAT bad. Amy Acker's character was likable, and I have a fairly high tolerance for William Shatner's acting, so I made it all the way through it. The plot could have been tightened up a lot, and some jokes would have helped. This movie is worth watching if you happen to be bored, and it's free. You should only purchase it (if it's available on DVD, which I honestly don't know) if you're a completionist fan of one of the leads. The special effects were dull at best, and the mechanics overall lacked dazzle, but they really weren't distractingly bad. Mostly. In short, the film met the standard formula for a sci-fi channel Saturday night feature: take a screenplay nobody bothered to edit, add a few actors who sci-fi fans will recognize, film it as quickly as possible, and release it with a minimum amount of post-production attention. This one's a masterpiece compared to Manticore, but not quite as good as, oh, say, Darklight.

I got the fright of my life when I saw that it was directed by Shatner. Someone who has been behind the camera all his life and still manages to turn out this "worse than film school" abomination. Everything about this movie stunk to high heaven and I am amazed that it could possibly have been made. Surely Shatner could have secured budget enough to at least shoot on film stock and not freakin handicam. And the lighting hahahaha I don't know what to say.I guess it gives me hope that if I one day scrawl out a 7 word treatise of a plot about nothing I could have it made and sell it a network. Shatner you have boldly gone out of your freaking mind :) PS the only thing that kept me watching was in the hope of the cast turning around and telling me that it was all a joke.........

This is definitely one of those movies that keeps you glued to the screen in the same sense as not being able to look away from a car wreck. Just when you thought it was bad it gets worse, a lot worse. You really have to see this movie to believe how bad it really is but if you have something better to do like pick your nose, I suggest you do that instead, it won't be time wasted. The acting is wooden, there is no story, there is no proper continuity, nothing makes any sense. There is so much ham in this movie it was probably filmed at a pig farm with the pigs in costumes doubling as aliens (and most of the other actors) Spoiler - this isn't a turkey, it's a frozen TV dinner without the taste.. Well done Mr Shatner, Well Done!