Roswell: The Aliens Attack (1999)

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

I have to admit that the title for this 1990s TV movie is pretty cool and it sets up a situation which never actually arises. Instead, the narrative of this film sees a couple of aliens escape from Roswell. They disguise themselves as humans - one male, one female - and split up, going on different routes. The female is determined to destroy the planet while the male ends up falling in love with an Earthling and becoming a father figure to her child.It's all very cheesy and low rent, focusing on romantic situations rather than the alien combat stuff you'd hope for. It doesn't help that the cast is universally poor, particularly from the stiff guy playing the male alien, and a lot of it feels twee and rather schmaltzy. The script is very much by the book, and there are few scenes of genuine incident or special effects to make this resemble a science fiction movie in any way, shape, or form. Instead it's a bore of a film, and one to be avoided in all instances.

The best aspect of Roswell: The Aliens Attack is Kate Greenhouse, she is very good in her role and is beautiful to boot. The supporting roles of Brent Stait, Sean McCann and Donnelly Rhodes are also well taken. Not all the acting is as successful. Steven Flynn plays a character that is too nice and somewhat too compassionate and is unconvincing even doing that, he is very stiff throughout with a very limited emotional range. Heather Hanson is not helped by a character that is so vapid that it borders on absurdity, but while she is good doing sultry and seductive that's all she's good at seemingly. Visually it is not exactly amateurish but there's never really much that comes across as interesting, and we got the message very quickly that Kate Greenhouse was a beauty, we didn't need as many shots and close-ups as we did. The special effects are wisely used sparsely but that seemed to be an excuse to not put effort into constructing them at the same time. The soundtrack tended to be on the heavy and pedestrian side, nothing much that was memorable or subtly done. The dialogue is contrived and rather cheesy, with Heather Hanson's lines especially cringe-worthy, a lot of it is stuff that we've heard before but better incorporated and delivered, while the direction is flat in character and plodding. Narratively, Roswell: The Aliens Attack is a mess. The moral conflict is not convincing, not helped by a too-nice lead character, the tension and drama is contrived and lacking in suspense, the ending is so overly-sentimental and saccharine that it will induce toothache, and in the end all of it was predictable, ham-fisted and dull. There are some good enough ideas here, but they're never elaborated upon, such a shameful waste of good potential. The characters are not the obnoxious kind, but rather underdeveloped and devoid of personality. Overall, a very poor movie but the acting from most is quite good. 2/10 Bethany Cox

In 1947, in Roswell, New Mexico, after a collision in the sky, two alien spacecrafts, one of them intact, and two dead gray small aliens are retrieved by and stored in a military base, waiting for some experts from Washington to analyze what they might be. Meanwhile, two aliens having human appearance arrive in the military base, both of them with a mission of activating a nuclear bomb and destroy Earth planet. While increasing the power of the weapon and preparing to activate it, the alien John Deerman (Steven Flynn) meets and likes the local widow Katie Harras (Greenhouse) and her son, Sam, and decides not destroying the planet. However, the other one, the sexy Eve (Heather Hanson), keeps resolute in the original plan of blowing up the planet. "Roswell: The Aliens Attack" is not a masterpiece or a movie to be nominated to an Oscar. Although using elements of many sci-fi stories, mainly the romance of "Starman", it is a good film. There are flaws in the story, but it is also very attractive and in the end it is a good entertainment. I believe that real fans of this genre will not be disappointed. There are some unfair reviews in IMDb. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Roswell: Ataque Alienígena" ("Roswell: Alien Attack")

Reporting from the Land of Area 51. This movie ticked me off. Despite the Geez-not-another-Roswell-movie, based on the subtitle "The Aliens Attack", I broke out a beer and was all set to watch BEMs (Bug Eyed Monsters) depopulate the earth. Instead there were only two dead "geys", two humanoids, little action and a trite countdown scene.The early dialogue blew it for me when the alien craft was referred to as a "Flying Saucer" instead of "Flying Disk", which was the term in those days. Then the alien hand-held whiz-bang device - it reminded me of a miniature of a light sold in the department stores. The kind that you put in dark closets and press the lens to turn on. Not very high-tech for people who cross space destroying planetary life forms.Buried in the lackluster script are some neat ideas that should have been expanded upon and perhaps might have saved this film. Consider these lost opportunities, which caused my disappointment:The dead "greys" are part human and part machine, designed to run the spaceship while the "human" aliens hibernate over the long trip. The autopsy scene on the base cried out for a takeoff on that bogus "Alien Autopsy" tape but the director gave it just a glancing blow.Eve, the other alien (Heather Hanson): "Some people hired us. They want the planet, but not the people." Interesting concept that is a departure from the "we want to colonize earth" gambit. WHO are the "some people"? A twist would have been to have "Them" send a alien version of Mr. Lefty and Mr. Fingers to track down the two live aliens to ask "What's takin' youse so long?" A chase within a chase to liven things up."You look just like us." Katie says upon learning her beau is an alien. "No, YOU look just like US." he replies. A great place to insert a "we are your ancestors" scene, but that concept is only mentioned as a throwaway at the end.A couple of shots make you notice the hangar where the Bomb is located - number "84". Another blown opportunity. The number should have "18" (where alien bodies were supposed to have been kept) to tie in with current conspiracy theories.Over all, the acting is surprisingly good, with the exception of John Deerman (Steven Flynn, who takes his alias from a farm tractor). His acting was mechanical and wooden and at first I thought that was the alien character he was playing - along the lines of "the emotionless alien discovers earthlike emotions and changes sides". Well, he changes sides al l right (Kate Greenhouse does that to you) but he was wooden to the end. Maybe he just had a bad day - he has a pretty good string of creditable parts. The female alien (Heather Hansen) plays a stereotyped hard-hearted partner. That being said, I would STILL chance a night with her despite what happened to the salesman (David Brown, who plays a nice lecherous part). After his departure his samples provide her with the revealing dress she sports for the rest of the movie. There's a neat scene where she decides which one to wear while he evaporates in the bathroom.The rest of the cast is very good. I don't know if it's the water or the gene pool, but Canada turns out some very fine character actors. The colonel (Sean McCann) plays a surprisinly level-headed officer - usually the military is portrayed as blithering idiots in these movies who are only saved by the clear-headed hero/heroine.Captain Phillips (Brent Stait) is suitably nasty as the security officer. You don't want to cross this guy. Donnelly Rhodes does a first rate job as the father who fears he's going to lose everything because of his daughter's infatuation with Mr. Deerman (Dearman in the credits). I keep thinking I've seen him somewhere else, and I have. Mr. Rhodes has a filmography as long as you arm in film and TV.I saved the best for last, and she is the reason I will watch this film again - Kate Greenhouse as Tyler's daughter, Katie. What a sweetheart! Typical girl-next-door, a part she's plays a lot, but hey, go with your strength. It will be a pleasure to see this actress play other less sugary roles but she is such a natural here. I think I am in love.Once you suspend belief though, it's not too bad - just go with the flow. Ignore the ridiculously easy way the aliens get on base and then wander around without too much of a challenge. The Bomb is a good copy of the "Fat Man" bomb they dropped on WWII Japan, but it is placed in hangar 84 with just one locked door between it and any bad guy. It's also placed in the center of the room and sticks out like a sore thumb. It is held by a puny chain and supported on a flimsy-looking stand, which I expected to collapse and send the Bomb rolling all over the place. It DOES eventually drop and squash the delectable but hard-as-nails Eve. In some ways I hated to see her go - her role was a nice corny counterpoint which she seemed to play with relish.If you're into ca. 1940 cars, the movie is eye candy in that respect. Whoever supplied the props did a good job - there's even an old P-51 Mustang fighter in some scenes. A nice period touch.There are enough saving graces (and shots of Kate Greenhouse) to warrant a first and perhaps a second viewing. IMHO it rates a 2 or 2 1/2 on the scale. Not the best in this overdone genre but surely not the worst.