Highly Overrated But Still Good

Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

If you're watching this for Landau, Palance, or Caruso, you will be sorely disappointed in most of the movie. I suggest skipping almost the entire thing and watching the last 10 minutes. Otherwise you will be subjected to cliche after cliche until you can't stand it anymore. Honestly, everything worth seeing is in the last 10 minutes. You get Palance and Landau playing over-the-top crazy like only they can, Palance actually saying intelligent things in a movie filled with nonsense, you get to see the only scenes with the actual alien in them, and you see the payoff, which is also cliche and isn't worth suffering through the whole thing. Since this is Caruso's first movie, he's early fodder and doesn't have much of a part. Most of the movie follows two young actors in a performance that is torture to sit through. The script doesn't help. If you insist on watching this in its entirety, I suggest doing it while drunk. Good luck.

"Without Warning" is one of those movies that actually predates a far more popular movie (Predator) that has the same plot synopsis on a lesser scale; it also has the same actor that plays both antagonists. The idea here is that hunting for sport is not unique to humans, in fact an alien thinks that humans are the ultimate sport to hunt due to the fact they are at the top of the food chain. The way in which he hunts involves a starfish like weapon that makes a squeaking (think mice) effect while it flies through the air; once it latches onto a victim, teeth on it's underside dig into the prey; however, to keep things from going awry it also has tentacles spawn from each digit and then embed themselves into the victim's skin.This in itself makes an interesting plot for a horror movie, but it also needs some characters (read: victims) that are hunted down in slasher-esque fashion. Each character has something a bit different as a tangent to add to the film – a father and son on a hunting expedition, a boyscout troop out in the wilderness, some teenagers on a trip for fun, a group enjoying themselves at a bar, and then a gas station attendant that likes to hunt. As a rule of thumb, almost all of the characters have one thing in common – something to do with the wilderness. One character though, manages to have a few things such as PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) flare up during the whole scenario and he takes matters into his own hands.The movie's effects are often unique when they are used; as is the alien costume. We never get to see the alien for most of the movie; he makes one brief cameo in the opening where we barely see him, and then he finally makes his debut towards the end. What we do see is from the alien's point of view – slowly prowling through the wilderness for his next victim, or while he stalks his prey. His starfish weapons do not exactly look believable and the special effects used while their tentacles embed themselves will look completely fake. The alien costume also looks severely out of place in this movie, but it does get the point across. The characters are also a bit on the spooked side, but if that is the case then the movie does it quite well. Things look a bit out of place in the movie, but that could be because the movie was made in 1980 and is nearly approaching its 40th year anniversary.What the movie does do well is the air of suspense and anticipation. As we see an unknown enemy slowly prowling, it does give a sense of what is to come. The fact we never see it until later, yet we get to see its weapons, means there is a foe in the midst that is far smarter than what it is hunting. The characters are all out to have a good time until things go awry, but they don't resort to yelling at each other in as much as some movies rely on this facet solely. But the movies real claim to fame is a specific scene inside of an abandoned house. The problem is, I cannot give this scene away without ruining it and perhaps one of the best parts of the movie – but you will know when you see it.I highly recommend this movie; it is the predecessor to "Predator". While it doesn't have all of the better stuff of the latter movie, it shows just how far movies came in that time and what they had to work with for the era. Please take much of the effects with a grain of salt and an open mind, it will make them easier to bear.Originally posted to Orion Age (http://www.orionphysics.com/? p=10438)

Was anticipating worse judging from the mixed to negative reviews seen for this film, while it didn't completely grab me it didn't make me mad either. Basically it is a mildly entertaining and harmless diversion, no more, no less.The performances of Jack Palance and Martin Landau have garnered mixed views, some viewers finding them a lot of fun and others feeling that they over-acted. This viewer is of the opinion that they were a lot of fun to watch and were by far the most involved actors in the cast. The overacting complaints are understandable in the case of Landau who admittedly is over-the-top and not all his scenes add to the film as effectively as they could have done, but because his character is meant to be deranged and that Landau succeeds very well at making Sarge gloriously unhinged the over-the-top-ness is forgivable. Palance is wonderfully cranky and brings a curmudgeonly charm to his eccentric role whenever he appears, and actually for late career Palance it's not that hammy, with the exception of the ALIEN line at the end.As for other virtues, Tarah Nutter does a credible job in the female lead role, of the younger cast she is the only one to have any material with any real meat to it, due to being on screen the longest of them, and to really convince. Kevin Peter Hall is a cool-looking and subtly terrifying alien, definitely making a good impression with his little (which was wisely limited, any more and it would have taken some of the mystery away) screen time. There are some fun and creepy moments, the climax is fun if also somewhat illogical and the flying discs do provide an unsettlingly creepy effect, on first viewing Greg's death was nightmare inducing and the scene with the boy scouts still has shock value. Greydon Clark wisely doesn't take things too seriously, while making sure that the fun and creepiness is a good mix and doesn't overshadow the other, while not entirely succeeding in making them run consistently throughout the film.Quality of the effects , the look of the film and script are mixed. The flying discs look good on their victims and have a real gory effect but look rather cheap journeying to them. Without Warning is slickly filmed with some atmosphere in the lighting, though the sets are limited, some exteriors are lit too darkly and a few of the shots in the middle third go on for too long inexplicably, seeming to only do that for padding purposes. With the script, Palance has all the best lines, there is a nice knowing tongue-in-cheek humour and Landau's dialogue at the end is delightfully kooky and while it lacks character motivation logic (and it's easy to mistake it for an all too easy way to get killed) it fits with Sarge's state of mind, but the dialogue elsewhere for almost all the younger cast is very awkward, with some clunky gaps, and confused stuff delivered stiffly.Of the younger cast, only Nutter convinces, everybody else has very little to do and come and go (some going quicker than when they were introduced) and they are all rather stiff. Ralph Meeker, Cameron Mitchell and Neville Brand are not bad in their roles but have nothing to do, and Larry Storch is rather irritating here. Character development is sketchy at best, only Palance and Landau have any development. Without Warning deserves credit for having an original premise, but more could have been done with it. It entertains certainly and is fun, suspenseful and creepy but those factors don't come consistently and too much of the story is padded out (to make up for that not a lot happens here and to sustain the somewhat too long running time), a little on the predictable side and there is a lack of logic in places (mainly in the behaviour of the characters). Pacing is also a real issue, with too many dull stretches, especially in the transition from the middle act to the last which is an almost endless drag, and would have benefited from less of the long shots and a couple of Landau's scenes (some like in the car going on for too long and not bringing an awful lot to the story, feeling more like padding than anything else) being trimmed down or excised, which would have made the film fifteen minutes shorter perhaps.In conclusion, mildly entertaining and a harmless diversion, that didn't leave me either completely riveted or angry, but it is a bit dull and more definitely could have been done with the premise. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Rubber headed aliens, flying disks of death, and a bunch of kids camping in the woods — what else could you ask for from a drive-in sci-fi flick? "Without Warning" is one of the goofier alien horror films to slip through the cracks of mass celluloid, but it's an earnest effort that deserves a look from genre fans. The film is remarkably low budget, though the sophistication with which many of the alien sequences is pulled off is impressive. Several sequences in the film come to mind, specifically with the group of boy scouts, but the shock value of these sequences is surprising when considering the production values and the film's cultural context in relation to the science fiction and alien predators of today.Speaking of, the film does premeditate the Schwarzenegger classic, though tonally as well as in a multitude of other ways, they are very different films. One of the greatest things "Without Warning" benefits from is the moody photography of its desolate locations. The emptiness and sinister solitude of the California desert is extremely well captured, and supplements the film in that it supplies a sense of dread and discomfort that is still prevalent amongst the hokeyness of the alien getups. Another point of interest is the number of Hollywood leading men who make appearances in the film as old men, including Ralph Meeker, Martin Landau, Jack Palance, and Cameron Mitchell.Overall, "Without Warning" is strictly a film for a very specific audience. If you can't deal with aliens who look like this year's trick-or-treaters, then you're likely going to write off the entire thing as absolutely silly, and I suppose it is. That said, if you can suspend disbelief and roll with the eighties vibe, there are some genuinely creepy elements to the film and surprisingly slick special effects given the shoestring budget. 7/10.