Final Encounter (2000)
Review by Doc Ezra
Film:
DVD:

Written by David March Douglas & Christopher Salazar
Directed by David & Tim Douglas
Starring Dean Cain, Thomas Ian Griffith, Justin Whalin, Jodi Bianca Wise, Trae Thomas, Michelle Krusiec, and Stephen Ramsey

Rating: R

Anamorphic: Yes

My advice: Steer well clear. And if Justin Whalin’s reading this: Fire your agent.

In the far future, a pair of corporations establish colonies on a distant planet, far from war-torn Earth. Then, they promptly set about fighting each other. And continued doing so for a century. In the process, pretty much everybody of adult age has been wiped out, leaving a fighting force that gets younger and younger by the year.

Led by a general barely out of his teens (Cain), the army of Becca faces a losing battle with their rivals in Obsidian. Torn from within by deserters and rebels, the odds of victory have dwindled to nothingness. In response, the general has formulated a daring plan – a small team of soldiers will infiltrate Obsidian’s capital city, and detonate a powerful EMP device, bringing the Obsidian’s production and communications to their knees. This final masterstroke should guarantee victory, and put an end to a hundred years of war.

The team consists of a couple of grunts (Whalin and Thomas) and a pair of “witches” (Wise, Krusiec), who are essentially hackers with the ability to project “hard light” holograms to fight enemies in the real world as well as the digital realm. Led by their fearless (and somewhat fanatical) general, the group also acquires a salty veteran (Griffith) that can lead them through enemy territory to the heart of Obsidian.

Despite a somewhat promising premise, the movie can’t deliver. Some of this is a product of the acting (or lack thereof) from the leads. While Cain is spot-on with his slightly unhinged dictator, and Whalin does admirably as the fresh-faced rookie just beginning to question his fearless leader, nobody else manages to hold up their end of the bargain. Griffith is just phoning in the seasoned cynic vet bit, and the “witches” are either coming off flat or radically over-acting for the entire picture. With Whalin stuck in another stinker following the ill-fated D&D movie, he’s rapidly on his way to joining Eric Roberts in direct-to-video hell.

The story of the film’s production--involving sneaking on to lots to make use of facilities, producing in Eastern Europe for financial reasons, and managing some quality CGI work despite a nearly non-existent budget--is a lot more fascinating than the film itself. But alas, you’ll have to go poking around online to find said story, as nobody thought to include it on the DVD. Other than a nice anamorphic transfer and good sound, there’s nothing whatsoever on the disc. I think a golden opportunity to create interest was lost by not talking about the production in a featurette or sitting the director down for a commentary track.

Pass this one up. It’s an interesting premise hamstrung by mediocre writing and bad acting. While it could have been redeemed for film-making buffs by a decent discussion of the various trials faced by the crew in getting this one off the ground, the lack of any features eliminates even that limited potential from the package.