CRUD Challenge: Final Encounter (2000)
Aug. 17th, 2025 10:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skjamFinal Encounter (2000) dir. David Douglas. aka For the Cause
It is several centuries into the future. Two human colonies have been established on an Earth-like planet to get away from the constant wars on the mother world. Alas, Brecca and Obsidian eventually turned hostile to each other for reasons now lost to history, and the war between them has been going on for 99 years. Brecca is in rough shape. Its citizens are undernourished, and the attrition among soldiers is high. The recruitment age has been repeatedly dropped, so many of the soldiers are barely in their teens. While they still have advanced computer technology, the understanding of it is limited to specialized female operatives called "witches." Morale is at an all-time low, and the Brecca army spends most of its time fighting its own deserters and separatists. It's estimated that unless the Obsidian forces are somehow neutralized, Brecca will lose the war in a matter of months.
General Murran (Dean Cain) has a plan. There's an ancient superweapon codenamed "Warhammer" that supposedly would disable Obsidian's technology if detonated in their capital city, allowing Brecca to sue for peace from a position of strength. Twenty years ago, his father had attempted to invade Obsidian in strength, only to get almost all the troops with him killed, and the previous general either died or was captured. The components of Warhammer, which had been separated for security, fell into the hands of different factions. So, the components will need to be reassembled, and someone will have to sneak into Obsidian to deliver the device.
But this time, it will need to be an elite strike team led by General Murran himself. To join him, he selects Sutherland (Justin Whalin), the most loyal and effective soldier Brecca has left; Stoner (Trae Thomas), a more cynical heavy weapons expert; Abel (Jodi Bianca Wise), Brecca's top combat witch; and Layton (Michelle Krusiec), the next best available witch. Their first action is to rescue Evans (Thomas Ian Griffith), the only man who knows how to safely get through the Wall, a lost technology barrier that prevents ground assaults on Obsidian.
As the mission continues, the team suffers losses one by one. But is this just the normal casualties of war, or something more sinister?
This low-budget science fiction action film was released straight to video. Money was saved by shooting in Bulgaria, using affordable actors and using an in-house computer effects team.
Good: The producers of the film had a background in computer graphics, so the CGI effects are pretty good for the time, and there's an in-universe reason they look unnatural. The setup of the war is interesting, and Bulgaria stands in well for the alien planet.
Less Good: The dialogue is hokey, and the acting ranges from adequate to wooden. The ending is cheesy, and a subplot involving Abel's precocious little sister just kind of fizzles out offscreen.
Funny: Cain and Whalin had previously starred together as Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen respectively in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman which added a certain weirdness to their interactions in this movie.
Content note: Lots of lethal violence. A bone is broken in an unnatural way. A child is lured by an adult in a really creepy way (she's fine.)
This is one of those movies that isn't good, but not bad in a fun way. I found it on one of those multi-film sets at the discount store, and that's about the quality. Mildly recommended if you are interested in one of the actors.
It is several centuries into the future. Two human colonies have been established on an Earth-like planet to get away from the constant wars on the mother world. Alas, Brecca and Obsidian eventually turned hostile to each other for reasons now lost to history, and the war between them has been going on for 99 years. Brecca is in rough shape. Its citizens are undernourished, and the attrition among soldiers is high. The recruitment age has been repeatedly dropped, so many of the soldiers are barely in their teens. While they still have advanced computer technology, the understanding of it is limited to specialized female operatives called "witches." Morale is at an all-time low, and the Brecca army spends most of its time fighting its own deserters and separatists. It's estimated that unless the Obsidian forces are somehow neutralized, Brecca will lose the war in a matter of months.
General Murran (Dean Cain) has a plan. There's an ancient superweapon codenamed "Warhammer" that supposedly would disable Obsidian's technology if detonated in their capital city, allowing Brecca to sue for peace from a position of strength. Twenty years ago, his father had attempted to invade Obsidian in strength, only to get almost all the troops with him killed, and the previous general either died or was captured. The components of Warhammer, which had been separated for security, fell into the hands of different factions. So, the components will need to be reassembled, and someone will have to sneak into Obsidian to deliver the device.
But this time, it will need to be an elite strike team led by General Murran himself. To join him, he selects Sutherland (Justin Whalin), the most loyal and effective soldier Brecca has left; Stoner (Trae Thomas), a more cynical heavy weapons expert; Abel (Jodi Bianca Wise), Brecca's top combat witch; and Layton (Michelle Krusiec), the next best available witch. Their first action is to rescue Evans (Thomas Ian Griffith), the only man who knows how to safely get through the Wall, a lost technology barrier that prevents ground assaults on Obsidian.
As the mission continues, the team suffers losses one by one. But is this just the normal casualties of war, or something more sinister?
This low-budget science fiction action film was released straight to video. Money was saved by shooting in Bulgaria, using affordable actors and using an in-house computer effects team.
Good: The producers of the film had a background in computer graphics, so the CGI effects are pretty good for the time, and there's an in-universe reason they look unnatural. The setup of the war is interesting, and Bulgaria stands in well for the alien planet.
Less Good: The dialogue is hokey, and the acting ranges from adequate to wooden. The ending is cheesy, and a subplot involving Abel's precocious little sister just kind of fizzles out offscreen.
Funny: Cain and Whalin had previously starred together as Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen respectively in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman which added a certain weirdness to their interactions in this movie.
Content note: Lots of lethal violence. A bone is broken in an unnatural way. A child is lured by an adult in a really creepy way (she's fine.)
This is one of those movies that isn't good, but not bad in a fun way. I found it on one of those multi-film sets at the discount store, and that's about the quality. Mildly recommended if you are interested in one of the actors.
