Charlie Sheen Movie:

Editorial Review:
Calling this 1996 science fiction thriller "a glorified B movie," isn't a criticism. Writer-director David Twohy managed to get interesting material on the screen despite a limited budget, and the film is just believable enough to be satisfying as a tale of paranoid conspiracy. If you can ignore the hokey parts and accept Charlie Sheen as noted radio astronomer Zane Ziminski, you'll get thoroughly involved when the reception of an alien radio signal leads him to Mexico and to a huge underground power plant operated by aliens bent on the eventual takeover of Earth. Ron Silver is suitably chilling as the astronomer's boss, whose real identity is more horrifying than Ziminski ever imagined. The underground alien lair is memorably creepy, and Twohy's film is just smart enough to qualify as more than a guilty pleasure. --Jeff Shannon

The Arrival [Region 2] Reviews:
The Invasion
2008-10-04 - The THE ARRIVAL is to my mind the perfect loony space alien conspiracy flick. This film just works. It's in a space somewhere between pure camp and serious sci-fi drama.

Charlie Sheen is very entertaining and believable as a radio astronomer that discovers a strange radio signal which proves to be a first step in uncovering a big plot that is the sort of thing you hear coming from a paranoid schizophrenic in a mental institution. Or one of those weird late night radio shows that fields calls from crazy morons. "The aliens are behind it! Blah, blah, blah..." It's like they simply took some nut job's story and made it into a movie. Sheen is one of the biggest reasons why the movie works. He's so intense and on the edge... really just pitch perfect in this role. Sheen's slightly over the top performance is what keeps the movie fun and from getting too weighed down with it's own bull----. Just look at the facial expressions. Come to think of it, watching this flick I can imagine Charlie Sheen coulda had a great career as a B-movie icon kind of like Bruce Campbell. Or not. But he's great here.

the arrival
2008-08-23 - I always love this movie since, it is so difference the other movie about alien, and its been underrated since then. Although I'm only have the box set LD version, and within the period also have DVD been release, but those cannot satisfy me, it just release for the DVD market, and not for the movie, so I didn't touch one of them, and I wonder when the company will release a proper one for it, perhaps in bluray this day, since ten years was pass, and I hope they will have it soon, perhaps a 15 years anniversary version, will anyone agree with that.Although there are so many of them were underrated, and it just marketing.

Movie Review
2008-01-29 - This is an old movie with a good story line. Because I am used to seeing more fantastic and realistic special effects circa 2001 to the present, a movie made in the 20th century which would have been rated five stars, nowadays rates only 2 1/2 stars

"Arrival" of a top-notch Sci-Fi flick
2007-12-13 - "The Arrival", quite frankly, is near the very top of my most favorite Sci-Fi movies of all times (just behind Star Wars/Star Trek). I won't go into the plot... but trust me... if you like excellent special-effects, you'll find nothing disappointing... as a matter of fact, the beginning scene is a fantastic effect which takes you from a patch of grass and flowers, surrounded by snow and ice, then pulls back (out) all the way to a position in Earth's orbit in a few short seconds (very well done). The story-line is solid, believable, makes sense, and what you might expect IF the events actually were true, and well told.

If you have interests in 'global warming', this'll ring a bell... even though, the cause is fiction (we think) ; ) ... the dialog totally works... the characters all work, and work well together. There are some places for 'comic relief', which all totally fit, without over-doing it. And the pace of the film is just right... not too slow, not too fast. I'll say this... just about the time you first wonder when the sci-fi part is gonna start, it's starts... and how! The music seems to fit perfectly... I especially liked the little Myan flute/vibe piece when Zane is first in his yellow jeep rental, down in Mexico. Short... but it sets the 'feel'.

This film has some elements of a 'who done it', where the viewer is given a series of clues... but no matter how good you think you are, you absolutely will not figure out what's next. It also has what initially looks like a bit of a 'conspiracy theory' happening... and as the film progresses, you begin to realize just how massive and deep-rooted it actually is. The ending... or what you think is the ending, is a surprise, and goes right back to the conspiracy... and how good these aliens actually are.

The locations/scenes/sets/models are excellent, and a complete fit... flawless and quite impressive, especially beneath the power-plant. The distant scene of the power plant in central Mexico looks completely real... right down to the condors slowly soaring on the currents above it.

If you're like me, you really hate it when movies or TV shows don't bother with 'continuity' or double-checking facts. The film's second scene introduces the primary character (Charlie Sheen), who is a radio astronomer. Sheen does a top-notch job of acting... totally authentic and believable... and the astronomical references are right on target.

IMO, David Twohy did a fantastic job of directing. Supporting actors, Lindsay Crouse, Ron Silver, Leon Rippy, and really everyone... all contribute quite well. How this film snuck past me at the box office, I'll never know. But if you are a true Sci-Fi buff, you'll want this one in your collection... it's a film you can pull out when you have friends over, and probably none of them have ever heard of it... but they won't be disappointed (and neither will you). This is one that you could 'risk' showing to friends, without having seen it first, all will enjoy it, and you won't end up with egg on your face. It's not too heavy in the gore-N-guts department... really nothing excessively violent, so kids can probably watch. There's only one brief 'buff scene'... but it doesn't really show much. Probably more than anything else... I'd say several scenes will inspire 'awe'... like jaw-dropping wOw!

Now- when I pruchased my DVD, I was surprised to find that it was actually a two-sided DVD, with "The Arrival II" on side 2 (although, I wouldn't expect it, unless it actually says you get both I & II).

"The Arrival II" was initially disappointing for me... as no one from the first film are in the second. The script is weaker... the acting doesn't seem to work as well, and the plot just doesn't go where you'd think it would logically go. It's almost as if some Hollywood executive woke up in the middle of the night, and said "I got it... we'll do 'The Arrival II', and that'll be way-kewel". But, you get the impression that no one from the first film wanted anything to do with the project. (kinda makes ya wonder).

But- that's not to say it's a bad, or poor film. It does help if you've seen the first one, prior. But it's like the graveyard-shift punched-in, picked-up the ball, and carried it off (and that's all that is really familiar about the film... the alien's ball*). (* As seen in the first film, this is a metal sphere, larger than a softball, but smaller than a basketball... the aliens use it to literally 'wipe a room completely clean'... of everything in the room, and sometimes beyond the room. When activated, it lifts up of the ground, pausing motionless momentarily, then one section slides open emitting light... the sphere begins to spin... a second section opens... then a third. As it's speed increases, it's like it is pulling objects and matter with gravity, and just like in a black-hole, everything revolves around the 'event horizon' until ultimately, it is all pulled into the balck-hole. The same thing happens here, except on a highly localized scale. Finally, the sphere sucks itself out of existance, leaving the room it was placed in completely bare.) The alien sphere's are used twice in "The Arrival (I)"... one of them completely destroys a huge radio-dish in the desert (great effect, too!... you can even see the wind and dust being drawn into the building)(very realistic).

So- I guess my bottom line is... for sure... buy "The Arrival". If "The Arrival II" happens to be on the other side... great. But I wouldn't buy the "Arrival II" on it's own merrit. It's better than most of 'made by the sci-fi channel' for TV movies... but is like weak tea compared to the first Arrival.

It was a'right
2007-09-19 - Charlie Sheen stars as a scientist who discovers a mysterious signal from outer space. After this miraculous discovery, he is laid off and forced to setup a lab at his house using the filched bandwidth from his neighbor's satellite dishes. Soon Charlie rediscovers the signal but also discovers a return signal broadcasting from earth.

This was an intriguing bit of science fiction. I liked the premise, and found myself interested to know the origins of the signal. But I felt the plot (particularly Sheen's character's infiltration of the Mexican power plant) a tad hokey. Sheen's girlfriend was very annoying and the aliens a tad too easy to overcome.

Overall It wasn't bad, but nothing that overwhelmed me. 3 stars. Average.