Robert Joyner
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
Arianna Moses
Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
Ezmae Chang
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
mstomaso
This horror/psycho thriller/sci fi story pits a hard-nosed, naive and ethical businesswoman against the existing power structure at a very large defense contractor, Chaank Industries. What Hayden Cale (Ely Puget) does not know is that, underlying most of what she knows as Chaank Industries, is a murderous maniac - Jack Dante. Dante is played by the remarkable, under-rated, Brad Dourif (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Eyes of Laura Mars, Blue Velvet, Dune, Wild Blue Yonder, Lord of the Rings, etc etc). Dante will do ANYTHING to avoid having his sick little world disturbed... anything. The plot and characters are a string of clichés, but the movie does not take itself very seriously, and what results is a campy, intelligent, self-parody. Direct homages are paid to off-beat directors who frequently use comedy to liven up sci fi and horror stories - There are major supporting characters named Sam Raimi, John Carpenter and Scott Ridley. Dourif, the deft pacing of the film, and the cleverly written script make this predictable farce thoroughly enjoyable. Richard Brake makes a very good impression in a support role, and lead Puget is charismatic and manages to play her role laudably straight as a counterpoint to Dourif's utterly bizarre behavior. Death Machine was Stephen Norrington's directorial debut. Norrington has done and continues to do a lot of visual effects and robotics work on major releases which require substantial, cutting edge, effects. He also directed the decent but disappointing League of Extraordinary Gentlement and is now working on a re-make of The Crow.
Bo Schreurs
In a nutshell, skip this movie, it's that bad. In short, this movie is about a weapons factory where secret weapons are being developed. Because they make bad things, they aren't popular so to speak. A new female CEO comes in to clear things up, and make sure the reputation of the company will be improved. She does this by leaking company confidential information to the press... Do you believe this? Furthermore she starts to fire people she has never seen. Incredible uh? A pacifistic group tries to destroy the company's mainframe, because there are the blueprint located of those secret weapons. This mainframe is located in the bottom of the building hidden in a kind of vault. Of course the movie would not be complete without the mad scientist and a robot which is the ultimate killer machine, which resembles like an 'Alien' from the Alien movies. The mad scientist likes the female CEO.The mad scientist instructs the robot to kill everyone, and so protects his job, rise in chain of command, and make the movie interesting. The pacifists team up with the CEO and another person of the board of directors to escape from the robot. Further down the line they agree to blow up this evil computer mainframe, whilst avoiding the robot. They also discover that the factory was developing a part man, part machine soldier. They can erase a persons memory and replace it by a veteran soldier's one. One of the pacifists is transformed in such a soldier and will hunt the killer robot. I guess the mad scientist also wrote the script of this movie. This super soldier looks and acts much the same as Robocop, though not as funny.It boils down to this. People are running, being chased by a killer robot, are hurt by it, but they do not seem to troubled by that, besides limping a bit, and of course the female CEO is the leading character of this movie, and cannot be killed, i.e. survives every attack, explosion, you name it. I won't bother you by the chase, let's skip to the end. They have lots of weapons, yes the pacifist too and they know how to use them. When they're at the roof of the building they empty all there weapons upon the killer robot. They step into an elevator which is used to clean outside windows. And then the female CEO knows some magic as well, at the roof she was complaining about being out of bullets, and like magic the gun is reloaded. This way she can shoot the cables and let the elevator plummet 70 stories or so, and let it stop right above ground surface by pulling the brake. And to top it all off, the police is waiting there for them. The robot jumps after them, and kills the cops. Hilarious no? The robot chases them down the vault where the mainframe is, and when finally the robot is so close to her, that he can touch/kill her, it stops. Because the mad scientist did not want her to be killed. A better name for this guy would be the idiot scientist. Although he is the one who made this movie watchable. At this moment I was already pulling for the killer robot to finish them all of, so the movie would end.I cannot believe that this movie rates this high, and this is why I wrote this comment. Avoid this movie like the plague. It's a monster, and I'm not talking about the Death Machine.
jjrad
I can't stop my self from commenting on this masterpiece. It is literally the best movie I have ever seen and will probably be my favorite for the rest of my life. Brad Dourif is my favorite actor I saw him in alien 4 and lord of the rings not knowing who he was, then a friend told me to watch child's play. I saw him again so I couldn't stop myself from finding out who he was, I saw at least 5 music videos on you tube about this movie which made me order it. Now I have more than 50 of his films and will keep collecting until all of them sit in my basement with my movies. Highly recommended if you like the cheesy scifi or horror movies, like Hardware, although I did not like hardware because dogs died in it. It is being sold very cheap on amazon and is worth $789,675 to me. Although I bought it for less than ten dollars.
Zombified_660
On watching Death Machine, I had no real idea what to expect other than a Sci-Fi movie. I'd heard it mentioned in the same breath as Hardware, a film I love dearly, and had seen Norrington's League of Extraordinary Gentleman and Blade, so checked it out. Death Machine is an efficient, exciting slice of sci-fi action, with more or less everything one looks for in the genre.The first thing that hits with this movie is the look. Every frame oozes pure class, and the production design is flawless. From Jack Dante's hellish office through to the Death Machine itself, everything has been designed to a tee, with all elements gelling together like clockwork. Production design is often an area cult movies skimp on, and to see such painstaking work will fill anyone, especially cult movie buffs, with a sense of glee.Second thing is the wonderful cast. Just as the design was obviously a labour of love, so was the casting. Everyone is just right for their part, and acts with great gusto, never jolting the viewer out of the film world. Main players Ely Pouget and Brad Dourif (a personal favourite) turn in performances of a calibre rarely seen in the cinema, let alone a straight to video title, both more watchable than any Hollywood star or starlet I can think of. The supporting cast are fantastic too.There are a few unfortunate aspects to the Death Machine though. Firstly, the movie is long for an action movie (longer in Britain than America, strangely) and therefore may not appeal to the 'quick rental and a takeaway' crew that these movies normally filter down to. Secondly, the movie has unfortunately dated a little, purely due to the fact that the blockbuster action genre took a turn for the worst somewhere around the release of The Fast and the Furious and they therefore don't make 'em like this anymore. I had no problem with this, having been brought up with the movies of the 80s and 90s, but newer film enthusiasts may find this a tricky movie to get their heads round as a result.Still, as always with good STV titles, your perseverance and curiosity will be firmly rewarded if you take a chance on this. It's a brilliant movie, and shouldn't be overlooked as one of the better sci-fi movies to come out of the 90s. Add to that the fact that it's recently been reissued at a budget price in my native UK, and you have the makings of a bona-fide rediscovered underground classic.
