20140412: SciFi Review--Bermuda Tentacles

Bermuda Tentacles

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American live action feature length film, 2014, made for TV, 120 minutes including commercial breaks.
2. IMDB: no ratings as of 20140412.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: nothing as of 20140412.
4. I saw this on the SyFy network: with commercials and without f-bombs.
5. Directed by: Nick Lyon; written by: Geoff Meed.
6. Starring:  Trevor Donovan as Trip Oliver, Justin Cuomo as Alex Preacher, Luke White as Stephen Hondo, Linda Hamilton as Admiral Hansen, John Savage as President Desteno, Jamie Kennedy as Dr. Zimmern, Mya as Lt Plummer, Tiffany Pulvino as Lt. Greene.


2. Setup and Plot
1. The president's plane goes down over the Bermuda Triangle.  It submerges quickly.


2. Elements of the US Navy go to the last known position and start surveillance.  Some huge tentacles rise out of the ocean and do a lot of damage.  Trip Oliver leads a team on a submersible vehicle to find the president.  The countdown threat is that the president is running out of oxygen.


3. On the surface, the admiral and the navy battle the tentacles.  Underwater, the team in the submersible find an underwater chamber that contains many vehicles.  Eventually they find the president.


4. Does the team fight its way free with the president safe?  Will the threat from the Triangle be dealt with?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: Bad script plus horde of non-actors trump three good actors.
2. One star of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 5/10 Most of it was OK, though not good; the CGI was laughable.


2. Sound: 4/10 Lots of sound and fury, signifying very little.  Seriously, the music was too blasted loud in spots, to no good effect.  The actors were mostly miked OK.


3. Acting: 3/10 How did Linda Hamilton, Jamie Kennedy, and John Savage get stuck in this mess?  Compared to everyone else, those three were just excellent, despite the poor lines.  Trevor Donovan, Mya, and Tiffany Pulvino were incredibly bad.  Mya, in particular, was so bad that this film did not even deserve 1/5.  The large cast seemed to be composed mostly of non-actors. 


4. Screenplay: 0/10 Horrible.  The antagonism between the admiral and Trip Oliver seemed empty and forced. The lack of chain of command seemed ridiculous.  The script depended on the CGI and the CGI was absurd.  'Obviously' is used too many times, especially when asserting that the underwater structures are of extraterrestrial origin.  Non-comms questioning the direct orders of the Commander-in-Chief?  No thanks.  An ending that is worse than stupid.