VIRUS
US, 1998, 90 minutes, Colour.
Jamie Lee Curtis, William Baldwin, Donald Sutherland, Joanna Pacula, Cliff Curtis.
Directed by John Bruno.
Virus is a science fiction film, a mixture of influences by all kinds of films, especially Alien. (The producer of Alien, Gale Anne Hurd, was producer of this film.) The director is John Bruno, who worked on special effects for James Cameron for The Terminator, The Abyss and Aliens.
However, the special effects are not particularly striking in this film and the final mechanical monster seems more ludicrous than terrifying. Basically, the film shows a virus overtaking the Mir space station, coming to Earth and destroying the Russian ship which monitors the space station. A small boat, captained by Donald Sutherland with Jamie Lee Curtis as navigator and William Baldwin and Cliff Curtis in the crew, finds the boat, wants it for salvage. However, like Alien they are gradually picked off, some of them becoming part of the robot-like machine which is taking over. Needless to say, Jamie Lee Curtis and William Baldwin survive. It is rather run-of-the-mill horror science fiction.
1. The popularity of this kind of story? Space, aliens, mechanical robots becoming intelligent and the rise of the machines?
2. The space station, the contact with the ship in the South Pacific? The typhoon, the waves? The small ship and its ultimate destruction? The special effects for the large ship, the monster and the attack? Musical score?
3. The title, the focus on the mysterious virus which influences machines rather than humans?
4. The basic prologue, the space station, everything going well, the contact with the ship? The strange experience, the destruction of the space station? The ship being overwhelmed? The disappearance of the crew? Nadia surviving?
5. The Seastar, the typhoon, the captain and his stubbornness, the barge and his wealth, not insured? The reaction of the crew, the destruction of the barge? The sound of the ship - and their finding the deserted ship?
6. The personalities: the captain, dominating, contemplating suicide after his loss, taking advantage of the floating ship as salvage? His being taken over by the machines? Foster, her father being an admiral, navigator, standing up to the captain, tough like Ripley in the Alien films? Her treatment of Nadia, collaboration, with Baker? Her being captured, tortured, rescued just in time? In the ejector seat and saved? Baker, his signing on, his friends, the clashes with the captain, his heroics on the boat, survival? The other members of the crew, Squeaky and his going into the engine room and being destroyed, Richie and the weapons and his helping them to escape with the ejector seat, Woods and his being pierced through? Hika and his injuries, their being tended, destroyed?
7. Nadia, her surviving, wanting to destroy the ship, the captain not believing her, Foster chasing her, her being freed? Her collaboration to help them go, the explosives, the time limit, her staying behind to confront the machine? Finding her husband taken over by the machines?
8. The action and heroics? Standard for this kind of action film? Audience identification with the characters, with the issues?
