Absolon, is a futuristic film revolving around a virus that has devastated the world. The simple evil formula plot and the save the world theme has been used more in movies than aliens in space. There is absolutely positively nothing new here. The film starts off with detective Norman Scott (Christopher Lambert) engaged in a computer generated virtual reality scene for approximately 4 minutes watching Dr. Fredrick Reyna (Neil Foster) get shot and hide a disc, and that’s it. I’m not sure if they simply could not afford any additional special affects or perhaps the computers were on the blink. This movie is supposed to take place in 2010, but the future scenes have not evolved passed a 2000 SUV.


Clothing designers would have a hissy-fit; if they looked at the outfits in this film. Scott’s wardrobe, which consist of a gray sweatshirt, and hooded blue jogger jacket that looks like it fell off of a second hand truck in the 1980’s. One scene when Scott is ordering food with his assistant Ruth (Roberta Angelica) at an outside vendor, looked just like the Taco vendor I use to frequent on Buford Highway in Atlanta, GA. I’m thinking outside vendors would have updated their equipment especially if its 2010. In addition, there is no way Ruth although very attractive would be able to wear a mid-riff T-shirt, low-cut dark kaki pants and red streaked hair while holding a job as a police officer.


The entire movie revolves around Lou Diamond Phillips chasing Christopher Lambert. The cast of this film reads like the who’s who list of actors looking for work. I can’t believe this is the same Lambert who acted in the 1986 Highlander followed by two sequels. As well as poor Diamond Phillips who has been scuffling in the B movie arena since his 1999 flop where he appeared in the movie Bats. In addition, Foster is one of the most popular TV extras in the film that has gotten an unlucky break in this nonsensical fantasy.


The lovely British model Kelly Brook who plays Claire, goes on the run with Detective Scott, is the only one that delivers a decent performance. Fortunately, UK pin-up model Brook’s turn actress keeps her clothes on despite Detective Scott’s request to have her disrobe in front of him. When Claire says, “there is something sad about Scott”, she is right; Scott looks terrible, as the disease progresses in his body. Despite how bad he looks, Claire still finds time to fall in love and engage in a brief moment of passion.


Absolon is not just a 2 star film; it’s an absolutely awful movie. This low-cost film looks like it was shot on the abandoned set of the 55th episode of Star Trek, when Captain Kirk traveled back to Earth. This films extremely low budget is apparent in the poor special effects as the unfocused cinematography flounders from scene to scene. The fighting scenes are dreadful. Each time there was a knock down drag out; I was looking for the strings.


The only real or perhaps legitimate thing Absolon does is take a good potshot at the pharmaceutical industry with its use of Unified Pharmaceutical, run by Murchison (Ron Perlman) a greedy corporate tycoon that’s trying to control the world. The biggest mystery about Absolon is how they got the movies jacket and trailer to appear interesting. This movie is rated R, with mild profanity and lots of violence. I can only remember one curse word said by Detective Scott at the end of the movie. You don’t get a lot with the DVD release except the Trailer, Scene Selections, and a choice of English or Spanish.

Unless you are a die-hard B movie fan, avoid this movie. Director, David Barto released a cheesy second-rate, poorly made direct-to-video off the cuff film that will sit in the isles of Blockbuster for a long time. My recommendation, is to watch this only if you are bored out of your mind.


Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age