A lot of care has gone into the making of Screamers , from the creepy, atmospheric sets to the elaborate explanation as to why two sides have been fighting a long, bitter war on a desolate planet. Most of it, however, was lost on me. I couldn't figure out who was killing whom or why, or why one side would have built anything like screamers in the first place. In this movie, people are always putting down their weapons and walking into badly lighted places alone. Which is to say that it's not the science or the fiction I find improbable, but the people and the situation.
Technology run rampant is a dangerous thing.
The technology in these movies is complex, but the morality is invariably simplistic. That said, Screamers is a full cut above most entries in the genre. It's long on suspense and relatively short on mayhem. Director Christian Duguay has a spectacular visual sense, and Peter Weller, with his lean, wolfish demeanor, looks like the kind of guy who could survive an apocalyptic war in which brains and wits might be a factor. The plot has bigger holes than the ones the screamers suck their victims down into, but if you're going to complain about something like that then you're better off avoiding movies like this in the first place.