User reviews

After seeing the Arrival I was looking forward to this one. I notice that the studio claims proudly that they only spent a quarter of the budget on this film that they did on the first one. And it shows it. The casting was bad, the acting is laughable and the script was downright idiotic.

The premise here is that sometime after the end of the first film, Charlie Sheen's character is killed off. He leaves clues for his brother to find out what is going on. It is all down hill from there. The sfx were OK but that is about all. they really wasted five reels of Kodak film stock on this one. I'd safely say give it a miss, unless you are a glutton for punishment.

This time around Zane's Canadian step-brother--who's a wizard of a computer geek underneath that '80s looking hairdo--must pick up the pieces from where his distant, paranoid relative left off in a similar DIY investigative fashion for, that's right, humanity's sake. Except he's laid back, shows late for work and would rather run from a situation than get his hands dirty, especially about theories concerning covert extraterrestials. Yeah, those guys...and now gals.

The pacing is along the lines of a made-for-TV mystery with a few thrills to grease the wheels. Production expenses are tighter, so in turn, there are a number of scenes that are overdrawn. The acting isn't expected to be award winning but with the flow being at slower speeds than its predecessor, it makes what comes out of their mouths forced and far from giving the believable sense of actually being there in this state of looming danger. Not to mention the one-dimensional villains that are just shy of being animated over and turned into cartoon characters.

The first film, while not mind-blowing, was fresher with ideas. "The Arrival 2" retreads similar mechanics and the story meddles on with superficial attempts to personalize the experience with little quips, along with token love interests and by-now dated gizmos. Overall, this feels straightforward, anticlimactic and, aside from a few redeeming qualities to keep it afloat, a waste of a sequel.

I liked "The Arrival," but this is a weak sequel. Lead actor Charlie Sheen is gone from the first movie and all that's left, except for Michael Sarrazin, are no-name actors. Actually, Sarrazin hasn't been seen much of in recent years, either.

The movie does have some decent special effects and good good suspense, both of which make it fairly interesting and fast-moving. The problem is weak dialog and generally unlikeable characters, the worst being the obnoxious reporter played by Jane Sibbett. She was just downright annoying, ruining some of the enjoyment of watching this. Patrick Muldoon's character is a bit too sleazy, too. Cahterine Blythe was involved in some gratuitous sex scene, which accounts for the "R" rating.

For people who liked "The Arrival," many of them (me included) got stuck with this one added to that on the double-featured DVD.

This movie pales in comparison to the first Arrival, which pleasantly surprised me the first time I saw it. This garbage, Second Arrival, was not even barely believable and should never have been made. What makes actors and actresses read such bad movie scripts and say to themselves, "Yeah! That's the kind of movie I wanna make--a real crappy one! That'll boost my resume!" Don't waste your time watching this tripe.

Lame, poorly written, poorly acted, poorly directed, lame special effects, too many specific problems to list them all. It's a pure waste of time. Which is a shame, because if anyone involved in this movie had any talent at all, they could've made a decent movie from this premise. The only reason it gets a 2 instead of a 1 is the fact it's a sci-fi movie, and I'm a sci-fi fan. Don't worry, there isn't any plot twists or plot to spoil with this review. They do spend a lot of time trying not to get pulled into huge, but poorly defined, and unseen vortexes (sp?) (cue the big fans blowing their hair, clothes, and random pieces of paper around). Am I up to ten lines yet? There should be a five or six line limit, ten is just a waste of 0's and 1's on a movie like this.

There is nothing redeeming about this film whatsoever. The Arrival was a unique, decently made film worth watching for anyone interested in sci-fi or aliens. This film is utterly horrible. It's so horrible that I don't want to waste time describing how bad it is. I have seen thousands of films and in my opinion this is one of the worst ever. Dismal acting, inexcusably horrendous cinematography, pathetic flaws. A spinning vortex ball has the ability to pull a building apart and suck everything and everyone into it, except for two people who manage to hang on to a bare concrete wall and eventually push them selves out a door in the opposite direction as the suction. Special effects? Home computer CGI. A person could spend as much time as the movie runs long describing everything that stinks about it.

Unwatchable.

Kevin Tenney's sequel to David Twoey's highly under-seen 1996 original that involved a secret alien invasion and starred Charlie Sheen is a low-budget, straight-to-video exercise that marginally manages to capture some of that mystery, paranoia and intrigue that engulfed the first feature. It does begin strongly (with most of the striking elements appearing then), but soon becomes routine and a little plain. Tenney's directorial methods keep things down-pat with only sudden ripples of fast paced thrills and brazen stunts in an on-the-run format. Nothing out of the ordinary and the suspense can be uneven, but the scenes are executed very well. However it's Bruno Philip's roaming cinematography that gives it a verve-like boost and Ned Bouhalassa's emphatic music score adds to the high octane bursts. The lack of anything really expansive shows its minimal barriers, but this doesn't stop the aspiring imagination and clever concepts that can be found in its drawn up story. It's probably not as thought-provoking, focused and eerie in the material like its predecessor, and the location-choices here don't have that same lasting effect. Still Tenney's old-fashion tailoring keeps it moving along without any real worries. The computer special effects (which do feature largely) look chintzy and formulate some flat images, but for the budget its stands-up. Well that's if you're willing to overlook it, which could be hard. Set-designs in many sequences can look dodgy and plastic, especially towards the climax. There are average performances with Patrick Muldoon and Jane Sibbett leading the way. Michael Sarrazin engages for a short while. A smoking hot Catharine Blythe and the imposable Mike Scherer get all the fun. Decent, but not a patch on the original.

I am not sure which part of this movie was the most poorly done - the acting or the script. The acting was very superficial. I got the idea they took the first cut for a number of the scenes - unfortunately these were the ones the co-stars had to carry all by themselves - without special effects. I didn't believe a word or care about these people. Nor did I believe that the characters were experiencing what they portrayed. The script was even worse. Even if the acting was good I wouldn't believe the story. These characters made incredible jumps in logic. They could figure things out at the first look. Any computer programmer that was as good as "Jack" would never think their brother got the brains.

Even with the flaws it wasn't a total waste of time. It was another chapter in an ongoing story - not the second novel in a trilogy - just a few chapters. It should have been a TV series episode. And the special effects were nice in some places. I can see why this movie went right to cable and skipped the theaters.

If I was the Director I would have claimed Alan Smithee status. Patrick Muldoon was a huge disappointment. The writing sucked. I'm also sure they put in a lot of time in the editing room. I was really shocked when I finally saw the CG. That must be were they spent all the cash. And those handy dandy cabs that just happened to be there at just the right time. Zane: "We gotta get out of here. How did you get here?" Bridget:"I took a cab." Zane: "Me too!" Stellar writing there. Oscar material all the way. I'd say if you want to have your own MST3K night at your house, this is THE movie. Too bad Charlie Sheen couldn't have just done it:(

The Second Arrival was a decent movie. I have not yet seen the original movie so I have no basis for comparison. I also saw it on television and it seems they cut out the nudity scene or else I was too distracted making dinner. It was worth the two hours it took to watch, but I would never buy it. The characters are believable enough and the movie did keep me on my toes. The whole plot is a very trite, Invasion of the Body Snatchers type thing, but on the whole it was okay. The alien script looked WAY too much like Klingon and gave The Second Arrival a rather Star Trekkish feel which was completely unnecessary. Yes, they are aliens. No, not all alien script looks like Klingon. I don't recommend it unless it is on television.

The Arrival was, in my humble opinion, a great movie. I really really liked it - the acting, the story, the effects, the message ... a wonderful movie. So of course when I heard about the Second Arrival, I immediately got it on video. Big mistake. I never should've watched the movie. It disappointed me very much. It had *nothing* from the original movie. The acting was, to say the least, pathetic. The story was even worse. They took elements from the first movie and totally ruined them. The message was gone, too. The aliens, which were fascinating in the first movie, were nothing but boring bad guys. And claiming that Zane Zaminski had died was totally ridiculous. Everything was so unfitting that it makes you wonder if the creators of the second movie had actually watched The Arrival or just been told about it by an old friend. Everything about this movie was horrible. I don't understand why this movie was made; it has no point. I suggest you stay away from it if you liked The Arrival.

This sequel could serve as the archetype of all bad, low-budget sequels to decent first films. The actors, in particular Jane Sibbett, mostly seem as though they'd rather be doing something other than playing their roles-- vaguely distracted and somewhat wooden, with exception of Patrick Muldoon, who in the lead must nevertheless settle for a thoroughly one-dimensional character.

The plot is an uninspired alien-conspiracy-theory rehash of the first film, minus the much more throughly crafted suspense, the special effects are scant and include an underground alien-lair scene lifted 100% from Arrival I footage, and even the agonizingly dull, obligatory car-chase scene is notable for its low-budget automobiles.

This film ranks a solid "1" -- but see it for the sake of laughter if nothing else. It is a delightfully terrible film.

What could have been an awesome sequel to an amazing movie adds nothing to the mythos established in the original film. No more than a weak action film feeding off of the success of its predecessor, The Arrival II must simply be seen as a accidental blip. It would be great to see a third installment, but one which would redeem the series and actually take off where The Arrival (I) left off.

I liked the first Arrival with Sheen. It had well-written dialogue and a provocative premise, both scary and credible. And good acting. This sequel is disappointing. Terrible scripts. After they realize an alien was among their group, Jack wonders who betrayed them. ??? Duh. The alien maybe? Then the conversations... mealy-mouthed, wooden, stilted dialogue. The acting didn't convey fear or desperation. The pretty blond reporter cannot act. She always seems cool and unfazed. Jack smokes throughout, but doesn't inhale. A metaphor for the entire film. Enough said.

I had great expectation of this movie, the first part being an excellent sci-fi with Charlie Sheen as lead actor. Well, this sequel SUCKS. The entire crew should be banned from making films forever. I started suspecting this will be a BAD movie when the woman in the pub wanted to "comfort" the guy then she was walking around all naked. I have nothing against naked women in movies but in a sci-fi it is definitely a sign of desperation (of the talentless, dumb director.)

Watch the original The Arrival and avoid this junk at all costs.

It sucks completely. Poorly made. I felt embarrassed for everyone involved in the film. Really bad action shots, terrible special effects. CHEESY, I mean really, cheesy explanation of events. Uhhh, man, give me back my 2 hours!!!!

I should have stopped watching after the first 15 minutes. Instead, I wasted two precious hours of my life on this drivel. Gaping plot holes, explanations that make no sense whatsoever, and even a stupid blooper (be sure to watch the glass door shatter BEFORE the can hits it). The surest sign that they KNEW they had a turkey on their hands is the fact that they were desperate enough to put a scene with full frontal female nudity in it -- and believe me, it wasn't going to be enough to titillate even the most hormone-charged adolescent male.

led to believe by the other comments here. OK, it was low-budget and the final sequence could have been extended and it is unclear why the imploder's lights are the opposite of those in the first film, but it does work as a sequel, picking up where the first movie ended and building to a resolution.

If you get the DVD with both movies on it, give this one a watch and see for yourself.

This is probably the biggest letdown sequel since Highlander 2. It should not have been made. If they ever decide to make another Arrival movie, they should forget this movie and its plot exists. And, for the love of God, only make another if it has a budget and Charlie Sheen (forget the whole dead thing). Patrick Muldoon is a lame MacGyver-looking actor and he cannot carry a movie. Jane Sibbett (who played the snotty girl on the TV show Herman's Head) is an annoying co-star. Both performances seemed half-hearted. This movie has holes in the plot. How did Bridget find Jack at the train station? Jack even ASKS this question and she answers that because she is a reporter she looked into where he lived... OK, sure, but still, how did you know Jack was at the TRAIN STATION? This movie has bad special effects. I knew this was going to be a bad movie from the opening shot because we are shown a view of earth in space and the stars aren't even points: they are finite size boxes. Ugh! And the movie was so boring. How many times did it pause to let us watch Jack lite a cig? I'm glad I only spent 50 cents to rent it.

After watching the first one you would think that OK maybe it wont be as good but it might be almost as good?

Nope! This film should be enough to ruin the carriers of everyone involved. A teenager could have and would have written a better script. A first year cinema student would have done a better job at filming.

Don't waste your time. This film is not even in the "so bad it's good" cult of film buffs. Utter trash.