Pretty Good

As Good As It Gets

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This is obviously a very low-budget independent film, but it's orders of magnitude better than most movies of its type. The story is pretty cliché, but solidly told; the actors are good (not great, but good) and the SFX are respectable for the era and budget. Pentan (the lead character) is an artificial human who wants to be free. Her escape from the rat race is far more difficult that yours or mine, but her motivation is stronger. Most of us are wage slaves, she is a real slave, and I was rooting for her from the start. I didn't like the fact that the antagonists are pure blackguards – they never waver nor question their own motives – they are driven by profit and refuse to give an inch. I can't say there are any surprises in this video, except that it's better than you might expect, and I'd like to see what it would look like with a decent budget and top grade actors.

Watching this on Netflix streaming, within ten minutes I could tell that this film is exactly what young filmmakers should be watching to see what can be done with very little. Excellent because People today have forgotten what "suspension of disbelief" really means. It has become code for accepting the unacceptable. Instead, what it really means is allowing the story itself to shine through limitations or handicaps. The story here shines to an extent, but it is really the genuine talent that produced this film that remains a worthy object of attention.It looks older than it is, mostly due to the film stock, and maybe that adds to the appeal.

Contains possible spoiler(s).Several reviews mention how this is a very low budget movie. But look at what they did with that supposedly low budget. This is somewhat "made for TV" quality but the director scouted many locations which were used to maximum advantage to make a very good presentation.There is some blue screen work which is not of the utmost quality but about average for the time it was made. That is not a negative, just a comment on the state of the art then.The miniatures are obvious in some cases but well done. Many a toy store was raided, I expect, to get the various models needed and then lots of innovative painting ensued. There are some average to low quality mattes, too, consistent with a low budget. But also some traveling mattes or a good simulation of that process. Still, they are effective. That's what you have to do to make a low-budget movie.The story gets off to a slow start, doing the back story but then takes off. Don't miss the first 15 minutes. The entire setup is there. And you get plenty of shots of a not-hard-to-look-at lead character.There is a strange thought in the plot that the android could steal information then try to use that information for personal gain. And "she" thought that was legal and moral. It is a slight morality play in this regard.The ending is somewhat abrupt and sappy. I was not totally satisfied with it. But I have seen worse.However, even with the small faults, I can recommend this movie. You won't feel cheated.

When this movie was first released, I took a chance and rented it and was very pleasantly surprised to find a gem. You can't say that about most straight-to-video features, but this one was the exception to the rule. True, the FX are low budget and the acting can be a little uneven but even so, taken as a whole, this movie makes for an entertaining 90 minutes or so. The miniature and FX work are actually quite good for what must have been a very small budget and what the film lacks in production dollars is more than made up for in the hard work and effort it must have taken to get this film made. Plus female lead Tracy Davis makes for one very cute cyborg girl. I'd fly her anywhere in my spaceship!