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The last man on planet Earth
Threat advisory: Guarded - General risk of entertaining activities
Movie propaganda
In the future men are the endangered species.
Fiery action and heart-pounding suspense meet in this stylish sci-fi thriller set in a world where only women exist and the reproduction of males is outlawed.
In the not so distant future, biological warfare has eradicated the male sex. Determined that man's violent nature will never again threaten the world, the surviving women clone only female offspring. But when a beautiful young scientist (Julie Bowen as Hope Chayse) develops a genetically engineered male named Adam (Paul Francis), women transform into deadly predators seeking to eliminate him. As Adam and his creator run for their lives, the suspense escalates, building to a shocking, edge-of-your-seat climax.
Also starring Tamlyn Tomita as Agent Kara Hastings, Elizabeth Dennehy as Doctor Beverly Stokes, Kimberlee Peterson, Nancy Hower as Agent Green, Martha Hackett as Miss May, L Scott Caldwell and Tom Hallick. Written by Kenneth Biller, directed by les Landau.
Intelligence analyst
Special Agent Matti
Theatrical report
An idea in search of a script. And a few Star trek references, but you'd have to be a real Trekkie to Spot them all.the premise of men being all but eliminated and women taking over the Earth, a radical militant lesbian conspiracy to some and the ultimate porn fantasy to others, has heaps of potential. Planet of the apes used the same theme (with apes rather than women) to great success. The only thing better than seeing an underdog win is seeing the overdog lose.
Where The last man on planet Earth falls down is firstly budget and secondly script.
- There just isn't enough money in this movie to make it A-grade. Shortcuts have been made resulting in a show where everything looks cheap. The effects are unrealistic (check out the exploding football stadium model for a laugh) which is unacceptable for any film made in the digital age. The costumes were begged, borrowed and whipped up as quickly as possible: there was no time to make things look real so they had to make clothes that speak to stereotypes rather than people. There's no texture, no mood and no continuity. and that's just the wardrobe.
- While the ad breaks in this film are obvious, and scripts written for commercial TV have a much different structure to those for feature film, it is the clichés which really let it down. Research scientists are always supermodels with brains, unless they're a mentor, in which case they're old and dumpy. Women with strong personalities have short hair because they really want to be men. Madams always wear feather boas and smoke through cigarette holders. Teenagers are incomprehensible to adults. Hookers have hearts of gold. The dialogue isn't that hot either.
Julie has the screen presence and acting prowess of one of Charlie's angels. She is believable neither as a geneticist nor as a human being and that's scary because she probably is one. A human being, not a geneticist, that is. Tamlyn tries hard but is constantly pulled back by the stilted dialogue and strangely wooden direction. Les has directed a lot of great TV before this but somehow managed to end up creating an absolute clunker. It's weird.
The only believable performance comes from Paul as the innocent abroad in a dangerous land. Not that he's going to win any awards for it but you at least understand what Adam is thinking, feeling and doing. Perhaps that is the biggest mistake in The last man on planet Earth: the story is about a woman who creates a man rather than a man who is created by a woman. The latter story (innocent victim hunted down by powerful enemies who hate what he represents) is much more dynamic than a scientist who broke the law. That way the viewer's experience could match the protagonist's journey of discovery. Who is he? What is this world into which he has been brought? Why is he so important? As it stands the journey is more, Where did he go? Will he make love to me to make me a real woman? And would you like fries with that?
*Sighs again*
The last man on planet Earth is a third-rate action movie that should be left on the shelf for those times when you hire five weeklies for $10. The quality is minimal but Paul is a nice piece of beefcake and there's a lot of lezzo action, too.
Security censorship classification
M (Low level violence)
Surveillance time
86 minutes (1:26 hours)
Not for public release in Australia before date
19 May 2000
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There are four Trekkie references:
- Agent Green is played by Nancy Hower, who also plays Ensign Samanth Wildman on Voyager.
- Miss May is played by Martha Hackett, who also played Seska on Voyager and Sub-Commander T'Rul on Deep Space Nine.
- The director is Les Landau, who has directed so many Trek episodes that no-one can count them all.
- The writer is Kenneth Biller, who has written so many Trek episodes that no-one can count them all.
