Species [Blu-ray]

An underrated horror science fiction movie from the 90s with a great cast. It's one of a few films inspired by the original Alien from 1979. The late H.R. Giger designed the look of Sil in this movie and it looks very similar to the original Xenomorph from the first Alien. It's a great chase movie with some similar elements from the Fugitive. The nightmare scenes will send a shiver down your spine. And really creepy creature effects at the time. The best movie for beautiful Natasha Henstridge. A great score from Christopher Young and the final scene at the end is loaded with action and suspense. I would recommend it. Thank you Amazon.

Love this movie, have watched it a few times. love scary

I've always said if you're going to have a transforming monster in a horror movie why not have the sexiest most beautiful woman in the world Natasha Henstridge, I mean why not?! The movie on its own still holds up - its fast paced - a few horrific scenes and enough sexual tension to rip the screen in half - the cast is terrific, especially Michael Madsen ,he definitely anchors the movie - the 4k version is a few steps up from the blu ray - not sure if its enough for a double dip if you own the latest blu ray version, but their are definite improvements - for me it was worth it.

For years we humans have been looking for signs of life other than what's on this great, greasy mud ball we affectionately know as Earth. We've sent probes, satellites, and signals out into that vast darkness...we've searched the heavens with powerful telescopes and listened with highly sophisticated equipment design to detect anything that could point to the possibility of intelligence other than our own...and for all our efforts we got...squat...that is, until now...Directed by Roger Donaldson (I was a bit wary here, as this was the man responsible for awful films Cocktail and Cadillac Man, but he did a really good film in that of No Way Out, so I'm torn...), Species (1995) stars certainly an interesting cast including the very busy Ben Kingsley (Ghandi), who slated to appear in a whopping seven films in 2005 (I think he's trying to compete with Gene Hackman and Michael Caine for the title of most prolific actor), Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill Vol's 1 and 2), Alfred Molina (Doc Ock in a little film called Spider-Man 2), Forest Whitaker (I'm still highly annoyed with this guy, who I generally like as an actor, for appearing in John Travolta's ego stroking pet project Battlefield Earth...damn you John Travolta!), Marg Helgenberger (CSI), and introducing every sci-fi nerd's wet dream, the highly curvaceous and infinitely squeezalicious Natasha Henstridge (I can't help wonder if this film would have done as well had they chosen another actress, say Rosie O'Donnell? I suppose not...)Anyway, it seems all of our efforts to find intelligent life in space has finally paid off, as a message was received, one detailing plans regarding re-sequencing human DNA to create a human/alien hybrid. The gooberment project, headed by Xaiver Fitch (Kingsley) has succeeded, creating a new life form in that of girl known as Sil (who later becomes Henstridge, due to a rapid, internal development process). Now, I would have thought it unwise to screw around with space DNA, as who knows what you'll get, but they also received instructions for a limitless energy supply from the same source, so they assumed the aliens who sent the message were friendly...gullible fools. After it's decided that Sil is progressing too quickly, and may become dangerous, the secret group agrees the best course is termination, but Sil disagrees, and escapes. Since it's not feasible to announce to the general public that there's a dangerous human/alien hybrid on the loose, one created by our own gooberment, in the newspapers and on TV, Fitch assembles a specialized team to track and kill Sil before she reaches her full potential, something they are still unsure of...but here's a hint...it involves making with the boom boom and the pitter patter of tiny little feet...or claws, or whatever...I saw this film with a married couple when first released, and my friend and I thought it was pretty darn good, but his wife felt different. When asked why she didn't like the movie, she said "There was too much nudity." At that point I left well enough alone rather than try to explain how, since Sil was unfamiliar with our customs, clothing, at times, was optional for her. I will agree there was a whole lot of nekkidness, but hey, I'm a guy, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't like to see beautiful nekkid women. Obviously Henstridge was chosen for her assets, and her willingness to display them, but she did say much later that the role opened many doors for her...I'm sure it did...the plot, a group of diverse specialists gathered together to deal with an unusual problem, smacks of any number of Michael Crichton stories, as they all play out this way, but it's not done quite as well here as it is in a Crichton story. The actors do well enough with what they're given, but there was shallowness in each of their characters. I suppose this matters little, as the film is meant to be just fun and exciting, and not an in depth character study. I did find Whitaker as Dan the empathic character a bit annoying at times, as his abilities seemed to work with pinpoint accuracy at times, but conveniently fail at critical moments. Madsen, as the gooberment `liquidator' brings nothing we haven't seen in a handful of his other roles, making me think he graduated from The Keanu Reeves School of Acting with honors. The plot has its problems, but it seems to care little as it rolls along at a fairly speedy pace, and does keep the audience engaged. I thought some of the characters were a bit too `hands on', specifically Fitch, especially since he seemed to have a whole lot of resources available to him (as we all know, the gooberment has the deep pockets, and seem to care little for how they throw our tax dollars around). The special effects do look really good, and the distinctive H.R. Giger (Alien) influences are very apparent (he actually design the human/alien hybrid creature) and entirely worth any fan of Swiss auteur's surrealistic work to check this film out.The wide screen picture on this DVD looks really good, and the audio is available in three formats DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround. I'm not entirely sure what qualifies this as a `special edition', other than two separate commentary tracks, one featuring director Roger Donaldson and actors Michael Madsen and Natasha Henstridge, and a second with director Roger Donaldson, producer Frank Mancuso Jr., visual effects supervisor Richard Edlund, and creature and special makeup effects creator Steve Johnson. There is a trailer for this film, along with a few others for other MGM releases, and a sneak peek into Species 3 (which I think is going to be a direct to video release), but not a whole heck of a lot else. I just thought the popularity of the film would have meant more...like a Giger video sketchbook or something...oh well...Cookieman108

One of the best science fiction - action film, loaded with really great actors, Natasha Henstridge was great, her character is one of the best ever science fiction has had on film

Stars: Sir Ben Kingsley (Gandhi), Forrest Whittaker (Bird, Nelson Mandela, Color of Money), Alfred Molina (Frida, Chocolat w/Dame Judi Dench), Michael Madsen (Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs, Hateful 8) and the redoubtable Natasha Henstridge (Species 2, Maximum Risk w/ Jean-Claude Van Damme) in her steamiest role yet.Foxy blonde from outer space lures haplessly horny, unsuspecting (who would? Suspect, that is.) men into beds, backseats and Jacuzzis for cheap thrills...or is it? Can it be something more sinister? The proverbial Unspeakable Evil?The Prez and every branch of the military - some rogue super-secret CIA type bunch band together to save nothing less than all of human-kind.Directed by Roger Donaldson (Smash Palace, The Bounty w/ Sir Anthony Hopkins.)Bonus: this movie is not without a sense of humor, however unintentional. Also, the back of the case offers the following exhortation "read the Banton Book." Yeah, sure!ASIN# B000F9RB9E - which includes two commentaries: one with Director Roger Donaldson and cast and another with director, producer, and visual effects team (including H.R. Giger). Finally, two featurettes with the genius most famous for Ridley Scott's Alien, H.R. Giger - one curious cat.