Virus
USA 1998
Reviewed by Philip Strick
Synopsis
Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.
As the Mir space station prepares an alignment with the satellite-tracking research ship Volkov, a vast energy mass approaches suddenly from outer space. Enveloping Mir, the entity flashes down to the data receptors on the Volkov, engulfing the ship's electrical systems. A week later, as a typhoon rages in the area, the tugboat Sea Star finds the Volkov drifting lifelessly. Boarding her, the Sea Star's Captain Everton realises that a possible $30 million salvage fee awaits him and his crew.
When the Sea Star is sunk in an accident the crew begin to explore their derelict discovery. They soon find a survivor, Nadia, who claims that a malevolent force has taken over the ship; she warns them, too late, not to turn on the power system. Reactivated, the ship's workshops resume a host of mysterious projects, assimilating components of human captives in a fusion of flesh and metal. Nadia recognises the remains of her husband among the new lifeforms. Through the ship's computer the alien presence announces that the humans are a virus that will be eliminated and used for spare parts.
While Everton tries to bargain for his own survival, Sea Star navigator Kit Foster realises that the Volkov is being steered towards a satellite- monitoring centre with a global link-up. Kit and Nadia prepare to blow up the ship with the help of engineer Steve Baker. They are attacked by Everton, now a biomechanoid, but blow him apart. Kit is trapped by the entity but released by fellow crewman Richie who has been developing an escape rocket. Sole survivors, Kit and Steve cling to the rocket as its take-off detonates the destruction of the Volkov. A helicopter rescues them.
Review
Adapted by Chuck Pfarrer from his own four-part Dark Horse comic book series, Virus is a haphazard collection of emergencies ranging from typhoons to zombie attacks, from would-be suicide to first-aid surgery, from computerised sadism to last-minute just-for-the-hell-of-it hallucination. Negotiating the risks is the usual handful of expendables, gamely portrayed by players hoping to impress in the brief moments before something more memorable chops them down. But this erratic adventure is not really about them: it's about the concerted skills of a special-effects team that has dominated fantasy film-making for more than a decade.
The assembled production talent for Virus could hardly be bettered, headed by Mike Richardson, owner of Dark Horse Comics and producer of The Mask, by the Levinsohn-Gordon partnership responsible for Saving Private Ryan, and by Gale Anne Hurd, launcher of James Cameron and The Terminator. At the sharp end of design and animation for the film's delirious array of mechanoid killers are specialists like Eric Allard (Short Circuit), Steve Johnson (Species) and near-legendary Oscar-winner Phil Tippett (the Star Wars trilogy, RoboCop). And although John Bruno at last makes his debut as feature director here, his 30-year career seems to have involved every possible role in the visual-effects business from Disney animation to co-direction with James Cameron of the Terminator 2-3D theme park. Awarded an Oscar for The Abyss, followed by five subsequent nominations, he was immersed in pre-production for Titanic when Virus staked its claim.
Given that Bruno's experiences when working on Titanic included two hurricanes endured aboard a Russian research vessel, events which became integrated into the Virus script, it is tempting to glimpse in his film a private subtext, something about the traps and tortures of inventing fresh technology in a desperate struggle to meet the extravagant demands of James Cameron.
In parallel, Virus is also a seafaring yarn, not too many leagues away from Titanic itself or from The Abyss with its vulnerable cargo of lost souls: setting aside such distractions as alien invasion and berserk equipment, the film offers a series of maritime contests from the effort to control one salvaged ship to the race to destroy another. At the epicentre is the discovery of the derelict ship, approached in wonder by the tugboat crew. Savouring a classic moment, Bruno floats his camera above as the search party gingerly makes its way across the decks.
Plunging from this pinnacle into a formulaic series of duels, Virus either sinks or swims according to one's taste for ingenuity. The skills at work are enthralling but the concepts familiar, from the scuttling insectoid emissaries (Runaway, 1984) to the giant Proteus-voiced computer that once, similarly, had its way with Julie Christie in Demon Seed (1977).
The part-flesh, part-transistor phenomenon, at its cleanest in RoboCop, its most brutal in Hardware, its most disgusting in Tetsuo, reaches its apotheosis in the well-wired form of Donald Sutherland wandering in as if recruited by the Borg in Star Trek and looking irremediably silly. Having hewn out for himself a fair chunk of the film's early exchanges in which, with a gleefully sea-doggish accent, he establishes the tugboat captain as a raving nutter, he plainly finds the rest of his role ridiculous but enjoys it to the full. Alongside, Jamie Lee Curtis and Joanna Pacula form a macho team with enough spirit to fight off all contenders, metallic or otherwise. While never entirely explaining why a lifeform of pure energy needs to encumber itself with bits of flesh and scrap metal, Virus makes another loud and colourful case for the special-effects epidemic.
Credits
- Producer
- Gale Anne Hurd
- Screenplay
- Chuck Pfarrer
- Dennis Feldman
- Based on the Dark Horse comic book series by
- Chuck Pfarrer
- Director of Photography
- David Eggby
- Editor
- Scott Smith
- Production Designer
- Mayling Cheng
- Music/Music Conductor
- Joel McNeely
- ©Universal City Studios, Inc
- Production Companies
- Universal Pictures and Mutual Film Company present a Dark Horse Entertainment/Valhalla Motion Pictures production
- Executive Producers
- Mike Richardson
- Chuck Pfarrer
- Gary Levinsohn
- Mark Gordon
- Co-producers
- Todd Moyer
- Dennis E. Jones
- Bud Smith
- Production Co-ordinator
- Shannon Dayton-Rippy
- Location Manager
- Charley Baxter
- Locations Co-ordinator
- William Dean
- Post-production Supervisor
- Doreen A. Dixon
- 2nd Unit Directors
- Bud Smith
- Virginia:
- Todd Hallowell
- Assistant Directors
- Carla Brand Breitner
- Stephanie O'Brien
- 2nd Unit:
- J. Michael Haynie
- Frank Waldeck
- Virginia 2nd Unit:
- Douglas S. Ornstein
- Kenneth G. Brown
- Script Supervisors
- Deirdre Horgan Aska
- 2nd Unit:
- Jennifer Opresnick
- Casting
- Pam Dixon Mickelson
- Associate:
- Amy Gerber
- Locations:
- Fincannon & Associates, Inc
- ADR Voice:
- Barbara Harris
- 2nd Unit Director of Photography
- Virginia:
- David M. Dunlap
- Aerial Director of Photography
- Virginia 2nd Unit:
- Michael Kelem
- Camera Operators
- David Knox
- Jeff Moore
- 2nd Unit:
- Malcolm MacIntosh
- Virginia 2nd Unit:
- Bruce MacCallum
- Steadicam Operator
- David Knox
- Wescam Technician
- Virginia 2nd Unit:
- Derek Lovie
- Gyrosphere Technician
- Virginia 2nd Unit:
- J.P. Beeghly
- Visual Effects
- Producer:
- Michele C. Vallillo
- Editor:
- Miller Drake
- Co-ordinators:
- David B. Moulder
- Kristin Hansen
- Production Supervisor:
- Rick Murken
- Associate Producer:
- Clive Milton
- Visual Effects
- Fantasy II Film Effects, Inc
- Visual Effects Supervisor:
- Gene Warren Jr
- Visual Effects Producer:
- Leslie Huntley
- Miniature Photography:
- Christopher Warren
- John Huneck
- Pyrotechnics Supervisor:
- Joseph Viskocil
- Set Designer:
- Dorn Kennison
- Model/Crew:
- Kento Gebo
- Dale Gordon
- Donn Gunnett
- Hacene Haouas
- Matt Haslam
- Scott Beverly
- Anita Osterhage
- Michael Persion
- Gary Rhodaback
- Tank Crew Foreman:
- Frank Sutton
- Pyrotechnics:
- Robert Hutchins
- Thomas Seymour
- Charles Cooley
- Optical Supervisor:
- Betzy Bromberg
- Camera Operator:
- David Tucker
- Roto Supervisor:
- Bret Mixon
- Digital Supervisor:
- Tim Molinder
- Digital Artist:
- Roberta Kirkpatrick
- Digital Visual Effects
- Cinesite
- Visual Effects Supervisor:
- Jay Riddle
- Digital Effects Producer:
- Ariana Lingenfelser
- Digital Composite Supervisor:
- Carol Ashley
- Digital Matte Painting Supervisor:
- Charles Darby
- Digital Paint Supervisor:
- Joe Dubs
- Rotoscope Supervisor:
- Karen D. Klein
- Digital Compositors:
- Sean O'Connor
- Sean MacKenzie
- CGI Animators:
- Erik Krumrey
- Jamie Pilgrim
- Allen Ruilova
- Digital Matte Painting Artist:
- Roger Kupelian
- Digital Artists:
- Corinne Pooler
- Susana Slaughter
- Andrew Goldstein
- Chris Wood
- Mike Frevert
- Rotoscope Artists:
- Tim Gibbons
- Erin M. Cullen
- George Edwin Oliver Jr
- Water/Cloud R & D:
- Jerry Tessendorf
- Digital Effects Co-ordinator:
- Jessica Trento
- Digital Production:
- Timothy T. Cunningham
- Visual Effects Editor:
- Shawn J. Broes
- Scanning/Recording Co-ordinator:
- Sly West
- Digital Effects
- Visionart
- Digital Effects Supervisor:
- Joshua D. Rose
- Digital Effects Producer:
- Robert D. Crotty
- Animation Supervision:
- Todd Boyce
- Compositing Supervisor:
- Dorene Haver
- Lead CG Artist:
- Daniel Naulin
- Lead Compositor:
- Alette Vernon
- CG Artists:
- Carl Hooper
- John Peel
- Chris Greenberg
- Concept Artist:
- Robert Tom
- Data Administrator:
- Jeffrey L. Pohl
- Digital Film I/O Supervisor:
- Jeff Pierce
- Digital Film I/O:
- Celine Jackson
- Paul Simon
- Visual Effects
- Pacific Title/Mirage Digital
- Executive Producer:
- Joe Gareri
- Digital Effects Supervisor:
- David Sosalla
- Technical Supervisor:
- Patrick Phillips
- Digital Effects Artists:
- Oliver Sarda
- Michael Degtjarewsky
- Jeff Wells
- Jennifer Law-Stump
- Tom Lamb
- Digital Co-ordinators:
- Jason Hanel
- Stacey Board
- Robotics
- Effects Designers:
- Steve Johnson
- Eric Allard
- Creature Design:
- Steve Burg
- Taishiro Kiya
- Art Director:
- Chris Ross
- Robotic Effects
- All Effects Company, Inc
- Effects Supervisor:
- Bud McGrew
- Robotics Co-ordinator:
- Cory Faucher
- Foreman:
- Ron Bawden
- Animatronics Programmer:
- Mark W. Spivey
- CAD Designer:
- Neil Johnson
- Model Makers:
- Scott Acosta
- Erik Stohl
- Anthony Cook
- Kenneth Walker
- Stacy Henning
- Mold Maker:
- Susan La Prelle
- Robotic Effects
- XFX, Inc
- Production Co-ordinator:
- Joe Fordham
- Administrator:
- Jackie Caydam
- Supervisor Animatronic Design:
- Eric Fiedler
- Key Animatronic Supervisor:
- Jim Kundig
- Bio-Bob Supervisor:
- Joel Harlow
- Bio-Alexi Supervisor:
- Dave Snyder
- Bio-Alexi Design:
- Scott Patton
- Bio-Squeaky Supervisor:
- Mark Garbarino
- Droid Supervisor:
- Brian Bero
- Droid Motion Co-ordinator:
- Mark Bryan Wilson
- Bio-Alexi Design:
- Leon Laderach
- Bio-Spine Mechanical Design:
- Christian Carlberg
- Cosmetics Supervisor:
- Leonard MacDonald
- Key Cosmetic Design:
- Mark Killingsworth
- Additional Cosmetic Design:
- Dave Dupuis
- Key Hair Design:
- Mark Boley
- Supervising Moldmaker:
- Paul Barnes
- Foam Latex Supervisor:
- Janet Evaschuck
- Conceptual Designs:
- Kerry Gammill
- Taishiro Kiya
- Lead Mechanical Design:
- Bob Newton
- Droid Mechanical Design:
- Clint Lynch
- Nailgun Droid Design:
- Nori Honda
- Mechanical Design:
- Brian Poor
- Patrick Gerrety
- Brian Roe
- Animatronic Controller Design:
- Jon Higgins
- Robot Cosmetic Design:
- Michael Morgan
- Special Effects
- Supervisor:
- Chuck Gaspar
- Set Co-ordinator:
- Mike Edmonson
- Foremen:
- Terry Chapman
- Richard Cory
- Mark Blatchley
- Crew:
- Vincent L. Ball
- Scott Blackwell
- Randall Chapman
- Billy Daniel
- Phil H. Fravel
- Bill Greene
- David Hill
- Gregory Hull
- Randy Kenan
- James La Croix
- Robert Lefever
- Tye Lewis
- Jeffery L. McKay
- Wesley N. Perry
- Gus Ramsden
- Joseph Simpkins
- Harry Smith Jr
- Billy Swafford
- Hari Volikas
- John Weeks
- Christian D. Zearfoss
- 2nd Unit Co-ordinator:
- Dick Wood
- Virginia 2nd Unit Supervisor:
- Philip Cory
- Virginia 2nd Unit Co-ordinator:
- Dave Simmons
- Virginia 2nd Unit Technicians:
- Walter Garrett
- Mark Wick
- Richard Mulcahy
- Gary Pilkinton
- On-set Video/Graphics Co-ordinator
- Robert Chartier
- On-set Video/Graphics
- Roy Meyers
- Tony Rudenko
- Forrest Maready
- Computer Graphic Visual Displays
- Video Image
- Video/Graphics Supervisor:
- Scott M. Warner
- Computer Graphics Director:
- Thomas M. Conroy
- Video/Graphics Team:
- Alan Landaker
- Bill White
- Eric Schmidt
- Heidi Rae
- Jim Mcdonald
- Pitou
- Thad Mercer
- Additional Miniatures
- Acme Models, Inc
- Model Maker Supervisor:
- Michael Joyce
- Giant Robot Animation
- Tippett Studio
- Robot Visual Effects Supervisor:
- Craig Hayes
- Robot Animation Supervisor:
- Phil Tippett
- Visual Effects Producer:
- Alonzo Ruvalcaba
- Character Animation Supervisor:
- Thomas Schelesny
- CG Supervisor:
- Doug Epps
- Digital Lighting Supervisor:
- Julie Newdoll
- Supervising Compositor:
- Zoe Peck
- Character Animators:
- Bobby Beck
- Tom Gibbons
- Peter Konig
- Randy Link
- Joseph Littlejohn
- Robin Watts
- Art Department Supervisor:
- Paula Lucchesi
- Lead Digital Painter:
- Joel Friesch
- Digital Modelmakers:
- Merrick Cheney
- David Woolsey
- Digital Lighting:
- Kent Estep
- James Flux
- Sara Mathew
- Saba Rofchaei
- Scott Souter
- Bart Trickel
- Mathew Welker
- Digital Effects Animator:
- Darby Johnston
- Digital Compositors:
- Bill Eyler
- Charles Granich
- Peter Juneau
- Alfred Murrie
- Russ Sueyoshi
- Executive Producer:
- Jules Roman
- Lead Visual Effects Co-ordinator:
- Ken Kokka
- Visual Effects Co-ordinator:
- Eve Sakellarjou
- Operations Manager:
- Jeff Stringer
- Match Move Supervisor:
- Desirée Mourad
- Digital Roto Supervisor:
- Joanne Ladolcetta
- Film I/O Supervisor:
- David Rosenthal
- Digital Scanner Operator:
- Stephen Stanton
- Colour Correction:
- Page Frakes
- Haunt Rama
- Film I/O Co-ordinator:
- Vicki Wong
- Visual Effects Editor:
- Kevin Rose-Williams
- Systems Manager:
- Xian Rice
- Puppeteers
- Bud McGrew
- Eric Fiedler
- Joshua M. Logan
- Brian Bero
- Christopher Bergschneider
- Mark Bryan Wilson
- James L. Kundig
- Elizabeth Osterman
- Sebastien Caillabet
- Trevor Murray
- John D. Snyder
- Mark D. Hull
- Leonard Gregory MacDonald
- Ron Pastucha
- Christian Carlberg
- Brett Tyler Johnson
- Mark Garbarino
- A. Brent Armstrong
- Terry Chapman
- Thomas A. Holland
- Bob Davidson
- Phil H. Fravel
- Doug Passarelli
- Kenneth Walker
- Robert Rieker
- David Hill
- Scott Blackwell
- Brent W. Bell
- Additional Editing
- Jere Huggins
- Art Directors
- Donald B. Woodruff
- Jay Hinkle
- Robert J. Quinn
- Set Designers
- Daniel Jennings
- Dale Allan Pelton
- Geoffrey S. Grimsman
- Domenic Silvestri
- Bill Taliaferro
- Patte Strong
- Charlie Vassar
- Alan Au
- Allan Hook
- William Davis
- Set Decorator
- Donald Krafft
- Illustrator
- Vladimir Spasojevic
- Storyboard Artists
- Thomas R. Cranham
- Rodolfo Damaggio
- Leo Duranona
- Darryl Henly
- Phillip Norwood
- Mike Swift
- Costume Designer
- Deborah Everton
- Costume Supervisor
- Frank Perry Rose
- Make-up
- Supervisor:
- Jeff Goodwin
- Artists
- Rick Pour
- Sandra Orsolyak
- 2nd Unit Artist:
- Christina Harrelson
- Virginia 2nd Unit Artist:
- Marianna Alacchi
- Special Make-up Effects
- 2nd Unit:
- Vincent J. Guastini
- Additional Make-up Effects
- Transformations Makeup FX Lab
- Hair
- Supervisor/Designer:
- Emanuel Millar
- Key Stylist:
- Pamela Priest
- 2nd Unit Stylist:
- David Halsey
- Virginia 2nd Unit Stylist:
- Rob Magnus
- Titles/Opticals
- Pacific Title/Mirage
- Synthesizer
- Judd Miller
- Electronic Percussion
- Ron Aston
- Orchestrations
- David Slonaker
- Music Editors
- Johnny Caruso
- Craig Pettigrew
- Temp:
- Richard Bernstein
- Engineer
- Shawn Murphy
- Re-recording Music Mixer
- Mark Smith
- Sound Design
- John Pospisil
- Eric Lindemann
- Sound Mixers
- Jay Meagher
- 2nd Unit:
- Robert Maxfield
- Virginia 2nd Unit:
- Larry Long
- Re-recording Mixers
- Mike Casper
- Daniel J. Leahy
- Rick Kline
- Dubbing Recordist
- Charlie Ajar
- Supervising Sound Editors
- Richard L. Anderson
- George Simpson
- Sound Editors
- Michael Chock
- John Dunn
- Julia Evershade
- Donald Flick
- Aaron Glascock
- David A. Whittaker
- Supervising Dialogue Editor
- Elliott Koretz
- ADR
- Recordist:
- Rick Canelli
- Mixer:
- Thomas J. O'Connell
- Supervising Editor:
- Chris Jargo
- Editor:
- Michelle Pazer
- Foley
- Artists:
- John Roesch
- Hilda Hodges
- Recordist:
- Carolyn Tapp
- Mixer:
- Mary Jo Lang
- Editor:
- Solange S. Schwalbe
- Advisers
- MIR Station:
- Dr Norman Thagard
- Navy Technical:
- Laura Astor
- Marine Co-ordinator
- Virginia 2nd Unit:
- C. Ransom Walrod
- Aerial Co-ordinator
- Virginia 2nd Unit:
- David Paris
- Digital Muse
- James Cameron
- Stunt Co-ordinator
- Joel Kramer
- Bird Wrangler
- Alicia Rudd
- Helicopter Pilots
- Virginia 2nd Unit:
- Robert Zajonc
- Alan Purwin
- Keith Smith
- Andrew Erdle
- Cast
- Jamie Lee Curtis
- Kit Foster
- William Baldwin
- Steve Baker
- Donald Sutherland
- Captain Everton
- Joanna Pacula
- Nadia
- Marshall Bell
- J.W. Woods Jr
- Julio Oscar Mechoso
- Squeaky
- Sherman Augustus
- Richie
- Cliff Curtis
- Hiko
- Yuri Chervotkin
- Colonel Kominski
- Keith Flippen
- Captain Lonya Rostov
- Olga Rzhepetskaya-Retchin
- female cosmonaut
- Levani
- Captain Alexi
- David Eggby
- Norfolk captain
- Certificate
- 18
- Distributor
- United International Pictures (UK) Ltd
- 8,934 feet
- 99 minutes 16 seconds
- Digital DTS sound/SDDS/Dolby digital
- Colour by
- DeLuxe