STARRING:
Rutger Hauer, Josh Charles, Stuart Wilson, Andrea Roth
1997, 86 Minutes, Directed by: Krishna Rao
Description:An
unassuming young man holds the key to dimensional travel, the legacy of his
mysterious adventurer father. Boyish Josh Charles is the lucky Luke
Skywalker stand-in, a good-natured underachiever shocked out of his lovelorn
moping when gorgeous guerrilla fighter Andrea Roth takes the battle to his
bedroom. Rutger Hauer is the coffee-chugging freedom fighter who is roused
from retirement to fill out the trio and face dimensional mob boss Stuart
Wilson to settle the fate of the universe.
—
Amazon.com
More straight-to-video fare starring Rutger Hauer in a long black coat (is it the same one
in every movie or is he supplied another one with every new movie?).
Unlike Redline (another Hauer video cheapie that I saw as a
double bill with this movie) Crossworlds is an "all ages" movie. So in the exploitation stakes, you’ll have to settle
for the generically leggy blonde Andrea Roth in a very short dress.
With no nude scenes or any gratuitous violence, you can
make your kids watch this fantasy/action fare about evil invaders (all of
them dressed in business suits!) from another dimension seeking a rare
artefact that’ll provide them with ultimate power with a clear conscience. Whether you’ll have any fun with them is doubtful.
The biggest problem is the plot
which lays no ground rules regarding logic at the outset, so it is very difficult to
clearly understand the muddled on-screen events or get involved in any of the action
(which gets repetitious after a while).
Come to think of it, I’m not entirely sure
whether your kids will have any fun watching Crossworlds either. But the cast is game – with the exception of Hauer who seems to sleepwalk through
the entire movie. He must be probably be wondering all the time why they insist on
dressing him in a long black coat in every movie, whether it is set in a warm climate like
that of Los Angeles or not!
The effects are competent (with minor exceptions). In the end Crossworlds isn’t particularly awful and/or good – just very
forgettable. With perhaps some more inspiration it could have been better – a sense
of wackiness wouldn’t have hurt it, just like it didn’t hurt the
similarly-themed Time Bandits.
It’s the type of movie you’ll watch on television late one
night and forget all about as soon as you switch off your set.
Description:
An