CROSSWORLDS

* ½

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.

"Not particularly awful – just very forgettable . . ."

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.

See also: Cold Fusion Video Reviews.