Star Runners (2009)

Some things I liked some I did not.

A Disappointing Continuation

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Gun-running space outlaws Connor Trinneer (as Tycho "Ty" Johns) and James Kyson Lee (as Lei Chen) are captured in an asteroid belt and offered a legitimate undercover job. They are to pick up scantily-clad Toni Trucks (as Asta) and turn her over to authorities. They find her shivering in a smoky crate. After giving her some clothing the script calls "inconspicuous" and visiting a soft-core strip-club, the men proceed on their mission. Their ship unfortunately crash-lands on a planet inhabited by Zanti Misfits (special-effected insects). Of course, the creepy creatures are hungry for Bloody Human Fricassee...This derivative science-fiction monster movie is most notable for its costume designs, by Olga Mekikchieva. Most memorable is the little pink dress worn by Ms. Trucks. At first glance, it looks like a slip. The fetching frock would also look nice on awards night, if "Star Runners" had been nominated for any Emmy Awards. The leading lady fills the dress nicely and is never offered anything warmer to wear. Like the women shivering next to dates on the red carpet, you have to chill to be hot...A former "Star Trek" spin-off actor, Mr. Trinneer's costume features a black leather jacket. He looks terrific. Black leather goes with everything, even space travel. The costumes are durable, too; observe how they look after Trinneer's crash-landing. The crash looks fatal, but nobody twists an ankle. A more serious strength is "Star Runners" success in visualizing the story's settings, with splicer Matt Michael and director Mat King never leaving the viewer confused about where we are.*** Star Runners (6/13/09) Mat King ~ Connor Trinneer, Toni Trucks, James Kyson, Aja Evans

Connor Trinneer is as warm and sexy as always, but even he can't overcome the cheesy effects and poor writing in this one. Then there are the laughably inappropriately, inexplicably partially-dressed women in the way, and the generally poor production values. There is little in the plot to hang onto, and they completely fail to take full advantage of the only sexy cast member - Trinneer - which might have at least managed to hold some interest.On the more positive side, there are moments of sincerity and moments when the acting is allowed to overcome the movie's other defects. Some of the supporting cast aren't bad and it would have been nice if they had had better material and directing to work with.

This is one of those 'made for TV' Sci-Fi movies that are made on a tiny budget, and it really shows. It's mostly shot in a quarry and, like most films shot in a quarry, it has to rely on a decent script to carry it off. Unfortunately, this film doesn't have one of those either. But I digress; let me tell you something of the plot before I really rip into it.Two smugglers, Tycho 'Ty' Johns and Lei Chen are captured by the government and blackmailed into collecting a crate from a distant space station. They arrive and locate the crate only to find their ship is being watched by some rebels. They open the crate and find a young woman, Asta, inside. Booking a flight on a commercial transport, the three make their escape. They soon find they are being followed and, after the pilot is killed, make a dangerous jump into hyperspace. They emerge in an uncharted region of space and crash-land on an unknown planet. The survivors make for a man-made structure. They search it and find they are not alone, there are eight foot bugs living there with a taste for blood. The rebels soon follow; they are very keen to get their hands on Asta. As time goes on we discover more about Asta and why she is so special. So special indeed that military ships also arrive to retrieve her. Just on the off-chance that someone might want to see this, I'll end my summary here, so as not to give the ending away.To be honest I really didn't care for this very much. Don't get me wrong, I like Sci-Fi a lot, but decent Sci-Fi, not this pulp. The story was too predictable, the dialogue was diabolical and the effects were pretty poor. The one thing in its favour was the acting wasn't too bad, but how they brought themselves to deliver some of those lines is beyond me. So, honourable mentions go to Connor Trinneer as Tycho 'Ty' Johns (you may know him better as Charles 'Trip' Tucker from TV's 'Enterprise'), James Kyson-Lee as Lei Chen (again, you may know him better as Ando Masahashi from TV's 'Heroes'), Toni Trucks as Asta and Aja Evans as Jenessa.Over all it's a pretty poor TV movie shot in a quarry that doesn't hit the mark. There's some acceptable acting but that's about all I can say about it. Definitely NOT recommended.My score: 3.6/10

"Star Runners" is what happens when you take every science fiction movie or TV series of the past three decades, put them in a blender, then take the result and set it on fire. The best part of watching this movie is identifying which sci-fi franchise they're ripping off at the moment. It may be Star Wars in one scene, Firefly in the next, then Starship Troopers and Aliens down the line. At least with this film, the Sci-Fi Channel blew most of their budget hiring a couple of decent actors, Star Trek: Enterprise's Connor Trinneer, and Heroes' James Kyson Lee. Of course, most of the rest of the cast comes from various former Soviet republics. But that's okay, because Star Runners is probably the best Sci-Fi Original Movie to come out yet... Not that that's saying much.