3/2/21 - Dune Drifter (2020) - 5-/10

This is a surprisingly decent effort for a low-budget sci-fi movie. Granted, it lacks in top notch wardrobe, special effects, and script, but that doesn’t mean it can’t throw its middleweight pounds behind its punches to land some stiff shots. The space special effects, on the whole, look solid and do not dissuade you from the reality of the situation. Definitely got some Battlestar Galactica and Wing Commander vibes here. The designs of the costumes and world give it a rough-around-the-edges lived-in feel, capitalizing well on the limited grandeur that it had. The drama starts strong, and despite getting a little long in the tooth through the runtime, works suitably well for what they are doing. Female powered & focused but without being overly feminine or try hard (I did love the touch of the recurring stray hair in the space helmet; something that I have always thought about). Competently directed and plotted out, utilizing the production values they had to make what works work well.

The less-than-stellar:

- Yes, the ‘aliens’ are just guys with gas masks, which is sufficiently disappointing. They weren’t able to pull off a dramatically alienating experience, with their costumes, ships, tech, nor behavior.

- The fight choreography waxes and wanes. Sometimes it is exciting and smooth, but there are some clunky chunks as well. Those were often the moments that strained credulity the most.

- The story is point A to B, which I might have hoped for more in a 90 min feature. Some more character work or delving into an Enemy Mine kind of relationship would have provided some depth and breadth.

- Yes, the marketing is bad. Slapping a big old DUNE on the film to invoke that sci-fi classic turned major motion picture, especially when there are no dunes or drifting, was a shameless attention grab. It is too bad, but perhaps it will get eyes on it that wouldn’t be there otherwise. I mean, I watched it, so…

This isn’t a great film, but for the level that it is swinging, it connects. It is capable and succeeds in most of the areas it needs to. It is the type of film that shows promise for the crew working here; some solid reel fodder.