Event 15 (2013) Reviews

• Better as it goes along, Keep watching till the end!

  doublebky2014-03-28

  I just watched Alpha Alert (or Event 15 as some may call it) and I was VERY pleasantly surprised. I truly expected a military cliché movie from start to finish and to be honest, the only reason why I watched it was because of Jennifer Morrison. Loved her work on House and Once Upon A Time and thought "Hey, she is easy on the eyes so it cannot be too bad right?" I am glad I watched this hidden gem! The story is pretty straightforward at the beginning: It shows the comments in individual therapy sessions of 3 soldiers. As they leave the therapy facility in an elevator, something happens to make the elevator get stuck. Panic sets in as crazy events happen next as the soldiers try to get out of the elevator to help the situation. Truly to tell anymore I am afraid I will give something away. All I can say is this: KEEP WATCHING! There will be a major WTF moment followed by several more smaller ones after. The movie really picks up after about 20-25 minutes. Two standouts in this movie for sure. Jennifer Morrison as Cpt. White is spot-on and solid (and still easy on the eyes). She plays the lead and carries it well in this movie. Josh Stewart as Oldsmand was BRILLIANT casting and for those of you who like The Collector & The Collection, he once again shows us and Hollywood why people take notice of his acting skills. I gave this a 7 and I am SHOCKED the rating is so low. I know some people have "complained" about the authenticity of the military actions/sequences/protocol. IT IS A MOVIE! IT IS FICTION! It is not like they went and made the people wear purple and sing in Russian. Don't let that run you away from this movie. If you are someone who needs everything to fit nice and neat and have no holes at all in a movie, this may not be for you. However, if you are someone who likes good acting, and want a movie that throws a curve-ball at you while entertaining you, I HIGHLY recommend this one.

• Keep with this one...it gets better as it progresses.

  MartinHafer2014-03-18

  For the first half or so of "Alpha Alert", I was only mildly interested in the film. Fortunately, the second half, while seemingly wildly paranoid, is very exciting and must be based, to some degree, on studies the government did on soldiers in the 1950s and 60s. The film is set at some sort of VA-type clinic where three soldiers are all receiving treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. On their way out of the building, the three enter an elevator together but the elevator stops soon after they hear what sounds like an explosion. Slowly, the begin to learn what seems to be happening—a dirty bombs have been unleashed on the Washington, DC area and the city is in panic. While Captain White becomes increasingly angry at not receiving help, oddly, Private Oldsman becomes surly, disrespectful and increasingly psychotic. Fortunately, Private Diego is there to prevent Oldsman from doing any violence towards the female Captain—as Oldsman seems to hate women in authority. At this point, it's all just a tense waiting game until help can arrive. However, as time passes, they learn more about the atomic fallout from the bomb and it looks like help might not be coming after all! At this point, Oldsman has become even more imbalanced—and almost anything can push him over the edge. Soon, the lights go out temporarily—and when the lights return, Diego is dead and it looks like White is next! Can she avoid becoming the next victim? And what about the dirty bombs—will there be more and what damage did they already do? I could easily say a lot more about the plot but it would ruin the film. The bottom line is that there is far more to this story than I have already told you—and that 'far more' is what makes the film so interesting. The main strength of this film is the acting. Although I've seen none of these actors in other projects, they did great work. Likewise, the director, Matthew Thompson, did some fine work eliciting these performances and creating LOTS of tension—but he's someone whose work I haven't seen before, though I suspect with films like Alpha Alert, I will. As far as weaknesses go, the film does use several clichés. The worst is what they do to the black man in the film. While I am FAR from politically correct and don't get offended easily, it was a cheap shot to take the main black character and have him be the victim. Chef on South Park commented on this cliché—and I sure could see it here! I would love to have seen him either be the hero officer or the psychotic killer—these would have been thinking outside the formulaic box. Additionally, some (not me) might blanch at the film's very paranoid message—though I found myself very willing to believe what was happening up to the end of the film. So is this a film for you? I doubt if the average person would think to watch the film but I do think most people would enjoy it. It's a bit too tense and violent for younger audiences. The ones I'd really love to hear from are military and ex-military viewers. What would they think about the film and the twisted ending? I'd love to say more. My suggestion is that you see the film and then think about all this. It's well worth seeing and original…even with its minor problems.

• Very Intense, and messed up.

  zsappenfield2014-03-13

  by messed up, i mean its great, its got everything that a movie like this should have. not knowing what the hell is going on until the right time. and also three great actors that know what there doing. Jennifer Morrison was amazing i've only seen her in once upon a time. but in this movie she really shows off a side of herself i didn't know she could play. people are giving this movie a bad rating. but don't listen to them watch the movie yourself and then you decide. and don't go (falling asleep in the first 10 minutes cause it seems boring) believe me ...it does pick up and it picks up very well. give this movie a chance because i'm glad i did

• A little bit Umbrella Corp., though not nearly enough.

  face-819-9337262014-03-09

  What comes from blindly following orders? That is the main thread that everything in this movie is semi loosely tied around. Jennifer Morrison is tightly wound, and thrown into a closed space with Stephen Rider, and Josh Stewart while all around them chaos is raging. This is a pretty blaze movie over all, the acting is mostly of the straight to cam video chat stuff, and here, and there a lot of things that make no sense, but that have been allowed to pass which is the fault of the direction, and production staff. If a "rope" that should be a cable is coated in grease, shouldn't that transfer to the clothing? how does one know where to stab the knife to get a small foot on a larger trap door in one try? Why does the lieutenant get to leave? That felt rushed, and hollow like they skipped over something. Sorry those are just my points that I could not get past, so over all I really did not Enjoy this movie. I would only recommend it as a Sunday afternoon bit of filler, and even then you can do better. The acting from all of the characters is the only thing that saves it at all.

• Slightly more entertaining than an infomercial

  chmotle2014-03-09

  I rarely comment on the movies......I turned this movie off ten minutes into the movie.......I myself am a veteran, and I am constantly amazed at how many film makers go about making military movies, only to screw up on the simplest things. There are three people (soldiers) in an elevator, and their uniforms are beyond messed up. Two of them have the ranks upside down, and the third probably would as well, however, it is the same right side up or upside down. Tags on their uniform are showing when any soldier would have them tucked in. Unit patches are completely wrong for the location. Not one of those three soldiers has a deployment patch........where the hell have they been for the last decade? However, the woman keeps having flashbacks from wartime and still she does not have a deployment patch. It just blows my mind that they will spend millions on making a movie, but not hire any common soldier as a consultant, that easily would have remedied any of the problems that I mentioned.