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Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Alfred Molina, Forest Whitaker, Marg Helgenberger ... see more see more... , Natasha Henstridge , Caroline Barclay , Patricia Belcher , Gary Bullock , William Bumiller , Richard Fancy , Anthony Guidera , Whip Hubley , Dave Jensen , Jordan Lund , Virginia Morris , Shirley Prestia , Lucy Rodriguez , Marliese Schneider , Esther Scott , William Utay , Herta Ware , Frank Welker , David Selburg , Michelle Williams , Don Fischer , Alfred Mouna

Fine special effects, eclectic casting, and the freeze-frame-worthy, clothing-free debut of a blonde bombshell made this cheesy science fiction/horror hybrid a cut above its B-grade roots. At a top-se... read more read more...cret Utah facility headed up by Dr. Xavier Fitch (Ben Kingsley), scientists have created "Sil" (Natasha Henstridge), a half-human, half-alien product of experiments with DNA codes obtained from beyond the stars. Unfortunately, Sil has escaped. Her primary objective is to mate, and, with the ability to transform herself into an incredibly powerful alien creature, puny humans can't stop her. So Dr. Fitch calls in a quartet of specialists (Forest Whitaker, Michael Madsen, Marg Helgenberger, and Alfred Molina), to attempt Sil's capture. At the same time, Sil is leaving a trail of mostly male corpses in her hormonal wake. The organic-flavored alien designs for Species were provided by H.R. Giger, the artist responsible for the memorable creatures and spaceships of Alien (1979). When MGM decided to cut the spectacular "train birth" sequence in the interest of budget-trimming, Giger personally financed this $100,000 showcase of his work. Those who look closely will notice that "Young Sil" is played by future Dawson's Creek star Michelle Williams. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Flixster Users

36% liked it

47,869 ratings

Critics

36% liked it

33 critics

R, 1 hr. 48 min.

Directed by: Roger Donaldson

Release Date: July 7, 1995

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DVD Release Date: August 27, 1997

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Stats: 1,580 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,580)

  • TheDudeLebowski65
    February 26, 2012
    TheDudeLebowski65
    Species is a terrific Sci Fi horror film.with a good cast of actors. After an experiment at a top secret facility goes haywire, The facilities latest experiment escapes. The experiment is a woman implanted with Alien DNA and she must find a mate to create an alien race. Scientis... read morets hunt her down at any cost. Species plays out like a B movie with a big budget. Special effects are crafted by famed Swiss artist H.R Geiger who designed the creatures in Ridley Scott's Alien. The film is helmed by Roger Donaldson who went to film other terrific films such as Thirteen Days and The World's Fastest Indian. Despite the throwback of the B movie feel that Species offers, this is still a very enjoyable film despite the flaws. The effects are awesome and theres plenty of gore in the film to appeal to the gore fans. The film does leave room for improvement, but Species is a fairly entertaining ride that has more highs than lows. This is a film that is fairly underrated. Sure the film is not Alien, but it manages to be a pretty effective Sci Fi Horror film. If you can get past the cliches, which work well, this is a treat to watch and enjoy. Sci Fi Horror fans should be pleased at this interesting film because it uses plenty of old tricks that though some may find old, are quite inventive in this effects laden film. The diehard Horror buff will surely enjoy this film, I did and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a different type of Alien monster film.
  • ajv2688
    June 6, 2011
    ajv2688
    A very cool sci-fi horror movie, I saw it when it came out, and I'd like to see it again sometime.
  • 3niR
    March 11, 2011
    3niR
    Didn't had any high hope for this. It was okay.
  • phubbs1
    August 8, 2010
    phubbs1
    When this came out it was hailed as a decent sci-fi/horror and to be honest it was half decent but looking back this is really quite bad haha

    The effects are very very average and showcase really poor early cgi, yes its an old film but its still bad even for then. The alien is a... read more horrible rip of H.R. Giger's Alien creation and no where near as good atall, terrible rip off and looks bad, the makeup and gore effects are marginally better but you can tell this is B-movie territory here haha.
    Cast wise its actually pretty good with Kingsley, Molina and Whitaker!! quite the epic line up lets be frank, god knows how they got them but despite being there none of them can do anything with this film, they try hard though.

    Its all very predictable and unfortunatley led to three crappy sequels which just made things much worse, very tacky using sex as a way for an alien to kill or mate and kill etc....B-movie.
  • SirPant
    September 24, 2009
    SirPant
    It?s not great, just a bit of fun and an excuse to see Natasha Henstridge walk around naked really. They killed off my favourite character quite early so I sort of lost interest.
  • FiLmCrAzY
    August 9, 2009
    FiLmCrAzY
    I love sci-fi so this film is right up my street!
    Its a good clever entertaining and exciting movie that is funny as well! It also has a fantastic cast which makes this movie so much better!
    This movie is about an alien (Henstridge) escapes from the lab with one mission to mat... read moree with the entire male population of the race, so in a race against time the military hire an assasin (Madsen) a biologist (helgenberger) an empath (Whitaker) and a archeologist (Molina) to find her!
    This is an exciting thrilling movie and copletely worth a watch!
  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    October 7, 2008
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    "For three million years, the human race has been at the top of the evolutionary ladder. Nothing lasts forever"

    At a top-secret Utah facility headed up by Dr. Xavier Fitch (Ben Kingsley), scientists have created "Sil" (Natasha Henstridge), a half-human, half-alien product... read more of experiments with DNA codes obtained from beyond the stars. Unfortunately, Sil has escaped. Her primary objective is to mate, and, with the ability to transform herself into an incredibly powerful alien creature, puny humans can't stop her. So Dr. Fitch calls in a quartet of specialists (Forest Whitaker, Michael Madsen, Marg Helgenberger, and Alfred Molina), to attempt Sil's capture. At the same time, Sil is leaving a trail of mostly male corpses in her hormonal wake. The organic-flavored alien designs for Species were provided by H.R. Giger, the artist responsible for the memorable creatures and spaceships of Alien (1979). When MGM decided to cut the spectacular "train birth" sequence in the interest of budget-trimming, Giger personally financed this $100,000 showcase of his work.

    Review
    This campy, cheesy, B-grade movie starts off strong. The major players are introduced, the comedy was well-timed and the thrill was executed with precision. The first half was impressive if I put it so bluntly but its sad to say, the second half drags the whole movie down. The ending scene inside the sewer was shoddy and ridiculous. The acting was okay. Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen), Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker), Gandhi (Ben Kingley) , CSI lady (Marg Helgenberger) and blonde bombshell Natasha Henstridge who made her debut in this movie was okay in a cheesy, sci-fi/horror kind of way. Species was fun at first, but then it got tiresome when it entered the second act. Watch it at your own risk.
  • Chiefilms
    March 2, 2008
    Chiefilms
    Bad acting, hot antagonist
  • cancercapricorn2002
    January 14, 2008
    cancercapricorn2002
    This movie has a nice blend of intrigue and action. An interesting science fiction premise; aliens send radio message in response to our radio signals being sent out into space. This alien message details how to combine human DNA with Alien DNA. A Top Secret government project en... read moresues and follows the direction to create "Sil" (half human/ half alien). Orders come from above to terminate the creature, but Sil escapes as her abilities were drastically underestimated. The rest of the movie follows a special unit as they attempt to track the rogue creature, and it attempts to situate itself in modern Los Angeles.

    Natasha Henstridge is excellent as the awkward but vicious creature "Sil". It was interesting to watch her character learn by observation the habits and practices of humans. Generally competent performances all around. Michael Madsen plays the badass character quite well again. Forest Whittaker is also good as the psychic.

    Good directing, interesting art direction, and decent characterization provide an intriguing story line. The action sequences are pretty solid and engaging. It might be a little too violent and gory for most people, but I happen to enjoy these elements in a horror flick. Several scenes of Natasha's beautiful nude body, but it fits into the story (Sil wants to complete her life cycle by having a baby, so sex scenes are inevitable).

    The creature design itself is excellent. A CGI creature designed by the immortal H.R. Giger,

    My main complaint is the story completely falls apart at the end. The ending is predictable (not to mention a complete rip-off straight from "Alien" with the metal grate walkways and the creature lurking above). We see the creature more clearly, but less would be better considering the unrealistic CGI effects.

    To sum up, this movie could have been great if only it had a better ending. As it stands, it still remains a intriguing and action-packed Sci-Fi adventure up until the last couple of minutes when it all falls apart. Fans of the Sci-Fi/Horror genre (as I am) will probably like this film very much despite its flaws. Recommended
  • cosmo313
    January 9, 2008
    cosmo313
    Decent enough for what it is. There's a plethora of much better films out there, but on the same token, the so many more that are far worse.

View All Species Reviews

Critic Reviews

January 1, 2000
USA Today

Ingeniously combines the schlocky fun of '50s sci-fi flicks with the shock tactics of Alien and the cautionary allure of Looking for Mr. Goodbar.

Felix Vasquez Jr.
February 7, 2011
Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed

Takes a clever premise and turns it in to soft core porn with a clunky ending. Full Review

Steve Biodrowski
July 13, 2008
Steve Biodrowski, ESplatter

It is no masterpiece, but after some of the schlock seen this year, it is nice to see a science-fiction horror film that delivers. Full Review

Chuck O'Leary
March 4, 2006
Chuck O'Leary, FulvueDrive-in.com

An enjoyable creature feature where the creature just happens to mask itself as a beautiful, often-naked blonde. Nothing more than a big-budget exploitation flick, but it has some good shock moments.

Scott Weinberg
October 27, 2005
Scott Weinberg, DVDTalk.com

As slyly smart as it is silly, and the flick delivers a clever idea that's wedged in between some rather slick action scenes. Full Review

John J. Puccio
October 22, 2004
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis

...she's a beautiful, horny, outer-space babe who just wants to copulate, and when she doesn't get her way, boy, does she get angry! Full Review

Steve Crum
October 15, 2004
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan

Violent kill-fest of a sci-fi/horror movie. Sexy monster, though.

Victoria Alexander
October 3, 2004
Victoria Alexander, FilmsInReview.com

Sexy and bold.

Nick Davis
August 16, 2003
Nick Davis, Nick's Flick Picks

Does this film know it's funny? Does it think it's scary? In truth, it's enough of both to enjoy.

John Esther
August 2, 2003
John Esther, Pasadena Weekly

Worthless

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