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Screamers is a 1995 dystopian science fiction horror film directed by Christian Duguay based on the short story Second Variety by Philip K. Dick. Screamers stars Peter Weller, Roy Dupuis, and Jennifer Rubin. It premiered at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 1995 and was released in theaters in the USA on January 26, 1996

Screamers was filmed in three locations in the Canadian province Quebec: Joliette, Montreal, and the Olympic Stadium from the 1976 Summer Olympics. It was filmed on 35 mm film with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1.

Cast

Plot

Screamers is set in 2078 on the planet Sirius 6B where the miners and their mining company are amidst a war over the mining of a substance called berynium. The miners invented the autonomous mobile sword — called screamers for the sound they make — to defend themselves against the much more capable foe.

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On the planet Sirius 6B, the New Economic Block (N.E.B.) was mining a substance they discovered there called berynium. Berynium was hailed as the solution to the NEB's energy crisis but mining it released lethal doses of radiation and pollution. Ten years after the discovery of berynium, a federation of miners and scientists was created to oppose the mining of berynium. The NEB's response was to declare war against "The Alliance". Fighting was confined to Sirius 6B, however, a cold war was created on Earth. During the first ten years of war the NEB staged massive nuclear bombing strikes on Sirius 6B that killed most of the population.

One of the defenses created by The Alliance five years into the war was the "screamer": an autonomous mobile sword. The autonomous machines were created as subterranean crawlers that are self-replicating with a spinning saw that "leaped" from the soil to maim and kill the enemy. These machines produced a loud sound similar to a scream and thus were called screamers. As creators of the screamers, The Alliance possessed wrist-worn "tabs" that prevented the screamers from attacking its wearer. Without the screamers, The Alliance would very likely have lost the war (stated by Becker).

After six months of silence a lone NEB soldier is spotted approaching The Alliance's base. The solider is killed by the screamers and is found to have been carrying a message marked. Inside is a message requesting an immediate peace treaty and guarantees safe passage through NEB territory to discuss the treaty for two Alliance officers. Hendricksson dissects one of the screamers and discovers that the CPU is marked "revised." In a received message from Alliance's command Hendricksson is told that Triton 4 contains berynium that can be safely mined without radiation and, thus, negotiations were in progress with the NEB to pick up mining operations on Triton 4. Shortly thereafter, a ship crashes and inside The Alliance discovers from a soldier, Ace Jefferson, that the received message is a lie and war is continuing on Triton 4.

Trek to NEB base

In a fury against being betrayed by The Alliance command, Hendricksson takes Jefferson with him to make peace with the Sirius 6B NEB people. As Hendricksson & Jefferson walk through an obliterated city they discover a young boy named David with a teddy bear who, somehow, managed to survive the screamers, radiation, and nuclear weapons. While taking some for rest they discover another type of screamer that has been modified and seems to ignore the wrist tabs.

As the three of them approach the NEB base a NEB soldier shoots the boy. Upon inspection of the boy Hendricksson & Jefferson discover David is yet another type of more advanced screamer capable of talking. Jessica, a black market merchant, explains the new types of screamers. Besides Jessica there are only two NEB soldiers left. All five take underground tunnels to the NEB command where they find copious amounts of blood and type 1 screamers and more copies of David (there identified as type 3). After fleeing from NEB command one of the NEB soldiers is killed since it was believed he was a screamer, but the blood on the knife shows to the contrary.

Return to the Alliance base

The remaining four characters return to The Alliance's base only to find it infested with "David" screamers. The four volley a large number of ammunition but discover it inadequate to defeat them all. Hendricksson fires a nuke at the base and destroys it and all the screamers in it. The remaining NEB soldier pretends to be injured and kills Jefferson as he reveals he is a screamer.

As the senior Alliance officer, Hendricksson is the only one privy to the knowledge that there is an escape spacecraft hidden in a mountain. However, before leaving he cuts Jessica's hand to determine whether or not she is a screamer. The large gash bleeds and it is assumed she is human. Hendricksson and Jessica then continue to the craft. When they arrive they see that there is only room for one passenger. Hendrickssen decides that he will let Jessica use the spacecraft at which point an individual identical to Jessica arrives, whereupon Hendrickssen realises that Jessica is, in fact, a Screamer and scrambles to enter the spacecraft, pushing her aside. The two "Jessica" Screamers begin to fight, with the first Jessica seemingly remaining loyal to Hendrickssen. The second Jessica is eventually destroyed by a pre-flight burn of the space craft. As the "good" Jessica dies, Hendricksson tells her that screamers are "moving up in the world" because they now kill each other. Jessica's dying breath is admitting her love for Hendricksson.

En route to Earth, a teddy bear (as carried by the David Screamers) is shown to have gotten aboard the spacecraft and begins to move, presumably as it too is a Screamer.

List of screamer types

Throughout the film, several models of screamers are introduced:

Type 1

Machines that crawl through the dirt and jump out on attack. These were the original screamers created by The Alliance to defend themselves agains the NEB.

Type 1 Revised

Machines that still crawl through the sand, but are of a more sleek design, have small legs with which to walk around on other surfaces than sand, are much more intelligent than the standard screamer, and can hack into computer terminals. Armed with a buzz saw blade on its head. (See first screenshot image above)

Type 2 (or Type 4; number speculated)

As a man usually acting as a wounded soldier that cries for help. Seemingly not armed with weaponry, though they do possess a great deal of strength. One claims that it acquired its current face by cutting it off the former wearer.

Type 3

As a small boy, who calls himself "David", holding a teddy bear. During a scene in which many of these are torched, they're revealed to have buzz saw blades embedded in their hands. At one point it's shown their faces can mutate into a more monstrous visage.

Type 4 (or Type 5; number speculated)

As a woman. This type of screamer is the most advanced and can even bleed, unlike the earlier versions. Strong, and seemingly able to produce a scream to possibly incapacitate or kill foes (the full effect is not shown in the film before it gets destroyed).

Type 5 (or Type 2; number speculated)

The teddy bear usually found in the hand of a Type 3. (See second screenshot image above)

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Differences with Second Variety

Although the movie is based on the short story Second Variety by Philip K. Dick, and the basic ecophagy scenario remains unchanged, there are several key differences between Screamers and Second Variety that make the film somewhat less pessimistic.

• The automata of the film are known as "Screamers", while their counterparts in Second Variety are referred to as "claws".
• The main character of Screamers, Colonel Hendricksson, is given a side-kick, the young and inexperienced Ace Jefferson. This helps lighten the mood of the first half of the movie. In Second Variety, the main character, Major Hendricks, travels alone.
• Screamers takes place in the distant future, while Second Variety takes place in the near future (for the 1950s).
• The on-going war in Screamers is a fictional war, fought between two fictional groups, the Alliance and the New Economic Bloc, over a futuristic resource. In Second Variety, the war is the Cold War which has turned into an all-out open war, and is being fought between the UN and the Soviet Union.
• Screamers takes place on the distant planet Sirius 6b, one of many planets colonized by the human race, and the only planet on which the screamers have been unleashed. Thus, the screamers are not a threat to the human race as a whole, only to the troops stationed on Sirius 6b. Second Variety takes place on Earth, and there are no human colonies in space, save for a small moon base. Thus, the entire human race is at risk of being wiped out by the claws.

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• In Screamers, the screamer Jessica seemingly betrays the other screamers and helps Hendricksson escape the planet. In Second Variety, Tasso is loyal to the claws and escapes with the ship, leaving Hendricks stranded on Earth.
• In Second Variety, Hendricks has doomed the last humans by giving a claw access to the moon base. This fact is made explicitly clear, and Hendricks himself realizes it in the end. In Screamers, it is shown that a screamer has stowed-away on Hendricksson's ship, but Hendricksson is not aware of it.

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Awards

Release dates

Screamers has the following release dates:

• 1995 Toronto International Film Festival — September 8, 1995
• Theatrical releases:
  • USA — January 26, 1996
  • Spain — April 25, 1996
  • Portugal — May 24, 1996
  • Poland — June 28, 1996
  • UK — June 28, 1996
  • France — July 10, 1996
  • Hungary — July 18, 1996
  • Germany — July 25, 1996
  • Netherlands — August 1, 1996
  • Japan — November 30, 1996
• VHS — April 8, 1997
• DVD — July 29, 1998

References

1. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114367/releaseinfo retrieved February 10, 2007
2. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114367/business retrieved February 10, 2007
3. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114367/locations retrieved February 10, 2007
4. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114367/technical retrieved February 10, 2007
5. http://amazon.com/gp/product/6304080891 retrieved February 10, 2007
6. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114367/dvd retrieved February 20, 2007

External links

• Screamers at IMDb
• Template:Amg movie
• Screamers at Rotten Tomatoes
• Screamers at Box Office Mojo

• 1995 films
• Post-apocalyptic science fiction films
• Thriller films
• Films based on short fiction
• Films based on the works of Philip K. Dick
• Canadian science fiction films
• Canadian horror films
• Robot films
• English-language films