eve of destruction

While it took the Terminator franchise three installments to get around to the idea of a “female Terminator,” 1991’s Eve of Destruction beat it to the punch by a good 12 years. But in this case, getting there first isn’t necessarily a good thing. With the unlikely choice of Gregory Hines as a high-ranking government secret agent assigned to destroy a runaway fembot before she goes nuclear, the film plays like good synopsis that either ran out of ideas…or ran out of money to execute them.

The most crucial flaw in Eve of Destruction certainly isn’t Hines, who’s proven himself to be charming and believable in action roles before (Wolfen, Running Scared). It’s the fact that the film gives him nothing to do. After a quick intro setting of the concept of “Eve” – an experimental android programmed with the thoughts and feelings of its creator, Dr. Eve Simmons (both roles played by European actress Renee Soutenjijk) - the two characters are essentially kept apart for the rest of the running time.

When your action star’s highlight reel includes long talks in helicopters and interviewing witnesses after the fact, you know there’s trouble. Even the sequences with android Eve on the run take odd detours, including a sleazy bar pick-up / prostitution fantasy that leads to the film’s only justification for an R-rating. Perhaps it the James Cameron template that skews one’s expectations, but Eve does very little “destroying” on her big adventure.

The conclusion finally brings things full circle, with Hines’ character able to display his expert marksmanship skills (constantly discussed in the film but only put to the test once) while a ticking clock counts down in a control room somewhere. Eve of Destruction isn’t exactly inept; like most of its plot, it’s just inconsequential. But that didn’t stop Scream Factory from delivering a blu-ray upgrade. No extras or commentary (director Duncan Gibbons reportedly died in the California wildfire’s of 1993), but a pleasing transfer of a movie that bound to have a few supporters out there.