David Twohy wrote and directed this sci-fi thriller starring Charlie Sheen which was lost in the summer of ’96 when Independence Day shook the world. Obviously a bit of a smaller film than Fox’s big-budget alien attack film, it doesn’t quite boast as big a cast, but has some great names, Richard Schiff, Lindsay Crouse, Teri Polo, Leon Rippy and Ron Silver.

Zane (Sheen) is an astronomer obsessed with the search for intelligent life, so much so that he seems to forget time to spend time with his partner, Char (Polo). When Zane and Calvin (Schiff) pick up a 42-second signal burst from an extraterrestrial source, he’s determined to investigate and pursue, prove it’s from an intelligent source, and discover a horrifying secret.

A secret that the intelligent source doesn’t want Zane to know about.

At the same time, another scientist, Ilana Green (Crouse) is investigating greenhouse gases, and strange things happening in the environment, like a poppy growing in the Arctic that shouldn’t be there.

Could there be a connection?

Ron Silver plays Phil Gordian, Sheen’s boss, until he gets fired, and slanders Zane to make sure he can’t get hired anywhere else. And maybe he’s more involved in what is going on than Zane realizes. Silver made his mark as a baddie in the 90s, and this is another one of his villainous roles.

The film undermines itself by introducing a goofy kid, Kiki (Tony T. Johnson) to give someone for Zane to talk to and explain things to keep the narrative moving along.

And guess what? The aliens are already here, they’re hostile, intent on keeping their presence a secret, and the environmental crises, it’s all them, they’re terraforming the Earth so it will be more suitable for them.

Zane travels to Mexico, tracing a signal that is being transmitted back into space, but he seems to be one step behind each step of the way as he chases leads even as he avoids several dangerous situations that could claim his life. He also finds himself pairing up with Ilana as they begin to realize they’re working on the same problem from different angles. At least for a bit.

In the end, it’s going to be Zane versus the alien threat, but if they are already entrenched in all aspects of human life and society, is it too late for us? Can Zane share his knowledge with the world, and put the evil Gordian in his place? And honestly, who would believe the information Zane shares anyway? If this story were told in today’s society of fake news, the aliens would have already taken over, and some people would have happily voted them in.

It’s a fast-paced thriller that keeps its minimal special effects budget in check until it’s time to reveal the actual shape and nature of the aliens, as well as where they are hiding out. The VFX are ok, but even for the time it’s obviously not the best CGI work.

That doesn’t mean it’s not a fun film. It’s enjoyable, even when the effects aren’t as strong as they could be, and the addition of the twist…