Director: Richard Pepin
Screenplay: Joseph John Barmettler
Based on a Story by: Joseph John Barmettler, William Applegate Jr., Richard Preston Jr.
Starring: Jack Scalia, Dennis Christopher, Carlos Lauchu, Lucinda Weist, Clarence Williams III, Stephen Rowe, Lance LeGault
Country: USA
Running Time: 100 min
Year: 1996
Whilst PM Entertainment are probably best known for making action movies, they did branch out into other popular genres, particularly sci-fi, though these were often infused with action. Tackling sci-fi, with its reliance on special effects and more elaborate production design, can often be a bad idea for a relatively low-budget straight-to-video operation like PM, but they were up for the challenge.
One of PM’s more successful sci-fi-action hybrids (in terms of quality, I don’t know about sales) was Silencers (a.k.a. The Silencers or Dark Force). This fun gem from the mid-90s is being released by Fokus Media in a 2-Disc Blu-Ray/DVD Collector’s Mediabook and presumably a standard Blu-ray edition further down the line. I checked it out and my thoughts follow.
In Silencers, Jack Scalia stars as Special Agent Chuck Rafferty, a diligent U.S. Secret Service agent. When the Senator he is assigned to protect is assassinated by enigmatic ‘men in black’—alien agents disguised as humans—Rafferty uncovers a dark conspiracy. Not only is there a secret coalition between the U.S. government and a shadowy alien race, but these extra-terrestrials, led by the manipulative Lekin (Carlos Lauchu), plan to conquer Earth via an interdimensional portal developed at the Phoenix Corporation.
When the portal is eventually opened, a benevolent alien law enforcer named Comdor (Dennis Christopher) arrives on Earth, only to be captured and cryogenically frozen. Assigned to transport a mysterious payload, Rafferty unwittingly becomes Comdor’s escort in a high‑stakes convoy. After a spectacular tanker‑truck chase and explosive stunts, Comdor breaks free and the two form a reluctant buddy‑cop alliance to stop Lekin and prevent an alien invasion through the portal.
The first thing I noticed after the first few scenes was that Silencers has a very similar central idea to Men in Black (released a year later in 1997), albeit with a darker, less comic tone. In fact, Men in Black was the working title for Silencers until execs at Amblin sent them a cease and desist order (which seems unfair, given that Barry Sonnenfeld’s film was only in pre-production at the time). Silencers diverges quite wildly from its competitor once it gets going though, and I wouldn’t call it influential or wholly original, as it’s clearly cashing in on the success of the TV show The X-Files, which was released a couple of years prior.
Silencers feels like quite an ambitious film for PM. Whilst not their first sci-fi, it does choose to kick things off with a 60s-set alien abduction opening and contains a few CGI effects. These don’t stand up quite as well as the practical action sequences, but they have a certain charm for those with nostalgia for the era in which it was made.
The portal could have done with a little more work though. Whilst the effect of the portal opening is cool and stands up well, even now, having the alien soldiers slowly walking through looks pretty naff. There aren’t nearly enough of them for world domination, to begin with, and they prove to be pretty useless anyway, later on.
This is a minor niggle in an altogether successful and enjoyable action-sci-fi hybrid though. As usual, the film is slickly produced. Whilst most of their films went straight to VHS, PM still made sure they met a certain standard and had a distinctly cinematic look.
Most of all though, the studio made sure the audience got what they came for, and that’s action. Once again, we’re treated to some first-class set pieces. The tanker chase is particularly impressive, ending in a car being used to blow up a helicopter. It’s a spectacular sequence that predates Die Hard 4.0, which did a similar gag, by 10 years.
Away from the action, the film is solid, if a little hit and miss in places. In the second half, the drama morphs into a fish-out-of-water, buddy-cop, lightly comic affair. This is likeable enough, aided by some decent performances by Jack Scalia and Dennis Christopher, but the latter’s schtick does get a little corny at times.
Overall, however, whilst Silencers has some goofy, dated moments, on the whole it has a lot of charm and delivers the thrilling set-pieces you expect from the studio.
Film: 
Silencers is out now in a 2-Disc Blu-Ray/DVD Collector’s Mediabook Edition (with options for 2 different covers), released by Fokus Media (you can order it on the Fokus Media website or you might be able to find it on various import sites). I’m presuming a standard, single-disc Blu-ray edition will be out soon too, as that’s what I received to review, though it’s not currently listed on the website. The transfer, playing in the 1.78:1 ratio, is strong. It has a natural grain and colours, that retain the wonderfully cinematic look of the film. I’ve used screengrabs throughout this review to give you an idea of how it looks, though these have been compressed.
You get a choice of German or English language audio options (both 2.0 stereo). I opted for English and it sounded good. German or English subtitles are also available on the disc.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
– Interview with cameraman – Ken Blakey
– In Memory of Clarence Williams III
– Picture Gallery
– Roswell – UFO Crash in New Mexico
– Original Trailer
Ken Blakey is interviewed in an extra here. It’s a short piece, but the cinematographer has a couple of interesting stories and memories to share. He has more to discuss on the Last Man Standing disc.
There’s also an hour-long documentary about the Roswell incident in July 1947 and its repercussions, particularly for the supposed only first-hand witness, Jesse Marcel Sr. It’s rather low-budget and dated in style, unfortunately. It’s rather drawn-out and repetitive too, and I never found its story wholly convincing. It’s a nice idea for an extra though, and conspiracy theorists might get a kick from it.
There’s a short memorial to actor Clarence Williams III on the disc too. This consists of stills from his films over the years.
Like on the other Fokus Media PM discs I’ve seen, the on-disc extras are all presented with a big frame around them. I presume this is because they were shot in SD and Fokus Media didn’t want to blow them up to HD.
So, Fokus Media have delivered the PM goods once again. Keep ‘em coming!
Disc/package: