Screamers
Directed by Christian Duguay6.329%45%6.2
A military commander stationed off planet during an interplanetary war travels through the devastated landscape to negotiate a peace treaty, but discovers that the primitive robots they built to kill enemy combatants have gained sentience.
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Screamers Ratings & Reviews
- Jacob O’Neal6 April 2026There are few things I appreciate more than a good Philip K. Dick story. But when Dan O’Bannon is the one writing it (this film and Total Recall) it makes it that much better. It’s like Drew Goddard writing both the adaptations of The Martian and Project: Hail Mary. When it works for an author’s stories, don’t rock the boat. The story is simple - people living in Serius 6, protected by AI machines called Screamers, are at war with another group they haven’t seen in a long time. Then they discover people…or maybe not actually people. Perhaps the screamers evolved. Like I said, the story is simple. What makes it good are the writing and acting. Peter Weller (Naked Lunch, Robocop) stars with Jennifer Rubin. All actors give it their best and it shows. Weller genuinely stands out as he gave his character weight, idiosyncrasies and flaws that make him feel three dimensional almost immediately. The effects in the film are good for a mid-90’s low budget indie. But the thing that I miss more than anything are practical sets like they had. It felt big, expansive and lived in, not like today’s films where Tom Holland doesn’t even wear his spidey suit while running around green screens. All said, this movie is well crafted, smartly written, well acted by nearly all involved and serves a good warning from the past about artificial intelligence. Plus, we could all use more Dick in our lives.
- Richard19 October 2025Saw this one on TV sometime in the late ’90s, during one of those gritty sci-fi marathons where the signal fuzz added to the atmosphere. Peter Weller plays a military commander on a war torn mining planet, trying to broker peace while dodging killer machines called “Screamers”, autonomous weapons that were supposed to protect humans but evolved into something far nastier. The concept is pure Philip K. Dick: paranoia, identity and technology gone rogue. The execution? Rough around the edges, but full of charm. The landscape is bleak, the bunkers claustrophobic and the Screamers themselves, burrowing, blade-spinning death bots are genuinely creepy. And just when you think you’ve figured out the rules, the machines start mimicking humans. It’s not a blockbuster, but it’s got atmosphere. The effects are practical and gritty, the pacing builds tension and the twisty ending sticks with you. I liked it enough to remember it decades later. It’s the kind of movie that made adult years feel grimy, tense and quietly haunting, with a dash of ’90s cable TV grit.
- dprend415 February 2026I love old sci fi and while screamers has an interesting premise, its execution is poor. Bad acting, poor dialogue, questionable practical effects. If the film came out in the 80s I would have thought it wasn't too bad, but for 1995 it really is not good.
- Péntek Szabolcs14 January 2026From today's perspective, apart from some rather weak trick shots, it is a particularly strong and good film. It is very underrated.
- bandikoto19 October 2025Nice space opera with a couple of Dickian elements.
- marshalsea12 March 2025Interesting idea, but real pacing issues
Screamers Trivia
Screamers was released on 8 September 1995.
Screamers was directed by Christian Duguay.
Screamers has a runtime of 1h 48m.
Screamers was produced by Franco Battista, Tom Berry.
A military commander stationed off planet during an interplanetary war travels through the devastated landscape to negotiate a peace treaty, but discovers that the primitive robots they built to kill enemy combatants have gained sentience.
The key characters in Screamers are Colonel Hendricksson (Peter Weller), Jessica (Jennifer Rubin), Becker (Roy Dupuis).
Screamers is rated 18.
Screamers is a Science Fiction, Horror, Thriller film.
Screamers has an audience rating of 4.5 out of 10.
Screamers had a budget of US$20M.
Screamers has made US$5.8M at the box office.