User Reviews

I was prepared for low-grade sci-fi action. From the outset it was clear how low a budget this claimed. While I maybe should have known better based on Bruce Campbell's involvement, what I was not prepared for was abject tongue-in-cheek schlock. Exposition is startlingly direct, the finished film includes flubbed lines and what would in any other production be dubbed "bloopers," and the acting ranges from suitable but unremarkable to questionable. One can only wonder if much of the acting is a result of deliberate ham-handedness, bad first takes, bad direction, or simple inability. Please don't miss the outrageous first death scene, and note the clear inspiration that this picture takes from the first 'Die hard,' or scenes and story beats that it outright borrows. Suffice to say that 'Assault on Dome 4' is not major studio fare, and is a bit of An Experience.

This isn't to say that it's not enjoyable. While obviously steps down from a genre essential, it's modestly well made such as it is. This only the second credit for writer Hersh Rephun, or director Gilbert Po, and that inexperience surely does shine through at times, but their contributions are baseline competent, with some genuine cleverness every now and again. Special effects are less than seamless and a little garish at points, but practical effects are decent enough, and any stunts or moments of action are done reasonably well, if suffering from the stated low budget and level of experience. The filming locations, sets, and props are swell. And while the cast mostly struggles owing to one factor or another, the least that can be said is that Campbell is absolutely having a great time portraying antagonist Alex with all the playful, self-confident smarm that he can. Relegated to a smaller supporting part, Jocelyn Seagrave demonstrates more polish in her acting than arguably anyone else involved.

With all this said, even at its best the level of entertainment that 'Assault on Dome 4' can provide is probably restricted to the most open-minded of viewers. Between Po's direction, the limited resources, and general meager pacing and low production values, there are times when this absolutely struggles to inculcate a sense of authenticity that would best sustain suspension of disbelief. I commend the earnest effort everyone put in to make this a fun sci-fi romp, and it does succeed in some measure - this is, ultimately, all that it wanted to be, and doesn't carry illusions of being anything more. Yet there's no mistaking that this exists on at best the middle portion of the spectrum of quality and value, and is best reserved for those who already appreciate B-movies. For such viewers, this isn't a must-see in any way, but it's passably satisfying for what it is, and sometimes this is all we want in a film. Save 'Assault on Dome 4' for a lazy day, then just shut off your brain and enjoy a recognizable and reliable bit of silliness.

I wasn't expecting a huge amount out of Assault on Dome 4 in the first place, but as I like Bruce Campbell I thought there might be some entertainment at least. And although I do not deem Assault on Dome 4 a good movie at all, there were some entertaining parts. All of them provided by Bruce Campbell, the villain is the movie's most colourful character and Campbell's gleefully enjoyable(even if a little hammy at times) performance and some sharp one-liners help. The movie also isn't shot too bad. Unfortunately, while Campbell is great, the rest of Assault on Dome 4 just doesn't match. The special effects are cheaply constructed, and audibly it is an uncomfortable mixture of loud and murky. Campbell's witty one-liners show some bright spots, but the rest of the script is clunky, the inclusion of literary quotes was just clumsy writing, rather than sharp with lowbrow and bordering on childish humour. The story is plodding and by-the-numbers with nothing suspenseful and thrilling at all, even the action-y sequences look tired. Of the characters Campbell's is the only halfway believable one, the rest are so stock and bland with one of the dullest heroes of any movie seen recently or ever. The direction is flat, and the rest of the acting including Joseph Culp- I'd also go as far to say especially so- is just lazy. Overall, Bruce Campbell is great and hugely enjoyable but the rest is not worth bothering with. 4/10 Bethany Cox

"Assault on Dome 4" is certainly not a good movie. In any sense of the word "good". The filmmakers didn't do a "good" job; The storyline wasn't a "good" idea; The movie, if left alone, wouldn't provide for a "good" time. However, there is but one man we can count on to save even the most awful drek that any channel (Sci-Fi included) can produce. And that man is Bruce Campbell.

I highly reccomend this movie, solely for Campbell. His performance is hilarious, his character is dead-on, and he actually seems to be glad to be there, unlike most Sci-Fi Channel actors.

One note, though - if you're not a Bruce fan, SEE EVIL DEAD FIRST. He does a terrific job in this movie, but...come on. There's not much to think about there.

"Oh, YOU KILLED ME!" Thanks for another great effort, Bruce.

My score: 5 (out of 10)

Number of those points attributed to Campbell: 4.8

Despite the best efforts and trademark hamminess of Bruce Campbell, this is a real clunker of a movie. Lowbrow humor and gratuitous violence (a guy gets his hand sliced off and it's used as a joke later in the film - REALLY funny there, guys) can't cover up the retread plot and thuddingly dull pace of this film. I'd choose anything - doing dishes, poking a paperclip into a light socket - rather than sit through this again.

Well, you know what you are getting with this movie, and it delivers just exactly that. This is a low budget Sci-Fi movie in every term of the phrase.

The story is about Chase Moran (played by Joseph Culp) who is returning to Dome 4 to visit his wife Lily Moran (played by Jocelyn Seagrave), when his plans are foiled by an intergalactic terrorist named Alex Windham (played by Bruce Campbell). Alex Windham plans to use the resources from Dome 4 to make powerful bombs and carve out a world for himself.

Right, well the storyline is fairly average, cliché even for a Sci-Fi movie, but it was fun enough to watch.

There is one reason, and one reason only, as to why people watch this. And that is, of course, Bruce Campbell. He really did bring up this movie a notch with his usual charms and hilarious acting. Because without him, the movie would have been nothing more than a B-movie, a bad low budget Sci-Fi, with equally bad low budget props and sets.

"Assault on Dome 4" is well worth a watch for any fan of Bruce Campbell.

Seemed like "Diehard" on a low budget, in space. Was Okay, Great for you to watch if you're a Bruce Campbell fan. I good film for when you can't find something else to watch.

Like most people (I would imagine) that have seen this film, my only reason for doing so was the fact that it stars Bruce Campbell. It's a good job Bruce is on board too; otherwise this cheap mess would be a complete dead loss. It's clear that the film's main influence was the classic action flick Die Hard, and indeed Assault on Dome 4 is basically a carbon copy of said film, except instead of being set on a skyscraper, it's set on a research facility somewhere in space. Bruce Campbell plays Alex Windham; an intergalactic terrorist. He breaks out of jail (it's supposed to be a very high security prison, but in my opinion the security is rather lax) and escapes into space along with a load of other convicts he has freed. They set their sights for Dome 4; a research facility that Alex wants to capture and use for his own special research program. Meanwhile, and unbeknown to Alex, Chas Moran - an ace 'peacekeeper' (futuristic cop) is visiting his wife, who happens to work at Dome 4. The terrorists take the place hostage, while Chase attempts to bring them down on his own.

I am extremely glad that Bruce Campbell is in this film; his scenes are really the only ones worth watching and he does seem to relish his role...but if I'm honest, he was the wrong choice to play a terrorist. He spouts off one-liners and its lots of fun, but he doesn't look like a terrorist at all. On the other hand, Joseph Culp, who plays the 'hard as nails' hero, doesn't look the part either! ...so the whole thing is a bit difficult to swallow. Still, there's plenty of fighting and shooting (maybe even too much) and some of it is decent; although director Gilbert Po would do well to lay off the slow motion. The plot itself does basically run in exactly the same way as Die Hard does, so anyone who's seen that (which should be everyone who has seen this) is likely to know exactly where it's going to go. A major problem for this film, though, is the fact that it's so difficult to like the hero - Chase Moran is just dull, and I found myself cheering on Bruce Campbell's terrorist for most of the film. Anyway, the ending is not too bad and while this film is cheap and hokey, it's worth a look for Bruce Campbell fans.

This is the kind of movie that assures Bruce Campbell of his cult status. The movie is downright awful, but Bruce shines by overflowing with his characteristic cockiness. If your interested in story, special effects, good screen writing, or little things like a cohesive plot or originality, then pass on it; but if you appreciate the over-the-top idiocy of a pure guilty pleasure B-made-for-TV movie, then this is definitely a must see.

I love the movie because of the sheer balls it must have taken to produce: The dialog is awful. The characters are cut-and-dried stereotypes. The entire movie seems as if it was written overnight. It was awesome.

Apparently it is very hard to get a copy of this film and even Bruce Campbell makes fun of his role in My Name is Bruce. Luckily for me someone posted it on a video site in very good quality so I could enjoy it. And let me tell you. It is one of the better Die Hard clones. Is it a good movie? Not a chance. This one is as cheesy as they come although in a good way. The biggest reason to watch this clone is Bruce Campbell. He is hamming it up big time and is simply a joy to watch. The main character Chase Morran played by Joshep Culp (son of Robert Culp) is actually very believable as unwanted hero. You will have to ignore his one liners because they are far from funny. Although the fact that they aren't makes it funny. So what about the action? For some reason the director Gilbert Po (who never directed a movie after this one ever again) thought it was wise to shoot the action scenes in slow motion. And in general that does make it visually more appealing. However in this case the slow motion is done poorly and has a very laughable effect. But it's not over used so that most action scenes are decent. In general I think his direction was quite decent. It certainly is much better than say that of Brett Ratner or Uwe Boll. I wonder what happened to him? Assault on Dome 4 is incredibly fast paced, witty and blatant copy of Die Hard. In fact one could almost see it as a parody on it since the motive for Alex Windham (Bruce Campbell) is so ridiculous and far fetched that it must have been meant as some sort of satire. Overall this TV Movie is entertaining from start till finish and it definitely belongs to the better Die Hard rip offs. Then how come it is so difficult to get a hold of this movie? If you can get hold of a copy or can watch it on television or online then do so. It's a lot of fun.

any film bearing the words a sci-fi channel original production should immediately be burned. This is quite possibly the dullest movie campbell's ever starred in. It's incredibly boring and hard to watch (and thats in comparsion to stuff like Moontrap and Waxwork 2!)

stay away! stay far away!

Assault on Dome 4 could have been a completely disposable Die Hard in Space movie made on a Sci-Fi Channel budget, however, it is made all the more memorable for the fact that its villain is just Bruce Campbell but evil. He chews the lack of scenery up a treat even when he's given some truly awful dialogue, but Campbell manages to make it all work. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the rest of the film. It keeps intercutting the main Die Hard plot with an unnecessary and dull trial which is all happening after the fact so there's zero stakes for the majority of its runtime, most likely a consequence of it being made for TV. The music in the film is lots of simplistic synth work and the sound mixing is shoddy at points. The direction feels locked down and restricted, lacking any form of energy, all resulting in a meandering pace even at 90 minutes. However, despite these flaws, the film is entertainingly chaotic from beginning to end, more than worthy of a watch kicking back with friends and a few beers.

Oh and Jack Nance, Eraserhead himself, turns up in a small role that is comparable to that of Marvin from Die Hard 2.

Assault on Dome 4 I thought was a good film despite its low budget. The film is about criminal named Alex Windham (Bruce Campbell) who escapes from jail and hires the other criminals to help take over Dome 4. Chase Moran (Joseph Culp) visits the dome to surprise his wife for their anniversery. Unfortunately, Alex and his goons are in his way and Chase must to defeat them to save Earth and his wife. This film I found quite good. I don't really like action movies but this one I did. The acting was average, except Bruce Campbell who was great. He is just great as Alex. This movie I would recommend to Bruce Campbell fans and to people who like action movies without budgets.

10/10