IMDb user comments for
Habitat (1997)

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22 comments in total

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Great pair of ... saves this movie., 29 May 2004
Author: Comrade_Stalin from Earth

This movie had some great ideas, but unfortunately the way it was made ... no, it is not boring, but it is not enough entertaining either - remote comes handy at many parts. Reading other comments I noticed with surprise how many people liked Alice Krige's performance. To me it was pathetic and pretentious at best. She plays her role with so much "sweetness" that any normal personal may literally throw up at the end of the movie like after eating few boxes of chocolates and drinking few cans of super-sweetened condensed milk. Both taste great in little doses, overdose end ups with vomits, and so is Alice Krige's performance here. However there is an instant cure for it, kind of vaccine - also contained within this movie as well ;-) Perhaps it is not "performance", I don't dare to call it that much, but lets just say that the extended scenes and closeups of nude Laura Elisabeth Harris, proudly showing off her nice, natural pair of breathing devices - they really made up for the damages done by Krige!(I dont want my post to be taken down in any near future for using anatomically correct - but politically incorrect - words like "bre_st", "ti_s" etc). So: if youre a straight male - rent it! Your eyes will enjoy Harris in her prime. And if youre a female - you may actually Balthazar Getty in his prime, or you may even like Krige's role...

My rating: 6/10 (solely for showing Laura Harris' great stuff in this movie).

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6 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Interesting, offbeat sci-fi, 14 May 2003

Author: capkronos (capkronos@hotmail.com) from Ohio, USA

It's sometime in the near future when the ozone layer has been completely deleted, most animal species and nearly all vegetation have been destroyed and people can't go out in the sunlight without covering due to the UV rays. A small family move into a new town where the mad scientist father, working on "accelerated evolution," has an accident with the chemicals and ends up dissolving into a swarm of "elements" and turning their home into a virtual rain forest.

The teen son (Balthazar Getty) is immune to the radiation thanks to his parent's experiments and has some problems at school with bullies after falling for an independent-minded blonde cutie (Laura Harris, who's great). Eventually the house, itself a living being, fights back when misunderstanding townspeople invade. Alice Krige is perfect as a sexy, offbeat mother with wild flowing hair and long gowns and Kenneth Welsh scores as an obnoxious high school boxing coach.

Long lost director Rene Daalder, pretty much absent from the directors chair since his 1976 cult hit MASSACRE AT CENTRAL HIGH, has crafted a very entertaining sci-fi film with a literate, funny, offbeat and intelligent script with a good, non-preachy environmental protection messages and some neat FX work.

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2 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Kind of strange movie with to many over the top characters., 2 May 2007

Author: Aaron1375 from Alabama

This movie features a world where the sun beats down on the earth and causes serious burns right away as the ozone is gone. This is done very well of a movie of this type as it does resemble a b movie. The movie also features many unique crazy effects as a house is turned into a very dangerous rain forest type environment as a scientist is trying to find a way to make durable plants and such to stand up to the super harsh climate. He has a son and wife and they have to move around because someone does not approve of the experiments. Well at the new house they arrive at there is an accident right away and right away the house starts to get overrun by the various fungus and plants that the scientist is developing. Meanwhile, the son is having trouble adjusting to school as the school he is attending has the most extreme bullies ever as they not only beat you up if you talk to one of them's girl they stake you in the blistering sun which is why this movie fails, the characters are so unbelievable. The father, the mother and the coach and all the bullies are way to over the top and ruin what could have been an okay movie. Though granted it would have been nothing great considering the severe lack of things to do with a house full of bizarre plant life.

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2 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
If you are not looking for Star Wars on Elm Street this is for you, 2 April 2005

Author: andre-171 from South Africa

Based on the promotional picture with the tag line "Welcome to a living Hell" you might be led to believe this is a horror. Don't be fooled. Habitat is a science fiction/thriller movie and much more like an Outer Limits story than a Dead Zone one. The story is one we have heard before: "We are killing Mother Earth". Hank Symes (Tcheky Karyo) has radical plans to put an end to this destruction. His plans "accidentily" include his family. This was not a box office hit. It is not a faced paced action movie like Running Man or Total Recall. It is a movie trying to highlight an underlying issue. It is very enjoyable. The acting is mostly solid with very good performances by the older performers. The story moves along quite well and the special effect are believable with some "Hollow Man"-like tricks. Habitat does contain some nude scenes, mostly topless, and some swearing. This is mostly not out of place or out of character but does limit the audience the movie's message could have reached. The movie carries a message that we all should start taking notice of. Overall an enjoyable movie for me and that is why a 7 out of 10.

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2 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Underrated sci-fi release, 18 January 2000

Author: Megamac from Virginia

To be honest, I rented "Habitat" at the discretion of the user comments and enjoyed it. Okay, the dialogue is not top-notch, but this film is entertaining. Alice Krige's performance is spellbinding, the "eco-house" is haunting, and it does have a subtle ecological theme. Also, I liked the film's appearance, thanks to Sony digital technology. More films should be made in high definition. I may be the only one who liked "Habitat." Some of its weaknesses include its lack of charcter development, especially Tchecky Karyo and Laura Harris. 6/10

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3 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Awful, cheap, Z-movie horror nonsense., 5 January 2007

Author: fedor8 (fedor8@yahoo.com) from Serbia

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This is clearly one of the worst movies of the 90s. The script is simply terrible and the same can be said of the dialog, the acting, the music and just about everything else - except Lara Harris's face and breasts. At first I thought it was Laura Harris, the chesty beauty from "The Faculty", but I was surprised to find out that there is a Lara and a Laura - who look very similar. Coincidence? Hardly; these two must be sisters. Alice Krige also shows her breasts; they're okay, but kind of small. Why do I dwell on breasts? All in all, their four breasts are the only things worth seeing in this unbelievably bad movie. The premise is okay, it's the execution that sucks. The entire film, from A-Z, from top to bottom, is a 100% amateur venture. For a while the movie refuses to confirm its horror status and delves endlessly in ultra-moronic teen-movie waters; the school's coach is obsessed with boxing, likes to beat up the students he (unexplainedly) dislikes, and here's a first: a movie father who prefers the daughter's boyfriend to the daughter herself! I've never seen anything dumber in any teen movie. Harris's evil boyfriend sees that Getty is eying Harris, so what does he do? His first impulse is to fight her but he hands her over instead! And then Harris starts French-kissing Getty whom she barely knows! I mean, the entire movie is like this. One absurd scene follows another. There is no point in making a list of the silly moments because there would simply be no end to it, and I don't want to be stuck writing about this movie well into next year.

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3 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Eccentric, Over the top "Preserve Nature!" message, 10 March 2002

Author: justusdallmer (justusdallmer@hotmail.com) from Bad Aibling, Germany

Honestly: I enjoyed HABITAT !! I switched on TV while doing some other stuff, checking my emailbox etc., and found myself suddenly under HABITAT's spell.

(Maybe it was necessary to do something besides watching the movie: thus it was easier to sit through all this much too long and too often sparkle-flowing through the air, and the high school-talk scenes. - And, I must admit, I also missed the beginning, maybe 15 minutes...)

First I was bewitched by the mother figure. Large brown eyes, innocent like a child, at the same time there was an aura of knowing, of wisdom and peace about her... she forgave her enemies, she slept peacefully, while a posse of army/police/FBI/NASA/neighbours invaded her house - her beautiful Garden Eden - full of life, while the world outside was dry, sunburnt, hostile.

Yes, I DID LOVE, absolutely, the set design: the ever-changing/growing family's house, the contrast to the stupid neighbours (with their umbrellas), the torture schoolyard (yes, the high school has a large torture stone outside in the yard, where pupils can be chained! A nice prophetic idea!), the cars wrapped in blankets (they look like publicity for a Bed Shop), the desert (I think I know it from some holidays in the Southwest)...

And the mother stayed calm, in face of the enemy = the fascist/redneck physical education trainer (beating and insulting his pupils)(a man you love to hate!). He had entered her peaceful home, insulting and threatening her, but she stayed friendly and calm, softly teaching him facts and arguments (about the small parts of his skin which serve as food for tiny little beings), while slime and snot are running out of his nose, dripping down his chin in beautifully shimmering closeup... GROSS!

This was one of the most weird/disgusting/wonderful/shocking scenes in the history of cinema: the bad guy sweating, snot all over his face, coughing and cursing, while a beautiful calm lady is teaching him facts about his body functions (did I mention her curly hairdo?! I loved it!She's definitely the Good Witch!). I could hardly believe it!

Well, and the girl that Laura Harris played: the script must have said that she is a normal young high-school girl, without any magic powers or secrets about her. But the way she is presented in HABITAT: she looks so strange, so rare: the camera and lighting treat her that she appears like an alien from outer space. Her surface is so unreal - her image can serve as an explanation why men fall for women; why men cannot resist; why males HAVE TO follow whatever female is near them. Her appearance of unearthly beauty promises hidden secrets - then she kisses passionately without reason - paradise is near!

(Besides: when they finally had sex in the lake, it was disappointing, compared to the disturbing promises during her first close-ups; but the mood was set already, and could never be lost again.)

PS: don't forget the ecological/preservation ideas! They are right! Strange but daring in this weird B-movie full of over-the-top eccentricities.

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3 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Unique plot, 25 August 2000

Author: Mike-DD from Singapore

One of a kind movie plot - parents so naturally-and-biologically advanced that they can metamorph into bug-like points of light that though ethereal, can actually be lethal. The plot saves the story, with its premise that in a Sun-damaged earth, Man needs to change himself biologically to survive. The acting can be said to be good, just average, although there are flashes of brilliance at times from Balthazar Getty and Alice Krige.

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2 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Interesting story with promise., 28 August 2000

Author: pleiades10 from Woodbridge, VA

Decent ecological sci-fi film that tells the story of an Earth reduced to a barren wasteland, and a scientist that decides to change all that. An experiment with bacteria, algae, electricity and who knows what else, claims the life of the scientist, but then his family begin to notice their home slowly turning into a rain forest. The teenage son plays his role well, embarrassed by his flower child mother, and his stand off-ish father, he just wants to fit in. But despite being the target of his peers' ridicule, he manages to land the affections of one of the prettiest girls in school. If only that skinny dipping scene could've happen to me in high school! Anyway, as the house keeps growing, the son slowly develops certain powers that allow him to stand up to his oppressors.

Habitat has a good story, but seems to have run short on special effects funds with 25% of the movie left to film. Some of the interior shots of the growing house are both beautiful and grotesque, but then we end up with strange scenes like a certain explosion at the end, that looks like they rigged a train set model with firecrackers, lightly covered it with moss, and let it blow.

Another one in the "detach your brain before watching" genre. I like movies like this. There's so much seriousness in our day to day lives, that when I have the time to watch a movie like Habitat, I like to just sit back, and absorb it. Much like the house did to certain antagonists in this film.

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0 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Ridiculous but entertaining, 15 June 2002
Author: Tiffany from Washington

I have to say that I really liked this movie. I watched it for one and only reason... Balthazar Getty. I love him! Habitat was really pretty stupid and not very well made, but that's part of its charm. It's supposed to be a hokey sci fi flick. I appreciate movies like this. It was entertaining. Its not for everybody but check it out if you like to rent weird movies just to have something to do for a couple of hours.

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