It's difficult to assess this fairly in the age of digital effects. At times this looks very ropey indeed, and then there are moments, the 'magic door' effect that allows them to hop from point to point in Island City for example, or the early cgi of the city itself, that work very well. The plot: in the future everyone has been injected with an anti aging medicine. Some people reacted well and stopped aging. But most mutated into violent, brutish sub humans with super strength and so on. The only safe place left on the planet for 'normal' humans now is Island City. There is a sort of police force who patrol the wilderness and help the few ordinary humans who still, for no good reason, live outside the borders of island City, which is where the show falls apart really. Why doesn't every human simply move into island city? Anyway, during the episode one member of the team goes missing, and because he was born inside Island City, he has no immunity to the horrible diseases in the air outside, which means he only has 48 hours to live. So the force, headed by Kevin Conroy, voice of Batman in the cartoon, and assisted by Eric McCormack and that braless woman from Seinfeld, rush to find him. Kevin and Braless are really old but look really young. Her husband didn't take the anti aging injection, so he's old, and very jealous of Kevin. Eric McCormack is the product of a Pentagon genetically engineered soldiering clone program, so there are 36 or so other versions of him running round. He's the one with the brains, but sadly he has no co-ordination, so can't run or fight. The soldier who is missing has a son in Island City who spends most of his time using his virtual reality headset for homework and pleasure, although there is a parental block on it. The replacement for the captured policeman turns out to be a half mutant. All the other inhabitants of Island City have a dna indicator on their chests, which glow in different colours, indicating who it is safe to mate with, so that more mutants are not produced. The half mutant however has a black crystal, which means he can't have sex- ever. They don't have condoms in the future apparently. The old woman's sister, rather improbably, turns up in the episode, and is very keen on getting a dna indicator so she can shag Kevin Conroy. Kevin and Braless have compatible crystals, which helps explain why her husband is jealous. They yearn for each other but don't do anything- so far. They find the guy. The half mutant and Eric soon realise that by teaming up they have both strength and brains. What next in Island City?

I really was looking forward to the series that this was the pilot for. I was amused and entertained by the show, and after all isn't that what good sci-fi is? Entertainment? If you want some big commentary on society, or if you want characters who are less cheesy, it might not be for you, but if you are looking for just a way to lose yourself for a couple of hours, this movie was great. I will be waiting for it on DVD. Perhaps if enough people clamor for it, SciFi may pick up a copy and look at it seriously. It may turn out to be the next SG-1 or Eureka with the correct writer in charge. I liked the characters and I think they really could have made something with what they had. I would have enjoyed watching the characters grow and perhaps seeing what they introduced next.

We loved this movie and were really bummed when they didn't go to series. Really wish the Sci-fi channel would pick it up and run with it. The story line is good. It takes place in the future after a youth drug goes wrong. The youth drug was suppose to be a fountain of youth, but for most people it mutated them into violent creatures. Now the remaining people who have not been affected by the drug live in a secured city were they are trying to find a cure for the mutation. The city is pretty advanced with a force field protecting it, teleportation via telephone and a pretty advanced tracking system. Also everyone who lives there have a crystal implant that lets everyone know who is genetically compatible, so as not to breed any more mutants.They characters are pretty good too, there is Greg 23 who is a clone and has like 30 siblings that all look like him and every one of them has some sort of flaw. Then there is Lt. Mindy who is half rec (mutant) he is pretty much human with the exception that his features are strong and angular and he is very strong. Pretty much most of the characters are likable it is a very good sci-fi and a movie you can watch several time and still enjoy.Hopefully it will be released onto DVD soon and maybe the Sci-fi channel will buy the rights and make it into a series. We always wondered what would have become of the everyone and how they would have evolved.

After all these years, I still remember this pilot as having a HUGE amount of potential. The characters were pretty solid and the premise was really interesting. I could totally see this becoming a series on the Sci Fi Channel. Granted, it had some minor problems. And I'm sure it didn't test well back in the mid 90's (back when the Sci Fi world had to rely on regular network TV executives, which have proved time and time again that they have absolutely no concept of what makes good science fiction).If any of you Sci Fi Channel execs are browsing IMDb, why don't you buy the rights to this one and make a series out of it? I'd sure watch it.