I may have been feeling generous towards this film, having just watched something that is far, far worse - but this is a film that had potential. Sadly little of that potential was realised.The main characters were so cliché that they'd have appeared as such in a 1930s Flash Gordon episode. Sadly the film tried to take itself seriously, and the result was dire. There were some attempts at decent acting from the supporting cast, but these were never allowed to develop or evolve in any way.The visual effects were not so bad as to be distracting, but were never going to set the world on fire. Quality scripting and directing were needed to make this film work - and they were sadly lacking.The ending makes it appear as though a follow-up was intended. Maybe this was a pitch pilot for a series? If it is, then better writing and directing could turn the concept into something very good. In fact, it would be great to imagine someone else re-making this film properly, as the idea of a salvage crew working against a properly realised background of a universe at war would be a fantastic film to watch.

This is a fairly low-budget sci-fi movie with nothing original to show, and it's not trying to be funny (which could potentially make it more entertaining), so there's only so much you can expect. 7/10 would be the maximum a movie of this kind could get.With that in mind, it's actually not too bad in general. There's just one problem.If you take all the characteristics of badly written villains from the 80s and put them together, you get Captain Jekel. His lines are retarded and ridiculous, and so is his behaviour. That, combined with crappy acting, makes this character a disaster and would be bad even for a toilet cleaner, never mind somebody who's supposed to be a captain of a space ship. Every second of the movie that this character is on screen is extremely annoying. If a person like that was really a captain, his ship would never even take off.That said, the rest of the movie is pretty decent. Acting for the other ship's crew is fine. Jekyl's crew's acting is mediocre, but not terrible. The CGI isn't great (looks more like from a game than a movie), but low-budget is low-budget. I'm not one of the people who watch movies for special effects, so I don't mind this at all, but if you're one of those, you'll probably complain. The plot's not original or anything, but I've seen worse.It's not a great movie, but it's not terrible either. Just try to get distracted with something else whenever you see Captain Jekel.

The first few seconds of the first scene of this movie will tell you all that you need to know about 'Scavengers'. A close up of an astronauts face as they back away. It is done so horribly, it looked like something that would be found in an early 80's bad sci fi movie.They say the words "scavenge" and all suffix permutations so frequently, that one simply must take a drink of an alcoholic beverage every time they are spoken. You will get drunk quickly though, but that may be one of the only ways you can glean enjoyment from this film.The acting is seriously bad. One might think this is an intentional irony, but I cannot give this movie enough credit for that possibility.The script is even worse. Insulting is likely the best way to describe the script in a single word.The direction... well somebody has to take responsibility for this mess. Whoever directed this is likely to be using a pseudonym. Somebody had to be telling people what to do. Though I think whoever was must have been heavily intoxicated on numerous forms of drugs.I am willing to bet that not a single person in the entire crew has watched this entire movie, and the only reason why I did was because I could not take my eyes away from the train wreck unraveling before me.Now, there is redemption to this movie, but you have to be the type of person who enjoys an unhealthy dose of schadenfreude. Taking joy from the failure of others. If you are that sort of person, then you will howl with laughter as you roll your eyes and smack yourself in the head over how utterly stupid this movie is.And for that reason, I predict a minor cult following for this movie. I know I had to alert my friends who enjoy such insipid fare as "Lake Placid" that they had to watch scavengers with me since they inflicted lake placid upon me. Mutual torture is only fair.TL;DR: This is a truly bad movie in nearly every way. The only thing good about it, is cruelly laughing at the cast whose careers have sunk to the point of being included in this utter turd of cinematic suicide.

After watching several horror movies in a row, I was looking forward to jumping into a good sci-fi flick. I slipped Image Entertainment's "Scavengers" into my Blu-ray player and settled in for some entertaining space dog fights and laser gun battles. An hour and a half later, I was left still wanting to witness these elements.While traveling the farthest corners of space in the starship Revelator, a group of scavengers discover an alien artifact with mysterious powers. A gang of rival mercenaries pursue the Revelator and its crew in an attempt to steal the object and use it as a weapon. After witnessing the deadly force of the artifact, the scavengers realize the importance of keeping it out of the wrong hands."Scavengers" isn't devoid of any action. There are a few moments of excitement spread throughout the movie. Not enough to save it from long stretches of boring dialogue and bad delivery from one actor in particular who should know better. Sean Patrick Flanery chews up the scenery here by playing a space pirate of sorts who strangely has a rural Louisiana Cajun accent. It's highly awkward, distracting, and, at times, just plain silly.I will give Director Travis Zariwny credit for taking the action outside of a starship or station and out into actual space. Many independent sci-fi films take place in one location. Most of them include a crew chasing and being chased through hallways and corridors by aliens, creatures, or robots. Zariwny gives us exterior shots of ships flying while fighting and blowing each other up. The CGI isn't spectacular by any means, but it's adequate for "Scavengers."Although it's not rated, "Scavengers" would earn an R in my opinion. It features sci-fi violence, gore, language, adult situations, and nudity. The scene of nudity was completely unnecessary and will no doubt keep certain viewers from watching it, which could make or break a small independent science fiction film like this."Scavengers" is trying to be a complex and heady sci-fi film, but its subject matter really doesn't support such attempts. It's much too talky for the majority of viewers who are going to pick this up. Audiences are expecting more than five or ten minutes of serious action when they see the cover of a DVD with spaceships shooting at each other and a guy staring out at the battle while holding a laser rifle.