**mild spoilers**I saw the very similar film "The Phoenix Tapes 97" weeks earlier from here, and was blown away at how oddly compelling it was, while using an actual 1990s video camera to make it look like actual footage from 1997 rather than relying on unconvincing video effects to make it look like old footage, and how that acted as a perfect cover to hide any CGI or unconvincing costumes. I didn't know this film, The Phoenix Incident, was going to follow the same route. It's almost ironic (not ironic) that after I had praised "Phoenix Tapes 97" for using an actual 90s camera and not relying on unconvincing video effects, this film "The Phoenix Incident" relies on unconvincing video effects. The core of the film is a found footage story of the supposed four missing hikers during the Phoenix Lights incident, just like in "Phoenix Tapes 97" although in this film they use the actual names of the supposedly missing hikers. The video effects to make the footage look like it's from 1997 is thoroughly unconvincing and during some of the later scenes of the movie, seemingly start to not work properly, as the footage looks oddly smooth and crisp and clear, like they removed their 1997 filter for a few minutes at a time. This found footage story is long, drawn out, and boring until it gets to the spooky alien stuff. Crowding around it to try to keep the story going is a very long framing device of a "documentary" chronicling the story of the "coverup" of the Phoenix Lights incident, involving the military, a crazy religious man as a red herring, and a supposed ongoing war against aliens that has been fought throughout the middle east and Africa prior to the Phoenix Lights incident. It's all rather tedious, with some brief moments of genius, such as the revelation that the "lights" themselves weren't a UFO sighting, but actually flares dropped by the military... to distract from a genuine dogfight between F-16s and 2 triangular alien craft, which we actually get to see unfold from both the F-16 pilots point of view and from the hikers watching from the ground. The film finally picks up at this point, but foregoing its horror aspect and becoming an odd action thriller tone, as the four hikers go on a high speed ATV chase from the aliens, complete with action movie-style twists, turns, and explosions, followed by a shootout at the crazy religious guy's ranch. This odd tonal shift, while trying to stick to its found footage style, seems to make the film come apart as it loses focus of its original plot. The video effects to make it look like 90s video are almost completely gone by this point, with only some barely-there film grain as a token reminder of what it was originally supposed to be. There's even dramatic Hollywood-style music going on during these sequences, and it's never clear who is even holding the camera at times or why they're still filming. This movie doesn't seem to be able to fully commit to one style or another. There's an insistence on being a found footage film, while using the military coverup framing device to be like a mockumentary film, while containing multiple intricate and sometimes CG-heavy action scenes more befitting a gritty action thriller. Rather than failing at all three, like most films, the action thriller parts of this film are actually cool and beautifully executed, especially the dogfight with alien craft.This film should have committed itself to the military angle and sharply reduced or possibly even left out the entirety of the found footage angle. "The Phoenix Tapes 97" does this exact same story with the found footage aspect done with an actual 1990s video camera for a far more authentic look while by the nature of its much narrower scope is much more taut and concise than "The Phoenix Incident" is.

The film started out well, and built suspense fairly decently. The integration of actual footage was really well done. When the air battle began, I thought it looked pretty good. And the crash was very cool. Alas, the protagonist quartet of unlikable twenty- and thirty-something 'adolescents' were so two-dimensional (as was the suicidal hermit Gayson), I felt like "are these the only archetypes we can come up with? They are always such douchebags!" And as soon as the jar head Marine (the MOST unlikable of the bunch) takes off to 'rescue the downed pilot' (perhaps?), the descent into bad horror film ripoffs began, and I was looking forward for the jarhead to be anally probed (if ONLY the aliens would have done that sort of thing...). And please, ET's that walk on 4 legs (and who pilot sophisticated anti-gravity machines in the nude) are NEVER going to be believable!!! Next, STOP IT with the monster aliens - they are more ridiculous than frightening - PLUS, the ending was less than satisfying, which is why I scored it less than 50%,The film had potential, and from the IMDb reviews, I thought, "Heck, it's only $4 on Amazon, so I'll give it a chance (Amazon rated it 3 of 5 stars, IMDb Said 5.6 (of ten). From now on, if a film has this score, I Am gonna KICK myself.

The found footage trope is an overused plot device. I'm biased against shaky camera nonsense, simply because it can (and would be) digitally repaired. Anyone can create a fixed-point to line up the camera motion frame-by-frame using a home computer; There's an example of this somewhere on Youtube using the movie 'Cloverfield'.I loved the creature effects in this film. George Loucas did a fantastic job. I wish he would replace whoever does the crappy CGI for SYFY originals. The aliens looked great. The overhead dog-fight with the UFO was great. Even the silly way the UFO crashed worked for me because (at least) it looked something actually hit ground. I enjoyed the visuals so much that I wish it were most of the movie.The actors were great and very believable at the start. I thought this was a real home video edited into the movie. But towards the alien contact it became apparent that they weren't receiving direction. They were improvising their reactions and lines during the chase scene & before the abduction. It went from believable to totally fake with one sundown.One con of this film is the use of real footage to create a documentary appearance. It was way too random and unsorted. It needed smother editing - for instance; we're watching the action unfold, it cuts away to a news reel, then back to the action and again to a news reel. A 101 course in how to make a documentary would have worked here.The news and interview were just to fill time, because there was only enough "found footage" for a short film. Time fillers are easy though; Doesn't this director know you can stretch moments with a black screen, heavy breathing and a little suspense? The "less is more" type of film-making that was used in (say) 'Jaws' that Spielberg created whenever the shark was broken. It's a 6 out of 10 for me. I'd still recommend it for the FX and some of the acting. The plot itself was based on the real life "Phoenix Lights" event, but there's no real dialogue here, zero direction and basically it plays out like those scenes in a video game you want to skip through. Even on a cheap budget this could have been a great collector for the UFO enthusiasts. This is purely directorial failure.

I'll begin by saying that I love found footage movies, although most of them are quite disappointing at some point. However, there's fairly good examples of this genre, such as The Phoenix Incident. As the title denotes, this film is based on the Phoenix Lights, the biggest UFO sighting in the USA that took place in 1997. I am a fan of the sighting myself, so when I learned what this movie was about I just had to watch it. It was a pleasant surprise! I love how they mixed the real story, with real footage and real news coverage with the fictional story, which is about the disappearance of four men the exact same night the Phoenix Lights took place. The faux documentary (mockumentary) stile really suits this movie because it kind of makes it feel like it actually happened and we are watching real footage of an alien encounter. Towards the end of the film everything gets a little too repetitive, and for someone who has already seen plenty of found footage movies, this one offers nothing new to the genre. That's why I give it a 6 out of 10. The acting is good though, the special effects are really well worked and the music helps the atmosphere! I don't know, I really liked this movie and I totally recommend it to anyone who's interested either in UFO related stuff or found footage films!