BlazeLime
Strong and Moving!
Raetsonwe
Redundant and unnecessary.
Deanna
There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
Stuart Fisher
The Hidden has a promising start. The opening scene reminded me a bit of the iconic scene in They Live! (the one in the bank). The car chase scenes are great and the idea behind what's going on is a good one. It's just that it's all a bit too implausible. Kyle MacLachlan and Michael Nouri don't really have enough chemistry for me either. It gets better though as things build to the climax.
mikeburdick
For some odd reason, I don't even remember "The Hidden" coming out in theatres, so I'm glad I came across a copy of it years ago at Vidiots in Santa Monica (recently bought my own copy at Title in Sydney, totally chuffed). It's quite a little gem of a sci-fi slash action film. It's well-scripted, well-paced, full of great practical non-CG action and quite well-considered performances.It's basically a cop buddy film in many respects, but with some very strange revelations, a mashup of Carpenter's "The Thing," "The Terminator," "48 Hours" and "Men in Black." It's also a time capsule, especially if you lived in L.A. back in the '80s. (Check out the scene with George's Diner on Vermont and Franklin, now Fred 62.)What sets "The Hidden" apart from other action-sci-fi films is the quirkiness— especially Kyle MacLachlan, pre-"Twin Peaks"—and that it has a heart. It manages to make you empathise with each of the main characters' predicaments and actually care what happens to them.If you're bored with formulaic, soulless Hollywood action films, I highly recommend "The Hidden" for an evening when you just want to kick back, not think too hard and have some fun.
robert-259-28954
I agree with many... this film was highly underrated, and nearly forgotten in the slew of scifi action films that have come afterward. But this one is special. If you've read any of my reviews, one of my key points in the creation of any great film is the CASTING, and this is a prime example. With few exceptions, the acting was first-rate, in every way. The two leads, headed by a extremely capable Michael Nouri and a fabulous Kyle MacLachlan, were noteworthy, with Nouri as the world-weary detective, and MacLachan's nuanced, tortured role adding a dimension of scenic truth and pathos to the entire production. I've always been a fan of Michael Nouri, and his easy, believable performances never fail, a worthy counterpoint to this highly interesting mix of protagonists. But what impressed me the most about this film was that it clearly had "heart," a tender through line of humanity and dare I say it, LOVE, that runs continuously through this piece, without ever getting in the way. How many scifi action movies can claim the same thing? The scene at the end makes me tear up every time. The thoughtful score by Michael Convertino added in full measure to the uniqueness of this film. If "The Hidden" isn't already isn't a classic of science fiction, it certainly will be.
TheMarwood
Not even five minutes pass before a man in a wheelchair is run over for laughs and the next hour or so becomes an unhinged series of violent comedic escapades. An odd FBI agent played by Kyle MacLachlan teams up with a detective played with cheesy earnestness by Michael Nouri, who are after an alien who takes over the human bodies he invades - and goes on murder, theft and mayhem causing rampages. This is a B movie and proud of it and the sight of a scantily clad alien controlled stripper who's heavily armed and a geezer with a boom box who's out of control, are a few highlights in this absurd film. Jack Sholder directs with energy to spare and it's a shame his big screen career sputtered out after his '89 film Renegades and spent the next two decades directing TV movies - before briefly resurfacing in studio filmmaking by directing some of the reshoots for the doomed big budget fiasco Supernova.
