Star Runners (2009)

Gun-running space outlaws Connor Trinneer (as Tycho "Ty" Johns) and James Kyson Lee (as Lei Chen) are captured in an asteroid belt and offered a legitimate undercover job. They are to pick up scantily-clad Toni Trucks (as Asta) and turn her over to authorities. They find her shivering in a smoky crate. After giving her some clothing the script calls "inconspicuous" and visiting a soft-core strip-club, the men proceed on their mission. Their ship unfortunately crash-lands on a planet inhabited by Zanti Misfits (special-effected insects). Of course, the creepy creatures are hungry for Bloody Human Fricassee...This derivative science-fiction monster movie is most notable for its costume designs, by Olga Mekikchieva. Most memorable is the little pink dress worn by Ms. Trucks. At first glance, it looks like a slip. The fetching frock would also look nice on awards night, if "Star Runners" had been nominated for any Emmy Awards. The leading lady fills the dress nicely and is never offered anything warmer to wear. Like the women shivering next to dates on the red carpet, you have to chill to be hot...A former "Star Trek" spin-off actor, Mr. Trinneer's costume features a black leather jacket. He looks terrific. Black leather goes with everything, even space travel. The costumes are durable, too; observe how they look after Trinneer's crash-landing. The crash looks fatal, but nobody twists an ankle. A more serious strength is "Star Runners" success in visualizing the story's settings, with splicer Matt Michael and director Mat King never leaving the viewer confused about where we are.*** Star Runners (6/13/09) Mat King ~ Connor Trinneer, Toni Trucks, James Kyson, Aja Evans

This is one of those 'made for TV' Sci-Fi movies that are made on a tiny budget, and it really shows. It's mostly shot in a quarry and, like most films shot in a quarry, it has to rely on a decent script to carry it off. Unfortunately, this film doesn't have one of those either. But I digress; let me tell you something of the plot before I really rip into it.Two smugglers, Tycho 'Ty' Johns and Lei Chen are captured by the government and blackmailed into collecting a crate from a distant space station. They arrive and locate the crate only to find their ship is being watched by some rebels. They open the crate and find a young woman, Asta, inside. Booking a flight on a commercial transport, the three make their escape. They soon find they are being followed and, after the pilot is killed, make a dangerous jump into hyperspace. They emerge in an uncharted region of space and crash-land on an unknown planet. The survivors make for a man-made structure. They search it and find they are not alone, there are eight foot bugs living there with a taste for blood. The rebels soon follow; they are very keen to get their hands on Asta. As time goes on we discover more about Asta and why she is so special. So special indeed that military ships also arrive to retrieve her. Just on the off-chance that someone might want to see this, I'll end my summary here, so as not to give the ending away.To be honest I really didn't care for this very much. Don't get me wrong, I like Sci-Fi a lot, but decent Sci-Fi, not this pulp. The story was too predictable, the dialogue was diabolical and the effects were pretty poor. The one thing in its favour was the acting wasn't too bad, but how they brought themselves to deliver some of those lines is beyond me. So, honourable mentions go to Connor Trinneer as Tycho 'Ty' Johns (you may know him better as Charles 'Trip' Tucker from TV's 'Enterprise'), James Kyson-Lee as Lei Chen (again, you may know him better as Ando Masahashi from TV's 'Heroes'), Toni Trucks as Asta and Aja Evans as Jenessa.Over all it's a pretty poor TV movie shot in a quarry that doesn't hit the mark. There's some acceptable acting but that's about all I can say about it. Definitely NOT recommended.My score: 3.6/10

I just watched new Connor Trineer movie and must honestly say it is awful. Movie tried to be "Fifth Element" and "Starship troopers" in the entourage of "Serenity" but very, very cheap. Instead it one big mess. The plot could be placed on fortune cookie, action was unbearable to watch, computer graphic in space was tolerable more or less but decorations... my god, it looked like fan made movie, well at least they didn't make any humanoid aliens. And I can bet they use the same desert as shooting locations at least in 2 other Sci Fi channel movies. Acting is horrible, everybody except Connor acted like their only acting experience was school play in 4th grade. In all this mess only Connor was normal even if he played very tired Trip who obviously want to be somewhere else (on Enterprise I suppose :P ). And yeah, there was a lot of bugs. Bad drawned and bad animated bugs... So let's be honest the only reason to watch this garbage is if you Connor Trineer fan but even if you are, it would be very hard to get positive emotions during this "movie"...

If you've seen Star Wars, Starship Troopers, The Fifth Element, then you've already seen all the parts of this movie. If you've seen a few Sci-Fi Channel Originals, then you've already had a taste of the bad and boring that this baby will bring to you, like brussel sprouts to a toddler.My husband, who had not seen Starship Trooprs or The Fifth Element, was more entertained and said, "That wasn't as bad as their usual movies." I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was.I will admit that the acting isn't *as bad* as a lot of the other Originals, but the script and the story (or rather, lack thereof) are.The only way this one won't waste your time is if you are bedridden and you can't change the channel. Even then, pray for enough NyQuil to knock you out; there's not much here to miss.