Groom Lake – DVD Review

By June L. Apr 6, 2009, 15:04 GMT

The truth has been kept hidden… Groom Lake, Nevada. Deep in the desert, near the infamous Area 51 military base, Commander Gossner (William Shatner) has been conducting top secret missions involving extra-terrestrials. After the government tries to shut him down, and his alien test subject is kidnapped, the Commander resorts to desperate measures. ...more

Groom Lake says on the cover it is a film by William Shatner.  He wrote the story, directed the film and also has a role.  That is a lot of work for one person, but if anything William Shatner gives this his complete and undivided attention.

The project was begun shortly after the death of his wife, and throughout the story, the element of love, strong, real, lasting, unshakable, is a very important element.

Groom Lake as a story reminds me of those great Saturday afternoon matinees of science fiction movies.  They weren’t epic productions, or even literary scripts, but in those glory days of our space program, we were besotted with the ideas of aliens, secret government enclaves of knowledge, and the idea that whole worlds existed beyond our earthly horizons.

There is in Groom Lake a super secret government mission involving an alien, knowledge that Commander Gossner (William Shatner) is trying to use.  The nearby townspeople are afraid, certain that they have been invaded and infiltrated, and the aliens mean to enslave and/or kill humans. 

Into this volatile situation come a young couple, deeply in love and fighting against terrible odds to hold on to every moment they can spend together.  All the elements of those Saturday adventures show up in this film, the angry mob, the misunderstood leader, the befuddled and frightened outsiders and those who know the truth, and can finally tell it to someone. 

Makes one want to pop a bag of popcorn, grab a soda and forget the rest of the world.

Groom Lake is presented on single disc in widescreen format with a running time of 92 minutes.  The cast includes Dan Gauthier, Amy Acker, Tom Towles, Dick Van Patten, John Prosky, Dan Martin, Rickey Medlocke, Duane Whitaker and Brenda Bakke as Joyce, and William Shatner as Commander Gossner. 

The film was produced in 2002, and has an exclusive interview with William Shatner that is excellent.  The audience will better understand his reasons for undertaking this project, as well as his ideas and creative inspiration for both acting and directing. 

The elements of poignancy in the story may bring a tear to your eye, Amy Acker is wonderful as the sweet, caring young woman, whose love is strong enough for herself and her husband in facing the mystery of Groom Lake as well as their troubled life.

It is not a great movie, or spectacular in special features, but it tells a good story, using a slew of interesting characters.  Good versus evil, even though the evil may just be ignorance, prejudice and unfounded fear, and the viewer can sigh at the end with some nostalgia but mostly with the knowledge that he has been entertained and left with a message of brightness.

Groom Lake is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.