You would think that by now nearly every topic which could be covered would have been made into a movie. I'm not really one for research, so let's assume that's true. But, that doesn't guarantee that a good movie has been made about every subject, no matter how intriguing the idea may be. For decades, people have talked about Area 51, the military controlled section of the American southwest which is said to house alien artifacts. This has been featured in many movies -- Independence Day, Paul, Hangar 18, etc. -- but no one has made a great movie based on solely on the exploration of Area 51. This seems like a subject which would be ripe with ideas, so one has to wonder where the great Area 51 movie is. Could 51 be the answer I've been looking for?

51 opens with a new report stating that after years of speculation and cover-ups, the government is finally willing to let journalists come into Area 51. Respected TV anchor Sam Whitaker (John Shea) and his camerawoman Mindy (Lena Clark), along with gutsy battlefield reporter Claire (Vanessa Branch) and photographer Kevin (Damon Lipari) are greeted by Colonel Martin (Bruce Boxleitner) at the secret base. They are told that the military is ready to cooperate and that they will be given a full tour and shown top secret things. Of course, Martin is lying, as he has no intention of showing them the parts of the base which house alien life forms. However, one of these life forms, Patient Zero (Jed Mahue) has different ideas. The alien escapes from its cell and frees the other aliens, including the very dangerous ones. Suddenly, the base is on lock-down and Colonel Martin realizes that he, along with soldiers Hannah (Rachel Miner) and Schumacher (Jason London), must protect the civilians and keep the aliens under control.

And I wish that I hadn't. OK, that's a bit cruel, as 51 isn't so much a bad movie, as it's a needless one. The story borrows liberally from other movies such as Jurassic Park, Alien, The Thing and...any movie where the military goes up against visitors from outer space. Movies like this, no matter how derivative, usually have one original idea, but 51 bucks that trend by being cliched and hackneyed throughout. Every scene contains something that we've seen before -- the thing that just happens to go wrong on the day when visitors arrive, the soldier (or soldiers in this case) who must prove himself, the booby trap which doesn't work as planned, and my favorite, the "suspenseful" wait outside of the dark elevator as it slowly opens. The familiar moments are combined with the flat-out stolen scenes, such as the spot with the "test" which comes directly from John Carpenter's The Thing.

For years, we’ve wondered what is really going on in Area 51, and I can only hope that it’s nothing like this movie. Area 51 should be a place full of mystery and wonder, not a place of tedium and redundancy.

51 was clearly shot on some short of furlough weekend on DVD courtesy of Lionsgate. The film has been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The image is sharp and clear, showing no overt grain and no defects from the source material. The picture is a bit dark, but the colors look good, as they are presented in a natural way. The picture shows little artifacting and for a DVD, the level of detail is pretty good. The DVD carries a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track which provides clear dialogue and sound effects. Given the low-budget nature of the film, this is a very impressive track. The surround sound effects are muscular and really come to life during the battle scenes. The gunshots and alien growls fill the rear speakers, and the subwoofer gets in on the action as well. The stereo effects are nicely done too, especially when sounds are coming from off-screen.

The 51 DVD contains only two extras (if you don't count the unrelated video game commercials). "Behind the Scenes" (9 minutes) contains interviews with various actors and crew members who describe their characters or jobs. This is sort of an odd piece, as the speakers talk about their experiences, but no one really talks about the story or how the movie came together. The only other extra is a TRAILER for the movie.