Replica (2005) User Reviews

Kind of a creepy vibe to this film.

[Aaron1375 · 1/10 · 1 December 2020]

This film comes to us from the same director/writer who brought us Julie and Jack and the more well known Birdemic. Out of these three horrible films, this one ranks the worst of the trio of terror! Watch as people move about as no human being does, stammer over lines and shake profusely to indicate excitement. Listen as a bird in a cage literally chirps loudly enough to drown out the actors in the film! Be amazed by a opening credit sequence that looks like a screen saver when screen savers were first created!

The story, like most of the director's films is all over the place focusing on a salesman and a very awkward romance. He goes farther than he did with the other films, making the salesman Joe in this one literally stalk his prey and then have the horrid romance that ends in tragedy as his beloved dies in the slowest looking crash in movie history. Before the body is cold in the ground he is trying to put the moves on a new girl because she looks like his lost love and he even wants her to do her hair like the dead girl. Yeah, as I said the film has a creepy vibe.

So we get another bad film from the director who apparently never saw a real human being before because he obviously does not have the ability to direct one to act anything resembling how a real person acts. He does a good job directing real birds I guess. Joe comes across as really creepy, but the girl playing Evelyn/Claudia is cute...albeit a lousy actress!

So, if you want to watch a film where people do not act human then I suggest all three films I have mentioned. This one is the worst of the lot as it takes til nearly the end to get to the point forcing you to watch flashback scenes of absolutely mundane events that shed the light on nothing! The only thing good is seeing the lead girl in a bikini, but lets be real, you can see that and more in an adult film and quite honestly the acting is better!

Replica...... another awesomely terrible James Nguyen movie.

[Idiot-Deluxe · 1/10 · 11 February 2017]

Mortal Beings, prepare yourselves for an experience which will change your lives FOREVER! From the ever-burning fires of James Nguyen's collective subconscious (the creative mastermind of Birdemic), brings us another immortal masterpiece! A divine work of unparalleled genius and singular inspiration, comes the movie event of the century! James Nguyen brings us REPLICA!!!!!

Yes, that was sarcasm, now on to the review.

All right, now that I've seen all of his movies I can confidently say that James Nguyen is -easily- the worst movie director currently going, which in turn, makes him one of the worst of all-time. Here Mr. Nguyen tries his hand in making a film that's part romance and part science-fiction, which ever so clumsily, he pulls it off. Replica is a laughably pathetic, sub-amateur film, which is absolutely dire in all possible aspects, which if you're familiar with his work, is quit the norm for a James Nguyen film. Replica contains all of the hallmarks one could AND should expect to see from one of his movies, which means Replica is a film that's filled with: Hideously awkward acting, vapid and utterly sterile dialog (which often focuses on software sales figures), lots of mundane scenes involving cars slowly maneuvering, lots of location filming of familiar San Fran landmarks, insanely inconsistent sound (i.e. distorted sound, crude over-dubbing, excessive amounts of noise, jarring sound mixing and best of all, on several occasions the sound drops-out completely). To make things even worse, James Nguyen continues to include his ham-handed homages to Hitchcock, which are clearly meant to "honor" The Master of Suspense. But because these movies are so damn terrible, it comes off as more of an insult, rather than flattery. In the case of this film James "Master-of-the-Arts" Nguyen mustered up all of his incompetence, by trying to emulate one of Hitchcock's most popular classics..... with predictably pitiful and painful results.

Like all James Nguyen movies, Replica was shot on a small budget and to no doubt save money, he opted to use virtual sets (i.e. Computer-Generated Graphics, bad ones), which not surprisingly, are cheaply done and look utterly fake. For instance somewhere in the middle of this movie you'll be treated to the interior of an office building, only it's done virtually, which means and I cringe when I type this, you'll be looking at a series of computer-generated cubicles, which was "composed" by amateurs - using cheap graphics software... Mr. Nguyen dial-back the visual splendor! I couldn't even begin to think of a blander and more sterile setting, but maybe in a future release he'll top even that. And while speaking on the matter of cheap virtual set's, ready yourselves because he saved the best for last! Which brings us to the finale, in which you all are in for a special treat. Prepare yourselves for a truly mesmerizing experience, one that's as overwhelmingly magnificent as it is eminent. Behold! And brace yourself for "The Clone-A-Tron"! The final word in science-fiction (and you thought that was Star Wars, didn't you).

Pardon me while I wipe the sweat from my brow..... In closing, I reiterate my stance that, now-a-day's, NO ONE'S better at making bad movies, than James Nguyen.

I totally feel like I got a 50% discount

[paulmpool · 1/10 · 16 November 2022]

Like exercising a Stock option at NCT software, this movie was worth the wait. More riveting than a sales pitch for serlr pnals or poorly simulated coitus in a bikini. Just when you think James Nguyen couldn't possibly top his previous works of genius, you find out you are right. Once again, the house from Birdemic steals the show with its riveting performance and super accessible driveway action. One major addition was the directors brother as the totally convincing and definitely not wearing his own clothes from home detective investigating a car accident. If you don't see this movie, you are better than me.

Horrific

[BandSAboutMovies · 1/10 · 13 December 2020]

Yes, they let James Nguyen, the man who made Birdemic, film another movie. Somehow, he stretched stock footage out to sixty-six minutes this time to tell the story of Joe, a computer chip salesman who gets a new kidney from Dr. Evelyn Tyler, who he soon becomes obsessed with before she dies. Then, he meets her exact double.

If Birdemic is The Birds, this is Vertigo. Sure. Whatever you say, James.

There's also cloning, which has the weird meta result of Evelyn's clone becoming an actress and getting a role in Nguyen's Julie and Jack.

Honestly, this is one of the worst movies I've ever seen and I watch Jess Franco movies on twenty-four hour binges and have a shrine to Joe D'Amato in my basement.

Trust me, whether or not you like riffing on movies, there's no way you're getting out of this without help. I recommend the Rifftrax version on Tubi if you feel that you absolutely need to see the most insipid movie ever made about cloning.

Worse than Julie and Jack while basically being the same story with minor changes!

[TokyoGyaru · 1/10 · 2 March 2021]

At least Julie and Jack had real sets! How is it that the movie that dealt with virtual reality didn't have the virtual sets like this one did?

This film repeats multiple beats from Julie and Jack, even down to things like the salesman's sales making a turnaround and a female coworker commenting in a meeting that they heard that he got a new girlfriend and implying that's why his sales are up. The male lead in this is a worse actor than the male lead in Julie and Jack. Unlike Jack, this guy has no redeeming qualities. Jack is, for all his faults, good-looking and sweet. The guy in this film is creepy from the jump, stalking the woman he's interested in and making selfish, creepy, hurtful requests of his "new" girlfriend. Given that there was no implication that the female lead had low self-esteem, I couldn't suspend disbelief that she would date him, especially given that he's a failure in his job, awkward, stalkerish, and the woman is not only pretty but is apparently a super genius (yet another thing from Julie and Jack). Now, I sound superficial, but let's he real. In L.A? No. She could have her pick because of her career, not just her looks. Women in James' films are either just objects, mothers, or exposition devices.

James makes movies about himself, like Neil Breen and Tommy Wiseau do, except James uses white males as avatars for himself (I could say something about that as someone living in Asia, but I'll leave it.) Unfortunately, what none of the men have learned is their heroes are awkward and lame, and that ends up showing in the final product. So, here we are.

A real yawner

[Leofwine_draca · 1/10 · 24 May 2018]

From the indie director of the "world's worst movie" BIRDEMIC comes REPLICA, an early effort which straddles the sci-fi and thriller genres. Unfortunately it turns out to be a really pitiful kind of film, a lame indie drama shot in soft focus throughout. It explores cutting-edge biotechnology and organ transplantation but is mainly padded out with shots of people walking through streets.

A convincing replica

[jaigurudavid · 1/10 · 9 February 2022]

I'm sure somewhere there is a formal definition of a movie. Assuming includes things like, the action was captured on film, there was a script, they were actors, they were sound, etc. Replica meets all of those criteria. However, it somehow fails to be a movie. There's very little action to capture, the script is full of plot holes and banal conversation, the actors shouldn't even really be called actors, and the sound is either nonexistent or noisy. I'm guessing that 99% of the people who have seen this watched the RiffTrax version of it. I can't imagine watching it without RiffTrax.

Hilariously inept

[marcslope · 1/10 · 8 November 2022]

Yes, the auteur who gave us "Birdemic" and "Birdemic 2" somehow came up with enough backing to make another movie, 66 minutes of hilarious ineptitude. Quite explicitly a Hitchcock homage, with a little "The Birds" and a lot of "Vertigo," it deals with cloning, genetic engineering, and the most boring young lovers ever committed to film. They're a self-obsessed computer chip salesman and the gene-splicing surgeon who replaced his kidney; given that she looks 22 and can barely get a line out without stuttering or correcting herself, and later portrays the Kim Novak-like double (like I said, "Vertigo") with no differentiation whatever, it's not a credible romance. There's also a wildly overacting villain, an investigator who can barely speak English, familiar San Francisco locations, CGI sets that look like they cost three dollars, and James Nguyen's signature, endless shots of cars pulling into driveways, cars pulling out of driveways, cars pulling onto the road. The music's almost competent; the matron playing Evelyn's mom actually acts, and the editing is seemingly from a four-year-old with a pair of scissors. The sound drifts in and out, the overdubbing is.wretched. Let me add, I watched this on Rifftrax, with even Kevin and Mike and Bill unable to contain their laughter at Nguyen's incompetence, and I had a great time.

Can not help but love this

[TheRandombell · 3/10 · 31 December 2023]

I might have given it a lower rating, but my goodness is this not an amazing movie. Watch it. Laugh at it. Enjoy yourself. I myself was making independent films during this time, so I can understand the struggles, frustrations, and hard work that is involved in creating something like this. I look back at this time with joy, and see others experiencing something similar to myself (Happy to know I'm not alone!)

While the story might seem to be all over the place, and the acting is hindered by bad audio (again something I know all too well), it's still a fun watch...even better clocking in under the 70 minute mark!

Laughably bad yet very watchable.

[MarkSweepstakes · 3/10 · 27 April 2023]

OK, by now the film-going public is aware how cluelessly untalented James Nguyen is as a writer and director. All his scripts are essentially identical, usually involving a salesman and his horny friend, a hot blonde, some pseudo science, and really bad special effects. Plus he always wields the video camera like your great aunt does at a family get-together -- tilted, hard to hear, and out of focus. His films have the same plot, the same house, the same recurring actors -- the same everything, over and over.

And yet I always watch his movies -- repeatedly. I think I've watched "Replica" as much as I have "Birdemic". Why? I actually kind of like "Replica", probably even more than it's more famous sibling "Birdemic". "Replica" is shorter and sillier, so it's more fun and not such a commitment. Turn off your brain, keep your expectations low, veg out, and chuckle every once in a while until it ends.

Lana Dykstra as the Doctor makes it worth viewing just for her alone. Her acting is hilarious. Half the time you can't even understand her. She's attractive for sure, I was genuinely surprised how great she looked in her bikini during the inevitable James Nguyen sex scene. I can't find anything more about her after she starred in this movie. I'm curious what she looks like now. But in all seriousness I have to give her props simply because she agreed to star in this movie for no money, she put up with James' nonsense, and she tried her best.

James Nguyen, you magnificent weirdo

[Galop_Inferno · 10/10 · 11 February 2021]

From the man behind such cult horrors as Birdemic: Shock and Terror, Birdemic 2: The Resurrection, and Julie and Jack comes his second feature, a "romantic sci-fi thriller", all used loosely since there isn't actually much romantic, science fiction or thrilling about Replica.

Computer chip salesman Joe undergoes a kidney transplant from biogeneticist Evelyn. Shame she did it though, because afterwards he begins to romance her, and by romance, I mean stalk, and not very well. Their relationship is short-lived, however. Not by his creep tendencies but by her death in a car accident (an extremely hilarious one I can't even begin to describe). With her body fresh underground, Joe "meets" actress Claudia, who happens to resemble Evelyn. Yes, this is an "homage" to Hitchcock.

As with Nguyen's other films, Replica is inept in practically every way. The acting is wooden, the script is... most likely nonexistent, the characters - or at least Joe - are unlikable (although the villain is scarfing the scenery). Keep an eye out for some surprise (and, given Nguyen's abilities, copyright infringing) celebrity appearances, as well as a very funny Nguyen-ception moment. I may give it a 1 out of 10 but the sheer incompetence of it all is a sight to behold.

Dizzying heights of ineptitude

[bensonmum2 · 6/10 · 21 April 2020]

Joe, a computer chip salesman (what else would you expect from a James Nguyen film), falls for Dr Evelyn Tyler, the surgeon who performed his kidney transplant. Their relationship is off to a fantastic start when Dr Tyler is tragically (and hysterically) killed in a car crash. Distraught over his loss, Joe's emotions are in for another jolt when he meets a woman who looks so much like Dr Tyler, she could be her clone.

While Replica never reaches the dizzying heights of ineptitude director James Nguyen managed with Birdemic, this is still an amazingly entertaining film - for all the wrong reasons. As with Birdemic, everything about Replica is about as piss-poor as you'll find in a movie. If anything, Replica outdoes Birdemic when it comes to acting. Stilted, riciulous dialogue delivered by actors that I"m amazed to discover have any other credits to their name. My two favs have to be David Nguyen as Detective Le (English is obviously not his first language) and Rick Camp as Dr G (so over-the-top he's laugh-out-loud funny). It's all bottom-of-the-barrel stuff and, personally, I'm grateful for it.

You have to give James Nguyen credit - he may have lacked the resources and talent to pull off his big-screen visions, but that didn't stop him from trying. In the end, you're left with a film that, regardless of the reason, is entertaining enough to hold my interest for almost 90 minutes. Compare that to something like one of Michael Bay's Transformer movies with millions of dollars at his disposal, the latest in hi-tech special effects, and a cast of name actors and you end up with one incredibly dull-as-dirt film. Give me James Nguyen over Michael Bay any day of the week. At least I'll have a good time.

As I've always said, I rate films primarily on entertainment value. Despite all its faults (and they are overwhelming), I can easily give Replica a 6/10.

6/10

Has James Nguyen ever SEEN a movie???

[camarossdriver · 1/10 · 25 April 2023]

Words can't even BEGIN to describe what a train wreck this "movie" is! I'm pretty sure that James Nguyen either A) Never saw a good movie. B) Has a SERIOUS mental health issue or C) Lost a bet with someone,and the loser has to make a couple of HORRENDOUS movies. I thought "Birdemic" was the worst movie I have ever seen..then...good 'ol James Nguyen throws me THIS CURVEBALL?!?!?! This "movie" is (thank God) a very short watch. I just can't fathom how these "actors" got the parts for this flick??? It sure wasn't an audition...if it WAS...dear Lord,I would LOVE to see who didn't make the cut!!! The woman doctor / replica is SOOOOO BAD that it makes it actually kinda FUN to watch,and the Asian detective is probably worse than the female doctor...I was laughing SO HARD that I had to go back and see what I missed. IF you decide to watch this crapfest...one viewing should do it for you...I think seeing it once is MORE THAN enough...seriously...I think watching this "movie" more than once will lower your IQ to that IQ of a radish.

Fantastic! A must watch Cult film!

[mitrovicdavid · 10/10 · 29 December 2015]

This movie truly is a fantastic piece of art! I would recommend this to anyone that is into romance in particular. The trailer is great in its own way without revealing much of the plot. I have no comment on the artistic value of this film and i strongly recommend that you watch it straight away! Whereas movies such as the Notebook and Titanic are great in their own ways,they just cannot compare to this! it has it all! A great plot, class-A actors and of course,a fantastic budget. I am a big fan of Romance movies,therefore I hope that you respect my opinion of this film.

James Nguyen is truly talented and I hope that he continues making great movies such as Birdemic and Birdemic 2