Surge of Power: The Stuff of Heroes (2004) User Reviews

World's best bad movie.

[talyseon · 5/10 · 19 April 2008]

Gavin Lucas is a comic book geek. He is a lawyer for a company that develops new technology. He's also gay. It's never stated, but really, no doubts here. Gavin is running some papers to one of their scientists, Professor Ronald Richards (Robert Hurt) when a jealous rival scientist, Hector Harris (John Venturini) tries to steal some of Professor Richards research. Gavin intervenes, and there is an accident. A very special accident.

Unaware of how things are different now, Gavin goes with his friends to a costume party where everyone is dressed up as Superheroes. After the party, and a hilarious cameo of Bobby Trendy as himself (If you don't know who he is, tell him. I'm sure he'll be crushed.) Gavin jumps in to save the hot guy from the park from a hate crime. Being pounded on, he releases his powers for the first time.

Blessed with superpowers, an energy surge that he can release to blast things away, Gavin decides to become Surge. Enlisting Professor Richards help he gets a costume with lots of gadgets. However Surge is aware he has a weakness. Whenever he hears dance music, his powers fizzle! (Gay!) Unfortunately, Hector Harris is also getting a costume, and planning his career as a Super Villain, The Metal Master! (Can you say Magneto Rip off with costume by Wilson's Leather?) The movie claims to be A New High in Low Budget Camp. And that claim is true! This movie is one long running joke about the classics and clichés of the Superhero genre. Surge is a fanatic about his cape, even though everyone and everything conspires to convince him it is a bad idea. Everyone mentions no one is doing capes. It gets caught in a phone booth door after his first costume change. (Ever notice phone booths these days are glass?) A villain tries to pin him to the ground with it. Etc, etc, etc. They talk about superheroes in other cities; they mean Batman and Robin, but call them the Wombat and Pigeon. There is the other hero who crawls on walls and wraps people up in webs…starts with an 'S'…The Silkworm! (He was bitten by a radioactive Silkworm.) The only hero they mention by name is Superman. And no one would dare sue the one who said it…the unforgettable Noel Neill, the original Lois Lane from The Adventures of Superman TV show! That's the other recurring hammer; Cameos! Noel Neill, Marv Wolfman, Comic book writer and co-creator of The Teen Titans and Blade, Len Wein, also a comics writer, creator of Swamp Thing and Wolverine, Bobby Trendy, Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster), Rose Marie, (Dick Van Dyke Show), Erin Murphy (Tabitha Stevens of Bewitched), Allison Arngrim, (Nellie Olsen from The Little House on the Prairie.), Bernard Fox (Dr. Bombay from Bewitched), Marty Croft of H.R. Puffnstuff and Land of the Lost fame, Bob May, the voice of the Robot in Lost in Space, Trev Brody, the out actor who was gay bashed in 2002. Now he does a lot of voice over work, due to vision loss, including the Voice of Captain America for the video game Avengers. Liz Sheridan (Seinfeld's "mom") finally, two real treats, Lou Ferrigno, the Incredible Hulk. (He is still incredible at age 52) and the incomparable Nichelle Nichols. That's right; Lt. Uhura is the Omen, Big Cities Hero of days gone by.

The last running joke are gay jokes; when Gavin greats his friends; "Hey, is that a banana in your pocket?" (Friend pulls out a banana) "It's a great source of potassium…but I am happy to see you." And at the party, two fellows come to check out Surge's….cape. #1"That's a nice cape." #2 "It's so big…can we touch it?" Gavin, "Sure." (Feeling the fabric) #1 "It's so thick!" (Gay, gay, GAAAY!) This movie is just so campy. Not since John Waters came off his last bender has any movie worked this hard to camp it up this much. It like the old Batman TV show on steroids and poppers! And for being a no budget wonder, it has surprisingly high production values. The special effects are at least as good as those you see on the made for Sci Fi movies.

The acting could be compared to the very best provided by the porn industry. But it's okay. Everyone is having such a good time; it comes across as hilariously cheesy, instead of just Cheesy.

I am deeply torn on rating this movie. It's bad. I mean, really bad. But I loved it so much! Deep love with inappropriate….never mind. I liked the movie. It is FUN. It has a message of love and acceptance, and about being a hero in your everyday life. It's so warm and uplifting. And bad. I love it. I guess I will have to forgive it its flaws, but grade it in the middle.

One star for production, Five Stars for fun engendered. Three on average. Four if you are a comic geek or gay. Five for Gay Comic Geeks like me.

It's a bird, a plane, no...just bad acting!

[fordtalent · 4/10 · 29 May 2006]

Saw this flick last night at a midnight movie presentation in gay ol' Ft. Lauderdale and, interestingly enough, the "star" Vincent Roth introduced the movie. He is cute and well put-together, but his public speaking skills are on par with his acting ability, and unfortunately for all of us, that is not good. The movie doesn't really tread new ground, in fact, for a gay-themed movie, it wasn't really that interesting of a story. Very lame acting, with many over-weight actors who didn't fit their roles well and left some of us thinking that if we give enough money to an independent movie producer that, we too, could star in a movie! Vincent Roth is rather one-dimensional in his portrayal of the lead and only adds a bit of luster in one scene which is too little, too late. In fact, his body AND acting belong in an entirely different genre of film...PORN! Overall, the film lacks any charm...the only stand-out in the cast is the lead characters science-goober friend, who, unlike any of the others, COULD act his way out of a paper bag! Sorry girls, if you want an entertaining gay-themed movie to see, skip this one...but if you want to see gym-bodied guys with impossible-to-recreate "high cheek bones", in too tight spandex shirts running around like queens...this one is for you! I gave it 4 stars out of 10 just for the few scenes that DO work and the raw nerve it took to release this narcissistic piece of fluff!

Writing and Acting Review

[cade1098 · 2/10 · 16 May 2006]

My friend got the movie and we sat down to watch. The main elements that immediately stood out to me was the "theater" style acting associated with many inexperienced screen artists. We have often seen this, even in our auditions, where someone who is used to the drama and overly expressive voice projection of theater often carry this into the film and create an unrealistic film environment. (The film public expect more today than ever.) This was not the case with all the actors since Vincent Roth did show some signs of comedic promise, but in my opinion, could have been hampered by some of the others.

As far as writing, well, I think it worked well and some very clever comic comments nestled in was very well done with this type of story. Now, if this is a low budget film, and they used what they had, well, I think they did a good job. Overall, however, I believe the acting was weak and that the director (Sorry, Mike) should have been looking for better if that were possible. Matching budget with talent with effects is always a challenge. Sorry, y'all, but I cannot rate it highly under such conditions.

You must be a Superhero to endure this punishment!

[andresgvidalg · 1/10 · 2 May 2006]

From the Midi file soundtrack of the opening titles, to the recycled cast of (what I must assume are) passer biers with no camera experience this movie was an experience whose mere mention will produce in me a bitter guttural response years from now when I'm lying in my dying bed. I am sorry, I am sorry if you made this movie (for hell awaits you), I am sorry if I offend anyone involved, but most of all, I am sorry I ever rented this thing. I know that the idea of a gay superhero is attractive to many people (but hey, aren't all superheroes gay anyway?), I have no quarrels with folk trying to support gay productions, there ought to be more out there, but anyone (gay or straight) with the strength to sit through this movie from beginning to end is in my mind a true SUPERHERO!

Surge of Boredom - A complete waste of time!

[jamesmccormack · 1/10 · 17 April 2008]

Well, I will tell you right up front: avoid this movie at all cost. What could have been a fairly interesting spoof on super heroes (gay one's at that) is one of the dullest films to come out since the invention of film. "Surge of Power" is quite possibly the longest 85 minutes in the history of the movies. Surge does have a power: to make it seem like time is standing still.

The script is half baked and lacks anything close to a believable story line. Let's hope Vincent J. Roth never writes another screenplay. The story never seems to move forward or amount to much of anything. Is this a comedy? A spoof? Comedy? Bad timing and bad acting just make it a bad film. There is no wit...just a bunch of nit wits. who probably think this film is great. Go back to film making class.

The acting is horrible. Let's not even call it acting...no one is even trying. The cast is packed with instantly forgettable actors. Most seem to be walking through their parts...or making it up as they go along. The actor who attempts to play "Surge" is worst of the bunch. Hot guy but not much else. He has no sense of timing...no sense of character. Thus the film makes no sense. You will find it odd how he never seems to be looking at the people he is talking with. Or is he just stoned? Celebrity cameos - and I am being quite generous using the word celebrity - are simply embarrassing. Oddly the high point of the film is the appearance of Nichelle Nichols (you remember her from Star Trek) as a character named "Omen." The lady does a lot with 10 lines of dialog and makes every else look bad. Sadly, she is gone after a few minutes and the film again sinks into mud.

This is what gay and lesbian films have come to? Producers Vincent J. Roth, Tom Tangen, and Michael Donahue should be ashamed of themselves.

Cute gay superhero flick with lots of inside jokes

[WinBearTx · 8/10 · 3 June 2006]

I picked this up as an online rental just because it was highly rated in the gay/lesbian section and I'm glad I did. "Surge of Power" is a cute low budget film with obvious but undeclared gay characters. I enjoyed the story and got many of the insider references placed there just for the gay comics nerds like me. While Vincent Roth's acting skills may not have been super great, his enthusiasm, personality, cute face and chiseled body went a long way in making up for his other deficiencies. Getting through the opening credits, you realize that this is a dream project for Roth and it shows in the script, costumes and other design touches attributed to him.

There were a number of guest appearances by actors associated with comic book and science fiction TV shows like the original Lois Lane (Noel Neill), the Hulk (Lou Ferrigno), and Star Trek's Uhura (Nichelle Nichols). These appearances and other things served to both legitimize as well as poke fun at the movie. Another guest was actor Trev Broudy who was severely beaten in a hate crime in 2002 in his first acting appearance following his recovery.

While the movie may have been a low-budget vanity project, the superhero special effects seemed appropriate most of the time.

I found the movie entertaining as light-hearted fare in the superhero genre. I didn't have high expectations for the movie and was pleasantly surprised at the overall quality of the film. If you are a gay comics fanboy, I do recommend this a fun rental.

An underrated superhero comedy

[rgcustomer · 6/10 · 27 August 2009]

The current rating for this film is about 3, with a large number of 1 votes being cast. I can only speculate, but I suspect the 1 votes are mostly coming from humourless fanboys seeking to view everything that stars like Lou Ferrigno have ever done (like cameos in the two recent Hulk films) checking out this film on that basis, and being unable to deal with its awesome gayness, which is mostly revealed through double entendres in a tamer way than the Ambiguously Gay Duo. (But I am disappointed I didn't detect a reference to Surge Studios...) Either that, or people are not being properly recruited before receiving their gay cards.

Truthfully, it is a bit odd that nearly everyone in the film reads as gay. Even in a Big City, that's not realistic. Not that it has to be realistic (it is a superhero movie after all) but then it should be explained.

The acting in this film is absolutely dreadful. It's NOT the worst I've ever seen, but it's pretty bad. And the effects and editing some times are just as painful to watch.

But there is something so charming about the story. True, some of the charm radiates from Gavin/Surge as a person. But it's a good, sweet, and funny story as well, and the writer deserves the credit. Oh wait! It's the same guy. That's either really adorable or really creepy in a Tom Cruise's ego kind of way. I'm going with adorable until proved otherwise. I wish this film had at least 20 times the budget to see what could be done with it. Consider Hancock, for example.

This film is a treat for fans looking for cameos and references to science fiction or superhero films. You've got the Hulk, Uhura, others (hey, I can't know everyone), and references to pretty much everything.

The recurring appeals to the Christian religion seemed out of place to me. It's a science fiction superhero movie -- not exactly the place to get all religious on us. However, nobody in the film actually received help from a deity to do anything, and that dovetails in with one theme of the film, which is self-confidence.

In summary, I'm looking for more from this team, and somebody needs to fund them properly.

10 snaps for a gay superhero

[rimac-1 · 10/10 · 17 April 2005]

I just saw the movie tonight at the Gay & Lesbian Film Fest in Palm Desert, California. It was a funny movie - patterned after other comic book superhero movies, but with gay characters. My favorite parts were the cameos. Nichelle Nichols was awesome & looks as beautiful as she did when she filmed Startrek. I always enjoy seeing Lou Ferrigno of Incredible Hulk fame - and he looks terrific and as muscular as ever. It's nice to see him in a speaking part & wearing his hearing aids - he is a great example of a real-life superhero. The movie had gay characters, but they weren't all just stereotypical buffoons like in many gay movies & sitcoms. Though romance was in the air, the characters abstained from any physical contact - in the tradition of true superheros. It is a low budget, independent film - and as such I wasn't expecting a Spiderman-type blockbuster movie with special effects in excess. Instead, the plot and characters carried the movie, with only minimal special effects. I hope the movie finds a distributer, or at least shows up as a DVD, so I can see it again.

Surge is campy fun...

[trash_g · 10/10 · 30 June 2006]

I rented Surge of Power from Blockbuster and found it to be good, clean campy fun. Even though I agree with some of the comments regarding the weaker acting performances, but overall I thought some of the strongest performances came from Tangen, Roth, Venturini, and the slew of guest stars like Nichelle Nichols, Lou Ferrigno and Noel Neill. This was kind of a throw-back to the old campy Batman series starring Adam West and Burt Ward, so I think the performances were supposed to be tongue-in-cheek and over-the-top. I especially liked the battle scenes between Surge and The Metal Master and I really enjoyed the bank robbery scene with Noel Neill. The costumes were great and the cheesy effects added to the kitsch. The gay stuff was ambiguous so I think everyone of all ages could enjoy this movie. I can't help but wonder -- is there going to be a Surge 2?