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52 out of 77 people found the following review useful: One of the worst movies I've seen..., 28 December 1998 Author: Jodie G from High Prairie, Alberta
There are few things I hate more than being beaten over the head with the message a movie is trying to get across. The creators obviously became so wrapped up in conveying an interesting theme that they forgot about the importance of the other aspects of a good movie (character development, action, a PLOT)...This had potential- good actors, rising tension (in the beginning) and an interesting situation to be delt with. However, it soon became a downward spiral of events that were unbelievable and unoriginal. It became downright silly. The ending was so contrived it made me laugh. Even the acting didn't save this- I didn't care about these characters or what happened to them. This one will be *remembered?* as a movie that had potential but was unable to deliver.
44 out of 65 people found the following review useful: Reading about Manos reminded me of..., 30 January 2001 Author: (radiofreeadam)
This morning, as I perused the IMDB bottom 100, I realized that my own personal worst movie ever wasn't there...The Trigger Effect. Now, in retrospect, this was a harsh assessment to make as a teenager, but I still haven't seen anything else -- and this is after YEARS of MST3K -- that has compared to this. A Rod Serling premise delivered with Ed Wood execution -- this was an absolutely pitiful waste of celluloid and a couple of generally decent actors. The Trigger Effect is boring and lame, feeble and implausible, derivative and lousy. It doesn't even qualify in the "so good, it's bad genre"... it's just bad, which is why I rank it below about a hundred other old sci-fi or spy films that at least aspired to a lower standard. The Trigger Effect aims to be a thought-provoking thriller and isn't anything close. Has anyone else noticed that David Koepp (who wrote and directed this, in addition to penning bad scripts for The Lost World and Snake Eyes, to name just two) is the worst well-paid screenwriter in Hollywood?
26 out of 34 people found the following review useful: Stop ruining good ideas!!, 10 September 1999 Author: Budd-5 from Cork, Ireland
Our society is so dependent on electricity so that when there is a blackout we despair. We find it hard to understand how people survived without the light switch, the TV, the refrigerator. The Trigger Effect is about such an occurence, but whereas our electricity usually comes back in a matter of hours, this movie's characters have to survive in the black for days. It is an interesting premise but it's horribly handled.The characters we are shown are boring and two dimensional. An uneventful love triangle begins between the three leads which leads to nowhere. There are some interesting parts to the movie but it's let down by it's small budget. This movie demanded some cutting edge movie making, it fails to deliver. This could and should have been a much more (dare I say) violent picture. It's theme was that of man's devolution back into nature after it loses its use of technology. So we expect some nasty events to occur. It never happens. A movie like this should have left the moviegoer with questions. How would you react in such a situation? Instead it only leaves us with a gaping mouth and a statement to the filmmakers. Stop ruining good ideas!!
29 out of 40 people found the following review useful: Great idea, very VERY poorly executed, 23 February 2004 Author: wombat_1 from Sydney, Australia
I was one of the people who ended up "hating" this movie and wishing it weren't so. As others have said, it's an "important" concept - how would YOU behave in this oh-too-probably situation, but it was so poorly executed. All of the characters in this movie were sooooooo unpleasant, so unlikeable. Are all middle-class Americans really like this? Somehow I doubt it. With a good director and better actors - and let's face it, has Elisabeth Shue ever done any movie where she gets to keep her clothes on - this could have been much better than the 'C' grade crap that it ultimately became.
29 out of 40 people found the following review useful: adding insult to injury, 5 April 1999 Author: Bram-5 from Halifax, Nova Scotia
One of those movies that could have been good, if Alfred Hitchcock was still alive. Everybody was in a bad mood anyway if the opening scenes were anything to go by. The opening scenes were good, by the way, which was one reason I kept watching, but to no avail. I agree, it gets worse as it goes along, as if the writer had one good idea then didn't know where to go with it, so it didn't go anywhere. If you're about to rent this movie anyway, think about why you've never heard of it.
31 out of 44 people found the following review useful: One Word-boring, 5 March 1999 Author: Juan Pablo Murga (jpmurga@hotmail.com) from Guatemala, Guatemala
The first time I saw it I couldn't make it awake till the end. It's so slow paced for its theme. The whole movie could've lasted 40 minutes if it moved at a regular pace. That aside the story was not bad but very badly developed. I'm so sorry I watched twice to see it complete, it actually gets worse at the end. If you don't have anything better to do, see another movie, read a book or take a nap, but don't see this movie.
41 out of 68 people found the following review useful: A movie so bad my wife threatened divorce, 13 October 1999 Author: MrMelvin-2 from Kansas
I love Elizabeth Shue. Once I saw her on the cover of the video box, I had to get this film. But my wife said that if I ever rent such a "senseless, pointless, useless waste of two hours" again, I'll have to find a new wife to watch it with.
26 out of 43 people found the following review useful: Lame, dumb, too much of my life that I won't get back., 9 September 1999 Author: Chris_P from PNW
The movie starts out good, with a decent premise and interesting idea. Then spirals into stupidity. All the main characters in the movie resort to very un-realistic behavior, where they over-react to a situation that is not as bad as they seem to think it is.
14 out of 22 people found the following review useful: A Great Start that Slowly Goes Nowhere, 27 July 2004 Author: (caspian1978@hotmail.com) from Attleboro, MA
The opening sequence of how other people effect the flow of our natural day opens up the idea to the audience that like the Trigger Effect, other people during the course of our "normal" days can end up making us go crazy and even doing some drastic stuff. The Trigger Effect opens up "Touch of Evil" style with a wonderful sequence of no name actors who end up playing a huge role on the story line of what the Trigger Effect is. Almost by mistake, we are brought into the lives of the main characters, and from there the story begins. The movie holds some amazing moments and some excellent scenes with the 3 leads. Still, the movie falls short with an ending, nobody wanted to see. A thriller that builds and builds and builds and goes nowhere. The struggle between the characters grow and then end up going off on a detour and nothing else. Sad, the movie could have been a timeless story how the slightest things in our day could end up killing ourselves if not killing others. The story was terrific and could have been an excellent movie. But overall, the movie is worth watching just for the moments it has.
22 out of 38 people found the following review useful: Stupid, stupid movie, 9 April 2002 Author: MovieMax416 from Chicago
wow. I have never been so bored with a movie. A movie like "The Trigger Effect" starts off with an interesting premise. Normally, you would expect it to build suspense. This does not occur. In fact, nothing about this movie is suspenseful. Really lame, contrived, and full of scenes that do nothing to enhance the plot, characters, or add anything to the movie.2/10
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