Critical Assembly (2003) (TV)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Eric Laneuville

Writers (WGA):

James Mills (book)
Tom Vaughan (teleplay) ...

Release Date:

12 July 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Two college students (Heigl and Smith) build a nuclear device, which is stolen by a fellow student. When it ends up in the hands of a terrorist, they work with an FBI agent (Beach) in a race against time.

Plot Keywords:

Student | Terrorist | FBI Agent | College Student | Stolen

Cast

Katherine Heigl	...	Aizy Hayward
Kerr Smith	...	Bobby Damon
J. August Richards	...	Allan Marshall
Jeff Roop	...	Roger 'Stoop' Stupak
Christopher Kennedy	...	Major Matt Crowl
Nancy Sorel	...	Female FBI Agent
Mark Houghton	...	FBI Agent Mark
Michael Beach	...	FBI Agent Winston
Cam Cronin	...	Terrorist Husband
Kim Howey	...	Terrorist Wife
David Neale	...	Customs Inspector
John B. Lowe	...	Professor Miller
Chiara Zanni	...	India the Pretty Activist
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dax Belanger	...	Reporter
Tammy Bentz	...	Bag Lady
Artine Brown	...	Terrorist
Chaz Chamberlain	...	Track Buddy
Aaron Dudley	...	Dreads
Michael Eklund	...	Jefferson
Allan Franz	...	John Deere
Edward Hart	...	Student
Nathan Lomax	...	'Wanted' Criminal
Derek Lowe	...	CSU Man
Gardiner Millar	...	Crewcut
Ty Olsson	...	Jeff
T.J. Shanks	...	Swat Team Leader
Keath Thome	...	Guard
Norma Jean Wick	...	TV Anchor
Kea Wong	...	Protesting Activist Girl
Ronin Wong	...	Delivery Man (as Ronin)

Also Known As:

Ground Zero (USA) (alternative title)

Runtime:

USA:120 min (including commercials) | Brazil:91 min | Germany:82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:12 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

NBC Studios

Trivia:

The film is a television thriller originally titled "Ground Zero" and scheduled to be broadcast in the fall of 2001. It was based on the bestselling James Mills novel The Seventh Power. The story centers around two students who build a nuclear device to illustrate the need for a change in national priorities; the device ends up in the hands of a terrorist following betrayal by a fellow student. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, however, the film was shelved when its plot was considered inappropriate. "Ground Zero" was deemed too direct of a reference to the name by which the World Trade Center site would become known and the film re-emerged in 2003 under the title "Critical Assembly".

Another made-for-TV waste of time

I was looking forward to a taut suspenseful two hours but the only taut thing was Katherine Heigl's sweater.

A group of university almost grads decide to build an atomic bomb without a detonator just to prove they can. Of course, there's a little problem of getting enough plutonium to make the bomb viable - enter the bad guys. Most of the group thinks the plutonium was stolen from the stock at the university but of course the school doesn't really have that much and there is a more sinister backer in the wings.

The bad guys ultimately steal the bomb and add not only a detonator but a timer and anti-tamper protection which heroine Katherine has to bypass. The acting by all was credible but the story was just too much for a two-hour TV movie and never really developed a sense of tension.