It jumps from genre to genre as it goes on, and even the final monster (designed by Stephen Norrington, who’d go on to direct Blade and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) looks to be a mishmash born of uncertain direction, part hell-demon, part tech nightmare (is that a motorcycle helmet?!) But good golly does that crazy mix make for some barmy fun. Plus, there’s a sense it’s not quite sure what it wants to be.
#RUTGER HAUER SPLIT SECOND MOVIE#
You couldn’t reasonably call this a great movie - parts do border on “so bad it’s good”, and there’s much joy from the cast clearly realising it’s ludicrous. Or you’ll be thinking “what is this godawful crap?!”, which goes back to my initial point: some people will delight in it all, while others will feel they’ve wasted their time on a low-budget no-mark that should’ve been left forgotten in the early ’90s. By the time you get to the point where a deranged Durkin is demanding bigger guns, you’ll be cackling. This kind of almost-a-comedy-but-not-actually tone pops up increasingly as the film goes on, as if it was shot in order and the cast gradually realised how ridiculous it all was. Hauer doesn’t give it an overtly comical delivery, and so you can’t quite tell if Stone is deadpanning or genuinely offering this information… to a dog. It’s hilariously terrible and awesome in one fell swoop. He flashes his warrant card - at the dog - and says “police, dickhead.” To the dog. But then we get Stone’s first line of dialogue, which comes after a guard dog barks at him. It starts out almost like budget Blade Runner - it’s the future (so we’re told) it’s night it’s raining a hardbitten cop visits a seedy nightclub etc. It’s almost hard to describe what that tone and style is, mind. I mean, it’s still not wholly fitting - the global warming/pollution stuff is dystopian-future scene-setting without any true bearing on the actual plot - but at least it evokes the tone and style of the film more than “ Split Second”, which sounds like a Steven Segal movie. One of the working titles was Black Tide, which suits the film so much better.
Assigned to keep him in check is rookie cop Dick Durkin (Alastair Duncan), and together the pair realise their quarry may not be altogether human…Īnd if you’re wondering what the film’s title has to do with any of this… yeah, bugger all.
#RUTGER HAUER SPLIT SECOND SERIAL#
Set in the future-year 2008, when London has been flooded thanks to global warming and pollution has turned day into night, Hauer chomps cigars, chocolate, and scenery as Harley Stone, a badass rogue cop on the hunt for the serial killer who murdered his partner three years ago. Split Second isn’t exactly in “so bad it’s good” territory, but it has a distinctive quality that will not be to everyone’s taste.
I did go on to purchase the Blu-ray, but I can see why others would not.
Fortunately, it’s on Prime Video, so I didn’t have to make a blind buy, and this is a recommendable course of action for anyone similarly unacquainted with the film. A sci-fi/action/horror hybrid starring Rutger Hauer is the kind of thing that sounds interesting to me, but the fact I’d never come across it before seemed like a red flag. I confess, I hadn’t even heard of Split Second before a remastered Blu-ray release was announced a couple of months ago (more details about that at the end).
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