Matty reckons you won’t want to miss a thing about Phoenician Entertainment’s kooky disaster flick.

Though nightclub magnate Elie Samaha had been operating Phoenician Entertainment since 1995, navigating a much-publicised union with Nu Image in the process, TYCUS stands as the first film released by the revamped version of his shingle after it became the low-budget end of Samaha, Ashok Amritraj, and Andrew Stevens’ Franchise Pictures. Shot over the course of eighteen days between March and April 1998, Tycus hit video in Canada at the back end of July ‘99 via Columbia-TriStar and surfaced on tape and disc in the U.S. exactly one year later through Paramount. Steady rotation on Cinemax offshoot ActionMax quickly followed. 

Robustly directed by a key Stevens footsoldier, actor-cum-helmer John Putch (Alone in the Woods (1996), The Boy Who Saved Christmas (1998)), this enjoyable lark skips along and passes ninety-minutes or so nicely. Ostensibly riding the comet tails of Armageddon (1998) and Deep Impact (1998), the disaster and adventure movie elements work well. Tycus’ scenes of global chaos and impending destruction are brought to life by the solid CGI of Velocity Ape FX (specifically, digital artist and Stevens regular Chris Ervin), and — per the production value boosting formula pioneered by Phoenician antecedent Royal Oaks (cf. Crash Dive (1996)) — are augmented by stock footage swiped from Air America (1990), Flight of the Intruder (1991), Aspen Extreme (1993), Dante’s Peak (1997), and more.

Adding to the form-specific feel is the ensemble vibe of the cast; Dennis Hopper, Peter Onorati, Art LaFleur, Bert Remsen, Todd Allen, and Stevens mainstay Chick Vennera among them. All submit hearty performances and get into the film’s melodramatic spirit. However, Tycus is at its best when it invokes some then very ‘of the moment’ apprehensions. Laced with a compelling sense of late ‘90s topicality, Kevin and Michael Goetz’s script flirts with a wealth of fascinating ideas, seemingly ripped straight from the headlines of the period: post Heaven’s Gate religious paranoia; fears surrounding the supposed ‘millennium bug’; the growing concern about the influence of National Enquirer-esque journalism; and the eternal moral quandary of selfishness vs. selflessness. Granted, their dialogue is tinny and cookie cutter, but their big swings are compelling viewing. Film students at the time of the film’s making, Putch had worked and become friends with the Goetzs’ actor father, Peter Michael Goetz, while acting in TV series Room For Two. He happened across Tycus when the senior Goetz asked him to read its screenplay and provide his sons with a few notes. As Putch himself says, he dug the concept and summarily pitched the project to Stevens. 

Tycus’ wacky, genre-hopping plot concerns the eponymous meteorite and its collision course with earth; Onorati’s hack suspecting something even weirder is afoot; and him uncovering a secret underground utopia led by Hopper’s goatee-sporting businessman/scientist. 

A wild mix for sure!

USA ● 1999 ● Sci-Fi, Action ● 95mins

Dennis Hopper, Peter Onorati, Chick Vennera ● Dir. John Putch ● Wri. Michael Goetz & Kevin Goetz