Bio-Dome

Bio-Dome is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Jason Bloom. Bio-Dome was produced by Motion Picture Corporation of America on a budget of $8.5 million and was distributed theatrically by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

This article is about the film. For the type of artificial ecosystem, see Closed ecological system. For other uses, see Biodome (disambiguation).
Bio-Dome
Home video release poster
Directed byJason Bloom
Produced by
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Adam Leff
  • Mitchell Peck
  • Jason Blumenthal
Starring
Narrated byRodger Bumpass
Music byAndrew Gross
CinematographyPhedon Papamichael, Jr.
Edited byChristopher Greenbury
Production
company
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Paramount Pictures (TV distribution)
Release date
  • January 12, 1996 (1996-01-12)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$8.5 million[1]
Box office$13.4 million[2]

The plot of the film revolves around two clumsy, dim-witted slackers who, while on a road trip, look for a toilet stop in what they believe is a shopping mall, which turns out to be a "bio-dome", a form of closed ecological system in which five scientists are to be hermetically sealed for a year. The film has themes of environmentalism, combined with drug use, sexual innuendo, and toilet humor.

The film stars Stephen Baldwin and Pauly Shore, and has cameo appearances by celebrities such as Roger Clinton, Kylie Minogue, Patricia Hearst, and Rose McGowan. Jack Black and Kyle Gass first came to global attention in Bio-Dome in which they performed together as Tenacious D on-screen for the first time.[3]

The film grossed $13 million at the box office in North America. Bio-Dome was panned by critics, gaining a record low score of 1/100 on Metacritic.

On December 18, 2013, Stephen Baldwin appeared on Mancow Muller's radio/TV show, confirming that he is in talks with Pauly Shore about making a sequel to the film revolving around the children of Bud and Doyle, their characters.

Plot

Bud "Squirrel" Macintosh and Doyle "Stubs" Johnson are best friends who live together. Their environmentalist girlfriends, Jen and Monique, stand them up for a date, due to their immaturity.

Driving back home, they pass by the Bio-Dome, where scientist Dr. Noah Faulkner is about to seal his team in for a year without outside contact. Mistaking the Bio-Dome for a mall, Bud and Doyle go inside to use the bathroom, only to be sealed in along with the scientists. Dr. Leaky, the project's investor, discovers them and demands that they be kicked out. Dr. Faulkner refuses, claiming it would destroy the purpose of the experiment, and so Bud and Doyle remain. Although things go smoothly at first, this proves to be a mistake, as Bud and Doyle continue their antics, harming themselves and destroying many of the scientists' projects. The scientists plead to Dr. Faulkner, but he only relents after the two find a secret stash of junk food and experiment with laughing gas. Bud and Doyle are then banished to the desert environment section and after three days of being stuck, they discover a key in the lock of one of the windows, which opens a back door, and they escape the Bio-Dome.

As Bud and Doyle are receiving a pizza delivery at the dome, they learn Jen and Monique are attending an environmental party with other men. Bud and Doyle decide to outdo the party and hold one inside the Bio-Dome to win them back. The party backfires as it throws the experiment into chaos and Jen and Monique disavow the boys. The scientists prepare to exit out the desert through the door, but realizing their idiotic actions, Bud and Doyle intervene and demand they all stay and restore the dome to full health, arguing that the real world itself is currently not a pristine environment, with Doyle swallowing the key as a last resort. The group gets a grip on the situation and begins to fix the dome together, while the boys and the scientists bond with each other as a team, and Bud and Doyle's efforts in restoring the dome soon draw a large group of fans and supporters, including Monique and Jen. Meanwhile, Dr. Faulkner, who had disappeared the night of the party, has gone insane and is starting plans to blow up the dome with homemade coconut bombs.

After several months pass and Earth Day approaches, Bud, Doyle, and the team are successful in restoring the dome. But on the night before the doors open again, Bud and Doyle discover Dr. Faulkner, hoping to apologize to him and make amends. He tells the two that he is rigging pyrotechnics for the door opening ceremony and gets them to help plant the items, not knowing they are really bombs. Once Bud and Doyle are on their own with the bombs, they goof off with one of the coconuts and, after a failed long pass, they discover their dangerous nature. They alert the others and try to exit the dome early, but the door cannot be opened until the clock hits zero, when the bombs will go off. Bud and Doyle run back into the dome to find Dr. Faulkner and get him to deactivate the bombs. After a chase and struggle, they knock him out and use a remote to disable the coconuts.

With the Bio-Dome experiment complete, the team gets ready to exit the now open door, but as they begin to walk out, Dr. Faulkner returns with one last coconut bomb, trips, and the bomb detonates at the entrance. Bud, Doyle, Jen and Monique bid farewell to the Bio-Dome scientists and drive off, where Doyle yet again has to use the bathroom and the car is seen driving toward a mysterious nuclear power plant. Dr. Faulkner, meanwhile, has escaped the dome through the desert window door, having retrieved the key Doyle swallowed, and flees through the desert with police in pursuit.

Cast

Reception

Box office

Bio-Dome grossed $13.4 million in North America,[2] against an estimated production budget of $8.5 million.[1] MGM spent $10 million on marketing.[1]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 4% based on reviews from 25 critics. The critical consensus reads: "Like its two obnoxious protagonists, this dreadfully unfunny Pauly Shore vehicle should remain separated from society."[4] On Metacritic it has a score of 1 out of 100 based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[5] It is one of ten films to hold this rating; the other nine being 10 Rules for Sleeping Around, Chaos, inAPPropriate Comedy, Not Cool, The Singing Forest, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, Death of a Nation, Hardbodies, and United Passions.[6] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B− on scale of A to F.[7]

Leondard Klady of Variety wrote: "It's not by any means inspired madness. Neither the script nor direction lives up to the concept, and the picture evolves into a 'Bio'-degradable hash rather than a zany sendup of potent issues and serious intents gone awry."[8] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a grade F, saying "Even with the low expectations any reasonable viewer brings to a Shore flick, this rates only stupid-plus."[9] Stephen Holden of The New York Times called it "inept in almost every respect."[10]

Accolades

At the 1996 Golden Raspberry Awards, Shore co-won a Razzie Award for Worst Actor for his work in the film, tied with Tom Arnold for that actor's performances in Big Bully, Carpool and The Stupids. At the 1996 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the movie won two of the movies' three nominations: Worst On-Screen Hairstyle for Stephen Baldwin and Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy. Shore was also nominated for Worst Actor, but lost it to Tom Arnold for his acting in the same three movies (Big Bully, Carpool and The Stupids).[11]

Sequel

On December 18, 2013, Stephen Baldwin appeared on Mancow Muller's radio/TV show, confirming that he is in talks with Pauly Shore about making a sequel to the film revolving around the children of their characters Bud and Doyle. Baldwin had also stated that he gets recognized more for his role in Bio-Dome than any other film he has done thus far. In an interview published in Variety on January 17, 2017, he reiterated his desire to make a sequel, saying that Shore was interested and he has funding, but is seeking studio approval.[12]

See also

References
  1. Scott Collins (January 17, 1996). "Pauly Shore's Oeuvre? Whoa. Cool. For Sure". Los Angeles Times. cost about $8.5 million to make, far below the industry average
  2. "Bio-Dome (1996) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  3. Rees, Jasper (October 29, 2006). "Dude where's my guitar". The Times. London. Retrieved April 26, 2010. (subscription required)
  4. "Bio-Dome (1996)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  5. "Bio-Dome (1996)". Metacritic. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
  6. "Movie Releases by Score". Metacritic. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  7. "BIO DOME (1996) B-". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
  8. Klady, Leonard (January 15, 1996). "Bio-Dome". Variety.
  9. "Bio-Dome". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  10. Holden, Stephen (12 January 1996). "FILM REVIEW;2d Chance for Sitting Ducks". The New York Times.
  11. "Bio-Dome - IMDb". Retrieved 2020-04-25.
  12. Kelly, Seth (January 17, 2017). "Stephen Baldwin on Endorsing Trump Early, 'SNL' and Alec's Impersonation". Variety.com. Retrieved January 18, 2017. Baldwin: 'Variety, help me talk to the studio that helps control the sequel rights to "Bio-Dome" because Pauly [Shore] and I are ready, and I have the money now with my new company. Let "Bio-Dome" two live! Let "Bio-Dome" two live!'
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