What a lot of people fail to realize about B movies is that they have been, and will always be, a cheap way to exploit the wrongs of the world by putting social commentary within a cheap looking production and calling it entertainment. Metal Shifters aka Iron Invader might look like a campy movie about a metal golem brought to life by an alien substance wreaking havoc on a small farm town, but if you read between the lines you’ll get it. Two brothers in a financial fix trying to re-establish a Mom and Pop business in the face of obscurity due to population expansions elsewhere and then…BAM…foreign debris reigns down attempting to eliminate the small rural town and its inhabitants to dust. Of course when you discover the golem's motivation it will all kind of come together in a socio-political understanding. That or I've seen to many B movies. In any case the film only looks completely camp but Metal Shifters does have a message buried deep down in there.

If your not looking for a message but you’re a sci-fi junkie your likely to salivate over the copious amounts of Syfy and sci-fi actors and actresses that adorn this film. You’ve got actors from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Stargate Atlantis, Sanctuary, Battlestar Galactica and Eureka. Throw them all into this silly low FX budgeted sci-fi horror film and you’ve got B movie gold. Just remember that you’re watching a Syfy B movie and not James Cameron’s next big budget sci-fi epic and you’ll be alright.

PICTURE QUALITY:
The film was shot digitally for a direct to TV route so if you saw it on your HD Syfy cable channel you’re pretty much seeing it in the same way, maybe a bit more realized. Unfortunately with a film like Metal Shifters where the budget is low and the FX are a bit cheesy looking the HD quality added to the film only makes it look ten times more cheesy. For example, the very first scene of the film is the alien debris crashing through a Russian satellite. Even on the tube you know right away that the satellite destruction is about on par with a sample FX video. The green is a bit off on the main satellite panel, the line definition a bit broken here and there, and if anything you feel as if you’re looking at a video game. From then on out, aside from one wide shot of a rural country setting at dawn which looks a bit iffy, the film looks pretty solid. Even the metal golem that runs through the town doesn’t look as horrible as I thought it might. All in all a great quality picture.

AUDIO QUALITY:
Boasting a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack the film manages to make the most out of what the film offers as far as FX and the likes. Dialogue is crystal clear, LFE output gives the golem a bit of life. Where it counts the soundtrack offers up plenty of life but the film is not big on special effects noise or total immersion quality.

BONUS FEATURES:
~Metal Shifters: Behind the Scenes. This bonus features runs a little over fifteen minutes in standard definition. Honestly, considering the quality of the films special effects, it failed to keep my interest.
~Trailer (HD)
~Previews.