The Outer Limits 4

Criminal Nature (1998)

Genetic Engineering has produced a generation of super-babies, but the technology is not perfect. It has also produced horribly deformed children who suffer from Genetic Rejection Syndrome (GRS), a condition which makes them even stronger, faster, smarter than the super-babies and more deadly to boot. Detective Ray Venable (Gary Cole), is in charge of the team that must hunt down the most severe GRS cases, but he carries with him a dark secret. Years before, he and his wife Marie (Lynda Boyd) had a child, Dylan (Jason Gray-Stanford), who developed GRS and who they secretly sent away to a home. Now, Ray suspects that Dylan is behind a series of brutal murders and is closing in on his old family. The only way Ray can stop him is to take a genetic serum that will make him more like the son he rejected.

Directed By

Steve Anker

Writer

Brad Markowitz

The Hunt (1998)

After environmentalists successfully ban the hunting of animals, a black market emerges, with humans paying big money to hunt androids who have outlived their usefulness in the mines. The androids are the perfect prey -- strong and intelligent yet unable to turn on their pursuers, thanks to an inhibitor chip that prevents them from harming humans. A group of bow-hunters, George Nichols (Rob White), his son Eric (Tobias Mehler), his older brother Clute (Bob Gunton) and their guide Pete (David McNally), count on that chip as a safety net while they track down a quartet of androids led by Kel (Doug Savant). Eager to provide his brother and his reluctant nephew with a real challenge, Clute has secretly planted information that allows the androids to disable the inhibitor chip thus allowing them to fight back. The machines, angry at being turned into game, contemptuous of human bloodthirstiness, are only too happy to oblige.

Directed By

Mario Philip Azzopardi

Writer

Sam Egan

Hearts and Minds (1998)

The mission for Captain Taverner and his squad of North American Federation (NAF) soldiers is simple: search and destroy invading aliens on a distant planet to prevent them from stealing a mineral which is a vital source of energy for earth, and a vital source of profit for the NAF. To guard against infection from the hideous bug-aliens, the soldiers are forced to inject special genetic drugs; however, the mission becomes complicated when Lieutenant Rosen is wounded in a firefight with the aliens. Rosen begins to hallucinate, experiencing disturbing images of the aliens, and when she discovers that her druginjector has malfunctioned, she begins to suspect that the drugs do more than protect the soldiers from infection. Ultimately, Rosen must take command and risk the lives of her soldiers on the hunch that their mission may have more to do with human politics than alien enemies.

Directed By

Brad Turner

Writer

Naren Shankar

In Another Life (1998)

Mason Stark hates his life. A year ago, he lost his wife Kristin to a mugger's bullet and he still blames himself for not doing more to protect her. And today, he was fired from his job. With a gun in his hand and a severance package on his desk, Mason finds himself torn between suicide and psychosis - between killing himself and killing his co-workers. But before he can do either he's pulled into another dimension, into a world where there are hundreds of Mason Starks, each with a different life and a different character. The version of himself that brought Mason here is a powerful, manipulative man - we know him as Stark - who, in this dimension, runs the same company that fired Mason. Stark explains that he built a machine, the Quantum Mirror, to explore all those different versions of himself, only to have his experiment go horribly wrong because he pulled a murderous version of himself, a man we know as Mace, into his reality.

Directed By

Allan Eastman

Writer

Naren Shankar

In The Zone (1998)

With its deadly lasers and hand-to-hand battles, 'The Octal' is a combat sport for a new generation of athletes - but Tanner Brooks is no longer a young man. Although he's promised his wife Jessica that this will be his final tournament, Tanner is desperate to go out a winner. Dr. Michael Chen has a way to make that happen. Through an experimental treatment that taps the power of the human nervous system, Chen accelerates Tanner's reflexes and perceptions. To Tanner, everything in the Octalbegins to move in slow motion ... and Tanner quickly becomes unbeatable. However, there are side effects: Jessica notices that Tanner is tired, haggard and his hair is going gray. But, when Tanner's body begins to blur and fade out of existence, Tanner and Jessica must choosebetween one last moment of glory ... their love for each other ... and oblivion.

Directed By

David Warry-Smith

Writer

Jon Povill