Nicholas Lea in Threshold

[Science Fiction, 2002]

Video file of the preview (WMV, 700 kb)
Video clip from the movie (WMV, 1.4 Mb)
Vidcaps from the movie

A NASA medical officer (Nicholas Lea) and an entomologist (Jamie Luner) race to eradicate an alien insect infestation, with the outer-space bugs adapting humans bodies for their own ends. While the insects incubate in some bodies, they consume others. Frank Hansen: Steve Bacic. Matt Bailey: David Lipper. Clay Collins: Colin Glazer. Quidd: Karl Pruner.

Nick Lea stars in this made-for-TV movie. Chuck Bowman - Rob Bowman's father - directed it for the SciFi Channel. They wrapped production in Toronto on August 9, 2002. It premieres on the Sci-Fi Channel Saturday, April 19, 2003, at 9:00pm & 1am ET/PT.

Synopsis:

Far out in the asteroid belt two astronauts attempt to retrieve a damaged satellite. One of them unknowingly brings back alien DNA that has the potential of being far worse than any nuclear fallout. These alien creatures are spawned within those humans who have B-negative blood types. At the center are Jerome "Geronimo" Garcia (Nick Lea) and Savannah Bailley (Jamie Luner). He is an MD, biophysicist, Navy pilot, former astronaut and currently Chief Medical physician for NASA. She is an entomologist by trade and no stranger to danger. There is determination to contain the alien DNA even if it means killing and destroying a whole state to do it. Garcia and Bailley team up with NASA scientists to hunt and destroy the aliens - and hopefully, of course, to save the world.

The character of Jerome is described as "recently divorced and somewhat gun-shy...."

Curiously, according to IMDb, Nick's character's name was changed to "Jerome Horne." I'm disappointed that they shied away from using an "ethnic" name...but then, it might have been controversial, to use a non-Hispanic actor like Nick to play a Hispanic character.

These tidbits from an early script. Some of them didn't make it into the movie, but I'm leaving them up, because they're interesting.

Nick's character, Geronimo, is described as 40-ish. He's supposed to be a former astronaut who became famous with the Apollo program. (The timeline of the script is kind of screwed up. The Apollo astronauts were 40-ish at the time of the missions. This is clearly supposed to be much later; at least the 1980s, judging from the space shuttle mission at the beginning of the movie, and Bruce Springsteen's 1985 hit, "I'm On Fire," which Savannah's brother listens to. Geronimo should be 50-ish, if not 70-ish. Not 40-ish.)

He got the name "Geronimo" because his little brother couldn't say "Jerome." He's fit, but struggles with his weight. (While Savannah scarfs down greasy fast food, Geronimo watches jealously, eating healthy stuff like dry toast with egg whites.) He's an accomplished scientist and doctor, and a famed public speaker, but he gets tongue-tied whenever he tries to talk to a beautiful woman. He's divorced, but Savannah doesn't know this; at first, she resists his advances because she thinks he's married.

He drives a 1973 Triumph Stag, and has a boat - a Chris Craft Citation. One of his hobbies is sculling (rowing).

The movie starts out in space - a shuttle mission. Two astronauts, one man and one woman, are doing a spacewalk, when a shower of tiny meteors drives them back inside. The man gets hit, and ends up with a small wound on his arm - just a pinhole, really.

The man (Collins) ends up getting really sick. Of course, it turns out that that tiny meteorite has infected him with alien DNA. People with B-negative blood can be turned into aliens, or can be used as incubators, that hatch out into thousands of moth-like creatures. People with B-negative blood who are bitten by a moth turn into an alien. They still look human...except for a hidden set of long pincers, and eyes that are faceted, like insects'.

Humans who don't have B-negative blood serve as food for the aliens. The aliens inject their victims with digestive fluid, dissolving their internal organs and drinking them. What's left is a dried-out mummy, with no blood and no organs left.

The title, "Threshold," refers to the number of insects needed before a colony breaks up to expand to new territory. The aliens stay together at first, trying to increase their numbers. But when they have enough - when they reach the threshold - they will spread out over the world.

Most of the action takes place in the Houston area. However, other countries get wind of what's happening. China, Russia, Pakistan, the U.K., India, and Israel threaten to nuke the U.S. if the aliens can't be contained.

There is a romance between Geronimo and Savannah. It looks like there's a happy ending, too, though I haven't seen the last page, so I'm not 100% sure. It looks like the aliens are defeated when Geronimo and Savannah lure them to an oil rig and blow them up. The last page I've seen has Geronimo asking Savannah out for breakfast.

And there's at least one shirtless scene for Nick's character. Geronimo gets his ribs broken by an alien, while saving Savannah (who apparently has B-negative blood). They have to take his shirt off to bandage his ribs.