Bio-Dome

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 by	Jason Bloom
Produced by	Bradley Jenkel Brad Krevoy Steven Stabler
Screenplay by	Kip Koenig Scott Marcano
Story by	Adam Leff Mitchell Peck Jason Blumenthal
Starring	Pauly Shore Stephen Baldwin William Atherton Joey Adams Kylie Minogue
Narrated by	Rodger Bumpass
Music by	Andrew Gross
Cinematography	Phedon Papamichael, Jr.
Edited by	Christopher Greenbury
Production company	Motion Picture Corporation of America
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	January 12, 1996 (1996-01-12)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$8.5 million
Box office	$13.4 million

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 $15 million and was distributed theatrically by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

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.

The film grossed $13 million at the box office in North America. Bio-dome received negative reviews from critics.

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. Bud wins a round of Rock, Paper, Scissors and gets to hit Doyle in the head with a book. Their girlfriends Monique and Jen, who are environmentalists, arrive to take them to an environmental party when they discover the injured Doyle. The girls learn that Bud injured Doyle as an excuse to not go to the party. Annoyed at the boys' lack of respect for the environment, the girls call the boys from a payphone to announce they'll be joining some hot swim team guys at a party down by a lake. Bud and Doyle drive out to the lake, only to find they have been tricked, and the girls are not there.

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, 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, with even Monique and Jen joining in as one of the supporters. Meanwhile, Dr. Faulkner, who had disappeared the night of the party, has gone insane and evil 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 the 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. It turns out everyone is okay with Bud and Doyle reuniting with Jen and Monique who are proud of what they have been able to achieve. 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 as the police are heard searching for him to arrest him for his insane criminal actions.

Cast

• Pauly Shore as Bud "Squirrel" Macintosh
  • Adam Weisman as young Bud
• Stephen Baldwin as Doyle "Stubs" Johnson
  • Robbie Thibault, Jr. as young Doyle
• William Atherton as Dr. Noah Faulkner
• Joey Lauren Adams as Monique
• Teresa Hill as Jen
• Rose McGowan as Denise
• Denise Dowse as Dr. Olivia Biggs
• Kevin West as T.C. Romulus
• Kylie Minogue as Dr. Petra von Kant
• Dara Tomanovich as Mimi Simkins
• Henry Gibson as Dr. William Leaky
• Patricia Hearst as Mrs. Johnson
• Roger Clinton as Professor Bloom
• Taylor Negron as Russell
• Jeremy Jordan as Trent
• Channon Roe as Roach
• Trevor St. John as Parker
• Butch McCain as reporter Joachim West
• Ben McCain as news anchor Aries West
• Jack Black and Kyle Gass as Tenacious D
• Phil LaMarr and Paul Eiding as Assistants
• Phil Proctor as Axl
• Rodger Bumpass as Narrator

Reception

Box office

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

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 4% based on reviews from 23 critics. The critical consensus reads: "Like its two obnoxious protagonists, this dreadfully unfunny Pauly Shore vehicle should remain separated from society." On Metacritic it has a score of 1 out of 100 based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". 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. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B- on scale of A to F.

Leondard Klady of Variety magazine 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." 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." Stephen Holden of The New York Times called it "inept in almost every respect".

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).

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.

See also

• Biosphere
• Biosphere 2
• List of American films of 1996
• MARS-500
• Montreal Biodome

External links

• Bio-Dome on IMDb
• Bio-Dome at AllMovie
• Bio-Dome at Box Office Mojo