MOVIE #1: Spacehunter

Welcome to Sci-Fi 100! 
100 Sci-Fi movies in 100 days!

The very first movie of this 100 day journey is "Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone" from 1983.
I saw this movie when it came out in theaters (Oak Park Cinema 6, Lake Charles, LA) and I was looking forward to it because, not only was it an action packed sci-fi movie, it was a 3-D movie, and 3D films had almost completely died out in the 1950s. I remember buying my ticket and receiving the unfolded cardboard  3D glasses with the red & blue cellophane lenses. I got my coke & popcorn, took my seat, and folded the glasses. I couldn't wait for this 3D spectacular to start!

I remember the beginning when the title exploded from the screen... it was awesome. I think this movie is so underrated. It stars Peter Strauss, Molly Ringwald (yes, Molly Ringwald!,) Ernie Hudson and Michael Ironsides. The story is about 3 women (one of them is Deborah Pratt who co-starred in the TV series Airwolf as Archangel's assistant and later married TV producer Donald P. Bellisario) who crash land on a planet that is controlled by an evil dude called "The Overdog," played by Michael Ironsides in very heavy makeup. A mercenary/adventurer for hire, Wolff (Peter Strauss,) is hired to go to the planet and rescue the women. Strauss finds that the mission is a lot tougher than he though and has to team up with Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters) and a very young Molly Ringwald who is a scavenger and the only survivor of a medical expedition from Earth. Together they set out to rescue the women and escape the planet.

Check out the trailer in the box above!

I think a lot of people don't know that Molly Ringwald was in a sci-fi moive. It was actually one of her first movies and was made before the "brat-pack" days where she became a known teen actress. I thought she gave a great performance as the jabber-jawed teen pest "Niki." In fact, I think this is one of her best roles ever.

The movie was shot for about 15 Million bucks. A lot of the budget was spent on the massive Mad-Max-ish sets and vehicles and they looked great on the screen. The special effects were very good too. The movie had lots of elaborate creature costumes and the sets reminded me a lot of those on "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome." In fact, I think you cold sum up the entire movie as "Han Solo meets Thunderdome." Peter Strauss plays the Wolff character a lot like Han Solo and there are even fight scenes in a deadly maze that look like they are right out of "Thunderdome." Other special effects include well used miniature spaceships and miniature landscapes with lots of well done explosions.

Michael Ironsides (pictured on the left) was awesome as the half mutant, half cyborg "Overdog," the savage ruler of the planet. His screen presence was amazing and pure evil and the makeup and costume were terrific. The art department did a wonderful job. 
Like I said before, I think this film is very under-rated! It is an awesome film with great performances, FX, action, adventure and some great stunt sequences. Too bad it hasn't been remastered on Blu-ray and in Blu-ray 3D. Although you won't be able to see it in 3D like I did back in the '80s, you can still watch it on standard DVD or stream it as an iTunes rental. Check it out and let me know what you think. The only bad thing I can say about this movie is that there were no sequels made!

- Patrick Shawn Bennett
Broadcasting from the Forbidden Zone.

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