Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone
PG | 20 May 1983 (USA)
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone Trailers

On a distant planet inhabited by mutants, two bounty hunters race to rescue three Earth female captives from the clutches of an evil warlord.

Reviews
Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
Ameriatch One of the best films i have seen
Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.
Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
Leofwine_draca As cheap STAR WARS rip-offs go, this isn't bad at all, and at least manages to be consistently entertaining trash. Full of typical '80s special effects (running the gamut from poor rubber suits to poor computer effects), wooden acting, and a light plot which is basically an excuse for a series of action sequences, and you have the making of a good, if cheesy, time. As an added bonus, the film was made at the peak of the 3D craze and was, thus, filmed in 3D, so expect lots of blocky titles flying out of the screen and objects flying at the camera at every moment.The two stars of the show are a wooden Peter Strauss and an irritating Molly Ringwald, who share lots of light banter. Same old story...the pair initially hate each other but eventually grow to love one another. Like we haven't heard that one before. Strauss' character is a blatant copy of Han Solo, right down to the same cocky manner and clothing. Ringwald plays some kind of desert urchin who hooks up with Strauss as a guide and manages to put herself in all sorts of danger.The location shooting is nice, offering up a realistic-looking alien planet, although sadly the inhabitants are less than convincing. Things kick off with Strauss riding around in his dune buggy (did I mentioned MAD MAX as another influence?) then discovering a Viking longship flying down a railway line (?!). A laser fight immediately ensues, the first of a couple in the film, which are really quite impressive. Some poor extra gets it ("we have blood loss here...") and Strauss loses his female helper, who turns out to be an icky android who melts at the touch of a button.From then on, it's one thing after another, with Strauss pairing up with Ringwald and together meeting all kinds of monsters and strange characters. An incredibly young, bald Ernie Hudson wanders around in a space suit and drives a shoddy-looking bulldozer which belches black smoke into the planet's atmosphere (can't be doing much for their ozone layer). A group of amphibious Amazons (!) wander around in little clothing and try to capture our heroes in giant nets - and fail. A patently plastic-looking dragon (not so much a dragon as a cardboard head on a wooden pole) puts our befuddled hero into yet another dangerous situation, while some obese rubber-suited people provide lots of mirth. In another unexplained incident, mutant children lob Molotov cocktails at our heroes from the top of a cliff.After these amusing incidents, our characters eventually arrive at Overdog's castle. Overdog is a menacing (ridiculous name aside) character, a cyborg with a human face and gigantic pincer arms. He's played by genre staple Michael Ironside, although you wouldn't recognise him under all that makeup. He's devised a tricky maze where unwilling contestants must face dangers like pools of acid, fire, pits of spikes, and giant swinging circular saw blades while being pursued by a giant steamroller. Inevitably, Ringwald finds herself in the maze and is luckily able to conquer it before being captured by Overdog, who has a thing for women you see. At the end, action man Strauss saves the day by electrocuting the baddie and shooting lots of things/people. The entire place explodes in a huge display of pyrotechnics which was also a convenient way to use up any of the budget that may have been left over.So, as adventure films go, this isn't bad at all. That is, as long as you know what to expect - fans of decent, high budget fare may think otherwise. For me, a film with plentiful action, a sprinkling of violence, and all manner of weird costumes and effects definitely passes the time in an entertaining way.
udragon2010 For a movie I never heard of before, I was shocked to discover how much fun I had watching it. I have seen a lot of forgotten and B rated movies, but I never saw one I enjoyed so much.The cast, I believe, is fantastic. Seeing an 80s movie star like Molly Ringwald in a pretty cool and imaginative movie like this was very refreshing. Peter Strauss plays the typical space dog, aloof in what many of us would think is a cool day job, kicks-ass and looks cool doing it as he rescues three beauties from an evil tyrant after they crash land on a very cool, Mad Max themed planet.Michael Ironside plays the villain, with his usual flair for the dramatic and adds to the all-round coolness of the film. One of the best scenes, that isn't one of the great action scenes, is Strauss's character Wolff, forcing Molly Ringwald to take a bath. Truly pleasant to see Ernie Hudson in anything, and it was great to see him in this.I recommend this movie to anyone who is still young at heart and needs to see a fun sci fi adventure.
cynthiaegray I am not one to watch a movie, read a book, or for that matter, order the same food at a restaurant more than once. There is so much more out there to be experienced; why repeat anything? But "Spacehunter" is an exception to my rule. I only own 5 movies and "Spacehunter" is one of them. Campy, silly one-liners ("Us loners got to stick together" --- "I'll take that bet") and lots of explosions make it a fun trip worth the time to watch over and over again.To meet the 10 line rule --- In the 20 years I have owned it; I have watched it maybe 5 times and have enjoyed it just as much as the first time. My tape player is dead and I will need to find it on DVD.
St. Louis Assassin . Believe it or not this film was released as the same time as "Return of the Jedi" and was shown alongside Jedi at most major movie houses across the country. The studio execs knew it didn't have a chance against "Jedi" so the 3D effects and the release date were primarily a marketing tool to lure you into their movie after "Jedi" had sold out.Another 3D sci-fi film from 1983 was also released during the Theatrical run of "Jedi", it was Called "MetalStorm: The Destruction of Jared Syn" the producers of that film to were also hoping to make a fast buck hoping that audiences who were coming to the movie house to see"Jedi" would see their film after "Jedi" had sold out - again using 3D effects as a lure.both mid-to-low budget sci-fi films(both filmed in 3D) ...SpaceHunter:Adventures in the Forbidden Zone & MetalStorm:The Destruction of Jared Syn were both financial flops. And they are forever linked together in their producers quest to make a fast buck hoping that audiences would stroll into their film after "Jedi" sold out.... However they are both fun to watch. Space Hunter is far away the better of the 2 films
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