Customer Reviews

Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I love this movie. Yes it is definitely a B-movie, but as a B-movie I think it's one of the great ones.

It comes from the era when Mad Max and the Road Warrior were all the rage and so has the same "lost in a decaying forbidden zone" kind of feel.

After trying to be a serious actor and starring in things like the TV mini-series "Rich Man, Poor Man", Peter Strauss' career obviously stalled, as by 1983 he was reduced to starring in B-grade fare like this. And Molly Ringwald, fresh from "The Facts of Life" and prior to her becoming the 80s teen movie queen, has never been more annoying -- which is just what the script called for her to be: an annoying, whiney early teen. And "Ghostbusters'" Ernie Hudson also shows up to round out our cast of heroes.

This movie has everything -- from androids to sea monsters and mad scientists to amazons.

The costuming and set design are also well done and imaginative, especially the ultra-cool villain Overdog (played to perfection by Michael Ironside) and his nightmarish death maze.

If you're looking for meaningful or "serious" sci-fi you should probably look elsewhere. But if you're looking for some purely mindless entertainment which doesn't take itself too seriously and lets you just turn off your brain, chill out and be transported to another universe, this movie is perfect.

A classic slice of 80s space-flavoured cheese!

Yes, that's right: five stars. It's a five star B movie, and one of my favorites. My dream is that some day they will figure out a way to release these old 3-D movies on DVD for home viewing. But whether or not they get it in 3-D, I hope someday to see this on DVD. "Spacehunter" is a total cheesefest, but brilliant in it's own way. It's my favorite of all of the "forbidden zone" mutant type movies. There are all sorts of strange deformed creatures running around that were created by a mad scientist. The best part is Michael Ironside, who is awesome as the Overdog, who is the head mutant of this particular forbidden zone. He runs a death maze the he feeds beautiful women into to see if they can survive. Best line: "I like her. I like her for the maze!" Check it out.

This movie freaking rules. When I was a kid it was on every time I was sick home from school, on public TV, at about noon. It was very consistent. I TRUST THIS MOVIE. Buy it. It will always be there for you in times of need and is perfect with soup and kleenex and a couch.

Somehow, this is much more entertaining than it should be. It's one of those films that's dumb but totally watchable. One thing that none of the other reviews has mentioned is the decent score by Elmer Bernstein which adds a lot to the film. The main theme is suitably rousing, a la The Magnificent Seven, but he also has some whistful pipe/flute cues that complement the thematic elements of being on a strange outlying world where civilization has broken down, adding a tinge of sadness to the proceedings. As McNab, Ironside is great as always, and there's just enough invention to offset the obvious genre influences, which, as other people have noted, are actually more on the Mad Max than the Star Wars side of things.

This is a good old fashioned adventure, with some comedy and good natured suspense. We remember it from when it was released, but my 8 year old grandaughter loved it - she watched it twice! We are a little disappointed in the quality of the DVD; it does seem quite grainy and not much better picture that the VHS.

SPACEHUNTER: ADVENTURES IN THE FORBIDDEN ZONE is decent B-Movie fare that, on the surface,seems like the two leads were miscast. However,even though Peter Strauss and Molly Ringwald play against type, somehow pull it off. The story has just enough camp, humor, and cheesy action that's not too over the top so the audience can escape long enough to enjoy this sci-fi adventure. Peter Strauss plays a space mercenary from earth (Wolff) out to rescue a group of earth women kidnapped to serve an evil ruler, Overdog (Micheal Ironside-STARSHIP TROOPERS) of a desert planet's "forbidden zone". Along the way, he picks up a orphan named Niki (Ringwald) and joins forces with one of his mercenary competitors Washington (Ernie Hudson - GHOSTBUSTERS). Most of the story deals with the trio trying to get to the forbidden zone and various narrow escapes and their run-ins with various life forms and weird mechanical vehicles and machinery. Overall, okay sci-fi entertainment that tries not to be space opra but is just pure campy escapism with two leads who seem to be out of their element.

Space Hunter, was for many years a movie I had on tape and would watch any time I was down with the flu. It was fun and Sci-Fi, and I always felt better when watching it. It had been many years since I had seen it, and last night I rented the download from Video on Demand at Amazon to my TiVo.

So here's the deal, it wasn't near as good as I remembered; the FX are a joke by today's standards. Flash light on the air bubbles for stars, etc. It is a cheese covered corn-dog of a film, still fun but not nutritious. But for those who are fans of Sci-Fi video games, I think this is still a fun ride, and really I think the script would be exactly translatable.

So if you are in the mood for a low budget `80s "B" movie Sci-fi, this is just the ticket, if you want great Sci-fi, keep looking.

2 ½ * for nostalgia's sake.

The 1980's gave us plenty of Sci-Fi adventures with the likes of Flash Gordon, Krull, The Last Starfighter, Buckaroo Banzai and Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone. "Spacehunter" ranks right up their with the others I've mentioned as being one of my favorites. The year is 2136 and Wolff (Peter Strauss) is a galactic bounty hunter on his way to Terra Eleven to rescue three Earth maidens from the evil clutches of someone or something called Overdog.The mechanical menace Overdog is the ruler of Terra Eleven and its grotesque assortment of plague infested mutants and monsters and he doesn't like outsiders entering his junkyard.

Overdog (Michael Ironside) is a vicious and savage ruler who takes pleasure in killing people in his metal gauntlet of death. Early on Wolff attempts to rescue the maidens but he encounters Overdogs henchmen as they've already kidnapped the maidens and taken them to the forbidden zone for Overdogs pleasure. As Wolff sets out for the forbidden zone he meets a very sarcastic and annoying Earth waif named Niki (Molly Ringwald) who tells Wolff she's a tracker and can lead him to Overdog and his scrap heap of a kingdom. After some reluctance the two of them form a friendship and along the way we see Niki's character become less obnoxious and more tolerable.

I really like Michael Ironside playing evil/bad characters and feel they could have done more if he wasn't covered in all that hardware. The picture and sound quality for this release is pretty decent but I feel it could have been much better. There is some evidence of deterioration and age related issues in the print and the picture is grainy at times. The disc is double sided and offers both full and widescreen versions.

Even though this movie was originally presented in 3-D format, Sci-fi adventure fans will still enjoy "Spacehunter" and its special effects. This Sci-Fi B-movie from 1983 is 90 minutes of pure fun and still very entertaining.

DVD Features Include:
Digitally mastered audio & anamorphic video
Widescreen and full-screen presentations
Audio: English, French
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai
Bonus trailers
-Starship Troopers
-Men in Black
-Krull
Interactive menus
Scene selections

Where do I begin here? Molly Ringwald plays an urchin of a girl on a planet that is run by an overlord using young women as sex objects even though he himself is part machine. Sound strange? Well, it is.
Oddly enough, the film is very watchable too largely due to the actors. Peter Strauss is very handsome here and has a slight Han Solo act going. He meets up with Molly Ringwald and their relationship is hard to decipher at times. It seems they always end up sleeping together in silver quilted sleeping bags, her arm draped across him even though he could be her father.
Is their relationship romantic or platonic? Hard to tell here.
The special effects are very well done and the scenery beautiful! There is just enough action and just high enough production and just strange enough situations to keep one interested even though there isn't anything too, too deep here.
People searching for a new Star Wars will be disapointed but those who want something sort of offbeat in space will probably like this.

Originally released as an 80's "3-D film" which is why the
opening title is so hard to read on conventional TV with
all the whizzy meteors flying out, Spacehunter is nonetheless
a well made film that does "take you out of your living room".

For me, the vehicle designs and the rocky Utah scenary are the
best aspects of the film. The production design is brilliant
and the acting convincing. The buggies are fantastic!

Well worth buying but perhaps more for diehard sci-fi fans. The
film is not really suitable for younger viewers even though its
marketed at a "Star Wars" audience and has much of that film's
character and hardware style.

Michael Ironside plays a great villian, a pity we don't get a
little more of his charcater's background and how he evolved
into a villian.