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I saw this on Cinemax many years ago when I was a kid. I bought the VHS copy from Ebay for Xmas. The movie is cheesey, right down to the flying motorcycles. Not a terrible movie, per se, but bad enough it is good.

Too bad this gem isn't on DVD in all its widescreen glory...

I watched this film for one and only one reason: Persis Khambatta.

On the other hand: it did give us "...the good guys always win.  Even in the '80s."

Have this one on VHS and it is worth a viewing once in a while.  With Barry Bostwick as the hero and the aforementioned flying motorcycles, how can you go wrong?

By putting everybody in light blue bodysuits and headbands?

This one so needs a special edition DVD release.  How can you not like a movie with dirt bikes defeating main battle tanks?  Okay, granted, with sufficiently advanced technology, this is not impossible.  In this movie, it is plain old silly.


The review:
http://www.badmovies.org/movies/megaforce/

EDIT: adding the picture of Barry Bostwick, to give the full effect.

I saw this movie in the theater when it came out. I actually liked it. But then again I was about 8 at the time.

This movie is a whole lotta fun to watch. Just check out the horrible blue screen work on the flying motorcycle scene.

It was 1982, though.  Horrible bluescreen work was a given.

I subjected my girlfriend to this cinematic wonder about a year ago finally (got a bootleg DVD copy off of Ebay though it's still full frame)  and sometimes when I leave to go to work and she's at home, I do the whole kiss the thumb thing to her right before I leave.  She always dies laughing. 

Even stranger is that I actually saw this in theaters back in 1982 when it originally came out during the summer. This was one of Tohoe's big releases for that summer and was one of their attempts to break into more international markets.   

I was 7 BTW when I saw it in a local theater. Damn, that makes me feel a bit old now.   :twirl:

I think that they might have even had a toy line for it as well.

I always wonder if anyone was injured by an errant rocket from one of the motorcycles.  From what I can tell, they are just model rockets, using model rocket engines.  You can see that some of them go wildly out of control after leaving the launchers, describing corkscrews and circles through the air.  Can you imagine trying to ride your dirtbike across uneven desert, then taking a model rocket in the chest or groin?  At least their faces were protected by the helmets.

I remember the Megaforce theme song was a minor hit on the radio back in the day.  My favorite scene has got to be when they bring the bigwigs to the Megaforce base, and they're in a limo or something and these dudes start riding dirt bikes around, doing stunts, jumping over the limo probably.  Then they sit back on their bikes with these smug grins like "are we cool, or what?"  I can just imagine what the guy was thinking.  "My country is in desperate need of help, and they bring me to the local motocross club?" 

Ya know...
Kevin Murphy and Mike Nelson said, that some of the best MST3Ks were movires that inspired great riffing, to deal with great pain.
This, might have lead the pain parade for the boys.
Man...that headband...to bad it wasen't wet leather...

This movie was so cool to my 8 year old eyes when it was in regular rotation on HBO.
-Ed

It always seemed like to me that Persis Khambatta was really trying her hardest not to crack up acting opposite Barry Bostwick during a lot of their scenes together.

Never seen it, always wanted to, caught part of it once on TBS or TNT late at night, figured they'd show it more but didn't. I think I was the only boy in my class when it came out who didn't go see it. We did't go to the movies as much as some of the others, money being an issue. When it was a pay cable, we didn't have it, Not sure i ever saw a copy in a viedo store for rent. Strange.

Everyone ought to petition Synapse DVD company and see if they'll pony up the dough to do a full fledged Megaforce special edition complete in anamorphic widescreen, with a DTS audio track, a Barry Bostwick commentary track w/ moderator, deleted scenes and a tribute to blue screen effects from the era. 

I'd rather have a commentary track featuring Hal Needham. That man really needs to confess what he was thinking when he made that. Not to mention he also made lots of terrible movies with Burt Reynolds. Since it's to late for an apology, an explanation would be fine.

Hey guys.  Long-time fan of the site, finally getting off my butt and participating on the board.

I actually watched this again a few nights ago, mostly to initiate a fellow crap cinema enthusiast to its charms.  She wasn't disappointed. 

It's amazing how little actual conflict there is in this film, given it's supposed to be about war, or combat, or stuff blowing up, or something.  Two good ol' boys meet in the Bonneville Salt Flats, one of them blows up the other's tanks, and they just sort of slap each other on the back and leave. 

Still, for my money, the show-stopper is the cartoon hillbilly pig in the briefing room.  One of the goofiest creative decisions of all time.

Welcome aboard.

How had I forgotten about that crazy pig cartoon that Beck's character turns on in the briefing room?  He starts laughing at it like a redneck madman!  Even in a movie such as this, it is amazingly out of place.

Torgo, I'll make you feel a little younger, I was 30 when this came out, saw trailers on TV, due to the jumpsuits I thought it was a space movie, saw The making of Megaforce either at the show or on TV, and decided that it was just too awful to watch, I've caught a little bit on TV but always had something else to do. Now I'm going to have to watch this movie from beginning to end, I'll probably enjoy it after reading all that has been said about it.  :smile: