Well... It's neither as bad as I expected it to be (it's sort of fun watching George Peppard drive through an irradiated America) or as good as it could have been if the filmmakers had tried to give the film some subtext, if not to make the film artistic, at least to make it more coherent.
Pros: George Peppard announcing, deadpan, that a city is infested with cannibalistic cockroaches. The vehicles. The (nearly) always iridiscent skies. Have I mentioned the cockraches yet?
Cons: Jan-Michael Vincent (man, the guy was always this annoying or is it just me?), that the whole thing goes nowhere, that the adventures, through entertaining, ammount pretty little.
All in all is an alright film, I just can't understand its notoriety.
I saw this on HBO or Showtime or one of those channels back in the 1980s. I don't remember much about it except the poor visual effects and the dull ending. And, yes, Jan Michael Vincent was often annoying.
Quote from: Neville on September 29, 2008, 05:27:31 PM
All in all is an alright film, I just can't understand its notoriety.
Uhm...because it's fun? :tongueout:
I can't pick on you too much because
Damnation Alley probably falls into a category of a lot of films where people enjoyed them and gave it a cult status, and it unfortunately doesn't live up to that status for everybody.
Certainly for its time it was in the thick of the post holocaust craze, though just catching the tail end of it. The 70s, and even into the early 80s, was a time when even TV movies, and fun b-movies they were, had their take on the post-holocaust. There was even a Saturday morning TV series, primarily aimed at kids, that actually was one of the better takes on the sub-genre; save for the chimpanzee crew member.
Within its time of open road and free spirit movies, and attitude, it was a lot of fun. It probably loses something out of its time and place, but can still while away the time when you don't have anything better to watch.
My Dad took us to see this at the Independence Square Cinema.Unfortuntely,i fell asleep and was not too happy when I awoke to find out that I had missed nearly the entire movie.
Years later it was on TV but I decided to instead watch the made for TV movie Still The Beaver.. :lookingup:
Been a few years since I saw this film, but I do remember that I liked it alot. :smile:
Pros: Based upon the novel "Survival Run" by Roger Zelazny. One of the greatest sci fi/fantasy writers of the past 40 years. (IMHO)
I enjoyed it a lot. Liked the vehicle, George Peppard doing a southern accent, and just the general cheesy fun of it. I think Jan Micheal Vincent wasn't nearly as annoying when he got older :teddyr:
Seen it at the theatre when it was released, had a great time with it!
Not a bad litte post-apoc film really with just enough action to keep up the level of interest. The Landmaster itself was well-designed and the main set pieces (insects, irradiated rednecks, sendlogged Las Vegas) were well handled.
I took my wife to see this one when it first came out, it's a fairly decent movie, not as good as the novel but then films based on novels rarely are. What I remember best about the film are the "Landmaster" vehicles, those really impressed me, I'd still like to have one for off road trips if I could get free fuel and maintenance.