Trying to track down a Post-Apocalyptic movie

[Zinc]

Hi all.

Old time B-Movie fan here that's finally getting back into the habit. Excellent site you have here.

I am hoping the vast knowledge you all have can help me track down a Post-Apocalyptic film I saw many, many years ago. Several people I've asked recognise the film when I describe it, but nobody can tell me what it is.

Unfortunately I can remember very little about the film as it must be well over 15 years ago when I saw it, the time all the Mad Max rip-offs were appearing, so early to mid 80's I would guess.

The key things I can remember are:

- Typical, rocky, desert Post-Ap setting.
- Hero with obligatory five day stubble.
- In a scene where the hero is being chased by a gang of bikers, he escapes by popping wings out the roof of his dune buggy-style car and soaring off in a hanglider.
- A topless woman (pressumably the love interest) strapped cruciform to the front of a car.
- Either the main villain or his henchman had a flamethrower for a hand.

I know this may be a long shot, but I can picture the scenes above vividly and not being able to place them is driving me nuts.

Thanks in advance,

Zinc

[RCMerchant]

Crikey! That's the ROAD WARRIOR,the sequel to MAD MAX!

EDIT: At least the first part is...or...hmmm.

[akiratubo]

I have no idea what this movie is, but I sure want to see it!

[LilCerberus]

Portions of this sound kind of like Wheels of Fire (1985), while others sound like Return to FrogTown, still other bring to mind a movie co-starring Kris Kristoferson, but I can't remember the title of it.


Update: That one I couldn't remember was Knights (1993)

[Zinc]

Thanks for the suggestions so far folks.

I know it wasn't the Road Warrior and I'm pretty sure it wasn't Return to FrogTown. I haven't heard of Knights, but thanks for supplying another film to check out. A couple of people have recently suggested Wheels of Fire, and although the title doesn't ring any bells I'll certainly check it out.

[akiratubo]

Knights has Lance Henriksen as the villain.  He's got a big hook for a hand.  I can't remember if any of the others had flame throwers.

[felgekarp]

I don't think it's knights, which is a great film by the way, it does feature a hang glider but that's at the end of the film and the hero in it's female, which rules out the five day stubble 

[Andrew]

For some reason, I came up with "Wheels of Fire" off the top of my head.  I'm pretty sure that I have a LD of this in my collection (if not, it's a VHS).  I'll try to pop it in tonight to verify.

[ghouck]

the hero in it's female, which rules out the five day stubble 

If you think that, then you've never met my sister . . ..

[felgekarp]

the hero in it's female, which rules out the five day stubble 

If you think that, then you've never met my sister . . ..

[Andrew]

In ref to "Wheels of Fire:"

Matching:
The hero has the stubble. 
An ample-chested woman does appear strapped "cruciform" to the hood of a car.

Other stuff that might help:
The hero has a flamethrower mounted at the sunroof of his car.
The hero constantly has a hawk that he follows as it flies though the sky.
The villain wears black football-pad based armor and is Asian or Pacific Island in descent.
Lots of M16 assault rifles are used.

No match:
No hang glider or ultralight escape.
No flame thrower hand.

[Zinc]

Thanks for taking the time to help me out folks and thanks for the run down of 'Wheels of Fire' Andrew.

Well, two out of four isn't bad. I'm pretty sure about the flame thrower hand, as I can remember the villain threatening the woman on the car with it and using it to light a cigar, although I suppose it could possibly be a blow-torch he uses. Are there any similar scenes in 'Wheels'?

I'm in the UK, and I'm finding it a little hard to track down some films, 'Wheels of Fire' included (would I be correct in thinking this was also known as 'Desert Warrior'?) and just wondered if any fellow Europeans knew of some good places to pick up films from without getting hammered on postage?

Also, I'm going to be away from a computer for the next week, so if I don't reply to any of your fine posts, that's the reason.

[Kester Pelagius]

Zinc,

The movie you are looking for is most definitely not Knights (AKA Cyborg Warriors in Germany, and it's only DVD release I know of) as that's a cyborg kick-boxer flick without vehicles, at least none that I recall.

However your description is a puzzle.  For some reason something in the back of my head is screaming JOHN SAXON for your description of the villain, yet I can't think of what movie it might be.  I do, however, agree that the first part of your description sound 100% like Cirio H. Santiago's "Wheels of Fire", however there may be other PA flicks with similar scenes.  This director also did a few other PA flicks: Stryker, Equalizer 2000, Raiders of the Sun, and Dune Warriors.  It could be any one of those as many of the PA flicks from the 80s had very similar scenes, especially those from the same director.

However I have a feeling this may be Land of Doom.  If I remember correctly there is a villain with a prosthetic hand who menaces a female, I just don't recall if it's a flame thrower, but IIRC there are flame throwers in the movie.

[akiratubo]

It isn't Land of Doom.  There weren't any topless women nor hang gliders in that movie.  The villain had an armored (cybernetic?) hand with a crossbow mounted on the back (I think...)  I also don't think they had cars, just motorcycles and an ATV or two.

Equalizer 2000 doesn't meet very many of the criteria, either.

I'm beginning to think OP's memory is mashing a few different movies together.

[Andrew]

"Raiders of the Sun" is a new movie, but with footage from "Wheels of Fire."  However, it matches the description even less than "Wheels of Fire."  There is no topless girl strapped to a car hood, which was about the only good match.