Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983)

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to stand in the spot where a movie crew had once worked, making a film? My watching "Spacehunter" led, over a period of about 15 years, to that sense of wonder. Here's the story...

Around 1990, I stumbled upon "Spacehunter," possibly while watching TV to kill time. The acting was not especially good and plot elements were goofy. To be diplomatic, I would classify it as "light entertainment." Its only redeeming social value was the presence of actress Andrea Marcovicci, who played Chalmers, the protagonist's android assistant: she was a vision of beauty. Sadly, her part was brief, as she was killed off during a battle near the beginning of the story.

That early-on battle scene interested me because it involved a long, sail-powered railcar (I like railroads). The thing was bizarre-looking and reminded me of the movie "Mad Max." Not only was the railcar cool, the desert environment surrounding the scene was fascinating. But in short order the movie faded from my memory.

The movie returned to my consciousness in 2004, during my first visit to Moab, Utah. Just north of Moab there is a railroad track that runs parallel to US Highway 191. Upon seeing it I thought of "Spacehunter" right away: the environment looked much like that of the battle scene mentioned above. I figured that the battle scene had been filmed on that track but wasn't sure just where.

Later I rented the movie to see the battle scene again and determine just where it had been filmed. Surprise!: the place I saw north of Moab was not the place used in the movie. However, the site of the battle scene was recognizable because I had driven right past it a few times. The scene was filmed at Potash, Utah, which is the site of a potash mine. It is about 20 miles from Moab, at the south end of State Highway 279 (also called Potash Road). In 2006 the mine was owned and operated by Intrepid Potash. It turns out that many (most?) of the exterior scenes of the film were shot on the private property of the mine.

With this knowledge I wanted to visit those sites and take pictures that attempted to duplicate camera angles used in the film. Why?---who knows? Armed with numerous poor-quality photos of TV screen shots of the movie, I returned to Moab in late 2006 and visited three places that were used in filming; this required getting permission from the mining company. Standing in those places where movie crews had once worked, I tried to imagine the presence of a lot of people and equipment and sounds like "Action!" and "Cut!" It was great fun. The result is here: http://www.pbase.com/listorama/movie_spacehunter .

Fmovies: Sure it's just Mad Max meets Star Wars with a main character that is obviously trying to be Han Solo, but it's got some cool ideas mashed up in the familiar packaging. The effects are decent and the action moves along at a good clip even though you've probably seen most of this stuff before. Worth checking out anyway because it has an old school charm lacking in today's CGI fests.

I don't know why the other commenters seem to not like it much. This is one of my favorite movies. I saw it in the theatres when it came out and several times on video since then, and the reason I came here was that I was looking around for a DVD with it. The campiness works perfectly fine for me. I very much enjoyed Molly Ringwald and Michael Ironside, and most of the other characters. Overall I can't think of anything I didn't think worked about it. Its very entertaining.

Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone fmovies. I make a point to catch Spacehunter every time it airs (usually after 1 a.m.). It's classic cheese, and I submit there's a place in our moral-cinematic universe for such films.

What films? Oh, having Michael Ironside as the villain is a good clue. If I had to define them...films so goofy (yet riddled with neat ideas that only the low-budget creative intellect can conjure) that we harken back to adolescence and think how cool these films would have been/were when we saw them with our junior high pals.

Yes, this is MST3K material, but lovingly so, nostalgically so. An ugly duckling that never becomes a swan--never even really gives such a transformation a shot--but one we can groove on precisely because it's so dorky.

I saw this in July, 2008 for the first time and was surprised by the amount of mechanical devices and vehicles built for this one. And the attention to detail is higher than many modern productions.

A funny thing about making movies in 1983 is your choice of either using miniature models or constructing full scale behemoths. This movie goes for the latter option, which is one of its strengths, almost everything you see is right there and not some blue screened effect or shoddy computer graphics. This investment carries very well still today some 25 years later. It is like watching Road Warrior with all of the bikes, cars and trains and it all looks authentic because its actually there. Speaking of Road Warrior, it must be said that Spacehunter has an apparent look and feel of a post-apocalyptic desert world similar to that of the Mad Max films.

Striking are the interesting locations which are thrown at the viewer at a fast pace where new environments show up around every corner during their hunt in the forbidden zone. While short scenes in themselves, they come together nicely in creating the feel of a good adventure movie reminiscent of the Indiana Jones movies.

Not sure of the budget here, many things look really nice, some space scenes are awful but very, very short. I've mentioned two series of other films in this review, don't expect to find either one of them in Spacehunter, rather expect to find elements of all of them combined.

Humorous enough, and not as bleak as Mad Max series. Good sets, and quirky machines (like Mad Max). Very enjoyable, my pals and I would often go for a few beers, shoot some pool, and then sit back and watch this movie, almost every Friday night. So, OK, it is not particularly cerebral, but good entertainment. This is an all-time great. Dunno why everyone else rates it so low, but there you go.