Review of Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983) by James C — 29 Jan 2012

In the 22nd century, an ex-mercenary meets up with a loner girl and they set out to rescue three space maidens from the ruler of a planet who happens to be a murderous cyborg.

There was a glut of low budget SF and fantasy movies made during the 80's and luckily 'Spacehunter' is one of the slightly better entries. Even though it doesn't have a particularly strong story and you are left feeling that a lot was either cut out or just never shot, it still is a fun movie to watch. The acting is competent and Michael Ironside is suitable over the top as the villain even though he gets very little screen time. The special effects are a bit hokey by today's standards, and were designed for then 'brand new' 3D technology. The gore is non-existent, but there is some good make-up effects to keep you going. As I have said before, the story is a bit slow at the beginning and is over just as you feel it is getting started, but is entertaining and feels a little more adult than some of it's competitors of the time. On a personal level, I find it quite silly when movies create their own languages, and this is no exception, but I am willing to forgive it, as this is one of those movies that I grew up with, and it brings back some very nice memories.