Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone Reviews

The second round of 3-D films spewed this uneven effort in which Wolff (Peter Strauss), a mercenary salvage-ship captain, hooks up with Niki (Molly Ringwald) and other misfits in a search for three stranded girls whose ship crashed on a planet called Terra Eleven. After battling a variety of threats including savages, mutants and monsters, he finds the girls in the evil clutches of cyborg Overdog McNabb (Michael Ironside). The special effects are well done, the set design is creative, and the performances are adequate, although Ringwald's affected dialect grates on the nerves. However, the film is filled with borrowings from every science fiction film from STAR WARS to THE ROAD WARRIOR. The production suffered from a revolving door of creative talent (director Jean Lafleur was replaced by Lamont Johnson, and six writers wrestled with the screenplay), but, with a bigger dose of originality, SPACEHUNTER could have become a popular, enduring sci-fi adventure.