Megaforce

I remember this film, because its the first film I ever walked out of. And for this-then action film-obsessed 14-year old, for a film to be so utterly bad that he felt his lack of intelligence being insulted, well that was like a 2 year old telling his mother that the Teletubbies were stupid. I remember when I was first getting into movies, and I would keep a log of what films I saw, when I saw em, and what I rated em (I think I used a scale of 1-to-10), I recall this one getting my first ZERO. More recently I am pleased to find that when I ask others about the film that most people have never heard of it. A few months ago I saw it late night on cable and finally saw the film's ending, and I must say that is as that two year old would say, "stupid". Utterly, embarrassingly, mind-boggingly stupid.

This howlingly absurd futuristic sci-fi actioner stars Barry Bostwick ("The Rocky Horror Picture Show", 'Spin City'), absolutely nobody's idea of an ideal action movie star. He plays the charismatic "Ace Hunter", leader of an elite fighting unit that is deployed whenever freedom is threatened. And this unit is set into motion when a fictional country begins to be terrorized by a flamboyant mercenary (Henry Silva, who's a hoot as usual). Among the people on Aces' team is easygoing Southerner "Dallas" (Michael Beck of "The Warriors" fame), who shoots at errant reptiles and delights in showing "holograms" to people.

This is the kind of movie you enjoy for its utter cheesiness and ineptitude. While it may not be quite as terrible as some reviews will lead you to believe, it sure ain't much good, either. Still, stunt expert turned filmmaker Hal Needham ("Smokey and the Bandit", "The Cannonball Run") and his merry crew do have some fun here. A lot of their set pieces are quite simply chaotic and over the top, as they just go for broke and refuse to worry about it ever making much SENSE. There are explosions and vehicular stunts aplenty, as well as some sky diving. Although there is a gorgeous leading lady in Persis Khambatta ("Star Trek: The Motion Picture", "Nighthawks"), romance is not really in the air, since Ace doesn't want to involve an "outsider" like her in his mission. He says his men are like a machine that moves and acts as one.

Bostwick is amusing, his miscasting be damned. He does seem to be enjoying himself. Silva, while not at his absolute best, is still in fine form as a smiling villain whom you can't really hate at all. The movie co-stars Edward Mulhare ("Our Man Flint", 'Knight Rider') as a military man and George Furth ("Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", "Blazing Saddles") as a Q-style gadget, weaponry, and vehicle designer.

Despite the ropey "Introvision" effects, this utterly goofy entertainment does possess a certain oddball charm.

Five out of 10.

One of the first jobs I ever had was with a catering company. Imagine our excitement being hired on for the desert-location filming of MEGAFORCE! Everyone involved with this production seemed quite confident that it was going to become a smash summer hit(*snicker).

Watching the filming at Nevada's dry lakes, it did feel like something monumentous was in the making, but nobody could have imagined just how negative a reaction this movie was going to receive. I almost didn't want to see it, but curiosity got the better of me. Truthfully, I don't think it's nearly as horrible as many have made it out to be, but nobody in their right mind would call it legitimately "good", either. There's enough vehicle stunts, random explosions, and weapons futurismo to keep average 12-year-olds very entertained, and I think that may be exactly what Hal Needham intended for this project.

I still have a box filled with t-shirts, ball-caps, and other promotional crap emblazoned with "DEEDS, NOT WORDS". It may not have the iconic carriage of, say, "MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU", but I'll keep these things for posterity, anyhow...

...and I hope everyone on the set enjoyed the food...

**EDIT, 7/28/23 I watched this again last night, for the first time in nearly 30 years. Amazingly, MEGAFORCE has ripened on the vine. The passing of decades has blessed it with an almost rapturous camp appeal...a big ol' wheel of cheese that entertains for (mostly)all the wrong reasons. I was smiling a mile wide.

Rest in peace, Mr. Needham...looks like you've succeeded despite yourself.

I'll admit there is a lot of cheesey stuff in this movie. But how can you not like it? I like it as much as I did when I first saw it back in the '80s. Movies are for entertianment value, being over cricitcal and not just enjoying it for what it is, is a shame. This movie offers you cool stunts, comedy, in general good fun. So what if the missiles don't hit their intended targets? Or the fact that they fit all of those buggies, motorcycles on 2 C-130s? Heck half the movies today don't get it right 90% of the time. I just hope it will come out on DVD some day.

This is one cool movie. Words can not describe how great this movie is. Barry Bostwick is a bad ass in this flick. I wish I could get a gold jumpsuit myself. Someday I will buy it on DVD and watch all day long. If you see one movie in your life see this one, you will not regreat it.