J-Men Forever

It made fun of superheroes, it made fun of science fiction, it made fun of movie making in general. It was even funny at times, but overall it was very unfunny. I saw this at a "midnight movie" sponsored by a rock radio station in the late 70s, early 80s. People kept making loud comments about how bad the movie was, getting up and walking out. By the time it was over, I was alone in the theater. Whether this is testament to my poor taste or just to my patience, I'm not sure. The best line? "Is that Leonard Nimoy?" (it was; a scene from "Plan 9 From Outer Space") "I dunno, I don't recognize him without the ears".

J-Men Forever is the epic tale of the Secret World War waged by the J-men against their alien nemesis, the Lightning Bug. Armed with trance inducing rock music and a nebula of hash smoke, the Lightning bug seeks to change the world's lifestyle before our very eyes.

The J-Men field a constellation of our nation's greatest heroes. Under the inspired leadership of Admiral Ballsey they struggle to thwart this menace.

The film features some fine stunt and model work.It's a real power hit of entertainment.

If you ever get an all too rare chance to view J-men, and you're not Mrs Grundy, grab it.

(It's so good i have to ration viewings for fear of wearing out the tape!)

A group of superheroes battle an evil warlord who is trying to enslave the world. Imaginative spoof of superhero films consists of original footage from 1930's, 40's and 50's RKO cinematic shorts spliced together and overdubbed with new script and sound track. (Rating: B+)

Note: No spoilers included. There's not enough of a plot to be spoiled!

"Now, ah, Drugs are bad, m'kay?" That's what the J-Men think, and Rock and Roll is just as evil. That's pretty much the plot of the movie. Doesn't sound like much, but trust me, it's more than the movie needs.

In this movie, a group of geniuses have taken a bunch of different old movies and serials, (Mystery Science Theater 3000 material) and spliced them to form one gigantic laugh. You see the original footage, but you hear a completely re-dubbed (and much funnier) dialog.

With Woody Allen's brilliantly silly re-dubbing of a Japanese action movie for What's Up Tiger Lily? Peter Bergman and Phil Proctor went the extra mile combing through countless old Republic serials to piece together the silly story of J Men Forever. With the evil narcissist The Lightning Bug hidden on the moon, he plans to conquer Earth by beaming down and hi-jacking all bland radio stations with this new hideous 'rock n' roll' he's devised. Bergman and Proctor nicely interject themselves as lead J-Men in a office assigning super agents to thwart this Lightning Bug and his henchmen. Despite the inconsistencies and outright silliness of the dialog and all, it still is a very creative and cohesive movie for it's time. Later to be embellished upon with the likes of Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, and even Woody's return with Zelig. But J Men Forever deserves more credit and respect for it's meagre reworking and budget to pull it off like they did so independently and with a true passion for all the old serials.