Aside from the admittedly impressive 12-wheeled Landmaster vehicle, the film is remarkably cheesy (a word I generally try to avoid on this blog, but it's the only one I can think of that actually fits in this case), which is a shame, since the production had a huge budget, an experienced director, and a fine Jerry Goldsmith score.
Interestingly (well, I think it's interesting), I always assumed that Filmations' Ark II - both the show and it's titular vehicle - were inspired by Damnation Alley, but Ark II actually came first, debuting more than a year before the 20th Century Fox movie was released!
Finally! I can put a name to this movie - thanks!
ReplyDeleteThat top poster is just... It looks like the cast is being swallowed in quicksand while everything above them goes awry...
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can confirm this: Was DAMNATION ALLEY the first time we saw Paul Winfield in something that he doesn't live to see the end credits in? I remember noticing after this that he'd take his mark for the last time midway through in STAR TREK II, THE TERMINATOR, and even an episode of THE CHARMINGS. (OK, he got better in the last one, but it was close...) Was this the first time he started this 'early check-out' streak?
That's funny; I always thought the same thing about this film and Ark II.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that sticks out in my mind as VERY bad were the killer bugs, which if memory serves were all rubber models set on some clear plastic sheet being dragged along the ground, moving menacingly towards the heroes in absolutely complete unison...
I didn't realize this came out so early. One of my favorites during the early 80s.
ReplyDeleteMy best elementary school art sketches involved an ARK2 with Landmaster weapons, manned by triplicate Cylon drivers and a jet pack equipped Ookla the Mok. I drove the stowed moon buggy.
ReplyDeleteWould you believe I read the book before I saw the movie?
ReplyDeleteI recall seeing the Landmaster in a few other places in the late 70's and even into the 80's. Am I crazy or didn't they use it in that Roddy Piper SciFi show that aired on NBC, pretty sure the co star was that Aussie Energizer battery guy...or maybe it was just an acid trip gone bad.
ReplyDeleteThe effects in this are very bad, they should have used stop motion, it looks more like a tv movie than a summer blockbuster, how fox had faith in this and not star wars is beyond me. One funny thing is some of the stock footage used in the destruction of the air force base was from the 1965 movie Operation crossbow witch allso stared George Peppard
ReplyDelete