Ah, the eighties... when studios weren't afraid to use 'practical' special effects and costumes over slick-looking computer generated cities and aliens. Despite the title 'Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone' not being half as snappy as the more succinct 'Star Wars,' it does have a similar charm. No, the former will never be a good/popular as the latter, but I see 'Spacehunter' as if it's a different story set in that galaxy, far, far away.
Like many movies in the eighties, it doesn't waste that much time with backstory and gets going almost immediate. I decent set-piece showing a passenger spaceship blowing up and three survivors getting stranded on a hostile planet causes the government of the galaxy (or something) to issue a generous bounty out on the safe return of the three stranded women. Cue our heroic bounty hunter 'Wolf' setting his sights on the reward.All the subsequent action takes place on the planet, where Wolf teams up with a feisty young scavenger (Molly Ringwald) in order to rescue the three damsels from a (wonderfully!) disgusting mutant-dictator (a barely recognisable Michael Ironside). Along the way, expect plenty of run-ins with all sorts of weird (and sometimes grotesque) characters in order for them to reach their goal.
This is cheesy, old-school sci-fi action at its best. Yes, it's not a classic and definitely not so mainstream as George Lucus' esteemed space opera, but at least it's earned a small, but deserved, 'cult following' among the sci-fi community and those - such as myself - who watched it as a child and still can appreciate the magic today.
If you like your movies cheesy, preferably non-CGI and full of intergalactic swashbuckling action then you should definitely set your brain on 'forgiving' and enjoy the ride.
8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one
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