Megaforce (1982)

 Released right around 40 years ago 'Megaforce' was the great box office bomb of the summer of 82', made for $20 million it grossed less the $5 million. Directed by former stuntman Hal Needham, who had helmed 'Smokey and the Bandit' 1977's second biggest hit (the first of course being 'Star Wars'), it was not without cause that he was trusted with this action comedy.

'Megaforce' however was no Burt Reynolds vehical, the type of movie Needham would spend the bulk of his directing career making. It's hard to understand the logic of 'Megaforce', who exactly was this made for? What were they even trying to accomplish?

The movie anticipates by about a year the cartoon series 'G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero' as it concerns a cartoonish special opps force. Eveyone has stock personality defining names like "Ace", "Dallas", "Egg" and "Ivan". They exchange witty dialouge like: "Dallas when somebody dosen't have less on they have...." "More on." " Exectly." 

They have all sorts fancy vehicals for which Hotwheels would make the merchandise tie ins. They have a fancy super computer which records military communication the world over and can creat holograms to distract gulabel enemy solders with bikini girls. This movie even had an Atari 2600 video game. So the juvinale audiance seems the obvious target.

However the movie it's self is pretty dull and boring, and strangely talkie. The action sequences are subpar, and not well shot, a surprise with Needham at the helm. There is also an arguably homoerotic subtext to spandex clad group leader Barry Bostwick agonizing over former associate Henry Silva's defection to the communist bad guys.

This movie is just bad, but not in a fun way, in an embarassing way. It is a slog to sit through, which might explain why its seemingly never rebroadcast and I never saw it growing up. While it's bad green screen and corny catch lines like "The good guys always win, even in the 80's" can be momentarily amussing, they are not enough to build a movie around. Another mistake was sidlining Ace's nominal love interest played by former Miss India Persis Khambada for half the movie, at least she provided incentive to look at the screen. 

This is an awful waste of a movie, good for little beyound scratching it off the bad movie bucket list. *