Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone

• Directed by Lamont Johnson
• May 20, 1983

A bounty hunter who goes on a mission to rescue three women stranded on a backwater planet.

Described by some as a Space Western, Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone is one of those things that is much harder to describe than that. It is set in space and has many Western elements but also has clear signs of the Mad Max series with clear influences of Star Wars in it as well. I will get into that element in a bit.

I remember seeing this for rent on video cassette or even DVD when video rental stores were still a thing. I just never got around to it and as the years went by its presence on shelves rapidly faded. Not sure how it came back into my mind, but it did and I managed to track it down on streaming and finally gave it a look.

This is clearly one of those movies born from the try anything attitude of film in the 80s. It is cornier than a corn fritter along with having more cheese than in a cheese quesadilla. This is a movie that starts with a silly idea and runs headfirst into the campiness. And perhaps that’s why it’s become something of a Cult Classic. It’s unapologetically what it is. And what it is is an adventure film and nothing more. At no point to the try to be anything great. 

It’s a little bit Star Wars and a lot of bit of the previously mentioned Mad Max. If anything it’s more Mad Max than it is Star Wars. Once our main character Wolff (Peter Strauss) gets to the nameless planet to rescue three women, this goes into full Mad Max territory. And you know something? This whole bit with the women reminds me of Fury Road. I’m left thinking that maybe-just maybe-George Miller took a little bit of him for inspiration from this. He certainly did it better, but he clearly took a little bit of inspiration from Spacehunter. A group of women taken to a weird guy for ‘breeding’ purposes or to suck out their lifeforce. Or both. Sounds pretty close to Fury Road. I do not think those women get named.

As characterization goes there are certainly characters in Spacehunter but they never get characterized such as the aforementioned space babes. As characters go Wolff is essentially a Han Solo rip-off. His eventual sidekick of Niki (Molly Ringwald) remains a plucky, whiny kid. His old pal Washington (Ernie Hudson) who is seeking the girls too is perpetually cool. Nobody changes or expands beyond their initial presentation.

The character of Niki was not necessarily a bad idea since Wolff needed a guide but given her level of knowledge and experience she probably should have been older and maybe even a tepid love interest for Wolff. Or maybe even just friends. As it stands I have trouble understanding exactly where Wolff’s paternal feelings towards Niki entered the picture in all this.

Michael Ironside plays the villainous Overdog McNabb. That sounds like it should be in a standard Western. Ironside was made to play villains. Maybe it’s his voice. Maybe it’s his screen presence. I don’t know, but he could always pull it off. But you would be hard-pressed to realize it’s Michael Ironside under all that make up. He’s swinging around on this thing wearing Nosferatu style makeup and an arm appliance that looks straight from a claw machine.

Anyway, at the beginning I was left thinking Overdog was going to rape the female survivors until he got tired of them but there’s a bit of a swerve and when they’re rescued by Wolff and Washington but Niki is captured he’s going to take her lifeforce because that was his original goal. Was the former a little bit too disturbing and not accessible to the general public so they went with the latter? I don’t know, but it didn’t seem like that’s what they were going for originally. Overdog was suddenly just very old and trying to extend his life. 

And this is certainly adventures in the forbidden zone. While this is one complete narrative of a sort, each portion of the narrative forms its own distinct little story. There is a little adventure here and then they move onto the next part with an adventure there and so on and so on. The first encounter with Washington. The Amazon women in the underground tunnel. The final story being the climactic battle. 

This movie feels like it’s kind of wandering around rather than telling a movie length story. It staggered from Point A to Point B quickly but not with nearly enough focus. Like it’s drugged from codeine in the prescription cough syrup and trying to focus as it gets ready for work. Not that I’m quoting anything that actually happened to me.

But it’s just so much fun. It’s big and dumb and cheap cheesy but fun. It knows it’s not good. It knows it doesn’t have a Star Wars or Mad Max budget but unlike rip offs of either of those it doesn’t try to be more than it is. It stays in its lane and just does the best it can with what it has. It never achieves greatness, but it does achieve entertainment. 

Can I recommend Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone? Maybe. It’s just fun but it is bad movie fun and if you can enjoy the poorly done that those behind it gave their all towards then this is for you. Otherwise move on.