In the ensuing years after the success of the original STAR WARS trilogy, both major studios and independent distributors filled North American theaters screens with inferior science fiction dreck. A brief flirtation with 3-D made these genre films hot properties. Movies like PARASITE, AMITYVILLE 3-D, JAWS 3-D, FRIDAY THE 13^TH PART 3 IN 3-D, METALSTORM: THE DESTRUCTION OF JARED SYNN filled multiplexes of the day. Columbia Pictures had to have a science fiction franchise of their own, but lacking a major creative visionary like Lucas or Speilberg, they took the cheap route and went with no-name talents and stars. The Columbia executives probably figured the added 3-D gimmick would help boost ticket sales. They hired TV-movie director Lamont Johnson to helm SPACEHUNTER, and his lack of cinema experience really showed through. The movie is an odd combination of old school serials (like BUCK ROGERS) and post-apocalyptic mayhem ALA MAD MAX. Columbia ended up spending a lot of money on the project after all, which proved to be a waste as it did not find an audience at the box office. SPACEHUNTER was designed to be an ongoing franchise, but this was quickly abandoned when audiences showed little interest. Columbia Tristar Home Video releases SPACEHUNTER on a no-frills DVD just before the film’s 20^th anniversary.

Jaded space-ace Wolff (Peter Strauss) is contracted to rescue three damsels-in-distress who have crashed upon harsh planet Terra 11. After landing his ship on the surface of the planet, Wolff discovers the entire planet has been ravaged by plague. Monstrous mutants and savages roam the desert-like landscape. Wolff meets up with teenage con-artist named Nikki (Molly Ringwald) who claims she can guide him to the fortress of Overdog (Michael Ironside), who has captured the Earth women for sustenance. Wolffe meets up with his old army buddy, Washington (Ernie Hudson) who is also after the girls because he wants the reward money too. Wolff and Washington must reluctantly join forces if they are to rescue the girls from Overdog’s powerful army. Nikki leads Wolff through the wasteland called the Forbidden Zone in order to reach the girls. There the three of them face impossible odds to stay alive and achieve their objective. Back at Overdog’s castle, he forces the women to try their luck in his maze of death…

SPACEHUNTER is an over-inflated B movie that will delight some and disappoint others. Firstly, the acting leaves much to be desired. Peter Strauss is rather bland, and Molly Ringwald is plain terrible. Ernie Hudson is pretty good, though. And Michael Ironside’s Overdog is a great sci-fi villain that I’d like to see again in another flick. Secondly, the script is so trouble-plagued that you could rearrange the movie and it wouldn’t harm the narrative at all—there’s no cohesion here to begin with. The relationships are undefined such as Wolff’s relationship with Nikki. From her perspective, Wolff falls in love with her. From his perspective, its more of a parental thing (either that, or Wolff has a thing for 16 year olds). The 3-D sequences, stripped of their three-dimensionalism, stand out like sore thumbs and just remind the viewer how dumb this movie is. On the other hand, the studio dropped a lot of money into SPACEHUNTER (sadly, none of it on creative talent) and the results show on-screen. The sets, vehicles, and weapons are cool with some good designs. The make-up and special effects are also convincing, with the exception of Wolff’s spaceship. SPACEHUNTER is also inspired by the Golden Age of Serials, and there are some cool tributes to that form of entertainment. Overdog has a maze of death full of weapons that make short work on any humans who attempt to escape. The maze of death has flame-throwers, spikes, pendulums, buzzsaws and other weapons. Another scene involves fish women who want to breed with Wolff until a monster scares them off. Our heroes also come face to face with a nest of ugly bat people.

SPACEHUNTER is presented in the original ratio of 1.85.1, with 16x9 enhancement. Overall, this is another superior job from Columbia Tristar. The only discernible aspect is the film grain, which is natural given the age of the picture. SPACEHUNTER is filmed entirely in the desert, and filtered with some reddish lens which provides some Mars-like atmosphere. The transfer capably reproduces the gamut of reds, greens, and browns for some truly striking landscapes. Most of the budget went into the production design, and on this level SPACEHUNTER is a winner. Columbia Tristar’s transfer renders all this with precision and clarity. The special effects are of the hand crafted variety, or through the use of miniatures. How refreshing to view a sci-fi flick with no overdone digital effects. The sound is Dolby Digital 2.0 only; a 5.1 mix would be more appropriate. But Columbia Tristar delivers a robust stereo mix that couldn’t have sounded this good back in 1983. There is some superb separation and spook-house ambiance for the monster and mutation scenes. The soundtrack for SPACEHUNTER also consists of warfare, laser guns, explosions, and other assorted mayhem. The bass for these scenes provides some punch. The scene where Molly Ringwald stumbles through the booby-trapped maze of death is an audio highlight guaranteed to induce sweat on your brow. Other than 3 theatrical trailers, there are no other extras on this discs. The trailers are fore other Columbia Tristar sci-fi flicks like STARSHIP TROOPERS (FF, DD 5.1, 2:40) MEN IN BLACK (FF, DD 5.1, 2:30), and KRULL (FF, DD 2.0, 1:32). There is no trailer for SPACEHUNTER to be found.

SPACEHUNTER is an overall failure, but it does manage to succeed on some levels. It mirrors the pulp serials of yesteryear and captures the feeling of an old Western movie. The movie features some expensive production design and eye-catching cinematography, so the movie works as a piece of eye-candy. However, the casting (particularly of the annoying Molly Ringwald) really hurts the credibility. Columbia Tristar produces an outstanding transfer to deliver the sights and sounds of SPACEHUNTER, but there are no extras—not even a trailer. There’s no excuse for that.

SPACEHUNTER is available from DVDEmpire.com

-  Phil Chandler