By Tristan Bishop
Hal Needham, who sadly passed away at the age of 82 earlier this year, was quite the force in modern cinema. Starting his career as a stuntman way back in 1956, he eventually became the highest-paid professional in his field, and was responsible for countless innovations in stunt technique and technology. He quit the stunt business in the late 70s and moved into directing, becoming the man behind critically mauled but massively successful series like Smokey And The Bandit (1977) and Cannonball Run (1981) – as well as the fascinating feminist TV movie Death Car On The Freeway (1979). Megaforce is undoubtedly his strangest turn, however – a $20 million dollar (pretty big budget for 1982) US/Hong Kong sci-fi action co-production. Raymond Chow’s Golden Harvest invested heavily in Cannonball Run (hence the early Hollywood role for Jackie Chan in that film), and were so pleased with its runaway success that they stumped up the cash again here. Such was the expected success of Megaforce that there were even car toy ranges and an Atari video game developed and released. Unfortunately, what resulted was not a massive hit, hence why it seems to have vanished from popular memory. As is wont to happen, though, the cult of the film has grown over the years – for instance, Trey Parker and Matt Stone referenced it in a South Park episode, and even swiped the set-up for their Team America: World Police.
Megaforce begins in the fictional country of Sardun, which are at war with their neighbours Gamibia. General Byrne-White (Edward Mulhare) and Major Zara (Former Miss India Persis Khambatta, who died at the tragically young age of 49) are sent into the middle of the desert to enlist the help of Megaforce – an internationally funded team of mercenaries, who are armed to the teeth with cutting-edge, experimental weapons. Megaforce are headed by the wonderfully named Commander Ace Hunter (Barry Bostwick of Rocky Horror and Some Guy Who Kills People fame), who rocks the ‘Bee Gees down the space disco’ look like no other man can. Hunter is interested in the mission because his old friend Duke Guerra (the wonderful Henry Silva) is the leader of the Gamibian Bad Guys, and he’s looking to settle a score – Because that dastardly Duke once stole Hunter’s favourite lighter! Along the way we get lots of training and planning, and a love story between Zara and Hunter, before the mission itself gets under way. But even the best laid plans never run smoothly…
It’s not hard to see why Megaforce was a flop on release – the tone is utterly bizarre. All the military technology and explosive stunt work is offset with a jokey script that would have worked fine with a good-ol’-boy car chase film like Smokey And The Bandit, but here seems wildly out of place. None of the actors wink at the camera, but you can just tell they were itching to at any given moment. There’s some annoyingly lax plot development too, and a whole section which has Zara in training to join Megaforce, showing she’s just as bad-ass as any of the guys, but this is put a stop to when Hunter falls in love with her and forbids her going on the mission. Lame. Also, this was a PG movie at the time, and any violent action remains strictly on a A-Team level of explicitness.
So what’s the cult appeal of Megaforce? Well, partially that which made it such a flop in the first place. Time has certainly been kind to it – The entire production virtually reeks of 1982. The utterly bizarre script now raises smiles both intentional and otherwise, and there’s some wonderful references to the social conscience of the 1970s giving way to the rampant capitalism of the 1980s. There’s copious excellent stunt work (naturally, given Needham’s pedigree) mixed with some wonderfully hokey cereal-packet-painted-black technology that make it utterly irresistible to fans of pre-CGI sci-fi, but most of all, it’s the cast. Bostwick is perfect as the Greek-God-made-human Hunter, obviously relishing the experience. Khambatta looks stunning and mysterious, and Silva chews up the scenery a treat as the baddie Duke, snarling through his teeth and looking like a cross between a Mexican revolutionary and a rabid boy scout. There’s also great, catchy electro-rock music from Jerrold Immel. Add some rocket-firing motorcycles into the mix and you’ve got a film perfect for the eight year old child in everyone.
Megaforce is out on Region 2 DVD on 25th November, from Mediumrare.