“Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone”: worth the wait for me

From left are Peter Strauss and Molly Ringwald in the 1983 film "Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone".

Source: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spacehunter_adventures_in_the_forbidden_zone

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When I was in junior high, I loved science fiction and always wanted to be a writer. I wrote some science fiction, mostly in tandem with David Perlich, a close friend and partner. We published a weekly serial called “Space Search”, which was a cheap knock-off of “Star Trek”, that we sold to our classmates and friends.

Then, in Grade 7, one of our teachers told us about a novel writing contest by Avon Books.

I had this idea I wanted to pursue and planned to use it to write a novel to enter in that contest.

It was about a space adventurer named Johnny Hawk who had a spaceship called the “Hawkeye”. He was kind of patterned after Han Solo, who has always been my favourite character in the “Star Wars” universe. Even the “Hawkeye” was a homage to Han Solo’s ship the “Millennium Falcon”.

Yet, there was another influence on my writing. I had read about this movie in “Starlog” magazine that seemed to have a character like the one I wanted to write.

I never did see “Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone”, which came out in 1983, and maybe that is why I never pursued Johnny Hawk. Not even to this day when I have developed a lot of my other ideas from that period into full-blown novels during National Novel Writing Month.

Awhile back, I saw “Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone” was going to air on this ‘80s movie channel, so I set the PVR. Tonight, approximately 40 years after it came out, I finally watched “Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone”.

I was not at all disappointed.

The movie
A space cruise ship is damaged and three women from Earth, fleeing the ship in an escape pod, land on the nearest planet. They are soon taken prisoner by pirates.

An alert is sent offering a reward for the safe return of the three women. Wolff, played by Peter Strauss, is a former soldier of fortune who now supports himself by doing salvage operations. He hears the message, identifies the planet the women have landed on, and pursues them. After all, he needs the money to pay off some debt and fix his ship.

He goes to the planet and, using his land cruiser called a scrambler, finds a fight going on between the pirates and zoners, who are bandits from an area called the Forbidden Zone. The zoners flee with the women, and take them to the Forbidden Zone. It is an area now ruled by Overdog McNabb, played by Canadian Michael Ironside, who turns out to be an old enemy of Wolff’s.

Wolff enters the Forbidden Zone, and the adventure begins. He happens upon a young waif named Niki, played by a very young Molly Ringwald, who is also from Earth and claims to know where to go. Against his better judgement, Wolff takes Niki with him.

Soon, they encounter someone else, also looking to rescue the women and claim the reward. His name is Washington, played by Ernie Hudson, who previously served with Wolff in the military. Initially, they are rivals, but eventually decide to work together.

They sneak into Overdog McNabb’s fortress, rescue the women, and destroy the fortress, getting out just in time.

In the end, Wolff has Niki, the three women and Washington back in his spaceship. He invites them all to Earth.

Niki agrees, but only if they are actual partners.

Wolff agrees.

Worth the wait
“Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone” was pretty much what I expected it to be. It was a quest, made by a leader, who assembled a bit of a ragtag team to rescue some trapped women.

Critics may say the movie has not aged well. However, that is only when you look at the special effects which are vintage for 1983.

I liked the story, and especially the performances. I noticed it has developed a cult following and I can see why. It is a solid story, and Peter Strauss in particular is a charismatic main character. Wolff is tough, resourceful, fair, and sensitive – a lot like Han Solo. Molly Ringwald and Ernie Hudson are also engaging, especially with Strauss. They all have good on-screen chemistry.

Michael Ironside is a bit of a cartoon villain, but the movie is campy anyway, and doesn’t try to take itself too seriously.

The word that keeps coming to mind is romp.

“Spacehunter” is a romp through the Forbidden Zone.

It took 41 years, but it was worth the wait.

Parting thoughts
I have built up quite a large collection of ‘80s movies on my PVR, taking up about 50 per cent of the total space.

There are so many I wanted to see, but for a variety of reasons, never could. I have recorded them as I have seen them being aired, and slowly am working through the list.

“Spacehunter: Adventures through the Forbidden Zone” was one such movie.

Now that I have seen it, something has come to mind. I am inspired to maybe pick up the adventures of Johnny Hawk and the “Hawkeye” once more.

However, before I do that, there is another movie I read about, but did not see, that may provide some inspiration.

It is called “Krull”, and it sits on my PVR as we speak.