Damnation Alley

source: Damnation Alley

Ever since the first time I saw this movie, I have loved it. Even considering it was a low budget movie it was still a very good story and very well acted. I even like the roaches. My favorite part of course is the Landmaster vehicles it was and still is one of coolest movie vehicles ever made. There was even a Saturday morning TV show called "Ark II" (1976) TV-Series 1976-1979 that used the same concept for their vehicle and there have been other movies that used the same basic design for their stuff. some people don't like the ending, but I for one thought it is just fine, when you consider other movies like The Day After Tomorrow (2004) the ending is fine. I for always watch this movie whenever it on TV. One of the cool things is to watch two actors Jan-Michael Vincent who of course did Airwolf and George Peppard who was also on TV about the time doing The A-Team both in the movie is awesome. If you like, sci-fi flicks that entertaining then watch this movie and make up your mind.

I had fond memories of this movie having seen it as when I was young in the early 80's, and then I made the huge mistake of watching it again recently. There is no real plot to speak of, it's a straight story of a trip from point A to point B, the acting, what little of it there was, was fairly bad, and the special effects were anything but special. I must assume most of the budget was spent building the Landmaster, because the effects were horrible, even for the period when this came out, especially when you consider Star Wars came out the same year. I would say give this a miss, especially if you saw it as a child.

A film I wanted to like, but I was left feeling quite indifferent. This adaptation of Roger Zelazny's novel turns out to be a junky, often exaggerated piece of cheap post-apocalyptic drive-in schlock that pales alongside its inspiration. The problem mainly lied with it lack of plot episodes within this road movie through a dangerous landscape and the ones they went with were quite flat and half-baked (obviously outside the killer cockroaches segment). In some aspects its budget couldn't entirely match its vision. What made the feature though were its steady performances (Paul Winfield is always a delight) and of course how can you pass on that vehicle --- "The Landmaster". Where can I buy me one of those? George Peppard and Jan Michael Vincent lead the cast, as two U.S Air force soldiers who survive a nuclear holocaust caused by WW3, causing the earth to tilt on its axis creating freak weather patterns (storms, floods) and mutated insects. So a small crew head out in two armoured vehicles through radiation affected areas known as "Damnation Alley" in their journey for survivors and a safe area. Also coming for a ride are Dominique Sanda, Kip Niven and a young Jackie Earle Haley who's pretty good at chucking stones. The special effects that are projected are chintzy with some blotchy optical effects. While limited, it has its moments, but I wished a little more did happen and that ending couldn't be any more sickening (, in a suger-coated sense). "Nothing good happens by itself."

How bad is it? 26 years later I STILL feel robbed for having paid to see this joke. Caught it on TV last night, and forced myself to "give it a second chance". Wrong move!! There is nothing redeeming about this movie - special effects are terrible, dialogue stinks, each turn of events is so implausible that you get mad at everyone involved. SPOILER (not that it matters...) Final ridiculous turn - the entire world has been destroyed by nuclear war, but they find one area that wasn't targeted by a nuke and therefore is still a beautiful green sunny place, with no radiation and no nuclear winter and little children playing ball. Give me a break!

Okay first of all, forget the egghead, moviegeek, fanboy rumblings you will read about this movie. They are taking things way too seriously. This is my all time favorite "B" movie. Bar none. This movie has it all, cheesy effects(I will say that the weather effects were beyond top notch, though), classic acting(come on Jan-Michael Vincent and Paul Winfield? It doesn't get any better!), and a great "B" storyline. Damnation Alley starts out with a lot of intensity...okay it meanders like a drunken parapalegic, but once we get beyond that we realize that lo and behold-the world- *poof* she is gone. World War III is done and over in less time than it took to get Normal, Ohio off of FOX. We then jump right into the world after the war, which apparently show us that the only people surviving nuclear winter will be "B" actors-go figure. George Peppard, Jan-Micheal(Hiccup!)Vincent, and Paul Winfield head off on a road trip to stop a home made porno from reacing George's girlfriend in...wait...that's not right. Oh yeah, they go to Albany, NY-the last bastion of civlization (snicker snicker) And on the way they meet many strange settings...well George and "Hard Livin'" Jan-Michael do...Paul gets offed by a bunch of blood thirsty cockroaches-see I told you the only thing to survive would be "B" actors. They soon meet up with a slu..I mean a woman of questionable repute in Las Vegas and a young man who I believe to be that possum looking kid from deliverance. After running into the local branch of NRA in a secluded ozarkian setting they make their final run to the promised land....Albany, NY. I won't give away the ending...yeah like it's a shocker...but I do recommend you see this classic "B" film.

I saw this film at the local cinema when it was released ... and what a great film it seemed. (and in context, still is!). The context is this - in 1977 we were in the middle of the 'Cold War', and we lived expecting the USA and the USSR to start throwing nukes at each other, which we expected to be the END OF THE WORLD. So a film about the end of civilization was bound to be a hit. btw if you read the original novel 'Damnation Alley' then I can't recommend this film, because the tie-in is VERY tenuous back to the film - WWIII devastates the planet, and a group of survivors from a military base build a seriously tasty all terrain vehicle with which to explore the remains of the planet. Damnation Alley - a devastated stretch of the USA - is populated by (among other things), giant scorpions :-) wow! What would the survivors of WWIII be like? Well maybe they'll retain some semblance of whatever passed for normal before the nuclear strike, or maybe they'll degenerate - the survivors from the base meet a few along the way. The ending? Was (in my opinion) quite a let down - but you can make your own decision about that

This is a really fun movie if you like post-atomic flicks! Or any Jan Michael Vincent flick, for that matter. The effects are sometimes cheesy, but overall the atmosphere and film-work on this are pretty decent! It's also fun to see Jan Michael 'AIRWOLF' with George Peppard "A TEAM" together. They make a good pair! The 'bug' scene is very fun- and includes some great Jan Michael motorcycle wheelies! The tornado scene is also cool. This movie definitely takes you to a different world, and the strange sky color throughout sort of makes everything seem - well- post atomic! It's a clever movie, not too violent, but it definitely is worth the buy! If you are a Jan Michael fan, this would be a MUST have as he looks fantastic as usual.

I enjoy this every time I watch it. Science Fiction with some very good and some mediocre visual effects. The cast does a good job. I liked the vehicle the "Landmaster." Jack Earle Haley, the kid in this movie is currently in a series on television, and it's pretty good. Most of the movie takes place as the people go from one place to another in the Landmaster, and the people and things they meet. Jan Michael Vincent and Haley get some motorcycle riding in. This was out of print for some while, also the newest DVD of this movie is slightly different than the one I originally saw. It is well worth the price of a rental, check it out and see what you think.

***** minor spoilers ***** Without doubt the best scene in DAMNATION ALLEY is the one set in the control room as the airforce men stand in stunned silence as the major cities of the USA are nuked . I don`t think as some critics have said that this scene is bland , it`s because the people in the control room are shocked that world war 3 has broken out and realise that civilisation has ended, it`s a very understated and haunting scene. Alas however as soon as the exposition subtitles come up ( And very purple prose they are too . They match the colour of the sky ) the film quickly falls apart . Two of the characters have now left the airforce which doesn`t strike me as being logical . After a major event , and they don`t come much more major than global thermonuclear conflict I`d have thought , wouldn`t martial law be introduced ? If so would servicemen be allowed to leave the forces when they felt like it ? And aren`t any men on the base related to anyone ? This really stuck in my mind that no one ever mentions loved ones who must have been wiped out during the war . Maybe they were married to the guests on THE JERRY SPRINGER SHOW ? If so I guess nuclear holocaust does have its plus points The film then turns into an epic quest adventure but if you`re expecting LORD OF THE RINGS don`t hold your breathe because it all becomes both silly and boring B movie stuff with the only point of interest being the line about killer cockroaches which made me laugh out loud . And I felt cheated by the upbeat happy ending . Strangely enough if you look up the resumes of the two screenwriters you`ll find they have a very good track record of writing intelligent involving scripts so what went wrong here ? One last point . Watch the scene where Jan Michael Vincent is riding about the desert evading the crap superimposed mutant scorpians . He`s supposedly driving around with a mannequin on the back of his motorbike but if you look closely just before he throws it off you can quite clearly see it`s an actress/ stuntwomen of latino/native American ethnicity