RADIOACTIVE DREAMS

US, 1985, 98 minutes, Colour.
John Stockwell, Michael Dudikoff, Don Murray, George Kennedy, Lisa Blount.
Directed by Albert Pyun.

Radioactive Dreams is an odd nuclear parable for the teenage audience of the mid'80s. It is interesting in conception - but less so in execution. It was written and directed by Albert F. Pyun (The Sword and the Sorcerer). It stars John Stockwell (Losin' It, Top Gun, Christine) and Michael Dudikoff (American Ninja). There are guest performances from Don Murray and George Kennedy as their fathers.

The film is partly parable, partly rock video musical, partly derivative from such futuristic films as Mad Max.

Its most distinctive feature is that it is a take-off of the American private eye stories - the two boys emerge in 2010 dressed as detectives of the '40s. There is also a lot of play on names: the two boys are Phil and Marlowe, their fathers are Dash Hammer and Spade Chandler, the villainess is Miles Archer (The Maltese Falcon) and a character is Sternwood (The Big Sleep).

1. A nuclear parable? Nuclear nightmare? Designed for the audience of the '80s, the youth audience?

2. The futuristic films of the '80s? The squalid future: sets, decor, make-up? Dinginess and barrenness of landscapes? The portrayal of the mutants? The special effects?

3. The importance of the music, the range of songs, Radioactive Dreams and Nightmares? The video-clip design and execution of the film?

4. The use of the private eye thriller, genre, conventions, names? Phil's voice-over? The dress of the two boys? Their detection of their fathers and the meaning of the future?

5. 1996, the nuclear explosions, the boys' memories, the boys being saved by their fathers?

6. 2010 and their tunnelling out of the shelter, the appearance of the pair, their seeing themselves as detectives, their dress, way of speaking, car, in search of their fathers, Phil's commentary?

7. The various mutants and the derivation from films like Mad Max? The quest for the keys for the remaining nuclear missile? Chases, torture, the meat and the refrigeration, the fights, the youngsters and their guns? The violent sequences - and their meaning for the plot?

8. The discos, the dances, youth, sexuality?

9. Miles and her toughness, the chase, her double-dealing, the final confrontation, shooting and death?

10. Rusty and her relationship with the two, the group of mutants, tying Phil up, his escape, emerging as the heroine?

11. The character of each of the boys - Marlowe and his naivety, cheerfulness, following the group, dancing, sex, his love for his father? Phil and his attempt to keep cool, his mistakes, being chased? His confrontation with his father?

12. The dance at the ending, the hiding of the keys - because a nuclear missile might be needed - just in case? The point of the parable?