MEGAFORCE

US, 1982, 99 minutes, Colour.
Barry Bostwick, Michael Beck, Persis Khambatta, Henry Silva, Edward Mulhare.
Directed by Hal Needham.

Megaforce is rather elaborate Saturday matinee material. It is a co-production between Albert S. Ruddy (The Godfather, The Cannonball Run) and Hong Kong's Golden Harvest Productions. It is a strange blend of East and West adventure - with emphasis on the West. The screenplay is by a number of writers including the director Hal Needham, one of Hollywood's best stuntmen and stunt directors, who made such successful box office action films as Smokey and the Bandit and its sequel, Hooper, The Cannonball run. He also made the western satire - rather limited in its humour - Cactus Jack. This film is not one of his masterpieces.

The film is typical American supremacy in all matters adventure. Under the American deserts are enormous centres for Intelligence and weapon experimentation. There is also a special force, a megaforce. It is led by a derring-do hero played by Barry Bostwick and his sidekick played with laconic humour by Michael Beck (The Warriors, Xanadu, and a similar role as hero in Battle Truck). The supporting cast is a strange mixture in cluding Edward Mulhare as an English General, Indian actress Persis Khambatta as an eastern princess and Henry Silva as one of the most nasty villains one could find (except for Silva's villains in such films as Sharkey's Machine and Wrong is Right).

There is a lot of spectacular action, especially with machines and weapons. There is a lot of playing with technological intelligence, computers, holographs etc. The film finally finishes up as a rah-rah 'son of John Wayne' kind of film. Easy enough mindless entertainment, and a footnote in the career of Hal Needham.