Megaforce. Deeds Not Words. Also Spandex and Bikes.
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- Опубліковано 22 сер 2024
- #80smovies #80s #actionmovie
Stam Fine Reviews looks at a somewhat less well-known 80s action movie, Megaforce, starring Barry Bostwick, Persis Khambatta, Henry Silva, Edward Mulhare, Michael Beck. Directed by action movie director Hal Needham. Cheesier than annual cheese festival, Brie-Fest.
This was Bostwick's role as the first billed star of a film (he'd appeared in numerous films further down the cast list beforehand, including Rocky Horror Picture Show).
Fact: The only good film Hal Needham directed was the first Smokey and The Bandit.
Thanks!
This was the stuff that got me fired up to join the military academy and attend V.M.I. and west point.
Ohhhh I dunno...Cannonball Run (first one) was up there
Wrong . There's Cannonball Run also .
RAD????
10 year old me and my friends played Megaforce on our bikes based solely off of the commercials for the movie. That was all we needed back then. Our imaginations did the rest.
100% I freakin LOVED Megaforce.
Exactly this!
Same here. None of us ever saw the movie, but the commercials did a great job of making us all want to see it. Since we generally went to no more than three or four movies per year, Megaforce was never in the cards. I'm not sure why none of us ever rented it, but we didn't.
Totally!
Same plus I really liked the movie.
It's like Krull, Escape from New York, and Flash Gordon had a red-headed stepchild. Yes, that is as glorious as it sounds.
With The Wanderers as the shady uncle, whos terrible influence ends up getting the kid thrown in juvie.
My main memory of this movie is that it was advertised on the back of every Marvel Comic book released in 1982
Yup, tons of ads in comics is what I remember, too.
45 yo, never seen this movie and I already feel like the wave of nostalgia. This move is pure magic, it is just pure concentrated fun.
I remember that, I also had one of the Camo dune buggies, an exact replica, which I loved.
As a kid collecting comics, I wanted to see this movie so bad because it was on the back of every comic I had.
This and Buckaroo Banzai dominated comic adds.
Same with me but when the movie came out I was on vacation with my family in Wyoming. It took two weeks until I can get back home with the hope of seeing this at movie theaters. Unfortunately the theaters weren't playing this movie anymore. I learned years later that the reason why this happened is because the movie was doing so poorly at box office it got pulled from theaters quickly as it arrived. So I missed a bomb. LOL
Are You Man Enough for Megaforce?
That's what those ads said. I remember.
Yeah those were in my comic books, I didn't see the movie until years later. I remember drawing the dune buggy in school with a ruler.
As a kid in the 80's this was (and still is) my live action G.I. Joe film. it is campy gold and I have my MF patch and wear it with pride.
Deeds not Words!!
It was totally prototype GI Joe--they even had the underground base.
Good eye! Actually, Megaforce was Mattel's plan to compete with G.I. Joe. If executed a little better, and with a little more luck, we could have had two huge toy lines.
Remember, kids: the good guys always win. Even in the 80s.
*you love them in blue you love them in red but most of all you love them in blue*
*that's totally inapplicable to anything that's going on...and it's dumb...who told you that?*
*you did*
*but it's very wise*
*such words are etched forever somewhere deeply within the recesses of my network of geeky synapse*
Saw it in the theater with my best friend when I was 12. Frickin’ laser beams on dune buggies was just the ticket for 12-year-olds in 1982. I still remember the “he stole my lighter” bit-doesn’t it happen again at the end?
Same here…I was 12 and thought it was one of the greatest movies ever. Of course, being 12 I hadn’t seen that many movies..
The pixelated left hand is the best gag I've seen in ages, nice one 🤣🤣🤣
Got a like and subscribe out of me.
As they say about Ace Hunter "The 80s is here and it has a package to deliver"
You can see the extra wheel at 4:00
I was 7 when it came out but it was one of the greatest parts of my childhood. I believe it led into the creating of GI JOE down the line. I have to find this movie now thank you!
I remember this as a kid, lol. I even had die-cast toy Megaforce cars...
You have to remember this was the 80's... cheese was on the menu. I mean c'mon, they had leftover flying bikes from Battlestar Galactica 🤣
The protagonist looks like blonde Big Boss without Eyepatch from the beloved franchise Megaforce Solid. I love his style.
Metal Gear Solid is more Snake Plisken from Escape From New York. Oh and the original Metal Gear NES game cover art was basically Kyle from The Terminator.
I used to watch this movie on VHS every single day. Now in my 40s I can still sing the theme song. 😂
that song was so good, they recorded it twice!
I was 10 in 83' and yes it is one of the greatest action movie's to this day. COME ON MAN
This movie came and went in theaters. Ten year old m really wanted to see it, so my mother who is a saint drove me almost thirty miles to see this at the one drive in theater that was showing it on a double bill with Cannonball Run. Loved both movies so much. Bought the hard to find DVD last year and watched it again for the first time in almost forty years and while it hasn't aged well, I still enjoyed it. Even showed it to my mother and thanked her again for the lengths she went to keep a little boy happy.
That's a cool story!
Flipping flying motorcycles as a 10 year old boy......
Loved it
I remember watching Mega Force on HBO in the 80s!! The climatic battle seemed to be on every time I switched on the TV. The movie is completely cheesetastic!!!!! Please someone stream this movie!
Yes what a Golden Era the summer of 1982 was. This was touted at the time as having state of the art special effects. I didn't realise Hal Needham directed this. This movie was an interesting concept to say the least.
It was Mattel's attempt at competing with G.I. Joe. It almost worked, too. Oh, what could have been...
I still love this movie almost 41 years later!
My Dad and I rented this on VHS in ‘83 or ‘84, because we remembered the ads were on the backs of all the comic books the year before. It’s the first movie I remember us hating together.
I had no idea this movie was a flop. We went to see it therefore it must have been a hit :)
I saw a lot of movies like this in the 80s but had never heard of it. So it might have made its way to cinema but not TV here. But I definitely remember Skoal Bandits, the product placement in this film. It was a sort of chewing tobacco which for some reason didn't have any restrictions on sale to kids in the UK. Until that got noticed and they banned it.
Thank you for this very entertaining look at “Megaforce.” 👍
I’ll always remember Persis Khambatta from her unforgettable role in Warrior of the Lost World, in which Dr. Loomis hypnotized her into shooting that guy from The Paper Chase
I'm pretty sure she got that because she was in this, since it's basically a cheap knockoff of Megaforce crossed with The Road Warrior and a bit of Knight Rider.
Bad ass terrorist with Rutger Hauer in Nighthawks.👍
Anyone can say whatever they like, but of all the movies made in that era, this is definitely one of them.
So you've got Swan from The Warriors, lieutenant Ilia from Star Trek I, and Brad from Rocky Horror in one movie, together? Sign me up. No idea how I missed this one back in the day.
Plus Devon Miles from Knight Rider
One of the best movies I've ever seen - not the best move ever made, but just lightning in a bottle. It was like the A-Team and Knightrider and Airwolf all in one go. You would be amazed how many times I pop the quote "I just wanted to say goodbye and remind you that the goodguys always win, even in the 80s!" and it's another person's favourite movie. Ok, so it never won awards but it was just entertainment.
Something else that might be up your street is an old one called Frog Dreaming, or The Go Kids, or The Quest (depending on region) from 1986 - Australian movie, stars the kid from that ET movie you've never seen, when he goes hunting in a flooded quarry for a bunyip that's supposed to live there. You can find it here on YT if you look for it :)
DONKEYKAR !!!... 😉
You brought back some fond memories with that deep cut.
It was kalled Go-Kids here in the UK.
All of the advertising was a total rip-off of the Goonies, right down to the font used on the posters...
Oh mate, I have tried to find that movie every so often for the past 20 years, usually when I re-read 2010 and get to the bit about Bowman's brother. I could never remember the name though. Thank you!
This was on heavy rotation on premium movie channels in the early 80s, my brother and I watched a VHS copy of it many, many times.
This movie was awesome back in the day as a kid.
Mum got this for me on video, knowing I loved stuff like this. I was 10. Dad watched it with me and we had a blast.
Deeds not words!
I effn loved everything about this movie as a kid. Every vehicle was a dream.
I watched this a hundred times on betamax. I wore the tape out. I still have that dubbed version on beta to this day.
I almost forgot about this movie! I saw it with my dad in the theater in '82. I was 16 yrs old.
I remember watching this in theater as a 10-year-old digging it for the most part, while my parents kept referring to it as Mega-Farce which then evolved into mega farts, sounds about right.
I had forgotten all about this movie! I remember loving it!!
I was eight when I saw this movie. I crushed hard for Persis Khambatta, RIP, didn't know her name then because what 8 year old watches credits. Even in Star Trek the Motion picture which I somehow didn't see until I was older, and didn't recognize her without hair, I was still crushing.
Oh man, what a choice. The inspiration for Team America :)
One of the first and only movies I saw on a Laser Disk. I still like it.
wow i cant believe i forgot all about this till now...thanks for the memory...
This is the second greatest movie ever made.
I never seen it in the movies, but I have owned it on VHS for 20 years. Its an amazingly silly movie that is great for the 11 year old kid in me.
Oh it was great in the movies, though it was totally campy and way over the top. I did enjoy watching it at the movies when it came out.
Never heard of Megaforce… Now I really want to see it 😊
It's one of those films that you'd love as a kid and then watch later and find it not quite as good. In my case I never had heard of it until 2014 or so, so I have no nostalgia for it. The worst thing about the film is the tight outfits, you need to watch out for the tight shiny outfits that are mostly tight around the butt.
@@6581punk I did not love this movie when it came out.
I was 14 when this came out, so I was the perfect age for it. I have to think it and 80's GI Joe fed off each other. I think I do remember it for the characters the most. While somewhat one dimensional, everyone has a personality and a charm.
Great video! There's a guy here on UA-cam that has restored one of the dune buggies and bikes to working order. That guy is a legend in my book.
I begged my dad to take me to this movie when I was young. He hated it but I loved it. I pretended my bike was a Megaforce bike.
My Dad took me to Flash Gordon, also Wargames. He *hated* both films. I loved them and still love them. It's like their generation just didn't get it.
I can remember the Memes from about 15 years ago. 'Are you Force or are you Mega Force?'
I remember LOVING this movie when i was a kid. I forced my wife to watch it with me during the pandemic... and I'm not surer which of us regretted my decision more.
Persis Khambatta had hair in "Nighthawks", released in 1981, two years after ST:TMP came out.
FYI the Hot Wheels Military Dune Buggy I grew up with in the 90's was based of the design of the buggy's in the movie.
“Mega Force hit cinemas with the same dull splat as a really ripe case of bananas dropped from several meters onto a concrete floor.”
That right there is why I never miss a Stam Fine review.
Hot Wheels still produces the little dune buggy with the missiles and laser thing on it. That's probably the movie's main legacy.
THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME!
As I remember, I WAS 11 years old at the time...and yeah, I loved the movie at the time...
I did love this film as a kid.
I’m a new Aussie subscriber and I can’t begin to tell you how much I love your channel. Your sense of humour is brilliant I’m really enjoying reliving these shows and movies I grew up with. Keep up the excellent content!
I saw this as a kid and was mesmerized, I look at it now and just think it's so bad that it's good! 🤣🤣🤣
Everything looks like toys, I love it
One of my all time childhood favorite movies. Thank you for doing this movie! Hot wheels even copied the buggy looking car with same weapons a few years later but made them camouflage.
Saw this as a double bill with Poltergeist and yes this young kid ate it up with tons of popcorn, soda, and candy. All thanks to my paper route lol. True Story.
I was into model rocketry back then. My dad took me to see this movie in the theater. I got home and immediately made rocket pods using PVC pipes and mounted them on my Mongoose. I cannibalized firecrackers and added small explosive warheads on the rockets. Nothing lethal mind you, just enough to make a nice report. The curious looks I got riding down the street with 4 five foot pipes on each side of my bike turned to terror as I hit the switch! My fun lasted a few days. Much to my chagrin authorities were called and my inventiveness was put to an end. My father was a cop. I got off easy. He was impressed with my ingenuity and quality of work. He was in the Navy and was an AO2 on the Kitty Hawk during the Vietnam War. I decided leave the pyrotechnics to the professionals. The things us kids got away with back then.
I remember watching this in the theater with my dad.
Loved this movie and the theme song is epic. 😁
I was 8 when this came out and i saw it in our little drive in theater in rural ND . and i loved it.
So glad you did this review, Stam. 12 year old me absolutely thought this was the greatest movie ever when I first saw it. Upon rewatch years later I realized it's a cut above a Roger Corman or Cannon Films picture but not quite the level of, say, Dino De Laurentiis. I had no idea the Smokey and the Bandit / Hooper guys were behind it but in retrospect it makes a lot of sense. This is a franchise I would love to see rebooted today with modern sfx, but I'm not sure the characters would translate well to a modern setting. (Like the many attempts to modernize Night Rider or The A-Team, it just doesn't work.)
I can't even believe anyone else remembers this. Also, Persis Khambatta with hair!
I always thought of this movie as a futuristic version of Chuck Norris's Delta Force. 👍
I seem to remember that it was heavily marketed towards kids at the time. I remember a print add with Bostwick in the center with the tagline, “Are you man enough for Megaforce?”
The Army actually did a test of the concept at Ft. Lewis called the First Earth Battalion. They did develope a couple of vehicles that were basically dune buggies with machine guns but it never got off the drawing board. Chuck Norris did a version of this called Delta Force.
Ummm... Vehicles like that have been used since WW2
Well I was stationed there when they were trying those vehicles out along with several other items and the real reason why the Army killed the project was that the Generals back in DC did not like that a Dune Buggy mounted with a TOW (anti-tank missile) could take out their far more expensive tanks. Nope that would not do at all since there was more kickbacks in the production of Tanks.
They were more concerned about their potential after military jobs then actually fielding a decent Fast Attack Recon/Assault vehicle.
The army did the F.A.V. but that's it
I saw this in the theater when it came out. Back then I thought it was the coolest thing ever. But then again I was also 11 years old hahaha
The Flash Gordonesque flying motorcycle scene 👌. One of the most underrated shlok films of all time. It has some decent actors as well. At least some you recognize, surprisingly.
Please do a video on the regrettably, short-lived 1995 American TV series “VR 5” starring Lori Singer and Michael Easton with a special guest appearance in the first episode of, Las Vegas stage magic legend, Penn Jillette.
I'm 53, was an enthusiastic member of the target audience when this film came out, and have yet to see it. I still want to see it, regardless of how horrible it may be. I figured that it was old & bad enough to be offered for free on UA-cam by now.
For nearly 40 years, one of the Megaforce dune buggies sat out in front of an Army-Navy surplus store in my neighborhood. I don't know why.
the military was interested in the film. wait I know what you are thinking but it actually was realistic reasons. dune buggies for special forces were easy to parachute in and use to get around terrain quickly and fairly quiet compared to other vehicles.
There was one of the bikes inside that store as well.
He said it was the best marketing he ever had. A superfan named Bob Lindemeyer purchased them and restored them to working order. There's footage here on UA-cam.
Love your reviews Stam. Happy New Year my friend!😊
Happy new year!
Watched this in a bar in Guatemala with Spanish subtitles and was thoroughly entertained. For a little while I forgot that I was at a bar in Guatemala.
I instantly liked this when I first watched it. In fact 'Megaforce' is only 1 of only 4 VHS tapes I could never part with (Trancer sequels being the others). I do have a DVD copy as well, but I'm very impressed with the quality of the footage in your video. An HD copy perhaps?
The Pirate Bay has seeds for it.
@@darthkek1953 that’s still a thing??
@@RossPotts With seeds. RABRG is better if they have seeds.
I have a one sheet for the film , signed and personalized to me by Bostwick, hanging on my wall. It's my most prized possession.
I remember seeing the ads in a ton of comics, but never got to see it.
I need to fix that.
This looks brilliant!
Like someone tried to mash Thunderbirds and the A-team together with a spoonful of Buckaroo Banzai, just for good measure.
Barry Bostwick's hair seems to have been welded on. Was it actually a crash helmet?
There's enough hairspray in that hair to keep it from moving even when standing next to a helicopter while it was taking off. So yeah, it just might be able to double as a crash helmet.😆
*never underestimate the advantage of fortified follicles in an action sequence...especially when slow motion and explosions in the background are part of the narrative and suspension of disbelief*
that's why they added the head band.
Loved this movie when I was a kid!!! 😂! So much fun!!!
Okay I'll admit it. Great looking guys wearing gold spandex, that was eye candy for me. My husband on the other hand who was 11 when it came out and did live in the netherlands, starving for American style action adventure movies, is still in love with this movie to this day. But he also likes Superman so I guess there's no accounting for taste
If you don't like Superman you ain't American 😉
@@akfreed6949 true dat!
@@mistytharpe3991 it's a fun watch if you're 11 . It's not a bad Hal Needham movie . Great laughs when you're stoned😵💫 there needs to be some great stoned emojis out there somewhere
@@akfreed6949 you were stoned at 11?😛
This was when HBO was playing all those action movies in the early 80's.
My brother saw a video of some yahoos firing fireworks off of their motorcycles and told me Ace Hunter would be proud. Loved this as a kid, and your breakdown was hilarious. Subscribed.
This movie came out when I was 12. I loved it.
Dude…I can’t believe you didn’t show the thumb kiss scene! That was the movies most iconic moment
What I miss about the 1980's is that they made some great 'stupid fun' movies. They weren't too serious. They were low-budget. They were silly and cheesy, but way more entertaining than they should have been. We need to get back to that kind of thing again. Everything is way too serious and way too over-done at this point. Movies should be like brain candy.
I loved this. Back the days, I remember waiting for an eternity for it to come on HBO. It’s super campy by today’s standards but there were some cool things about it, like the photo-sensitive skin on the dune buggies. I heard that the Fast Attack Vehicles used by the military were inspired by the cars on Megaforce. Also, Devon from Knight Rider! It’s like his prequel😂
Where has this movie been all my life???
Funny thing is I don't think I ever saw this movie in full, but I remember being totally obsessed with the whole concept of Megaforce, and all the cool (to my 9 year old brain) vehicles and uniforms.
I love this movie one of my all-time favorites
It was on Night Flights (USA channel - cable owned by Ted Turner), in what felt like months and that's where me and all my mid teen friends saw it. Luckily we were all very drunk and that way we could enjoy it.) Boy I miss those days. (Kind of).
watched this on a little B/W TV back in 83 that my brother and I stored under our bunk bed
OMG I saw this with my friends back then, and even though we were only 17 we still laughed our asses off at the flying motorcycle. We still had a ball though. Definitely worth a watch today. Megaforce reminds me of those green army men that came in a plastic bag with a couple of tanks and jeeps. I loved green army men so this is awesome. 😁
😂 at the mosaic over his left hand.
I was 12 when this came out I remember it so well and also Timerider with Fred Ward.
When I first saw this movie as a kid, I had no idea what the plot line was. Just really remembered the action stunts with the bikes and dune buggies...😂
This looks like fun.
I remember seeing ads for this movie in the back of comic books when I was a kid. But I never recall it in theaters or seeing it on VHS. I thought for years it was a film that never got made...until I started seeing UA-cam reviews of it 😂
I grew up in Victorville California at the time. They filmed parts of it around the High Desert and they left the vehicles in front of our Holiday Inn for a day which our newspaper covered.
I remember all the adds for this turkey in the back of almost every comic in 1982, and yet I still went to the theater to watch it. God, I was either board out of my mind or stupid, possibly both.
I still use Hunter's awkward 'thumbs up kiss' to say farewell to my friends heh