MegaForce (1982)

Plot; A top secret, multi-national strike force is summoned to defend a small nation from invasion by its aggressive neighbor.Debuting the same year as Hasbro's re-launched G.I. Joe (now dubbed A Real American Hero), Megaforce certainly seemed poised to be a smash hit. It was heavily advertised in comic books, offering kids a chance to join Megaforce via a mail-in fan club promotion (see above), there was a line of Hot Wheels (toy company Mattel is even credited with designing the movie's costumes) and even a game for the Atari 2600. But it was eviscerated by critics and only grossed around $5 million against a budget of $20 million. It was soon relegated to the wastelands of cable TV, where it became a staple for my generation.Directed by Hal Needham (Smokey and the Bandit, Rad), Megaforce looks and feels very much what a live-action G.I. Joe film would have had it been made during that era. Given its timing and the sort of appeal that would seemingly have snagged dads and sons, it's a bit head scratching that it was such a massive flop (and subsequently no surprise that it found a second life on cable). To be sure it's not a film for the lactose intolerant, but if you're one who appreciates the era, the genre and their trappings, it's a helluva lot of fun.

Sometimes, all you really need in life to make you happy is watching a really cheesy and utterly retarded early 80's movie with a grotesque plot, flamboyant types of vehicles, action heroes in tight gay spandex outfits, absurd futuristic gimmicks and nasty looking villains that are smoking big cigars. You know, movies that are basically knock-offs of great cinematic blockbusters, like "Escape from New York" or "Mad Max", and deliberately exaggerate in the amount of excessive violence and sleaze they deliver. I thought that "Mega Force" would perfectly fit into this little category, but boy was I ever mistaken! This film, although brought to us by the same team who made the enjoyable Burt Reynolds hoots "Cannonball Run" and "Smokey and the Bandit", is unimaginably boring and dim-witted. Even worse than the moronic script and cheesy execution is the fact that the whole production was seemingly aimed at child-audiences! We do not witness any of the characters – good or evil – dying throughout the whole film and the decors look even cheesier and less convincing as those of "The Thunderbird" TV-series. In order to satisfy the absolute youngest viewers, like 3-year-olds or something, there even is a completely redundant interlude with a dancing Porky Pig hologram. The main reason why I enjoy these typically 80's fabricated rip-offs is because they're usually so extremely violent and exploitative, but obviously Hal Needham & Co didn't intend to make a rip-off but an actual new classic. Talk about an epic fail. Mega Force is the name of an elite army force, located in the USA but sponsored by the United Nations, which is called upon by the desperate government of a Middle-Eastern country called Gamibia. The small nation is continuously invaded by the evil war-hungry general Guevara, and need help to fight back. The first half, revolving on the introduction of the Mega Force and its incredibly gay leaders, is still somewhat entertaining. It's embarrassing to behold respectable actors like Michael Beck ("The Warriors"), Henry Silva ("Almost Human") and Barry Bostwick ("Rocky Horror Picture Show") mutter their ridiculous lines whilst parading in flashy outfits, but nevertheless fun. The second half of the script, after an immensely irritating love-story interlude, tries to be intellectual and politically engaging, but fails tremendously. The intentionally humorist parts of the film are pathetic, while the serious moments evoke uncontrollable laughs. That's never good.

This is my absolute favourite movie to watch to make fun of with friends. Have you ever seen an MST3K film? This movie would make great fodder. The stunts are cheesy, including possibly the worst blue screen ever, the acting is bad, the plot is laughable ... everything is so bad that it flips into being awesome. I highly recommend this movie if you are in the mood to laugh AT a movie, not WITH it. Watching it by yourself is not really recommended. I had to rate it highly, even though it's not actually a "good" movie because I do think people will enjoy watching it.

I had a sculpture teacher in grad school who would have found MEGAFORCE a working truistic proof of his revelatory comment one day during a pointless, time-wasting studio critique of a student who obviously had no interest in making art when he said "You have to approach art on the level of Beavis & Butt-Head some days. Stuff either sucks, or it rules, and I am sorry but your work this semester totally sucks."Roger would have been a big fan of MEGAFORCE, which I have concluded does indeed rule. This movie represents a high point, a watershed mark in western culture which has never since been surpassed. I will leave plot & character issues to other commenter's -- This movie is either the dumbest piece of crap ever made by the worst director in history, or it is a form of kitsch masterpiece that is astoundingly honest about how utterly brainless it's concept & execution were. The movie has zero pretense to be anything other than exactly what it is -- a stupid, loud, moronic action movie with heroic music, explosions, vehicular stunts, funky looking high tech junk, tight spandexed jumpsuits, helicopters, jingoistic catch phrase dialog that seems to have been randomly chosen from old episodes of The Superfriends, and Henry Silva.Henry Silva is one of those actors whom I marvel at with open admiration: His ability to make the ridiculous seem perfectly natural is on the same level as Boris Karloff, and every role he appears in becomes a Henry Silva performance. Here he is somewhat more animated than the usual cold as a railroad track on a frozen February morning hired killer seen in his more typical work as various paid assassins. You have not truly lived until you have seen Henry Silva blow up people with his bazooka in THE BOSS & DEATH COMMANDO. A lot of people may dismiss him as an "actor", but as a character performer he is right up there with Harry Dean Stanton and Ivor Francis as one of the most ubiquitously recognizable bad guys from decades of TV & movies. Mr. Silva, wherever you are, your work is invaluable, and MEGAFORCE is yet another stunning achievement.Back to the movie, though, this is going to be one of those things you either "get" or don't, like The Three Stooges, Tom Waits, professional wrestling or Rush Limbaugh. You are either going to instantly love it or wonder why anyone on Earth would consider it to be entertaining, let alone having cultural value. Art should always be subjective though, and it should be up to those who consume it to evaluate culture for themselves rather than allow some idiot to do it for you. MEGAFORCE is a lesson in subjective taste: It is either a masterpiece or an embarrassment, will provoke extreme reaction both for and against -- and both sentiments are equally legitimate. It is only those who are not moved that I pity.MEGAFORCE can also serve as a time capsule for people who want to remember what it was like to be 9 or so, and ranks up there with THE HUMANOID starring Richard "Jaws" Keil and YOR, HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE with Reb Brown as amongst the most stupid, ham-boned, addle minded but enjoyable science fiction movies from the 1980's. You are not supposed to learn anything at ALL, and if you do that's your own stupid fault. The movies exist as pure entertainment -- One sight of the Megaforce rolling into battle on their stupid mocked-up motorcycles and absurd missile launcher armored dune buggies while going against a column of military tanks was all it took for me to make my decision. The kinetic explosions & stunts afterward were just icing on the cake: This is easily one of the coolest movies ever made, and if you don't get it you never will.10/10