Megaforce (1982) – Review

One of the quintessential movies to come out of the 80s was action flick Megaforce, a movie brought to life by stuntman turned director Hal Needham and a team of B-List celebrities.  It is true that this genre entry has developed a certain level of cult status over the years, mostly for its over-the-top action and cheesy dialogue, but it should be noted that much of one’s enjoyment will depend on your tolerance for campy humour and men in tight spandex.

The plot of Megaforce is relatively simple and formulaic, par for the course with this kind of film, and it follows the story of a group of elite soldiers known as Megaforce and a key mission they must undertake. They are led by the ever-charismatic Commander Ace Hunter (Barry Bostwick), a spandex clad hero who is tasked by General Byrne-White (Edward Mulhare) to save the peaceful Republic of Sardun from their aggressive neighbour Gamibia. The Sardunian army has been skipping across the border to unleash devasting raids on their facilities and it has now deemed necessary to send in a neutral military unit, like Megaforce, to illegally enter Gamibia and end the threat once and for all.  Unfortunately, the mission to destroy this invading army is made complicated when it’s revealed that the Gambian forces are being led by Duke Guerera (Henry Silva) who just so happens to be a former military academy friend of Hunter’s.

Note: There is more screen charisma between Barry Bostwick and Henry Silva than there is between Bostwick and the film’s supposed love interest.

We learn that Megaforce is a military organization that is secretly funded and comprised of members of all nationalities and are outfitted with the latest and greatest weapons of war, including the Delta Mark IV motorcycle which is equipped with machine guns and ground-to-air rockets, and on this team of world police we have a good ole boy named Dallas (Michael Beck), Zac (Ralph Wilcox) an African American who loves classical music and quotes Shakespeare – this is funny because he’s cultured and black – and Suki (Evan Kim) the team’s Asian component so we can check off that diversity bucket item. That it took three people, including director Hal Needham, to come up with this particular script is all kinds of amazing, it’s as if every stereotype and racial cliché in the world had been put into a blender and this is what popped out.

 

Barry Bostwick and Michael Beck seen here comparing dick sizes.

Of course, no self-respecting 80s action movie could exist without a love interest, or at least someone for our hero to impress, and in the case of  Megaforce that comes in the form of Major Zara (Persis Khambatta) who is put through her paces by Ace so that she can prove she is capable of fighting alongside the men of Megaforce. That this entire testing sequence is completely sexists bullshit should come as no surprise to anyone versed in action films of this era, but Barry Bostwick’s Ace Hunter reaches surprising new levels assholeness when, after she passes all these various tests, he still won’t let her join the team on the raid because her presence as an “outsider” would disrupt the trust and familiarity of his force. Not only was this entire sequence a waste of screen time it doesn’t really paint our hero in the best light, in less that was Hal Needham’s intent.

 

“I’d love for you to come along but, you know, girl cooties.”

Stray Observations:

• The ridiculous nature of Megaforce, with its toy aesthetic military vehicles, could be considered a precursor to Hasbro’s re-launch of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.
• Watching this film, I couldn’t help but wonder why Edward Mulhare didn’t send David Hasselhoff and KITT after Henry Silva.
• The character Dallas wears a Confederate flag on his Megaforce uniform and it should be noted that this was during a time when Dukes of Hazzard was a super popular television series.  Watching this film now most modern audiences will most likely think “What an asshole.”
• General Byrne-White assumes that Zac is listening to Gladys Knight & the Pips on his Walkman, and not classical music, because Zac is African American and the General is clearly a racist asshat.
• This was no credited costume designer for this film because all of the clothing was designed by the toy company Mattel, which is fitting for a movie that looks like a toy commercial.
• There are very few people in the world who could pull off a powder blue headband and a powder blue ascot, Barry Bostwick is not one of them.
• This has got to be one of the most bloodless action films from this era, while Arnie was mowing down countless thugs in his film Commando with bloody abandon not a single person in this movie is seen dying on screen.  This movie even got a “G” rating in Australia.
• While promoting the film, Bostwick stated “We use high technology weapons of the most advanced design. They’re still on the drawing board but they will be in use by the time the movie is out a year later.”  I think he was being a little optimistic with that statement.

 

Four decades later, and I’m still waiting for flying motorcycles.

The action scenes in Megaforce are the highlight of the film, with the Megaforce team using their futuristic vehicles and weapons to take on the enemy forces – despite most of these vehicles looking like something an eight-year-old boy would come up with – which includes flying motorcycles and dune buggies, and it’s this funny and goofy aesthetic that gives this movie its charm. However, the film’s plot is thin as rice paper and fairly predictable nor are the characters all not well-developed, but when you have Henry Silva chewing up the scenery and Barry Bostwick wearing spandex and grinning like a loon, you don’t really need much in the way of character development, especially if script consists of what are pretty much cartoon characters. I will say this, the action sequences were well handled and fun, unfortunately, any time the filmmakers were forced to use visual and optical effects the end result was less promising, but we do get those cool flying bikes and tricked-out dune buggies so that’s a win.

Note: There was a planned sequel, under the title Deeds Not Words, but as Megaforce ended up only making $3 million at the U.S. box office against a $20-million budget, the idea of a sequel quickly died on the vine and it took Barry Bostwick eleven years before getting another shot at theatrically released film role.

Hal Needham’s Megaforce is a fun and entertaining movie that is perfect for action movie fans who enjoy a healthy dose of cheesy humour. Producer Albert S. Ruddy’s decision to not go the Dogs of War route and embrace a more campy nature was definitely an interesting choice, making this almost a spoof of war movies but not quite as most of the humour falls flat as a good amount of the jokes are either sexist or racist, so as a spoof it doesn’t quite work.  It is interesting that years later Trey Parker and Matt Stone would take this idea to its logical conclusion with their film Team America: World Police and turn out a truly fun and bonkers film.  Maybe Needham was just a little bit ahead of his time and wasn’t quite able to fully embrace the goofiness of the subject matter, not to say this film isn’t incredibly goofy because it really is.

 

To this day, I don’t why the “thumb kiss” never caught on.

For all the things that don’t work in Needham’s Megaforce, of which there are plenty, this is not the type of movie to be taken too seriously and it’s definitely worth watching if you’re looking for goofy anti-septic A-Team style action movie. With Barry Bostwick rocking spandex and Henry Silva chewing the scenery this movie is an entertaining romp that will give you and your drinking buddies loads of laughs while also learning such valuable life lessons as “Good guys always win, even in the eighties.”