Cheerfully plumbing depths of giddy stupidity with a certain infectious go-for-it wacky aplomb, this is by no means a good movie, but it sure is a highly entertaining and often unintentionally sidesplitting piece of energetic kitsch. Tough Mad Max clone Matthew (Richard Norton in peak two-fisted form) discovers the location of the Spear of Destiny -- it's the Roman spear that was used on Christ during his crucifixion -- in the bleak apocalyptic world of 2025. Matthew travels back to 1986 and gives the spear to Michelle (foxy blonde Linda Carol) and her boyfriend Slade (Robert Patrick in his pre-"Terminator 2" Grade Z dreck salad days). It's up to our young couple to make sure that the spear doesn't fall into the wrong evil hands. Director Cirio H. Santiago, working from a blithely inane script by J. Lee Thompson, keeps the pace racing along at a constant speedy clip and treats the ridiculous premise with gut-busting misguided seriousness, thereby ensuring that this honey is a total tacky hoot from start to finish. Better still, Santiago and Thompson cram this baby with all kinds of deliciously absurd lunacy: We've got a nasty biker gang, wild car chases (keep your eyes peeled for an incredible day for night continuity error during one particular chase), fierce karate fights, solemn opening narration by a third-rate Orson Welles clone, a tribe of helpful cave-dwelling dwarfs, nefarious Nazi bad guys (Ed Crick hams it up outrageously as the leader of the Nazis), lots of stuff blowing up real good, cruddy (not so) special effects, and even a group of fearsome Amazon warrior women. Extra kudos are also in order for the extremely bouncy pulse-pounding score by Ron Jones and a smidgen of tasty gratuitous female nudity courtesy of the yummy Mrs. Carol. A real schlocky blast.
Review of Future Hunters
