brilliant actors, brilliant editing

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Although I was somewhat wary before watching this movie, because Roger Corman produced it, I decided to watch it all the same. Actually, for the first part of the movie, I thought, "Hey, maybe this might turn out to be good." That's because despite having a low budget, the movie's computer special effects, sets, and props were a lot better than you usually get in a Corman movie. However, the movie soon collapsed in my eyes. The story is pretty incomprehensible at times, and it was hard to get interested in the characters' plight at times. The action is also not that special, coming across as dull and badly edited at times. Howell does try hard, even taking off his clothes in one scene, but we didn't need to see that. If you're a fan of Carradine, be warned - his appearance lasts less than five minutes.

Matters get to a great start in this at least with some nice special fx work depicting the inception of a war in space - Great say I and I was immediately filled with high hopes.....but it was sadly not to be for any initial positivity was subsequently dashed horribly upon sitting through this to the end. Frankly, this film is a mess; Irritating characterisations, a story that goes nowhere and poor action sequences do not a good movie make!Both main stars, Howell and Piper are utterly wasted in their roles although the latter at least does appear to be enjoying his role somewhat whilst the supporting cast are made up of infuriating oddities such as an annoyingly voiced priest/bookie, David Carradine as a psycho ventriloquist(!) and an annoying soldier who spends half the film beating up on his subordinates.There's really very little to say about this film in fact other than to avoid it - it's ninety or so minutes better spent on the toilet if you ask me.

If "B" movies, tired and corny scripts, and golf carts dressed up as some sort of futuristic mode of transport are your sort of entertainment, you'll probably enjoy this. Otherwise, forget it. The topless newsreader, though completely irrelevant, did give a few seconds of amusement.

I say "flick" because this doesn't deserve the appellation "movie", and certainly not "film". I regret paying for the rental, and although I've never walked out on a movie before, this would have been it, had I seen it in a theatre. A society living underground in the future (oooh, THAT'S original), lots of burning barrel drums, unexplained ambient light shining through windows, an ungrateful woman and her shock-muted son...the list goes on and on. C. Thomas Howell affects the husky voice of the stereotypical loner; you know like Eastwood's been done to death. He needs special sunglasses to remember his wife and child, yet in the flashbacks, he's the same age! Talk about a poor memory! I stared incredulously when the little boy Abe randomly pushes a code into a door and it opens! No tension, pithy religious (what religion?) under/overtones...saddest of all: I expected better from Roddy Piper;Quite possibly the worst movie experience in my life.