Megaforce (1982) Review

“Megaforce” Theatrical Poster

Director: Hal Needham
Cast: Barry Bostwick, Michael Beck, Persis Khambatta, Edward Mulhare, George Furth, Henry Silva, Mike Kulcsar, Ralph Wilcox, Evan C. Kim, Anthony Pena
Running Time: 99 min.

By Paul Bramhall

Ask anyone which studio first springs to mind when thinking about Hong Kong cinema’s golden age from the 1970’s – 1990’s, and it’ll likely be Golden Harvest. The likes of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan’s best-known works are preceded by the instantly recognizable GH intro, and looking to expand their horizons, from the early 80’s the studio looked to break into the western market by either fully or co-producing a number of English language productions. Some of these proved to be successful (think the likes of The Cannonball Run flicks and Blade Runner), and others not so much (think the Keanu Reeves starring gymnastics drama Teenage Dream). By far the most unique, and some may argue memorable, of Golden Harvest’s English language output though, has to belong to 1982’s Megaforce.

A movie made in collaboration with toy maker Mattel as a kind of win-win for both companies, these days it has the distinction of being cited by South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker as being the inspiration for their 2004 classic Team America: World Police. From the moment lead Barry Bostwick steps onscreen, adorned in a figure-hugging shimmery gold lycra jumpsuit that leaves little to the imagination, complete with a star-spangled banner patch embroidered on the shoulder, it’s easy to see why. Bostwick, who at this point in his career was most well known for his part in 1975’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show, notably wouldn’t show up on the big screen again after Megaforce until 11 years later in Weekend at Bernie’s II, which should give some indication as to the kind of performance you can expect.

Onscreen text that opens Megaforce explains how they’re “a phantom army of super elite fighting men whose weapons are the most powerful science can devise. Their mission…to preserve freedom and justice battling the forces of tyranny and evil in every corner of the globe.” In this case, their mission involves assisting Persis Khambatta (best known for playing a bald alien in Star Trek: The Motion Picture) and Edward Mulhare (best known as David Hasselhoff’s boss in the Knight Rider series) to protect the peaceful Republic of Sardun from an invading army led by Henry Silva (Code of Silence, Above the Law). 

At the helm is legendary Hollywood stuntman Hal Needham, who rivals Jackie Chan in terms of the number of bones he’s broken (which includes breaking his back – twice!). After starting his stunt career in the 50’s, by the end of the 70’s Needham began making the transition to director, making his debut with 1977’s Smokey and the Bandit. He’s perhaps best known though for being the man that gave Jackie Chan the inspiration to have outtakes play over the end credits, after he became the first director to do so with 1981’s The Cannonball Run, another Golden Harvest backed production that featured Chan in a supporting role. While Needham was undoubtably a fine stuntman, as a filmmaker he was never going to win an Oscar. Minor details like why Silva wants to invade the Republic of Sardun are considered unimportant, and for a large part of Megaforce you’d be forgiven for forgetting there’s a threat at all. 

Instead, a significant amount of time is spent on why Megaforce is so awesome, and even longer on Khambatta proving she has the skills to join the “super elite fighting men” (non-spoiler: she does, only for Bostwick to tell her she still can’t be a part of the mission!). No doubt thanks to Needham’s extensive experience in vehicle stunts (and Mattel’s toy lines) the majority of Megaforces firepower comes in the form of motorbikes which have been fitted out with machine guns and rocket launchers (and even wings, but we’ll get to that later), not to mention laser mounted dune buggies decked out in heavy plated military armour. In an age before CGI became the norm in large scale action scenes, here almost everything is done for real with practical effects, with the missile firing motorbikes being particularly impressive (even the missiles that go awry, which if you look closely in the finale it becomes clear that a few do!).

For all the impressive stunt work that’s on display though, the early 80’s production of Megaforce does see it fall victim to a couple of horribly dated rear projection special effects scenes. A romantic sky diving scene (yes I said romantic) involving Bostwick and Khambatta just about gets away with it thanks to the obviously staged close-ups being intercut with real skydiving footage, however the finale ends things on a laughably ridiculous note. Involving Bostwick becoming airborne on his motorbike thanks to a pair of concealed wings and a turbo charged rocket booster, his attempt to catch up with the Megaforce bomber which has already taken off is about as convincing as a 2000’s era Seagal double.

The special effects aren’t the only elements of Megaforce which are dated. Apart from Khambatta’s Major being side-lined to become little more than a spectator that swoons at Bostwick’s gold lycra from afar, there’s also the character that Michael Beck plays. Essentially cast as Bostwick’s righthand man, how someone goes from playing the lead in Walter Hill’s classic The Warriors just 3 years earlier to appearing in a flick such as this is likely to remain one of life’s great mysteries, however he at least seems to be having a good time onscreen. What’s more eyebrow raising watching Megaforce 40 years later is that, while the other American members of Megaforce (which honestly, is most of them) wear a star-spangled banner patch on their shoulder, Beck wears the confederate flag!

Obviously intended as an innocent reference to his southern roots, it makes for an interesting time capsule of a different era. The other members make for an eclectic bunch, from the classical music listening, Shakespeare quoting Ralph Wilcox (whose IMDB credits include characters such as ‘Black Hit Man’ and ‘Black Manager’ – so just in case you’re wondering, he’s black!) and Evan Kim (Dirty Harry’s high kicking sidekick in The Dead Pool, from a time when Koreans in Hollywood were always cast as either Japanese or Chinese. Here he’s representing Japan.) The diversity of Megaforce is admirable, even if we don’t get to see any of them do a whole lot other than partake in inane banter or look agreeable to any of the crazy plans that Bostwick proposes.

Speaking of the dialogue, Bostwick has mentioned in interviews how the script was particularly weak, so they’d often adlib lines on the fly. Half the fun is trying to identify which lines were made up on the spot, with some being more blatant than others. My personal favorite goes to Silva, who tells Bostwick “I love you, but you’re hopeless.” The legendary line though (so much so that the scene it’s said in is later repeated during the end credits) appropriately goes to Bostwick himself, who after being rebuffed by Silva earlier in the movie for still having the idealism of the 70’s, later tells him “I just wanted to say good-bye, and remind you that the good guys always win, even in the 80’s!” It’s the kind of line that could only come from a movie such as this one, and effectively sums up the overall tone of Megaforce. It’s light, breezy, and by all accounts horrendous, but it’s all of those things very much on its own terms.

Ultimately Megaforce would pull in just $3 million at the US box office against a budget of $20 million, so understandably a sequel (which was to be titled Megaforce: Deeds Not Words, after the motto we see on the standard issue caps the members wear) never got off the ground. Frankly one Megaforce movie is enough for the world, and while it’s stilted script, wince inducing fashion, and bombastic action will be a potent combination for some, for others there’ll be entertainment to be had. Like a live action comic book where everything has been transferred from the page to the screen regardless of nuance or realism, Megaforce may be a misfire, but it’s an entertaining one, and for that it should be applauded. 

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 6/10