Yes, He was getting his fabricating skills honed ready for the first season of the A team 😂 But he lost his ‘tache in a welding accident involving someone called Reginald
I remember watchig this as an 8 year old back in the 80s! I loved the RV so much I made one out of Lego! Had the tri-wheel setup and everything! I used boat parts for the front of the vehicle :)
I got to see the vehicle a couple of times in the 90's when I went through LA. It was sitting beside the shop of the guy who built several cars for the movie industry
One of my childhood favorite movies. I'm really surprised nobody's tried to remake this movie. I'm also surprised that nobody's created a landmaster model kit.... I'm looking at you, MPC!
I saw Damnation Alley in the theatre when it originally came out and my 12-year self loved it (loved Star Was that same summer too). I've watched DA a few times since then, and while not a great movie, I still enjoy it. I liked the book too, but there was barely anything of the book left in the movie. Love the Hawkwind song as well! "Thank you Dr. Strangelove for going do-lally and leaving me the heritage of Damnation Alley!"
This film was a huge inspiration for Judge Dredd - the Cursed Earth story arc was basically just a remake of Damnation Alley. But with dinosaurs instead of cockroaches and aliens instead of Jackie Earl Haley. The concepts introduced in that story arc became key to the fictional world of Dredd.
Saw that as a kid, a single shot got stuck in my head and I never figured out what movie it was and here you are talking about it :) And I only know because you said "killer cockroaches" which was the one line I remembered.
In the UK, the novel was reissued in 1977 by sphere books, the same publisher who printed the UK version of the Star wars novelization. Undercover it said. "From the publishers of Star wars" with the word Star wars so large that it looked as if it was a Star wars book. It must have fooled a few people, and I can only imagine their surprise when they started to read the book.
I remember liking this as a kid but was super bored by it when i saw it about 15 years ago. I do also like to imaging that this was the fate of Stringfellow Hawk and Banachek, forced to team up in the post-nuclear wasteland
I'm surprised when you mentioned futuristic RV vehicles you didn't have a shot of the one from stripes. Although perhaps that wasn't quite the '70s but it was early '80s at the latest.
When I first moved to Los Angeles in 1997 the RV was parked in a parking lot / office complex along the 101 freeway off of Ventura Boulevard. I remember driving by it for the first time and saying "That's from Damnation Alley!" It looked neglected, like someone bought it at an auction and it was being stored there. It sat there for years. Don't know whatever became of it.
I was a kid when this came out and for whatever reason I never tried to go see it. But it does remind me of one of my favorite Saturday morning series from the same time, Ark II. Ark II was a must see for many of us at the time, so I wonder if this inspired that (the vehicles look alot alike and I wouldnt even be surprised you'd said it actually was the same). For us Jan Micheal Vincent was still a big namefrom Danger Island and Peppard from Banicheck around that time, so makes me wonder how it'd have done if as a TV movie or released just a year or two earlier.
So that's where that truck is from! It was kept next a store on Cahuenga Bl for what seemed like forever between Universal Studios and the Hollywood Bowl, closer to Universal. Then I think they took it to a place on Victory in Burbank, but the one in Burbank might be different, it could have been smaller. Still, nice to find out after wondering forever.
Watched this as a high schooler in the early ‘80’s and it was quite a disappointment even though my bar for movies was low. I discovered Zelazny (who immediately became a favorite) about the same time but I don’t think I even knew of the connection when I saw it. I still love the idea of the post-apocalyptic RV journey planted in my head in the ‘70’s though.
"Coincidently" the early 70's saw the best-selling Executioner novels (yep the one Stan Lee said he ripped off with "the Punisher") about waging war on the Mafia from a high tech mobile command vehicle disguised as an RV. Features included automated rocket launchers on the back roof (4:00) made to resemble air conditioners.
Fun trivia: the Landmaster from this and the Ark from the show ARK II are the same vehicle. The shells have just been repainted with some extra props attached, but the tri-tire design where the concept was if one tire was disabled another could rotate into place or be used for additional traction proved to be too mechanically complicated, so it remained just an aesthetic. It's also just a shell; only the driver's seat is inside as the rest of the space was dominated by the engine and drive shaft of a truck. And given the ARK II was made for a 1974 show, it shows the budget was low that they were repurposing used props.
No, they are not. They were built by two different companies and have very specific differences. First, Ark II did not have the tri-star wheels, just standard single front axle and a dual rear axle, because it was built on a Ford C-series truck chasis. The Landmaster was custom built and had an articulated center section that provided the steering. the tri-star wheels did operate and it had three drive trains. The side door is located near the cockpit, in the front section of the Landmaster, and further back, on the Ark II. The Ark II is 44 ft long, while the Landmaster was 35 ft. Landmaster was built by Dean Jeffries, while the Burbank group built the Ark II, and also provided the ATV, which was a kit of theirs, built on a VW Beetle chasis.
@@jeffnettleton3858 I'm happy to defer to you and I did in fact have these two confused for the same vehicle. They share a remarkable amount of similarities however and I do recall reading that what I originally related was correct. That kind of thing is just Hollywood trivia these days and I'm not surprised I got it wrong. Good recollection on your part friendo!
I was 14 in '77. I lived in the county and we didn't get into town often. I was given the choice of what movie to see that year between Damnation Alley and Star Wars. I chose Damnation Alley; it looked more to my taste. I didn't see Star Wars until the early 80's when it came out on VHS.
Damnation Alley was straight-up copied by the creators of the Judge Dredd strip in the UK comic 2000AD. The Cursed Earth, a long-running saga about Dredd crossing an America devastated by nuclear war in order to deliver vaccines to the plague-stricken Mega City Two, borrowed many of Damnation Alley's themes and episodic format. Hilariously, in order to keep the vehicle design consistent across multiple artists during the story's run, Dredd's vehicle was based on a Matchbox toy called the Adventure 2000 Raider Command.
Watched this in 1980 as a twenty year old and thought it was great. Title always stuck with me. Watched it again last year and realised I was an idiot in my youth!
How can you not mention the role of Lt. Traxler from Terminator for Paul Winfield! Recognised him instantly from that! Deleted scenes he had a much bigger role ...
Damn!(nation), I completely forgot about this movie. Seeing the truck jogged my memory. Now I remember seeing this when I was little. I couldn't tell you if I liked it or not, but it would have been in my wheelhouse when I was a kid in the 70s. Thanks!
I've got the serum and I'm going to take it All the way to Boston, oh I've got to get through The going won't be easy, but I'm going to make it It's the only thing that I'm cut out to do Ride the post-atomic radioactive trash The sky's on fire from the nuclear flash Driving through the burning hoop of doom, In an eight wheeled anti-radiation tomb Thank you Dr. Strangelove for going doolally, and leaving me the heritage of Damnation Alley, Damnation Alleyway No more Arizona, now Phoenix is fried up Oklahoma City; what a pity it's gone Louisiana Delta where the Mississip's dried up No more Chattanooga, Cherokee, Lexington Ride the post-atomic radioactive trash The sky's on fire from the nuclear flash Driving through the burning hoop of doom, In an eight wheeled anti-radiation tomb Thank you Dr. Strangelove for going doolally, Leaving me the heritage of Damnation Alley, Damnation Alleyway Damnation Alley Damnation Alley Damnation Alley Damnation Alley Ride the post-atomic radioactive trash The sky's on fire from the nuclear flash Driving through the burning hoop of doom, In an eight wheeled anti-radiation tomb Thank you Dr. Strangelove for going doolally, Leaving me the heritage of Damnation Alley, Damnation Alleyway Radiation wasteland, radiation wasteland Ashes coming at me Craters coming at me now The radiation wasteland, I've got my anti-radiation machine Oh, thank you Dr. Strangelove, I said thank you Dr. Strangelove For giving me ashes and post-atomic dust The sky is raining fishes it's a mutation zoo Going down Damnation Alley, Well good luck to you Armor plated angel, motor-pony express Armor plated angel, motor-pony express Armor plated angel, motor-pony express Armor plated angel, motor-pony express Armor plated angel, motor-pony express Armor plated angel, motor-pony express Armor plated angel, motor-pony express Armor plated angel, motor-pony express Going down Damnation Alley It's one hell of a mess The sky is raining fishes it's a mutation zoo Going down Damnation Alley, Well good luck to you Good luck to you No more Arizona, now Phoenix is fried up Oklahoma City; what a pity it's gone Louisiana Delta where the Mississip's dried up No more Chattanooga, Cherokee, Lexington Ride the post-atomic radioactive trash The sky's on fire from the nuclear flash Driving through the burning hoop of doom, In an eight wheeled anti-radiation tomb Thank you Dr. Strangelove for going doolally, Leaving me the heritage of Damnation Alley, Damnation Alleyway Damnation Alley Damnation Alley Damnation Alley Damnation Alley
Charlton Heston was originally supposed to have George Peppard’s role. I saw a small blurb from one of the Hollywood trade rags that announced filming was set to commence on the movie and it specifically mentioned him. I’d love to know why he didn’t end up in the cast.
I think I saw this on TV a long time ago, and I only remembered the vehicle (cf 1983 APC) and my young mind being confused by the ending. I also think I've assumed all this time that it was a failed pilot for a TV series. I guess not!
Love this film - first saw in 1981 in a late night slot. Probably watch every couple of years. The Landmaster has been in several other films including A.P.E.X.
"Let's voluntarily go to Albany, New York," said nobody ever. I'm only 20 miles away, and I never want to visit it again. Even Superman wouldn't come here, and remember he used to hang out in Milton Keynes.
Ah excellent. The summer blockbuster film of 1977 that was released along side some smaller film called Star Wars. It's just comical how bad the FX are in Damnation Alley, conveyer belts of bugs, small minitures floating in the water and the scorpions. It's a shame really as the truck is cool and I like both Peppard and JMV.
I got the feeling that this was shoved out as a sort of grudged release in the UK, at the time. As I recall, it opened in a cinema that was pretty much dying on its backside, and wasn't on for long. It was big chains like Odeon, and ABC cinemas that screened the likes of Star Wars, and CE3K. The cinema that screened Damnation Alley closed not long after, and lay rotting for years, before becoming one of the 80s mega night clubs. It's now a Wetherspoons. Says it all...
I remember this one. I saw it on a trip to the UK in about 1983/4. I guess on TV there? The killer cockroaches stood out to me. I also saw the A Team in TV there before it came out here in NZ so years later I remember looking them both up because of George Peppard. He was also in Race for the Yankee Zephyr set and filmed in NZ. Another 'good' post apocalyptic film was 1982s Battletruck also filmed in NZ.
I really like post apocalypse movies, and I really wanted to like Damnation Alley, but damn did the lack of money and support from the studio really hurt this one.
The vehicle was impressive. Nothing else about the movie was. In the book, Tanner's name is Hell and he's a Hell's Angels type biker, not a military man.
Stam is being very kind in his description of the crap visual and practical effects. Early in the film, the Vincent character is riding across the desert with a woman on the back of the bike. He dumps her when the big scorpions turn up. Peppard gats mad, but the girl was only a dummy all along. Fine, except we had close up shots with a flesh-and-blood woman on the bike. The scorpions looked like they were what they were, and would have ruined the verisimilitude if the woman/dummy switch didn't. The mat of cockroaches being pulled by a string was the worst effect I think I have ever seen. Please remember that 2001: A Space Odyssey was released 9 years before this dreck, and we 14-year-olds had standards for effects that this movie didn't remotely approach. Even Space: 1999 had finished its run by then with much better effects. But 1: The Land-Master was beyond awesome, and 2: The radioactive skies were pretty cool.
I finally saw this terd about 10 years ago. Hard to believe Fox thought this was gonna be their premier sci fi film of 1977. I think it's pretty much the worst of the post-apocalyptic films of the late '60s thru mid-'70s, including TV movies / pilots like Genesis II and Planet Earth from Gene Roddenberry, as well as Logan's Run, The Omega Man, Soylent Green, Beneath The Planet Of The Apes and so on...
@sunspot42 In all fairness, Damnation Alley could have been much better if it wasn't for Fox taking money away from the production and cutting it down to an hour and a half. I would like to see the uncut version; I think people would like that version more.
@ I can’t imagine that adding an extra half hour to this already slow moving trainwreck would somehow magically make it more enjoyable. There are several good actors in this thing, including George Peppard and Paul Winfield, and even their performances are lackluster. I suspect they realized pretty quickly there was no point even trying. I also could never get over how incredibly cheap the production looks. Their budget was hardly low by 1977 standards.
The original working title of the film was something like "Damnation RUN" IMO, had the producers left it at THAT, WITHOUT trying to tie it to Zelazny's book, I would have found it a mildly entertaining film. As it is, having read the book YEARS before the film came out, and seeing that it bore 99% NO RELATION to Zelazny's work, it was a great disappointment
Actually read the novel....which isn't great, especially with its unlikeable and silly named hero 'Hell Tanner'. Not one of Zelazny's best (and he has written some good stuff) but the movie was fun.
Saw this at the drive-in as a double feature with Star Wars, back in the 70’s, with my Mum, Dad, and siblings, when I was eight or nine. I vaguely remember this movie, but can quote Star Wars from start to finish. One of the only things I remember about it is the vehicle, and the mannequin. I didn’t even realise Peppard and Vincent were in it, let alone the kid who would become Rorschach. Was there a scene where they had to drive through an area blind, with the windows being covered with metal sheets, to protect from extreme radiation, or am I confusing this with an episode from Battlestar Galactica? Cheers,
Saw this on tv, after the fact and it fit a little better, there, I thought....kind of like Killdozer or Genesis II. The review sums it up pretty well; but, I've always enjoyed it and own a copy on DVD (it got a Manufacture-on-Demand release, I believe, rather than a commercial pressing). Bought it at the same time I got Future World. Both aren't great movies but they have their moments. Lot of that in 70s sci-fi. If you are looking for suggestions, why not try Colossus, The Forbin Project? Nice little sci-fi thriller, solid cast, decent effects work, modest budget. James Camern swiped more than a little for Skynet. He just didn't get sued over it, like he did for his theft of Harlan Ellison's scripts, for The Outer Limits.
So Fox execs thought this was the horse to back. Hilarious. The vehicle design also inspired a great 2000ad story called Hell Trekkers (or similar) where a group traverse the cursed earth to move out of mega city one. Deep cut but was basically this film, but better.
I am so glad Stam Fine got round to dealing with this lousy film. Finally, some payback for those three days we spent watching this tat. I know it was only 90 minutes, but it felt like 3 days.
I love it when a mustache comes together.
Yes, He was getting his fabricating skills honed ready for the first season of the A team 😂
But he lost his ‘tache in a welding accident involving someone called Reginald
Consider my psychedelic thunder stolen.
@@deans_halfbakedproductions 😂🤣
The A-Team/Airwolf cross-over we never got....
EXACTLY
Stringfellow Hawke with Hannibal Smith
I LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER
Damnit, you beat me to it. I was gonna say the exact same thing!
@@jessesmyser5931 😁
Peppard and Jan Micheal in the same movie, that's a recipe for production hell.
I remember watchig this as an 8 year old back in the 80s! I loved the RV so much I made one out of Lego! Had the tri-wheel setup and everything! I used boat parts for the front of the vehicle :)
That’s a good use of Legos.
I got to see the vehicle a couple of times in the 90's when I went through LA. It was sitting beside the shop of the guy who built several cars for the movie industry
That 12 year old never leaves us. "Oh. That truck looks cool!"
You can tell it’s 1977, not by the special effects, but Jake’s hair… that mullet is PURE 70’s
This and "A boy and his dog" cemented late 70's sci-fi weirdness in my preformed childhood brain. Thanks for the superb review!
Cheers!
Corny 70's sci-fi always means awesome an Stam Fine review!
Every time I hear Hawkwind's song Damnation Alley, this film always pops into my head🤣
The song is better.
One of my childhood favorite movies. I'm really surprised nobody's tried to remake this movie. I'm also surprised that nobody's created a landmaster model kit.... I'm looking at you, MPC!
I saw Damnation Alley in the theatre when it originally came out and my 12-year self loved it (loved Star Was that same summer too). I've watched DA a few times since then, and while not a great movie, I still enjoy it. I liked the book too, but there was barely anything of the book left in the movie. Love the Hawkwind song as well! "Thank you Dr. Strangelove for going do-lally and
leaving me the heritage of Damnation Alley!"
This film is defined by all the montages of the vehicle traveling across terrain.
I’m feeling Stam Fine when this video turned up
This film was a huge inspiration for Judge Dredd - the Cursed Earth story arc was basically just a remake of Damnation Alley. But with dinosaurs instead of cockroaches and aliens instead of Jackie Earl Haley. The concepts introduced in that story arc became key to the fictional world of Dredd.
Wow Rorschach was in this!
So glad your channel is growing, you only had a few thousand subscribers when I came across you. Keep up the good work sir 💪😊
I don't think I ever quite got over the doll being savaged by the scorpion:)
There's nothing you could do for her
Saw that as a kid, a single shot got stuck in my head and I never figured out what movie it was and here you are talking about it :) And I only know because you said "killer cockroaches" which was the one line I remembered.
Iconic actors
OMG! I was just thinking about this film yesterday and how I’d love to see it get the Fine treatment!!! ❤❤❤
Who heard Peppard’s accent and said, “yeah, this is going to be a hit”?
LOVE that vehicle, still hate cockroachs!
I loved Star Wars and Damnation Alley as a kid.
I can actually still remember the day I watched in the movie theater, Thanksgiving day 1977
In the UK, the novel was reissued in 1977 by sphere books, the same publisher who printed the UK version of the Star wars novelization. Undercover it said. "From the publishers of Star wars" with the word Star wars so large that it looked as if it was a Star wars book. It must have fooled a few people, and I can only imagine their surprise when they started to read the book.
*Wars
It's a name of a film, so both words have capitals.
Wow,sly bit of bait and switch there.
But you have to admit that it's a good book... sadly, the movie just doesn't do it justice
Used to imagine this as a post apocalyptic sequel to Night Of The Lepus just with bugs instead of bunnies.
I caught this on TV a few times as a kid back in the 80s, helped to pass the time if nothing else was on…
Zelazny is my favorite author. "Loosely" is being generous. The practical Landmaster was cool, though. Someone needs to give Amber the Dune treatment.
This is a fun movie. I remember seeing it in afternoon syndication movie slots in the late 70's and 80's.
I remember liking this as a kid but was super bored by it when i saw it about 15 years ago. I do also like to imaging that this was the fate of Stringfellow Hawk and Banachek, forced to team up in the post-nuclear wasteland
I'm surprised when you mentioned futuristic RV vehicles you didn't have a shot of the one from stripes. Although perhaps that wasn't quite the '70s but it was early '80s at the latest.
If it's got Hannibal and Stringfellow in it, it must be good
The mash up we needed but never got. 😊
Damnation Alley was just great for teenage me watching a late movie. It has many issues but I still enjoy it.
The post apocalypse equivalent of your grandparents driving a souped up RV… they just keep driving and driving, while stopping in Vegas lol
Quite true.
This is one of those classic late night movies that comes on it 12:00 or 1:00 and you stay up all night watching it😅
Saw this in the 80s on VHS. The land master was a real vehicle. It ran and drove. It's still around.
When I first moved to Los Angeles in 1997 the RV was parked in a parking lot / office complex along the 101 freeway off of Ventura Boulevard. I remember driving by it for the first time and saying "That's from Damnation Alley!" It looked neglected, like someone bought it at an auction and it was being stored there. It sat there for years. Don't know whatever became of it.
I remember seeing this at the cinema when it came out, I enjoyed it, thought it was a cool flick
I used to regularly drive by the "Landmaster" when it was parked in Dean Jeffries' lot. I wish I had bought it when that "for sale" sign went up.
I was a kid when this came out and for whatever reason I never tried to go see it. But it does remind me of one of my favorite Saturday morning series from the same time, Ark II. Ark II was a must see for many of us at the time, so I wonder if this inspired that (the vehicles look alot alike and I wouldnt even be surprised you'd said it actually was the same). For us Jan Micheal Vincent was still a big namefrom Danger Island and Peppard from Banicheck around that time, so makes me wonder how it'd have done if as a TV movie or released just a year or two earlier.
So that's where that truck is from! It was kept next a store on Cahuenga Bl for what seemed like forever between Universal Studios and the Hollywood Bowl, closer to Universal. Then I think they took it to a place on Victory in Burbank, but the one in Burbank might be different, it could have been smaller. Still, nice to find out after wondering forever.
Just posted the same except I was too young to remember those street names. Was from OC anyway never usually crossed the orange curtain. Lol😂
Stam fine indeed
Watched this as a high schooler in the early ‘80’s and it was quite a disappointment even though my bar for movies was low. I discovered Zelazny (who immediately became a favorite) about the same time but I don’t think I even knew of the connection when I saw it. I still love the idea of the post-apocalyptic RV journey planted in my head in the ‘70’s though.
Judge Dredd took this premise and ramped it up 110% in the epic Cursed Earth.
I grew up on these post apocolyptic movies.
I watched film when it came out and I was in grade school. I found the book in our school library in high school. I enjoyed it.
Thank God!
"Coincidently" the early 70's saw the best-selling Executioner novels (yep the one Stan Lee said he ripped off with "the Punisher") about waging war on the Mafia from a high tech mobile command vehicle disguised as an RV. Features included automated rocket launchers on the back roof (4:00) made to resemble air conditioners.
Fun trivia: the Landmaster from this and the Ark from the show ARK II are the same vehicle. The shells have just been repainted with some extra props attached, but the tri-tire design where the concept was if one tire was disabled another could rotate into place or be used for additional traction proved to be too mechanically complicated, so it remained just an aesthetic. It's also just a shell; only the driver's seat is inside as the rest of the space was dominated by the engine and drive shaft of a truck.
And given the ARK II was made for a 1974 show, it shows the budget was low that they were repurposing used props.
No, they are not. They were built by two different companies and have very specific differences. First, Ark II did not have the tri-star wheels, just standard single front axle and a dual rear axle, because it was built on a Ford C-series truck chasis. The Landmaster was custom built and had an articulated center section that provided the steering. the tri-star wheels did operate and it had three drive trains. The side door is located near the cockpit, in the front section of the Landmaster, and further back, on the Ark II. The Ark II is 44 ft long, while the Landmaster was 35 ft. Landmaster was built by Dean Jeffries, while the Burbank group built the Ark II, and also provided the ATV, which was a kit of theirs, built on a VW Beetle chasis.
Geek battle!
@@jeffnettleton3858 I'm happy to defer to you and I did in fact have these two confused for the same vehicle. They share a remarkable amount of similarities however and I do recall reading that what I originally related was correct.
That kind of thing is just Hollywood trivia these days and I'm not surprised I got it wrong.
Good recollection on your part friendo!
I was 14 in '77. I lived in the county and we didn't get into town often. I was given the choice of what movie to see that year between Damnation Alley and Star Wars. I chose Damnation Alley; it looked more to my taste. I didn't see Star Wars until the early 80's when it came out on VHS.
Damnation Alley was straight-up copied by the creators of the Judge Dredd strip in the UK comic 2000AD. The Cursed Earth, a long-running saga about Dredd crossing an America devastated by nuclear war in order to deliver vaccines to the plague-stricken Mega City Two, borrowed many of Damnation Alley's themes and episodic format. Hilariously, in order to keep the vehicle design consistent across multiple artists during the story's run, Dredd's vehicle was based on a Matchbox toy called the Adventure 2000 Raider Command.
I know that kid from when I was a kid - cant believe he is Rorschach 😮
Watched this in 1980 as a twenty year old and thought it was great. Title always stuck with me. Watched it again last year and realised I was an idiot in my youth!
How can you not mention the role of Lt. Traxler from Terminator for Paul Winfield! Recognised him instantly from that! Deleted scenes he had a much bigger role ...
Damn!(nation), I completely forgot about this movie. Seeing the truck jogged my memory. Now I remember seeing this when I was little. I couldn't tell you if I liked it or not, but it would have been in my wheelhouse when I was a kid in the 70s. Thanks!
Is the kid Jackie Earl Haley? Right off Bad News Bears? ❤❤❤❤
Yup; as well as Breaking Away (as a teenager) and the voice of Dennis the Menace, in commercials for Dairy Queen.
I've got the serum and I'm going to take it
All the way to Boston, oh I've got to get through
The going won't be easy, but I'm going to make it
It's the only thing that I'm cut out to do
Ride the post-atomic radioactive trash
The sky's on fire from the nuclear flash
Driving through the burning hoop of doom,
In an eight wheeled anti-radiation tomb
Thank you Dr. Strangelove for going doolally,
and leaving me the heritage of Damnation Alley,
Damnation Alleyway
No more Arizona, now Phoenix is fried up
Oklahoma City; what a pity it's gone
Louisiana Delta where the Mississip's dried up
No more Chattanooga, Cherokee, Lexington
Ride the post-atomic radioactive trash
The sky's on fire from the nuclear flash
Driving through the burning hoop of doom,
In an eight wheeled anti-radiation tomb
Thank you Dr. Strangelove for going doolally,
Leaving me the heritage of Damnation Alley,
Damnation Alleyway
Damnation Alley
Damnation Alley
Damnation Alley
Damnation Alley
Ride the post-atomic radioactive trash
The sky's on fire from the nuclear flash
Driving through the burning hoop of doom,
In an eight wheeled anti-radiation tomb
Thank you Dr. Strangelove for going doolally,
Leaving me the heritage of Damnation Alley,
Damnation Alleyway
Radiation wasteland, radiation wasteland
Ashes coming at me
Craters coming at me now
The radiation wasteland,
I've got my anti-radiation machine
Oh, thank you Dr. Strangelove,
I said thank you Dr. Strangelove
For giving me ashes and post-atomic dust
The sky is raining fishes it's a mutation zoo
Going down Damnation Alley,
Well good luck to you
Armor plated angel, motor-pony express
Armor plated angel, motor-pony express
Armor plated angel, motor-pony express
Armor plated angel, motor-pony express
Armor plated angel, motor-pony express
Armor plated angel, motor-pony express
Armor plated angel, motor-pony express
Armor plated angel, motor-pony express
Going down Damnation Alley
It's one hell of a mess
The sky is raining fishes it's a mutation zoo
Going down Damnation Alley,
Well good luck to you
Good luck to you
No more Arizona, now Phoenix is fried up
Oklahoma City; what a pity it's gone
Louisiana Delta where the Mississip's dried up
No more Chattanooga, Cherokee, Lexington
Ride the post-atomic radioactive trash
The sky's on fire from the nuclear flash
Driving through the burning hoop of doom,
In an eight wheeled anti-radiation tomb
Thank you Dr. Strangelove for going doolally,
Leaving me the heritage of Damnation Alley,
Damnation Alleyway
Damnation Alley
Damnation Alley
Damnation Alley
Damnation Alley
I'm from Albany. It's a good selection for a place that wouldn't be blown-up in a nuclear war.
Charlton Heston was originally supposed to have George Peppard’s role. I saw a small blurb from one of the Hollywood trade rags that announced filming was set to commence on the movie and it specifically mentioned him. I’d love to know why he didn’t end up in the cast.
As was noted, pre StarWars, this movie's effects did not look bad. StarWars changed everything
I remember watching it as a kid because of Hannibal and Hawk and being scared shirtless of the cockroaches.
I think I saw this on TV a long time ago, and I only remembered the vehicle (cf 1983 APC) and my young mind being confused by the ending. I also think I've assumed all this time that it was a failed pilot for a TV series. I guess not!
Love this film - first saw in 1981 in a late night slot. Probably watch every couple of years. The Landmaster has been in several other films including A.P.E.X.
"Let's voluntarily go to Albany, New York," said nobody ever. I'm only 20 miles away, and I never want to visit it again. Even Superman wouldn't come here, and remember he used to hang out in Milton Keynes.
Apocalyptic National Lampoon Vacation 😂😂😂
OMG im dead
Would love to see the Director's cut. Goldsmith said that he was at a loss for this film, but I love this score.
Ah excellent. The summer blockbuster film of 1977 that was released along side some smaller film called Star Wars. It's just comical how bad the FX are in Damnation Alley, conveyer belts of bugs, small minitures floating in the water and the scorpions. It's a shame really as the truck is cool and I like both Peppard and JMV.
I remember the doomsday clock and stories based upon Cold War fears in stories written and from older relatives when growing up.
It's crazy that a movie with Hannibal and Stringfellow Hawke inspired much of the Fallout video game universe.
I got the feeling that this was shoved out as a sort of grudged release in the UK, at the time. As I recall, it opened in a cinema that was pretty much dying on its backside, and wasn't on for long. It was big chains like Odeon, and ABC cinemas that screened the likes of Star Wars, and CE3K.
The cinema that screened Damnation Alley closed not long after, and lay rotting for years, before becoming one of the 80s mega night clubs. It's now a Wetherspoons. Says it all...
It's Black Friday. The Best Buy's parking lot is full of those heavily-armed SUVs.
I've Airwolf teamed up with the A-Team...Wonder if Murdoch would lose it?!
I remember this one. I saw it on a trip to the UK in about 1983/4. I guess on TV there? The killer cockroaches stood out to me. I also saw the A Team in TV there before it came out here in NZ so years later I remember looking them both up because of George Peppard. He was also in Race for the Yankee Zephyr set and filmed in NZ. Another 'good' post apocalyptic film was 1982s Battletruck also filmed in NZ.
I remember watching this at the theater when I was 11 years old. The armor plated roaches scared the crap out of me.😱
way before sean bean, there was paul winfield, who dies in every movie he is in.
You've obviously never seen Carbon Copy.
Good movie!
I really like post apocalypse movies, and I really wanted to like Damnation Alley, but damn did the lack of money and support from the studio really hurt this one.
The vehicle was impressive. Nothing else about the movie was. In the book, Tanner's name is Hell and he's a Hell's Angels type biker, not a military man.
High powered winds is why no one could fly in the novel.
Stam is being very kind in his description of the crap visual and practical effects.
Early in the film, the Vincent character is riding across the desert with a woman on the back of the bike. He dumps her when the big scorpions turn up. Peppard gats mad, but the girl was only a dummy all along. Fine, except we had close up shots with a flesh-and-blood woman on the bike.
The scorpions looked like they were what they were, and would have ruined the verisimilitude if the woman/dummy switch didn't.
The mat of cockroaches being pulled by a string was the worst effect I think I have ever seen.
Please remember that 2001: A Space Odyssey was released 9 years before this dreck, and we 14-year-olds had standards for effects that this movie didn't remotely approach. Even Space: 1999 had finished its run by then with much better effects.
But
1: The Land-Master was beyond awesome,
and 2: The radioactive skies were pretty cool.
I finally saw this terd about 10 years ago. Hard to believe Fox thought this was gonna be their premier sci fi film of 1977. I think it's pretty much the worst of the post-apocalyptic films of the late '60s thru mid-'70s, including TV movies / pilots like Genesis II and Planet Earth from Gene Roddenberry, as well as Logan's Run, The Omega Man, Soylent Green, Beneath The Planet Of The Apes and so on...
@sunspot42 In all fairness, Damnation Alley could have been much better if it wasn't for Fox taking money away from the production and cutting it down to an hour and a half. I would like to see the uncut version; I think people would like that version more.
@ I can’t imagine that adding an extra half hour to this already slow moving trainwreck would somehow magically make it more enjoyable. There are several good actors in this thing, including George Peppard and Paul Winfield, and even their performances are lackluster. I suspect they realized pretty quickly there was no point even trying.
I also could never get over how incredibly cheap the production looks. Their budget was hardly low by 1977 standards.
The original working title of the film was something like "Damnation RUN"
IMO, had the producers left it at THAT, WITHOUT trying to tie it to Zelazny's book, I would have found it a mildly entertaining film.
As it is, having read the book YEARS before the film came out, and seeing that it bore 99% NO RELATION to Zelazny's work, it was a great disappointment
Actually read the novel....which isn't great, especially with its unlikeable and silly named hero 'Hell Tanner'. Not one of Zelazny's best (and he has written some good stuff) but the movie was fun.
Another Tale of Star Wars killed my movie.
Was this ever released in theaters? I always felt like it was made for TV.
Robert Wise turned down this film due to his concerns about the feasibility of creating the special effects sequences. How right he was.
A stock footage frenzy lifted from another George Peppard film "Operation Crossbow ".
There was a hawkwind song of the same name around that time
I want the much LONGER uncut version now.
Saw this at the drive-in as a double feature with Star Wars, back in the 70’s, with my Mum, Dad, and siblings, when I was eight or nine. I vaguely remember this movie, but can quote Star Wars from start to finish.
One of the only things I remember about it is the vehicle, and the mannequin. I didn’t even realise Peppard and Vincent were in it, let alone the kid who would become Rorschach.
Was there a scene where they had to drive through an area blind, with the windows being covered with metal sheets, to protect from extreme radiation, or am I confusing this with an episode from Battlestar Galactica?
Cheers,
Ah yes, it's the inspiration for Judge Dredd's Cursed Earth saga!
Yup, right down to the inbred hillbillies. A sober Jan Michael Vincent could have been a decent Dredd, though the accent might have been a problem).
Uh ... I don't think I've seen this, but I remember it somehow.
Saw this on tv, after the fact and it fit a little better, there, I thought....kind of like Killdozer or Genesis II. The review sums it up pretty well; but, I've always enjoyed it and own a copy on DVD (it got a Manufacture-on-Demand release, I believe, rather than a commercial pressing). Bought it at the same time I got Future World. Both aren't great movies but they have their moments. Lot of that in 70s sci-fi. If you are looking for suggestions, why not try Colossus, The Forbin Project? Nice little sci-fi thriller, solid cast, decent effects work, modest budget. James Camern swiped more than a little for Skynet. He just didn't get sued over it, like he did for his theft of Harlan Ellison's scripts, for The Outer Limits.
Has George Peppard always wore shoes to adjust his height or only once he got older?
Ark II (1976) and Damnation Alley (1977) are favourites of mine. Ark II is better but both are great.
So Fox execs thought this was the horse to back. Hilarious. The vehicle design also inspired a great 2000ad story called Hell Trekkers (or similar) where a group traverse the cursed earth to move out of mega city one. Deep cut but was basically this film, but better.
I am so glad Stam Fine got round to dealing with this lousy film. Finally, some payback for those three days we spent watching this tat. I know it was only 90 minutes, but it felt like 3 days.
Too many 80s TV show stars, don't cross the streams...
"Emergency Back Up Peter Falk" - Because you lost my carpet cleaning van. Goodbye.
Is it just or does Dominique Sanda resemble a young Glenn Close?
She also appeared in The Mackintosh Man, with Paul Newman and James Mason, as well as the French thriller The Crimson Rivers, nearly 30 years later.