I remember having this on VHS as a kid and watching it over and over cause I thought it was cool. Much like The A Team and Airwolf, it has not aged well. The funny thing is, my last duty station before I retired was at Joint Special Operations Base Los Alamitos in California. There was a Military Surplus store in Huntington Beach, and parked out front as a prop for God knows what reason was one of the Dune Buggies from this movie. I recognized it immediately and stopped. I asked the kid behind the counter and he confirmed it was a prop in some terrible 80’s movie called Megaforce. I was laughing when I watched this, as I still remembered the music. Especially the end credits rock song “Like a Megaforce.” On my third tour in Iraq I commanded a Joint Counter IED Task Force. We had members from several countries working together. Officially we were Task Force Troy, but I unofficially named us Megaforce. General Casey, the MNFI Commander probably had no idea of the existence of this movie, and I would always inwardly chuckle when it was my turn to brief at meetings and he would say, “What have you got for me Megaforce?” I’m 50 and retired now but watching this made me think of good times and old friends long gone, and it put a smile on my face. Despite its horribleness, it will always have a place in my heart.
Thanks for sharing that. It's funny how we can be attached to something we saw earlier in the life, no matter how terrible. I like a lot of movies that I know suck, but I have a deep nastalgia for them. This movie isn't one of them for me, haha. This was painful to sit through.
@@JasonBrant Yeah. There are lots of shows and films I loved as a kid, but trying to watch them now is painful. I’ll think, “What was wrong with me? WHY did I like this?” That’s why I’ve avoided rewatching Megaforce. I don’t want it ruined. Especially after having my job for so long. I would probably be screaming at the movie. “You have no ranks? Who is in charge? What about Unity of Command? Why don’t you have any air support? What kind of plan is that for a highly dangerous mission? Where is your OPORDER? WHAT ARE YOU FREAKING WEARING!?”
@@TheSniperGTO just for naming your squadron MEGAFORCE after this movie is enough to convince me that you sir are indeed a legend and I thank you for making me cry with laughter. Best laugh I've had in a long time 😂😂😂 an outstanding story and shall be shared amongst friends who also love 80s crap movies. 👍From scotland 🏴
Has no one mentioned that the lead actor is Barry Bostwick, from Rocky Horror Picture Show and Spin City? And "Dallas" is Michael Beck from The Warriors! Another great episode.
I love that for the final 1 minute of this video, the folds on Jason's t-shirt made it read "ANAL GUY" hehehe. Also, the elderly actor that you guys said must definitely have died by now... that's Edward Mulhare, from Knight Rider fame!!
@@JasonBrant Yeap. And both this movie and Knight Rider (season 1) came out in 1982, so it's good to see that this train-wreck didn't cost him the K.R. gig. He was an absolute gem in that.
The Director of this movie, Hal Needham, brought us such classics with Burt Reynolds such as Hooper, Stroker Ace, Cannonball Run 1 & 2, and about half a dozen Smokey and the Bandit Movies. Needham was a stuntman and stunt coordinator, he pretty much used mostly stunt people in his movies...
And all these years I though Bostwick was doing a bit in the Rocky Horror Picture Show and it turns out he's a method actor. What dedication to hang on to a character this long. Bravo.....bravo.
I think you guys should keep a Boswick Board to keep track of how many movies you watch where he shows up. I think the last one was Project Metalbeast? 😹😹
I saw this in the theaters with my dad. My dad likes movies - especially ones he paid for. This was the only movie he called lame. His exact quote - Yea, you gotta be lame to advertise on the back of Comic Books! This was advertised, as stated on the back of Comic Books.
As an aside: that remark about driving into town and finding a coke dealer to get your energy levels back up might just be the most GenX thing ever said on YT. That and the joke about raucous post-action sex and giant tubes of KY. It's hillarious to read that Hal Needham AND Barry Bostwick apparently thought they were both making cinematic history with this abomination...
Have to admit, after watching this in the theater as a kid, I asked my mom to make me a Megaforce jumpsuit costume. I lived as a member of Megaforce for month until I became a GI Joe nut soon after. It wasn't my best time but boy did I battle Henry Silva's Guerera in the neighborhood for a few weeks. Damn, that was a cool move. No, you can't see the pics.
So i noticed nobody in the comments is talking about the female lead, so let me learn you. She was Persis Khambatta, Miss India 1965 and she played Lieutenent Ilia in Star Trek : the motion picture (1979). She had a few roles in Bollywood movies and played in a few movies like Megaforce, namely Nighthawks,Warrior of the Lost world (episode 01 of season 5 of MST3K!) and She-Wolves of the Wasteland . She presented the Academy Awards in 1980. Her later years were kind of unlucky, she had some cameos in MacGyver and similar shows,then sadly died at 49 of an heart attack.
Look, I suffered through this abortion in original release (Howard Hodge Theater, Midland, Texas) in 1982, and here in 2021 it sucked many magnitudes worse. This is on a par with 'Manos, Hands of Fate" or 1960's b/w drivers ed training films. NO plot, NO score, NO acting----ZERO! Curse you for inflicting this upon me again!
Manos is worse by far. At least here you could tell both Bostwick and Henry Silva were having some fun with the material unlike Manos The Hands of Fate where it frankly looked like the actors in that disaster were two steps away from committing suicide or something.
@@alucard624 On the other hand (heh) Manos was made with pocket change for a budget and community theatre actors, while Megaforce had a 20mil budget. Hard to pinpoint which was worse
You get the feeling from Bostwick's performance that he felt cheated on Rocky Horror by having to play the straight laced character, and so he's making up for it by camping the ever loving $hit out of this performance....
This is a personal favourite. I remember watching it when I was like 12 and thinking "WTF did I just see?" Totally silent, flying machinegun/rocket toting bikes and buggies going after tanks. What's not to like? That the protagonist looked like a mix between Björn Borg and Barry Gibb with a single eyebrow, dressed for combat like the space navy of "Spaceballs" only made it better! It was like "Let's mix all the cheesiest gadgets from James Bond and let's max their cheesiness out". Funny how my teenager self back then reacted the same way you do.
Thank you for putting yourselves through this! Barry Bostwick (headband guy) starred in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". The dark-haired girl is Persis Khambatta, who starred in one of the Star Trek movies (the first one, I think). Yep, I'm old. Fun Fact I just gleaned from IMDb - they didn't have a costume designer, all the outfits were designed by Mattel - they obviously planned to make a fortune in action figures that never materialized. - ETA 6:25 oh dear, I'm pretty sure you're supposed to wear something underneath.
That makes sense. Seems like everything in the 80s was just a vehicle for toys. Every cartoon was explicitly to market toys to kids, and as a kid in the 80s, I was all for it; we had the coolest toys of any generation.
I was living in Vegas, working at Nellis USAF Base when this was filmed. A bunch of us volunteered to be extras and supply our own weapons. They used the National Guard instead. It Sucked a big one.
I can't imagine being there when they shot this turd. Too bad you didn't get in the background... would have been cool to say you were in one of the biggest turkies ever filmed.
I may not have scrolled down far enough, but I recall reading that from its inception, Megaforce was intended to be the launch of a toy line( as well as many sequels).
I adored this movie as a kid, came back to it in my late 20’s and fully didn’t understand the plot - nor did other friends in 1L at Penn, and came to love it dearly. For a time I became Ace Hunter on MySpace and want nothing more than one of the “MegaDestroyer” dune buggies that come up for sale every few years. I mean, you love ‘em in red and you love ‘em in blue - but most of all you love ‘em in blue, right?
I saw this when I was a kid and in my now aged mind I melded this with Delta Force and thought Chuck Norris flew his motorcycle into the hatch of a plane. This clears up so much.
I recommend watching "Order of the black eagle" You get the bad Nazis, a Baboon driving a Tank, Adolf H. , Pyramids, Western Shootouts, Speedboat Action, James Bond Gadgets and lots of Explosions. What else can you ask for?! 😂
RedLetterMedia's Rich Evans coined a word that describes the pathetic attempts at humor in movies like Megaforce, perfectly: "Non-medy." This movie does it tenaciously, to the point where I think the writer seriously thought he was killing it.
The general went on to play Devon Miles on Knight Rider. I'm not sure, the motorcycles may have been reused on the spinoff of Battlestar Galactica, Galactica 1980, which had the same production values. And the Director also brought us such Burt Reynolds classic like Cannonball Run, and Hooper. He was a former stuntman...
Just discovered your channel. I'm a 70s kid, and I remember seeing the ads in the comic books and thinking it was a live action gi joe movie. I remember being a kid and being super excited that it was the movie playing on our flight but being very confused. Looking back on it not sure if the flight attendants said the movie was 'broken' or if it did play but was so different from what I'd imagined I didn't even realize I'd seen the movie. Leaning more towards the flight attendants refusing to deal with customer complaints about this drek. Think I ended up seeing it on tv, but it did *not* get a lot of play for obvious reasons.
This almost reminded me of a movie with motorcycles with cages around them, like an external roll bars fighting some people in the desert mountains. Been a long time ago since I’ve seen it. I can’t find it and forgot the name but it’s from the 80s
@@joelcraig9803 no but that is also pretty good I remember watching that back then. There’s some odd looking mobile headquarters and dune buggies I think along with the futuristic motorcycles with roll cages built around them. It was based in canyon and desert setting. I wish I could remember more I’m still looking on internet no luck. Thanks tho!
My god. I remember this film from when I was a kid. I was convinced it was a fever dream from when I was REALLY sick as a kid………..now I wish it had been 😂
Just came across your channel and I love it dude. I was born in 1981 and had an older brother and an even older cousin and I've seen so many of the movies you have on here. The nostalgia is real. Very happy to subscribe. Keep it up man.
Interesting that this was cited as one of the inspirations for Parker and Stones "Team America: World Police", a movie that's actually one of the funniest ever created. (But then, how can you go wrong with marionettes having sex.)
I did the research and found out the budget on this movie was around $20 million. It's AWFUL. Barry Bostwick and Michael Beck are not bad actors but this whole mess made them march in step to all its vices.
They're both clearly having a good time in this film so I doubt they really cared how bad it was. Hell, Michael Beck to this day refuses to talk shit about the film since it paid for his first house.
Surprised that in all the comment trivia that no one pointed out that this films producer credit is Albert S Ruddy, literally ‘from the Producer of The Godfather’. A real missed opportunity for the cover art.
I have to think the scene in this movie where the man and the woman are seen conversing in silhouette was the inspiration for the same scene years later in Austin Powers
What I found surprising about this movie (apart from the fact it sucked WAY more than I expected) was just how someone like Hal Needham, who made Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run could make a movie that got the comedy so WRONG. S&B and CR were HILARIOUS. Megaforce is AWFUL. You can see that Needham put stunts in that were there for no other reason than he was a stunt man and had some cash to burn...the story was awful, the casting of well known stars was atrocious and yielded awful performances. The film just seemed like a mess. devoid of direction, plot, consistent theme, purpose etc. Yet another film that makes you wonder what the execs were smoking when they green lit it?
This movie has so much history. It was a childhood fav . The director of Smokey and the bandit made this rumor has it he wanted Burt Reynolds. To play Ace .
As terrible as this movie is in retrospect.. I actually have fond memories of watching this movie in the THEATER with my father and grandfather who are both now gone…and as a 7-9year old (I’m now 49) the flying motorcycle was the coolest thing I’d seen hahah As bad as this movie is…it can never be truly bad to me-but thanks for watching and reviewing a movie that triggered some really good memories :)
I did Jason…and yes looking at your review the movie looks as cheesy as can be …but the 7-8 year old me remembers this movie very differently. I was pretty easy to please as a kid haha
Check out the theme song by the group 707. Total 80s rock. I can't lie, my brothers and I loved the song when it came out! We did grow up under power lines if that's of any relevance.
I saw this in the theater when it was released, from the post star wars era where if you could put together a passable tv commercial for a flick you could steal the money I stole from my mom.
Yep as a boomer, there was a reason that my dad gave me the stare of murder, when his 6 year old wanted to leave this on the SelecTv, but I didn't get to see it, and dodged a bullet I discovered much later in life, and props I couldn't finish it.
Dude, the bandana guy, it's Barry Bostwick ! I kept sitting here going "I know that face", you're slippin bud, I kept waiting for you to call it, but I'll let slide due too copious amounts of beer XD
Costumes designed by Mattel lololol! "You know what's good about this film? It's plausible." - Barry Bostwick "It's like no other movie ever made before. And the machines we've built are extraordinary. There's one other thing. Although there's a lot of action, you don't see anyone get killed. I think people are beginning to get sick of that kind of thing. What we've tried to do here is make an entertaining film with some believable heroes the public can cheer for." - Director Hal Needham
If I remember right, this was directed by Hal Needham who did Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run. I don't think even Burt Reynolds could have save this one, though.
What in the ever loving fuck was that?! I think shitting out a horses femur covered in broken glass while suffering a migraine and having my fingers crushed in a large set of gears would only be slightly more painful than this. Holy hell was that awful. That dude wearing the spandex unitard with the "super thanks for asking" headband is priceless. Hahaha wow!!!!!
When I was 10 I asked my parents to take me to see this. They refused and I was bummed out. A year or so later it came out on HBO and I was like, "Oh, now I see".
This was a movie made by a guy named Hal Needham who was a long time stunt coordinator for Burt Reynold's movies. He also did the Cannonball Run movies
I saw this in the 80s and immediately forgot about it, until now. A lot of money had been sunk into this abomination, mostly spent on vehicle design in collaboration with Mattel. They thought it was going to be a huge hit, with two sequels planned. The director was partly inspired by Ronald Reagan (?). Of course it flopped, yet one could buy Hot Wheels branded Megaforce vehicles, which I imagine gathered dust on shelves. Oh, and Ace's gold spandex body stocking costume? Designed by a toy company!
ha! mattel is still getting mileage from the dune buggies!! they re-release them every few years! (last time i saw one was in a jurassic park hot wheels pack, they changed the rear gun into a camera and painted it a lime green(ish) color. last year! before that it was in another jurassic park set, tan with black tiger stripes! and before that..another jurassic park set? wtf?... lets just say used megaforce dune buggies are very popular within the dinosaur hunting community.
@@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842 yeah! that's ''nostalgia prices'' though, the whole ''i want the original one from my childhood'' is strong with those! i don't think that buggy has been out of production since the 80s for more than a year or two. and every time i see them i remember that horrible movie! lol!
There's a lot of people from Knight Rider in this movie! Devin Miles is the OLD guy and the Asian guy on the bike was in the episode involving a bank, tunnel and (most importantly) Margo Sheridan
I had some MegaForce toys as a kid: ludicrously oversized war machines, like a giant tank that had a hundred-man crew and carried around normal tanks on its back. If I had watched this movie thinking it was going to match those toys, I would have been sooooooooo disappointed....
The guy with the cowboy hat that says "there ain't no rank in megaforce" is the lead actor from The Warriors, Michael Beck. This sad film was after he did Xanadu with Olivia Newton John.
I was so sure I'd seen this before - turns out RiffTrax actually did a... well, riff of it. Sadly it's no longer available, but if you can 'somehow' track down a copy of it, I do believe it's the only way to actually make it through the film in one piece. EDIT: Also, that chick is totally the same one from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I recognised her immediately from her... assets.
Oh man, this was set to be the next huge franchise. They advertised in comic books, made a toy line, and even had an Atari game. I saw it when it came on HBO at about 9 years old and even at 9, I thought it blew. It committed the cardinal sin of being both cheesy AND boring as hell.
@@JasonBrant true story. They were Marvel (I didn't read DC) but I can't remember the exact titles. If you image search "Megaforce comic ad" you can see what they look like.
Somewhere there is an alternative universe where Megaforce became a hit, had five sequels and is now being rebooted.
Yeah man,phase two the Megaforce multiverse was the craziest.
It will never cease to amaze me that this movie was made the same year as Blade Runner, with a nearly equivalent budget.
Oh, damn. I didn't even about that.
Most of Megaforce's budget was spent on blow it seems.
20 million dollars to make a TV movie basically.
No way. That's impossible
Holy shit ! You serious ?
I remember having this on VHS as a kid and watching it over and over cause I thought it was cool. Much like The A Team and Airwolf, it has not aged well. The funny thing is, my last duty station before I retired was at Joint Special Operations Base Los Alamitos in California. There was a Military Surplus store in Huntington Beach, and parked out front as a prop for God knows what reason was one of the Dune Buggies from this movie. I recognized it immediately and stopped. I asked the kid behind the counter and he confirmed it was a prop in some terrible 80’s movie called Megaforce.
I was laughing when I watched this, as I still remembered the music. Especially the end credits rock song “Like a Megaforce.” On my third tour in Iraq I commanded a Joint Counter IED Task Force. We had members from several countries working together. Officially we were Task Force Troy, but I unofficially named us Megaforce. General Casey, the MNFI Commander probably had no idea of the existence of this movie, and I would always inwardly chuckle when it was my turn to brief at meetings and he would say, “What have you got for me Megaforce?” I’m 50 and retired now but watching this made me think of good times and old friends long gone, and it put a smile on my face. Despite its horribleness, it will always have a place in my heart.
Thanks for sharing that. It's funny how we can be attached to something we saw earlier in the life, no matter how terrible. I like a lot of movies that I know suck, but I have a deep nastalgia for them.
This movie isn't one of them for me, haha. This was painful to sit through.
@@JasonBrant Yeah. There are lots of shows and films I loved as a kid, but trying to watch them now is painful. I’ll think, “What was wrong with me? WHY did I like this?” That’s why I’ve avoided rewatching Megaforce. I don’t want it ruined. Especially after having my job for so long. I would probably be screaming at the movie. “You have no ranks? Who is in charge? What about Unity of Command? Why don’t you have any air support? What kind of plan is that for a highly dangerous mission? Where is your OPORDER? WHAT ARE YOU FREAKING WEARING!?”
@@TheSniperGTO You summed up the movie well 🤣
Yeah this definitely hits me differently as an adult than it did as a kid. 😭 clearly kids are f**king gullible lool 😭😂😂
@@TheSniperGTO just for naming your squadron MEGAFORCE after this movie is enough to convince me that you sir are indeed a legend and I thank you for making me cry with laughter.
Best laugh I've had in a long time 😂😂😂 an outstanding story and shall be shared amongst friends who also love 80s crap movies.
👍From scotland 🏴
Has no one mentioned that the lead actor is Barry Bostwick, from Rocky Horror Picture Show and Spin City? And "Dallas" is Michael Beck from The Warriors!
Another great episode.
We talked about Bostwick in the full length reaction, but it didn't make the cut. Didn't pick up on Michael Beck though. Good catch!
Well, now I feel like a fool. A fool! ;)
@@ErikSmith57 Also the dude from Kinght Rider.
Yeah!
Yup, Devin from nightrider.
“Raucous, ape-like sex” has to be one of the best delivered lines in this series so far
Thanks! I'll blame that nugget on beer.
Weirdly enough, Apes fuck like old people cuz they're tiny down there
I love that for the final 1 minute of this video, the folds on Jason's t-shirt made it read "ANAL GUY" hehehe. Also, the elderly actor that you guys said must definitely have died by now... that's Edward Mulhare, from Knight Rider fame!!
It is? No kidding. And yeah, my shirt betrayed me there.
@@JasonBrant Yeap. And both this movie and Knight Rider (season 1) came out in 1982, so it's good to see that this train-wreck didn't cost him the K.R. gig. He was an absolute gem in that.
I thought the same thing too. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…
@@bradforddillman7671 Apt, actually, if based on the preceding scene
I recognized his voice before I even saw his face.
The Director of this movie, Hal Needham, brought us such classics with Burt Reynolds such as Hooper, Stroker Ace, Cannonball Run 1 & 2, and about half a dozen Smokey and the Bandit Movies. Needham was a stuntman and stunt coordinator, he pretty much used mostly stunt people in his movies...
That flying motorcycle scene at the end is an all time classic
I love Dave’s laugh. It reminds me of John Candy!
And all these years I though Bostwick was doing a bit in the Rocky Horror Picture Show and it turns out he's a method actor. What dedication to hang on to a character this long. Bravo.....bravo.
Hah! The man is a legend.
I think you guys should keep a Boswick Board to keep track of how many movies you watch where he shows up.
I think the last one was Project Metalbeast? 😹😹
Bostwick rules. He was clearly having a good time with the part.
The cowboy guy is Swan from "The Warriors" 1979 - an absolute classic. Broke me to watch him in this sh@t....
Ohh, good catch.
Don’t forget Xanadu. A secret shame of mine
@@bradforddillman7671 Perhaps Michael was miscast in Warriors. From those skills he would have made a great Vance. Roller disco forever!
I've had this movie on my watch list for a long time. It's no longer on my watch list. Thank you for your service. ('-')7
That's a good call. Saved yourself a lot of suffering.
@@JasonBrant Had any luck sourcing the 1990 masterpiece "Street Hunter" starring American Ninja's Steve James?
@@mdmagnusson I haven't looked for it yet, but it's on my list. Love me some Steve James.
Don’t you want a good laugh every now and then at it’s cheesiness?
I saw this in the theaters with my dad. My dad likes movies - especially ones he paid for. This was the only movie he called lame. His exact quote - Yea, you gotta be lame to advertise on the back of Comic Books! This was advertised, as stated on the back of Comic Books.
Nobody "made" this movie -it appeared out of nowhere as a manifestation of nothingness.
Nothingness is a good descriptor for this movie.
More like an ingrown hemorrhoid
Reminds me of what Bruce Campbell said about Evil Dead 2 back in the day. "It wasn't released, it escaped."
As an aside: that remark about driving into town and finding a coke dealer to get your energy levels back up might just be the most GenX thing ever said on YT. That and the joke about raucous post-action sex and giant tubes of KY. It's hillarious to read that Hal Needham AND Barry Bostwick apparently thought they were both making cinematic history with this abomination...
Have to admit, after watching this in the theater as a kid, I asked my mom to make me a Megaforce jumpsuit costume. I lived as a member of Megaforce for month until I became a GI Joe nut soon after. It wasn't my best time but boy did I battle Henry Silva's Guerera in the neighborhood for a few weeks. Damn, that was a cool move. No, you can't see the pics.
So i noticed nobody in the comments is talking about the female lead, so let me learn you. She was Persis Khambatta, Miss India 1965 and she played Lieutenent Ilia in Star Trek : the motion picture (1979). She had a few roles in Bollywood movies and played in a few movies like Megaforce, namely Nighthawks,Warrior of the Lost world (episode 01 of season 5 of MST3K!) and She-Wolves of the Wasteland . She presented the Academy Awards in 1980. Her later years were kind of unlucky, she had some cameos in MacGyver and similar shows,then sadly died at 49 of an heart attack.
Look, I suffered through this abortion in original release (Howard Hodge Theater, Midland, Texas) in 1982, and here in 2021 it sucked many magnitudes worse. This is on a par with 'Manos, Hands of Fate" or 1960's b/w drivers ed training films. NO plot, NO score, NO acting----ZERO! Curse you for inflicting this upon me again!
😅
Manos is worse by far. At least here you could tell both Bostwick and Henry Silva were having some fun with the material unlike Manos The Hands of Fate where it frankly looked like the actors in that disaster were two steps away from committing suicide or something.
@@alucard624 On the other hand (heh) Manos was made with pocket change for a budget and community theatre actors, while Megaforce had a 20mil budget. Hard to pinpoint which was worse
I remember the Megaforce toys when I was a kid! They were great! Then you saw the movie and...nah, I don't want to play with these anymore!
You get the feeling from Bostwick's performance that he felt cheated on Rocky Horror by having to play the straight laced character, and so he's making up for it by camping the ever loving $hit out of this performance....
This is a personal favourite. I remember watching it when I was like 12 and thinking "WTF did I just see?" Totally silent, flying machinegun/rocket toting bikes and buggies going after tanks. What's not to like? That the protagonist looked like a mix between Björn Borg and Barry Gibb with a single eyebrow, dressed for combat like the space navy of "Spaceballs" only made it better! It was like "Let's mix all the cheesiest gadgets from James Bond and let's max their cheesiness out". Funny how my teenager self back then reacted the same way you do.
Thank you for putting yourselves through this! Barry Bostwick (headband guy) starred in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". The dark-haired girl is Persis Khambatta, who starred in one of the Star Trek movies (the first one, I think). Yep, I'm old.
Fun Fact I just gleaned from IMDb - they didn't have a costume designer, all the outfits were designed by Mattel - they obviously planned to make a fortune in action figures that never materialized.
- ETA 6:25 oh dear, I'm pretty sure you're supposed to wear something underneath.
Yeah... we all know Bostwick's length 🤣
Yes, she was in Star Trek, called everyone (name)unit.
That makes sense. Seems like everything in the 80s was just a vehicle for toys. Every cartoon was explicitly to market toys to kids, and as a kid in the 80s, I was all for it; we had the coolest toys of any generation.
OMG! The mayor from _Spin City_ 😃
When you let toy company execs make a Delta Force movie. But they spend most of the budget on coke and gigalos.
🤣 🤣
I was living in Vegas, working at Nellis USAF Base when this was filmed. A bunch of us volunteered to be extras and supply our own weapons. They used the National Guard instead. It Sucked a big one.
I can't imagine being there when they shot this turd. Too bad you didn't get in the background... would have been cool to say you were in one of the biggest turkies ever filmed.
I may not have scrolled down far enough, but I recall reading that from its inception, Megaforce was intended to be the launch of a toy line( as well as many sequels).
I think I could literally make a more realistic flying motorcycle scene in my backyard using wires and a tree. Fucking absurd.
No doubt.
"We've got this new technology called "green screen"! (or blue I forget) ..."And by God, we are going to use the HELL out of it!!!"
I adored this movie as a kid, came back to it in my late 20’s and fully didn’t understand the plot - nor did other friends in 1L at Penn, and came to love it dearly. For a time I became Ace Hunter on MySpace and want nothing more than one of the “MegaDestroyer” dune buggies that come up for sale every few years. I mean, you love ‘em in red and you love ‘em in blue - but most of all you love ‘em in blue, right?
I could see loving this as a kid.
@@JasonBrant It was the closest thing to a live action GI Joe flick back then for most kids.
WOW, that was a brutal movie!!!!! Anyway, everyone needs a friend like Dave. He's the kind of buddy that makes having friends fun!!!!
I saw this in the theater as a kid and absolutely LOVED it!!
Jason I expected more from you during that ski dive scene. dammit man you're a professional you got this!
🤣
MegaForce his cheesetastic! The scene chewing from Bostic and Silva is great.And the flying bike is IMMORTAL!!!!
I saw this when I was a kid and in my now aged mind I melded this with Delta Force and thought Chuck Norris flew his motorcycle into the hatch of a plane. This clears up so much.
It actually IS my ringtone LOL..This movie was my favorite as a kid. I used to ride my BMX bike around pretending to be firing missles from it
Watching this movie looks like it would inflict SEVERE PAIN on me.
I recommend watching "Order of the black eagle" You get the bad Nazis, a Baboon driving a Tank, Adolf H. , Pyramids, Western Shootouts, Speedboat Action, James Bond Gadgets and lots of Explosions. What else can you ask for?! 😂
Sold! Added to the list.
Don’t forget a stunt man getting his head run over with an ATV
RedLetterMedia's Rich Evans coined a word that describes the pathetic attempts at humor in movies like Megaforce, perfectly: "Non-medy." This movie does it tenaciously, to the point where I think the writer seriously thought he was killing it.
That's a good descriptor. The writer definitely thought they were hilarious.
I can't believe this was directed by the same guy that gave us Smokey & the Bandit.
The general went on to play Devon Miles on Knight Rider. I'm not sure, the motorcycles may have been reused on the spinoff of Battlestar Galactica, Galactica 1980, which had the same production values.
And the Director also brought us such Burt Reynolds classic like Cannonball Run, and Hooper. He was a former stuntman...
I freaked out when I saw Edward Mulhare Knight Rider is one of my favorite shows
Just discovered your channel. I'm a 70s kid, and I remember seeing the ads in the comic books and thinking it was a live action gi joe movie. I remember being a kid and being super excited that it was the movie playing on our flight but being very confused. Looking back on it not sure if the flight attendants said the movie was 'broken' or if it did play but was so different from what I'd imagined I didn't even realize I'd seen the movie. Leaning more towards the flight attendants refusing to deal with customer complaints about this drek. Think I ended up seeing it on tv, but it did *not* get a lot of play for obvious reasons.
This almost reminded me of a movie with motorcycles with cages around them, like an external roll bars fighting some people in the desert mountains. Been a long time ago since I’ve seen it. I can’t find it and forgot the name but it’s from the 80s
Sounds interesting. Let me know if you think of it.
Are you talking about Space Hunter: adventures in the forbidden zone?
@@joelcraig9803 no but that is also pretty good I remember watching that back then. There’s some odd looking mobile headquarters and dune buggies I think along with the futuristic motorcycles with roll cages built around them. It was based in canyon and desert setting. I wish I could remember more I’m still looking on internet no luck. Thanks tho!
@@joelcraig9803 Love that movie. Definitely another one that Jason and the gang should check out down the road.
is it Solarbabies?@@pmp2559
My god. I remember this film from when I was a kid. I was convinced it was a fever dream from when I was REALLY sick as a kid………..now I wish it had been 😂
Just came across your channel and I love it dude. I was born in 1981 and had an older brother and an even older cousin and I've seen so many of the movies you have on here. The nostalgia is real. Very happy to subscribe. Keep it up man.
Welcome aboard! Thanks so much, Nick.
Interesting that this was cited as one of the inspirations for Parker and Stones "Team America: World Police", a movie that's actually one of the funniest ever created. (But then, how can you go wrong with marionettes having sex.)
One of those movies is hilarious... the other is MegaForce.
I was thinking that set at 08:22 reminded me of Durkadurkastan...
OMG! How did I miss that you did a review of this movie? It is awesome!!!
3:11 that's the dude from Fistful of Yen (Kentucky Fried Movie), and he was in Caveman.
This is the best Christmas marathon binge ever!! Merry Christmas and if you’ve found this channel you have found entertainment gold..!!!! 🎩🎩🥃🥃
Thanks! Merry Christmas!
I did the research and found out the budget on this movie was around $20 million. It's AWFUL. Barry Bostwick and Michael Beck are not bad actors but this whole mess made them march in step to all its vices.
That's an insane price tag for such a boring movie.
It was financed by Golden Harvest so I can see this as being for some money laundering purpose
MegaMoney Laundering
They're both clearly having a good time in this film so I doubt they really cared how bad it was. Hell, Michael Beck to this day refuses to talk shit about the film since it paid for his first house.
Surprised that in all the comment trivia that no one pointed out that this films producer credit is Albert S Ruddy, literally ‘from the Producer of The Godfather’. A real missed opportunity for the cover art.
Thanks for the info.
That flying motorcycle scene has to be the WORST use of special effects in history
I have to think the scene in this movie where the man and the woman are seen conversing in silhouette was the inspiration for the same scene years later in Austin Powers
What I found surprising about this movie (apart from the fact it sucked WAY more than I expected) was just how someone like Hal Needham, who made Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run could make a movie that got the comedy so WRONG. S&B and CR were HILARIOUS. Megaforce is AWFUL. You can see that Needham put stunts in that were there for no other reason than he was a stunt man and had some cash to burn...the story was awful, the casting of well known stars was atrocious and yielded awful performances. The film just seemed like a mess. devoid of direction, plot, consistent theme, purpose etc. Yet another film that makes you wonder what the execs were smoking when they green lit it?
This movie has so much history. It was a childhood fav . The director of Smokey and the bandit made this rumor has it he wanted Burt Reynolds. To play Ace .
Devon from Knight Rider was like, “how can I parlay my amazing fame into film? Wait, what ?! Mega force!? Bring it!!!”
10:28 That whole moment with the spouse is evidence of losing brain cells from watching something really terrible. haha.
🤣 🤣
As terrible as this movie is in retrospect.. I actually have fond memories of watching this movie in the THEATER with my father and grandfather who are both now gone…and as a 7-9year old (I’m now 49) the flying motorcycle was the coolest thing I’d seen hahah
As bad as this movie is…it can never be truly bad to me-but thanks for watching and reviewing a movie that triggered some really good memories :)
Did you mean to comment this on Megaforce?
I did Jason…and yes looking at your review the movie looks as cheesy as can be …but the 7-8 year old me remembers this movie very differently. I was pretty easy to please as a kid haha
Section. A group of tanks that size is a section. That's the word you're looking for. You guys rock.
You sure it isn't a gaggle?
@@JasonBrant For a movie like that, calling it a gaggle would actually be much more plausible.
I love jumping into cheese. Very cheesy and yet...still fantastic
Check out the theme song by the group 707. Total 80s rock. I can't lie, my brothers and I loved the song when it came out! We did grow up under power lines if that's of any relevance.
🤣 🤣 I'll check out the song, thanks.
@@JasonBrant The song and Bostwicks overly enthusiastic acting are the best things about this movie.
I saw this in the theater when it was released, from the post star wars era where if you could put together a passable tv commercial for a flick you could steal the money I stole from my mom.
🤣
Yep as a boomer, there was a reason that my dad gave me the stare of murder, when his 6 year old wanted to leave this on the SelecTv, but I didn't get to see it, and dodged a bullet I discovered much later in life, and props I couldn't finish it.
It's brutal.
You guys are heroes. I mean absolute Trojans! Your suffering is legendary.
After you scratched your neck at 13:04 until end credits your shirt was ruffled to say "anal guy" I loled much more then I should have
God damn it, I just came here to point that out lol.
Dude, the bandana guy, it's Barry Bostwick ! I kept sitting here going "I know that face", you're slippin bud, I kept waiting for you to call it, but I'll let slide due too copious amounts of beer XD
Costumes designed by Mattel lololol!
"You know what's good about this film? It's plausible." - Barry Bostwick
"It's like no other movie ever made before. And the machines we've built are extraordinary. There's one other thing. Although there's a lot of action, you don't see anyone get killed. I think people are beginning to get sick of that kind of thing. What we've tried to do here is make an entertaining film with some believable heroes the public can cheer for." - Director Hal Needham
This got plenty of run time on HBO in the 80’s and I loved it!
You know when you're drunk when you guys failed to look up Barry Bostwick and then start going over the term of venery of tanks. Keep em coming.
We were pretty hammered 🤣 🤣
Nice shirt Dave! Love my Flyers!!!
If I remember right, this was directed by Hal Needham who did Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run. I don't think even Burt Reynolds could have save this one, though.
This had the same director? That blows my mind!
Hal Needam directed the greatest movie ever made, RAD!
@@chrisingram9798 Haven't seen that one.
This is like a terrible episode series on GI Joe, but I don't want to ask my mom to get the toys
"A gaggle of tanks would CORE OUT that entire Megaforce."
XD
What in the ever loving fuck was that?! I think shitting out a horses femur covered in broken glass while suffering a migraine and having my fingers crushed in a large set of gears would only be slightly more painful than this. Holy hell was that awful. That dude wearing the spandex unitard with the "super thanks for asking" headband is priceless. Hahaha wow!!!!!
When I was 10 I asked my parents to take me to see this. They refused and I was bummed out. A year or so later it came out on HBO and I was like, "Oh, now I see".
I loved this movie as a kid. Especially the flying motorcycle.
Have you seen it since?
I was 11 when I saw Magaforce at the movies and loved it. At 12 it hit HBO and watched it every chance I got!
Jason's Shirt at 13:29. Well... I say you have a lot of confidence to declare that :)
I have no shame.
This was a movie made by a guy named Hal Needham who was a long time stunt coordinator for Burt Reynold's movies. He also did the Cannonball Run movies
Thanks for the info.
So many recognizable faces (Edward Mulhare, Henry Silva), unbelievable... The '80s were a strange decade.
That's a good description of the 80's.
I saw this in the 80s and immediately forgot about it, until now. A lot of money had been sunk into this abomination, mostly spent on vehicle design in collaboration with Mattel. They thought it was going to be a huge hit, with two sequels planned. The director was partly inspired by Ronald Reagan (?). Of course it flopped, yet one could buy Hot Wheels branded Megaforce vehicles, which I imagine gathered dust on shelves. Oh, and Ace's gold spandex body stocking costume? Designed by a toy company!
You would think these companies would learn from debacles like this, but they never do. Thanks for the info!
ha! mattel is still getting mileage from the dune buggies!! they re-release them every few years! (last time i saw one was in a jurassic park hot wheels pack, they changed the rear gun into a camera and painted it a lime green(ish) color. last year! before that it was in another jurassic park set, tan with black tiger stripes! and before that..another jurassic park set? wtf?... lets just say used megaforce dune buggies are very popular within the dinosaur hunting community.
@@josephlinardi2929 I had a few of the megaforce hot wheel vehicles. They were sweet. And, now they're fairly pricy on eBay.
@@kestonsoldschoolcomicbooks6842 yeah! that's ''nostalgia prices'' though, the whole ''i want the original one from my childhood'' is strong with those! i don't think that buggy has been out of production since the 80s for more than a year or two. and every time i see them i remember that horrible movie! lol!
I saw that movie when released in theaters...I was too young so I did not realized how bad it is.
You had me at ACE HUNTER. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
There's a lot of people from Knight Rider in this movie! Devin Miles is the OLD guy and the Asian guy on the bike was in the episode involving a bank, tunnel and (most importantly) Margo Sheridan
2009... that conversation was genius
I had some MegaForce toys as a kid: ludicrously oversized war machines, like a giant tank that had a hundred-man crew and carried around normal tanks on its back. If I had watched this movie thinking it was going to match those toys, I would have been sooooooooo disappointed....
Legit saw this in theaters as a kid. My brother and I loved it at the time, lmao..
Wow, that's a young Barry Bostwick!
The guy with the cowboy hat that says "there ain't no rank in megaforce" is the lead actor from The Warriors, Michael Beck. This sad film was after he did Xanadu with Olivia Newton John.
"its like watching an Adam Sandler movie" Perfect definition.
Keep in mind, this had a 20m budget.
I'm glad skoal shirt boy made up for that performance in the "Warriors".
🤣 🤣
As a kid I watched this movie a gazillion times.
I was so sure I'd seen this before - turns out RiffTrax actually did a... well, riff of it. Sadly it's no longer available, but if you can 'somehow' track down a copy of it, I do believe it's the only way to actually make it through the film in one piece.
EDIT: Also, that chick is totally the same one from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I recognised her immediately from her... assets.
I haven't seen that from them, but I'm sure it was great. We made it through this movie, but it wasn't easy. Lots of beer guided us through.
@@JasonBrant Your suffering is appreciated. As was your "That's when they stopped being spouses" line. T'was a brief ray of sunshine.
Haha! His brain completely died during that. Dunno what was happening with him.
i vaguely recall seeing this as a kid when it came out. I didn't know Swan from the Warriors (one of my faves) was in it.
Love your channel fellas, spend the whole time laughing so hard either at the terrible movie or your pain. Let’s Go Islanders by the way!
Thanks so much! You misspelled Penguins, by the way.
Oh man, this was set to be the next huge franchise. They advertised in comic books, made a toy line, and even had an Atari game. I saw it when it came on HBO at about 9 years old and even at 9, I thought it blew. It committed the cardinal sin of being both cheesy AND boring as hell.
I had comic books with hand drawn ads for this movie.
Really?
@@JasonBrant true story. They were Marvel (I didn't read DC) but I can't remember the exact titles. If you image search "Megaforce comic ad" you can see what they look like.
This movie sucks harder than the vacuum of space, but it's amazing.
Cannot stop watching these lol.
That's a huge compliment. Thanks!
@@JasonBrant it's a lot of fun bro :)
I paid money to see this when it came out. I remember the promo for it in comic books.
You poor SOB.
"The only way this is palpable..."
Might as well be tangible, dude, as there's no way this crapfest could ever be palatable...
Dudes head band screams "flash dance" lol
You called him Barry Gibbs! Ba haaa🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣