The action set pieces are competently done and reasonably exciting, but lack that extra zing to pack more of a powerful impact. Richard Band's robust'n'rousing orchestral score works overtime to pump some energy into the generally limp proceedings. Mac Alhberg's rough, but fairly slick widescreen cinematography makes nice occasional use of strenuous slow motion, offers a few groovy psychedelic and atmospheric smoky visual flourishes, and shoots the dusty'n'desolate locations in an effectively gritty manner. David Smith is appropriately repellent as Jared-Syn's vicious and hideously disfigured son Baal. The lovely Kelly Preston as Dyana makes for a suitably plucky and fetching damsel in distress, veteran character actor Larry Pennell briefly pops up as Dyana's grizzled miner father Aix, and R. Fortunately, Byron's blandness is compensated for by nifty contributions from the always dependable Tim Thomerson as boozy, burnt-out ex-ranger Rhodes and the ever-imposing Richard Moll as tough one-eyed warrior leader Hurok. Despite his three day stubble and funky rock star leather pants, Byron qualifies as a decidedly insipid protagonist who fails to elicit much sympathy from the viewer. Adler's murky script, and cut-rate (not so) special effects. While the basic premise offers a pretty cool blend of Western and science fiction elements complete with the inevitable gunslinger showdown in the middle of a tiny mining town and a fierce tribe of Cyclopean beings standing in for your usual savage Apaches, said nifty premise is undermined by Charles Band's leaden direction, a plodding pace, Alan J. It's up to heroic ranger Dogan (stolid Jeffrey Byron) to stop the foul villain. The evil Jared-Syn (a perfectly slimy and hateful portrayal by Mike Preston) terrorizes the small desert planet of Lemuria by sucking the lifeforce out of folks with his storage crystals. Now if only someone could tell me what the hell METALSTORM means. The film "ends" with the most laughable cliffhanger where Jared-Syn gets away (so the title lied!) and Dogen vows, "I'll find him in another dimension one day." Huh? Obviously Band was hoping this would be a series but poor box office returns from a Universal theatrical distribution vetoed that idea and he moved on to start Empire Pictures (which kicked off production with THE DUNGEONMASTER, again starring Byron). The acting is good though for a b-movie with Thomerson doing his best Han Solo and Richard Moll showing up as a leader of a group of Cyclops. There is also one psychedelic, TRON-inspired bit during the end chase that probably had audiences puking dayglo in the aisles. I'm sure the 3-D was pretty impressive in the theater as all sorts of objects are chucked at the screen. The action is good though and the film moves at a quick clip. It is pretty obvious he is going for a mix of THE ROAD WARRIOR and STAR WARS, but I'm not entirely sure it is successful and at times comes off looking more like MEGAFORCE. Blame my rating on nostalgia.ĭirector Charles Band followed up PARASITE, his first successful foray into the 3-D world, with this futuristic action-adventure film. Good, bad, stupid, fun? Who cares! These films were made with enthusiasm. And if you can't get with that, you're a bit of a sourpuss, I'm afraid. Compared to other early Charles Band films, METALSTORM definitely is a bit crazier and more action-packed than PARASITE (the "good" film) and THE ALCHEMIST (the "lesser" film) and would - in my humble opinion - make a perfect double feature with THE DUNGEONMASTER (aka RAGEWAR), together making up for a super-duper special effects extravaganza night fest. And the special effects are dated and look silly sometimes, but there's enough of those in the film to keep you amused. All things I listed up here really are featured in this film, albeit not exactly in quality incarnations, if you know what I mean. This isn't really a good movie (Damn, I did say it, didn't I?), but it's very enjoyable, cheesy & nonsensical stuff. Well yes, I'm biased when it comes to early Charles Band outings. Plus, Tim Thomerson and Richard Moll are in it. Just throw the following elements into a blender: Post-Apocalyptic (vehicles & mutants), STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI (speed-bikers), western (showdown), Swords & Sorcery (quest, fights, and sock-puppet sand-creatures), fantasy (magical crystals and other nonsense), cyborg (or a dude basically enhanced by various metal-parts, including an extendable metal grab-claw arm that spits toxic LSD) and psychedelia (warped gateways into other dimensions). Having just re-watched it, I'll just say right away: METALSTORM: THE DESTRUCTION OF JARED-SYN is a blast and offers lots of (unintentional) laughs. Is it actually a good movie? I think I'll just plead the 5th on that one. This is another one of those very first movies I ever rented as a kid.
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