SeeQuant
Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
Teddie Blake
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Keeley Coleman
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
Zlatica
One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
udar55
Director Charles Band followed up PARASITE, his first successful foray into the 3-D world, with this futuristic action-adventure film. 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. The action is good though and the film moves at a quick clip. I'm sure the 3-D was pretty impressive in the theater as all sorts of objects are chucked at the screen. There is also one psychedelic, TRON-inspired bit during the end chase that probably had audiences puking dayglo in the aisles. 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. 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). Now if only someone could tell me what the hell METALSTORM means.
R Becker
Yes, Jeffrey Byron does resemble Viggo Mortensen. Yes, the talentless Kelly Preston is a movie star to this day (for reasons that utterly escape me). But this tedious attempt to weld together STAR WARS, THE ROAD WARRIOR, a little bit of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, and whatever else was handy really only comes alive once Tim Thomerson and Richard Moll are on the screen. Well, that, and the surprisingly exciting score by Richard Band is another plus. But overall, if you get the chance to see METALSTORM, pass it up. For one thing, the cinematography is so badly lit that you'll have a hard time being sure it's the same leading man in many shots. For another, the editing is choppy and distracting during any action scene. For still another, the sand-monsters are about as cornball as they could be. But worst of all--the script is flat and dull, and the directing is lackluster. Give it a miss, you'll never be sorry.
phibes012000
This was originally shown in theaters in 3D. On the VHS tape I saw the picture is very fuzzy, and the movie stinks to boot. In the future a couple of mercenaries go looking for Jared Syn. They go into "forbidden territory" and are attacked by Richard Moll and his band of misfits. It looks like a "Road Warrior" type film. Probably was more fun in 3D. How Charles Band was able to convince Universal Studios to make this crud is baffling, but then Universal was a shaky studio in the early 80s. Consider this was the same studio that made ET one year earlier. Baffling. I even remember when this came out on video most video stores would only have one copy of it (not a good sign in 1983). Nothing to recommend.
AbeStreet
I made a mistake and left this same review under MEGAFORCE. That was a horrible movie too, however the review for that movie belonged under this film. It seems as though most of the reviewers have seen this film on cable, tv or video. I remember going to see this film when I was 14 in 1983. This film along with Jaws 3-D were released in 1983 and I was caught up in the whole 3-D thing. While at the time I found Jaws 3-D to be at least suspenseful I, as a teenager, was going to walk out of this horrible film. The only reason I stayed was because I paid for this movie and I wasn't going to walk out on something I paid good money for. In retrospect I think I did more harm in staying. I don't remember the plot the characters or much else. What I do remember is the I the rage that I felt at having wasted time and money by watching this film. The only way I could ever re-watch this film is if it airs on Mystery Theater so that I can poke fun at this film with the hosts of that show.
