I remember being all jazzed about this film coming out because it had Luke Skywalker in it as a bad guy, then have a vague memory of watching it but having no recollection if it was any good or not. Seeing it now, almost one hundred years later, I can see why I can't remember much about it. It's not a bad film as such, butthere's not too much going on.
The premise is good though. This film was made in the eighties so there's a post-apocalyptic setting, but this is also the late eighties so we've got an environmental post-apocalyptic vibe going on where mankind's treating of the world has come back to bite them, with huge environmental changes resulting in a huge valley running for thousands of miles across the land, which has this constant wind blowing through it like Earth is letting out one continuous never ending fart that people live in.
One of those folks living in the fart is Bill Paxton, some kind of salvage tradesman who gets caught up with Mark Hamill, a policeman escorting murderer Bob Peck. Paxton sees dollar signs (or whatever currency they have in this world) as Peck comes with a mighty large bounty on his head. So Paxton steals him and they off into the possibly eggy fart of the Slipstream.
It's like one of those buddy movies only with a lot of wind involved. Bizarrely, and I'm not sure if I'm right or not, but a lot of the violence seems to have been trimmed or not filmed at all. Just check out the shootout in the woods where a couple of shots are fired and then we abruptly cut to Mark Hammil burying the bodies. Same goes for when he and his sidekick launch an assault on the bunker where F. Murray Abraham is living. Maybe this was intentional and the film does have a lighthearted tone about it. Who knows? On the plus side, we do have a great performance from Bob Peck (the best thing about Jurassic Park too) as the android whose not quite sure what to make of having freedom. He just seems to tower above the rest of the actors here. Ben Kingsley also appears in a fairly pointless cameo. So does Robbie Coltrane but then he's got a cameo in every British film made in the eighties.
So, it's a weirdly disjointed but well meaning mess with some great actors involved. And Bill Paxton. It's in the public domain as well so if you're curious it isn't going to cost you anything to see it.
The premise is good though. This film was made in the eighties so there's a post-apocalyptic setting, but this is also the late eighties so we've got an environmental post-apocalyptic vibe going on where mankind's treating of the world has come back to bite them, with huge environmental changes resulting in a huge valley running for thousands of miles across the land, which has this constant wind blowing through it like Earth is letting out one continuous never ending fart that people live in.
One of those folks living in the fart is Bill Paxton, some kind of salvage tradesman who gets caught up with Mark Hamill, a policeman escorting murderer Bob Peck. Paxton sees dollar signs (or whatever currency they have in this world) as Peck comes with a mighty large bounty on his head. So Paxton steals him and they off into the possibly eggy fart of the Slipstream.
It's like one of those buddy movies only with a lot of wind involved. Bizarrely, and I'm not sure if I'm right or not, but a lot of the violence seems to have been trimmed or not filmed at all. Just check out the shootout in the woods where a couple of shots are fired and then we abruptly cut to Mark Hammil burying the bodies. Same goes for when he and his sidekick launch an assault on the bunker where F. Murray Abraham is living. Maybe this was intentional and the film does have a lighthearted tone about it. Who knows? On the plus side, we do have a great performance from Bob Peck (the best thing about Jurassic Park too) as the android whose not quite sure what to make of having freedom. He just seems to tower above the rest of the actors here. Ben Kingsley also appears in a fairly pointless cameo. So does Robbie Coltrane but then he's got a cameo in every British film made in the eighties.
So, it's a weirdly disjointed but well meaning mess with some great actors involved. And Bill Paxton. It's in the public domain as well so if you're curious it isn't going to cost you anything to see it.