Road of damnation

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Movie
German title Road of damnation
Original title Damnation Alley
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1977
length 91 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Jack Smight
script Roger Zelazny (novel)
Alan Sharp
Lukas Heller
production Maury M. Cohen
Hal Landers
Paul Maslansky
Bobby Roberts
Jerome M. Zeitman
music Jerry Goldsmith
camera Harry Stradling Jr.
cut Frank J. Urioste
occupation

Damnation Alley (Original title: Damnation Alley ) is a US -American science fiction film from 1977. It is based on the novel by Roger Zelazny . The film opened in German cinemas on August 24, 1978.

action

Jake Tanner and Eugene "Sam" Denton are shown on duty in an Air Force missile silo in California . After the US was attacked with nuclear weapons, Tanner and Denton received orders to launch all missiles in the silo.

Two years later: The Earth's axis shifted due to the Third World War, violent electrical storms are raging, and mutations are taking place in the animal kingdom due to ionizing radiation . There are few survivors.

When a radio signal is received from the Albany area , Denton decides to investigate the source. But before the decision is made to abandon the military base, there is a huge gas explosion, there are only four survivors: Denton, Tanner, Keegan and Perry.

With two armored amphibious transporters ("Landmaster") they set off across the USA. A vehicle is destroyed in the first storm, and the driver is fatally injured. On the further journey they meet mutated cockroaches and giant scorpions. On the way they take in the attractive Janice and later the teenager Billy.

background

  • Roger Zelazny was very dissatisfied with the implementation of his novel and even wanted to get his name removed from the credits.
  • At $ 17 million, the film had a respectable budget for the time.
  • The optical effects were very complex and led to a production time of ten months. To represent the post-apocalyptic atmosphere, the sky was overlaid with painted backgrounds using matte painting in 80 percent of the scenes . This had to be done individually for each image. Responsible for these effects was u. a. the 1977 with the Oscar (for flight into the 23rd century excellent) Matthew Yuricich .
  • 20th Century Fox planned to release two science fiction films in 1977, with Damnation Street planned as a blockbuster . Due to the delay in production, Star Wars had to be forced as an "alternative measure" . Fearing further delays, Jack Smight was released from directing and several scenes were cut.
  • The Landmaster was built specifically for this film - the cost was $ 300,000. Although two examples can be seen in the film, the vehicle is actually one of a kind. Today it is privately owned.
  • After Straße der Verdammnis was shown in theaters in 1978, the film was only released on VHS, Super 8 and Laserdisc, and it was also shown on TV a few times. The film was only released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2011.
  • The two main actors are better known in German-speaking countries from television series, Jan-Michael Vincent from Airwolf and George Peppard from Das A-Team .

criticism

"Mixture of science fiction, horror, disaster and adventure films staged without highlights, which lacks a coherent plot concept."

- Lexicon of international film

“Although the film is approved for ages 12 and up, it contains a few short, rather bloody effects. The film itself is well made, but it also has its lengths. (...) The film is certainly not a masterpiece, but it is entertaining. "

- Tierhorror.de

“The only thing worth seeing is the futuristic 'Landmaster' with which the two of them flee through the desert and from the stupid story. Conclusion: Hopefully a sandstorm will bury the film rolls! "

- Cinema

“Jack Smight ( The Tattooed One, 1969) staged the SF disaster film, panting from adventure to adventure, more as a playground for bumbling children and would-be heroes than as a credible end-of-the-life scenario after the apocalypse. Some amateurish special effects (especially the scenes with the sloppily copied giant scorpions and cockroaches) testify to a second class quality that blames the whole film. That sounds worse than the Street of Damnation in the end, because nevertheless Smight's varied end-time film is a prime example of the dark dark future visions from the 70s, which is entertaining not only because of its nostalgic charm. The highlights include Harry Stradling's camera, which provides some hypnotic images, and the excellent music by Jerry Goldsmith, roughly comparable to his experimental composition for Planet of the Apes (1968). "

- Bad taste

literature

swell

  1. ↑ The Landmaster in the English Wikipedia
  2. ^ Review of the film lexicon
  3. ↑ Review ( Memento of the original from January 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on tierhorror.de @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tierhorror.de
  4. ↑ Review on Cinema
  5. ↑ Review ( Memento of the original from October 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on bad taste @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.schlechtergeschmack.net

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