- Directed by Charles Band
- Written by Alan J. Adler
- Stars Jeffrey Byron, Michael Preston, Tim Thomerson
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 24 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGLnkyL41B0
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This was apocalyptic futuristic science fiction, directed by Charles Band and part of the Full Moon company, so it does have the horror movie connection. This one is a very 80s blast of action and romance that kept reminding us of “Mad Max: The Road Warrior.” And it was very clearly made with 3D in mind as a gimmick. The effects haven’t held up well, but it was passably entertaining.
Spoilery Synopsis
A man drives his futuristic vehicle through the desert. After a while, he’s spotted by a mutant on a hill, and soon after, a flying craft shoots lasers at him. The man in the truck shoots back, causing the flying machine to crash explosively. Dogen then parks the truck to check out the damage. He looks at the dead man’s body and finds a red crystal.
We cut to a couple crystal miners who complain about being in Nomad territory. They find a big one, “We’re rich!” When they go outside, Dhyana’s father is executed by the cyborg Baal.
Elsewhere, Dogen sees smoke and heads toward the action. He soon arrives at the mine site and finds Dhyana hiding inside the cave. He tells her about Jaren-Syn, a madman who’s been inciting the Nomads in a holy war. Baal is Jared-Syn’s son.
Jared-Syn tells his followers that he knows someone has come to challenge them.
Dogen asks Dhyana about the red crystal he found, so she takes him to her equipment supplier for answers. The little man, Zax, does some tests and says it’s a storage crystal for life force. It may have come from a lost city, but the only man who can take Dogen there is a former ranger named Rhodes.
Baal chases Dogen and Dhyana, and he shoots hallucinogenic acid at them before getting run off. In a fever dream, Dogen dreams about Jared-Syn, who can’t hurt him as long as Dhyana is with him. Jared-Syn concentrates real hard, and Dhyana teleports to where he is; he then teleports a monster to fight Dogen. Dogen’s smart, and he manages to short-circuit the electrical monster.
Dogen goes to a small encampment and goes into an entirely alien-free version of the Star Wars bar. He tracks down the ex-ranger, Rhodes, there. “You must’ve fought in the Sand Wars.” Rhodes isn’t cooperative, but Dogen goes outside to watch a guy getting beaten up. This somehow leads to a gunfight, which somehow leads to Rhodes sobering up and becoming an ally.
The two men drive to the Cyclopean burial grounds, which is where the lost city is. They walk through the smoky ruins and find a mask made of crystal. Suddenly, they’re both attacked by little sandworms with big teeth. Dogen shoots his worm, but Rhodes scares his off simply by yelling at it in a grouchy tone.
On the way out of the zone, they’re stopped by Hurok and his Cyclopean goons. The only way to live is for Dogen to fight Hurok in the Pit. Hurok’s way bigger and meaner, but Dogen’s smarter and wins the fight. Dogen spares Hurok’s life, so he’s an ally now too.
Dogen and Rhodes drive right into Baal’s camp, making a mess of things as everyone scrambles to their own vehicles. After escaping, Dogen tries on the crystal mask, and it gives him a sweaty, shirtless vision of himself and a burning tree. He comes out of the trance just in time to see Rhodes attacked by Baal; Dogen rips Baal’s cybernetic arm off, leaving acid everywhere.
Baal runs home to tell Jared-Syn what happened, but they have Dhyana as a hostage. We see that his life-force crystal is huge; “The small crystals feed the larger.”
Dogen walks right into their camp, alone, and confronts Jared-Syn. Hurok is there as well, and he stands up for Dogen. Dogen makes a very brief speech, which sways enough of the rabble to cause a revolt. Jared-Syn uses his crystal powers to shoot at Dogen, but Dogen uses the crystal mask as a shield.
Baal grabs the mask and breaks it, so Hurok kills him. Jared-Syn flies off on an air-bike, and Dogen chases after him; now it’s just one-on-one. Jared-Syn calls upon his dark magic powers to open up a dimensional portal, so the chase gets a bit weird. Jared-Syn escapes.
Dogen goes back to the camp where Hurok and Dhyana are and they talk about Jared-Syn going to another world or another time. He shoots the big crystal, which explodes and releases all the life forces it held.
As Dogen and Dhyana walk away, Rhodes catches up to them in the car. All three head back to town…
Brian’s Commentary
“We have Mad Max at home.” You know it’s post-apocalyptic because everyone is sweaty and no one washes their faces. In the end, Jared-Syn gets away and there was no sequel, so that didn’t work out so well.
This was obviously cashing in on “Mad Max: The Road Warrior” (1982), which was a recent hit at the time. There are also a lot of nods to “Star Wars” (197y). It’s post-apocalyptic, with lots of car chases, mutants, and hokey special effects. It was also filmed in 3D, although there aren’t an excessive number of gimmick shots in this. There are a lot of POV driving and flying shots, which, I assume, looked more impressive in 3D than 2D.
The makeup effects, especially on Baal and Hurok, are pretty decent; the other special effects are extremely dated. This was the movie that got Richard Moll cast in “Night Court,” as he really stood out.
It’s more action-adventure-sci-fi than horror. Still, it’s got mutants and monsters and mayhem. It’s… OK.
Kevin’s Commentary
They had a generous glycerine budget. Dogen, especially, was sweaty and shining through most of the film. The other makeup effects were pretty good, too. The special effects weren’t great, but overall, I thought it was moderately entertaining. I don’t know if I’d especially recommend it, but I didn’t hate it.
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