This episode exists because last December, my best friend Dakota messaged me a picture of a platinum blond, bearded, trench-coat donning BADASS Mark Hamill. He followed the pic with "do this review!"
Challenge accepted.
So here, we have SLIPSTREAM, a 1989 venture from Steven Lisberger (best known for directing 1982's TRON), about a post-apocalyptic future where nature's revenge on humanity's pollution has led to earthquakes, floods and an uncontrollable river of wind called the Slipstream. In this world, a man accused of murder (Bob Peck) is chased by two bounty hunters (Mark Hamill & Kitty Aldridge). When a ne'erdowell scrapper (Bill Paxton) hijacks the bounty from the couple, he finds himself bonding with the accused, learning secrets and embarking on a grand adventure through the wastelands, skysurfing the Slipstream.
Did I mention we also get Ben Kingsley, F. Murray Abraham & Robbie Coltrane (motherfucking HAGRID) in this?!
This reads a lot cooler than the movie, which feels like a DUNE-sized saga crammed into 90 minutes. I should have David Rosen (of the awesome Piecing It Together podcast) dissect every influence imaginable in this thing: STAR WARS, BLADE RUNNER...hell, I know WATERWORLD came out in '95, but this feels like a cousin. The world never feels fully realized; The piece about explaining humanity through its most basic essence comes almost as an afterthought to the chase; The characters are paper-thin, while spouting dialogue that should be left in Chapter 3, not damn near the end of the movie. It exemplifies the kind of film that seems to throw its budget to the wind and hopes it'll all find its way.
Maybe in that sense, it's like David Cronenberg's SCANNERS to me. Great ideas, average to bizarre execution.
But that Elmer Bernstein (Airplane!, An American Werewolf in London, Ghostbusters) score is FIRE.
And also, Mark Hamill really does rock that platinum blond. He should do that again.
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Closing Song: "I Could Give You All That You Don't Want" - The Twilight Sad
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Review THE MOVIES on Apple Podcasts & I'll read it on the next episode!
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