Robert Bellach
I don't know what happened to Albert Pyun between this movie and Cyborg, but I like *this* Albert Pyun. This one made a post-apocalyptic/film-noir/comedy/adventure. (The closest comparison I have is Circuitry Man minus the romance and robots. Does that help clear things up? Probably not.) Featuring wanna-be 40s detectives, 50s greasers, 60s cannibal hippies, sociopathic 70s disco kiddies, and 80s slam-dancin' punks. Michael Dudikoff, playing the Jerry Lewis-style comic relief. Sue Saad, as a Pat Benatar for the Rocky Horror crowd. George Kennedy as the b-movie, small-role-character-actor king of kings. Giant rats. Giant rats! Only near the end, in an overlong, mostly slo-mo shootout climax, did I get hints of the Pyun of Cyborg. But all is well with a swing-dance finale! I... I really liked this movie.
Maziun
I can enjoy a good B-class movie. I'm definitely not a cinema snob. However there's an entertaining trash and just bad trash. This movie falls into the second category , despite it tries hard to be original , funny and possibly a cult movie.Albert Pyun is one of the worst filmmakers EVER. Watch (or better don't watch , just believe my words) "Radioactive dreams" and you will know what I mean. It's an ambitious effort , but made so badly it makes you want to commit suicide.This is a half-baked post-apocalyptic comedy that mixes "Mad Max" with noir movies and comic books. It's extremely lacking in plot and character development. It's hard to understand what's going on. There are some ideas here (midgets , bikers , dance sequences ) that might have worked in skilled hands , but it's not the case here. There are some zany and colorful characters , but none of them is particularly likable or interesting. There are some plot holes and the humor is simply unfunny. The final is too long.This movie has production values so low , that it's depressing. The effects are cheap. The pacing is bad and the movie is rather dull. Worse , it takes itself too seriously at times ! The action scenes are poor. The dialogues are annoying.On the plus side the acting is surprisingly decent , especially from John Stockwell and Michael Dudikoff. Songs are kinda nice.Don't trust the decent rating. It's an Albert Pyun movie ! Run for your life. ! Save your precious time and good health ! I give it 1/10.
deheor
The eighties, some of my favorite movies have come from this time and most of them failed to find an audience. Such films as Buckaroo Banzai, Streets of Fire and Radioactive Dreams found new ways to tell classic stories and over the years Streets and Banzai have both developed cult followings but sadly Radioactive Dreams has never been able to find its fan base. It may be because it has never been released on DVD, it could be the terrible music number that grinds the movie to a halt just when the excitement should be building but perhaps it is just too odd.The story is the standard hard boiled detective yarn with the dick trying to play several sides against each other and discovering the danger of putting their trust in the wrong person. At least it would be standard if not for the Post-Apocalyptic setting and the fact that our heroes have spent almost their entire lives locked up in a bomb shelter and have picked up all they know about the world from reading detective novels. These changes allows the characters to actually grow from kids playing a game to two guys trying not to become cynics in the face of a world were everyone only consider their own best interests and everyone is expendable.One of the problems with the film for first time viewers is the way that the tone changes from a pretty light hearted beginning to a much darker conclusion. When watching it the second time the shift does not take you off guard and you can just appreciate the film.If I have made it sound more serious than it is I apologize. It is a fun, very entertaining entry in the Post-Apoc genre and needs a DVD release so it has a chance at building new fans.
bmenell@yahoo.com
As a young buck I was an extra in this film in LA. There were so many extras and no real coordination, we didn't know when the camera was rolling and when it wasn't. Shooting seemed to go on forever without a break, so when you got tired you just walked off the set and went home.We knew when making it that it would go direct to video. It was actually released, and played at my local theater for about two days before it was yanked. I had never before seen a movie taken out of the theater that quickly.I'm still looking for the video just for nostalgia. I'm glad there are some people out there who can enjoy for something.
AD
