Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Damnation Alley

Land of the Lost Star Wesley Eure Joins Roy’s Sci-Fi

The original cut of “Damnation Alley” ran to two hours and fifteen minutes – before the suits got a hold of it and whittled it down to size. Perhaps that was the reasoning behind the extravagant length last night’s show. We stuck it to the Man and had our mug shots taken, in memory of Jan-Michael Vincent.

I hope you’ll join Roy tomorrow night for a very special visit from Wesley Eure (Will Marshall, of “Marshall, Will and Holly” fame), who will share memories of his time on the classic Saturday morning television series “Land of the Lost.”

Cue the banjos in the comments section, and watch out for Sleestaks! The next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner will livestream on Facebook, this Sunday night at 7 pm EDT!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

May 22, 2021
Damnation Alley’s Landmaster Model Disaster

No, this is not one of Captain America’s bathtub toys. It’s a genuine special effects shot from “Damnation Alley” (1977).

After having a full-size, fully-functional “Landmaster” custom-built for the film, at a cost of $350,000 (in 2021 dollars, $1,643,623.93), 20th Century Fox cheaped-out in post-production, syphoning off much of the effects budget so that it could complete “Star Wars.”

So “Damnation Alley” is a showcase for every man’s dream of a 12-wheeled, articulated, post-apocalyptic, all-weather, amphibious, armored beast of a juggernaut, complete with machine guns and missile-launchers, only in the end to have this beautiful fantasy undone by the image of a $1.98 model, assembled from a Revell kit.

In any case, we’ll have fun talking about it, as we make a third attempt at “Damnation Alley.” Covid shots and technical difficulties be damned, on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Leave your comments, or forever hold your peace, as we livestream on Facebook. The third time’s a charm, this Friday evening at 7:00 EDT!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

May 20, 2021
Damnation Alley Cult Classic or Sci-Fi Flop?

I’m happy to report that after having had all of my matter rearranged by my second Covid shot on Wednesday, I have been feeling tip-top all weekend. So I will arise, phoenix-like, to assume the co-pilot’s chair for tonight’s rescheduled conversation about “Damnation Alley” (1977).

20th Century Fox put all its chips on this post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, starring a mustachioed George Peppard (clearly a long way from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” but getting a lot closer to “The A-Team”) and bad boy Jan Michael Vincent (inordinately proud of his dirt bike skills).

They’re joined by lifetime Actors Studio member Paul Winfield, and young Jackie Earle Haley, trading rocks for baseballs, right in the middle of his hot streak of “Bad News Bears” movies. Winfield and Haley were past and future Academy Award nominees (Winfield for “Sounder” in 1972, and Haley for “Little Children” in 2006). Bertolucci favorite Dominique Sanda lends some cosmopolitan “je ne sais quoi” to the “gonna say cray-cray.”

Director Jack Smight delivered his cut of the film in time for a projected December 1976 release. Unfortunately, that’s when the serious meddling began. Thanks to studio intervention, corner-cutting, and some rather unfortunate decisions made in post-production, “Damnation Alley” did not open until October of 1977 – five months after Fox’s other, generally-dismissed, sci-fi kid’s picture, a little film called “Star Wars.” And we all know how that turned out. Over the years, “Damnation Alley” may have developed a cult following, but “Star Wars” changed the course of the entire industry. But what’s a little egg on your face, when you wind up sitting on a mountain of gold?

I hope you’ll join us, in our all-terrain armored Landmaster, on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Giant scorpions and flesh-eating cockroaches can’t keep me away. From Vaccination Valley to “Damnation Alley,” we’ll be following your signal in the comments section, as we livestream on Facebook this Sunday evening at 7:00 EDT!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

May 16, 2021
Damnation Alley Postponed Due to Covid Shot

When I signed up for “Damnation Alley” (1977), I was really hoping I wouldn’t be living it.

The post-apocalyptic Jan Michael Vincent-George Peppard all-terrain armored adventure was to have been our topic tonight on Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. Unfortunately, I was hit with some pretty harsh side effects from my second Covid shot on Wednesday – resulting in perhaps the worst night of my life and a pretty lousy day yesterday. I’m doing better now (at least I can read and type), but since I’ve been up since 4 a.m., I think Roy and I are doing the right thing in hedging our bets and rescheduling our discussion for Sunday night.

In the meantime, Roy will decide whether or not he plans to go solo this evening, with a possible open discussion with viewers. Follow the link later today to learn the latest developments:

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner/

Both shows, tonight (if it happens) and Sunday, will begin at 7 pm EDT.

PHOTO: A glimpse into my brain on Wednesday night

May 14, 2021
This Island Earth a Sci-Fi Peninsula

John Donne wrote, “No man is an island.” By myself, at best I’m a peninsula.

Fortunately, I had Roy to bounce ideas off of during our chat last night about “This Island Earth.”

Interesting special effects, proto-1950s production design, pleasing Technicolor, and a memorable Metaluna mutant are all assets to this fondly-remembered pulp classic.

Tastes and mores may have changed – it’s no longer fashionable for female atomic scientists to regress into scream queens – and ultimately the movie doesn’t actually go anywhere, despite the fact that the characters travel light years to a foreign solar system. Still, “This Island Earth” – while no “Forbidden Planet” – remains an agreeable, if a little bit of a WTF, extraterrestrial journey.

We’ll return next Friday to talk about Jan-Michael Vincent, giant cockroaches, and a 12-wheeled armored vehicle bound for Albany, in “Damnation Alley” (1977) – a glimpse at what the future of movie science fiction might have been, if not for the seismic box office upset of “Star Wars.”

Join us for a dirt bike ride through a desert full of mutant scorpions, on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner. The post-apocalyptic livestream will take place next Friday evening at 7:00 EDT!

https://www.facebook.com/roystiedyescificorner

May 8, 2021

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