Directed by Jack Smight. Written by Alan Sharp and Lukas Heller.
Starring George Peppard, Jan-Michael Vincent, Paul Winfield, Dominique Sanda, Jackie Earle Haley
1977, 91 minutes, Color, Rated PG, Panavision 2.35:1, in Sound 360°
Starring George Peppard, Jan-Michael Vincent, Paul Winfield, Dominique Sanda, Jackie Earle Haley
1977, 91 minutes, Color, Rated PG, Panavision 2.35:1, in Sound 360°
The Earth is thrown off its access as the result of an all-out Nuclear war. This disrupts weather patterns and the planet's magnetic field. As a result, there are monstrous storms that ravage the land and the sky displays wild multicolored light shows constantly. A small band of survivors holed up in a military missile silo build heavy-duty trucks and plan to travel to Albany, which is the only major U.S. city that was not hit directly by a nuclear bomb.
DAMNATION ALLEY began as an 'A' science fiction film in the era before STAR WARS. At this point in time science-fiction films generally did not have large budgets, which makes it something of an anomaly that it was so well funded. It had an initial budget of $7 million dollars and some reports had it ballooing to $17 million because of the special effects. However, seeing as the film's special effects are highly variable and that stock footage is used extensively in places, it seems likely that the reports of $17 million were erroneous.
From all reports the film was begun with good intentions. It was based on a novella by Roger Zelazny of the same name, but the final film bears little resemblance to the written story. In the original story, the lead character of Tanner is an ex-Hell's Angel and a real badass. Released from prison in order to transport much needed medical supplies across the country, the bulk of the story is taken up with his trek across a nuclear-ravaged landscape affectionately known as "Damnation Alley". The film jettisons all of that. Tanner is now an ex-military man and decidedly less of a badass, even though he is played by Jan-Michael Vincent. There is still a trip across the country, but unlike the country of the original story there are far fewer people left alive to encounter.
The giant scorpion scene was originally filmed using full-size mechanical scorpions that reportedly did not move well. One of the lobby cards for the film showed the original scorpions (seen below), and while it's hard to judge without seeing them in motion they indeed don't look all that impressive. The sequence was ultimately achieved using live scorpions and some poor blue screen process work. It's hard to imagine that the original version of the sequence could have been worse than what they ended up with. The first two images come from the film, the next four are from the original version of the sequence.
The other issues that they attempted to fix are more conceptual in nature. Aside from the large critters, the film's only other nod to the nuclear devastation is the monster storms that play out twice in the film. To be fair, these sequences are not that bad. Both are able to generate a moderate amount of suspense despite some shaky effects work. For a country riddled with nuclear craters, however, there is ultimately very little devastation on display. True, we do see a casino overrun by the desert (courtesy a matte painting reportedly by Matthew Yuricich) but other than that we don't see anything else besides some empty roads. And if Vegas is merely overrun with sand but otherwise livable (they meet a woman living there) where are all the people?
To better sell the post-apocalyptic nature of the story a kaleidoscope of constantly changing colors and shapes was added to every shot that contained the sky. The sky effects are interesting, but the compositing needed to achieve them resulted in some serious degradation of the image. Grain is through the roof on just about every shot that shows the sky.
The film was reportedly re-edited a number of times in post-production in an effort to make it play better. 20th Century Fox liked the Land Master so they asked that more footage of it be used in the film. They also apparently wanted it shorter for the film lost a number of scenes before it was finally released. When the movie was shown on TV in the early 80's some of this footage was added back in, and my memory is that it improved things. As it is, Murray Hamilton appears on screen but has no lines--in the television version there was at least one scene with Hamilton and George Peppard. For his part, Peppard was not pleased with the cuts made:
"I will say that when we completed the film, I thought we had a very good film. Jack Smight directed it. At that point, I think, it cost about $6,500,000. They went to $8,000,000 with technically changing the colour of the skies and editing. They totally re-edited the film--the executives at 20th Century Fox!"And the film as you will see it[...]is no longer the film that Jack created. Unfortunate, because he did a wonderful job."It was the story of some people who go across America from the New Mexico area to Albany, New York, with one of those futurist things called a Landmaster. It's a trek story, as we call it. The only humanity is what happens between the people: the relationships, the sexuality, the attempted murders, and so forth."None of which you will see now. That's out!"It's a trek story about this Landmaster now. With purple skies."*
Evaluation:
DAMNATION ALLEY begins with a nod towards realism. George Peppard and Jan-Michael Vincent portray army regulars assigned to a nuclear missile silo. During one of their shifts, an all-out attack occurs from Russia (one presumes from the maps shown on the screen) and they must launch their missiles. That this sequence is as effective as it is using nothing but stock footage is impressive. I have no idea if the procedures shown in the film are technically accurate, but they FEEL accurate and anyone who grew up in the era where nuclear war seemed a distinct possibility will likely respond to the events on screen.
The story then picks up two years after the war, and from all appearances the country is no longer radioactive. Well, that's not entirely true. We are told that large portions of the country and now both uninhabitable and impassable, but we don't see any of this. "Damnation Alley" is a narrow path between the areas of devastation leading to their end goal of Albany, New York. The film is determined to not dwell on anything that veers from the path of showing the trip across country. There are stops along the way, but these merely serve as conveniences for the narrative. They stop in Las Vegas so that a woman can be added to the cast. They stop at a roadside gas station so a boy can be added to the cast. They stop in Salt Lake City so a character can be eaten by cockroaches (in under 5 minutes!). We get little indication of what went on in the Army base in the two years between the war and the start of the trip across the country. True, we know that Peppard's character was busy building the Land Masters, but we see precious little of anything else. Character development is rudimentary at best--Peppard and Jan-Michael Vincent don't like each other but by the end of the film they still don't like each other but begrudgingly respect one another.
The climax of the film is a storm so large and powerful that it knocks the Earth back on it's proper axis. Or maybe it's that the Earth moves back to its proper axis and that causes the storm. It's hard to say because the storm is not explained in the movie. It is fortuitous that the storm waited until our heroes were just about at Albany before it began, or they may not have made it to the end of the story. Albany, when it is shown, is a paradise of green fields and well-fed people. One can only surmise that the extreme weather that was affecting the rest of the world for the previous two years missed their little haven, for their crops seems not to have suffered any.
DAMNATION ALLEY is something of a dumb movie, there is simply no getting around that. The biggest knock against the film--aside from its dumbness--is that the special effects are poor. For the record the special effects ARE bad, mostly in the way of bad blue-screen work and there is a lot of blue screen work in the film. Almost every single shot of the sky has been processed to appear appropriately apocalyptic--it's colorful and interesting but doesn't make much sense. Because every scene featuring the sky contains an optical composite, much of the film is grainy due to the generation-loss inherent to the process. Throw in some poorly handled practical effects and one very badly done miniature, and well, you have the mess that is DAMNATION ALLEY.
And yet...
I find that I like the movie quite a bit. Possibly this is due to having seen it originally at an impressionable age, but mostly I think that it's a decent 'B' movie. That is, it is not a boring movie. It may not make sense but it is easy to watch. It's not the movie's fault that 20th Century Fox promoted it as an 'A' movie so I try not to hold it against it. Are the special effects bad? Yes. Yes, they are. When taken in the spirit of a 'B' movie, however, does this really matter? Are any of the classic Gozilla movies any less enjoyable because you can obviously tell it's a guy in a suit? Is the original BLOB any less enjoyable because its special effects don't really work? Heck, even KING KONG (1933) has some dodgy effects shots in it.** For me, it doesn't matter that the special effects are wonky--DAMNATION ALLEY marginally does more right than it does wrong. I like the simple characters, I like the nonsensical story arc, heck I even like Jan-Michael Vincent in it. Why? Movies about the apocalypse are inherently interesting, regardless of overall quality. Could ALLEY have done more with the premise? Undoubtedly, but the movie moves so quickly you don't mind while watching.
Am I proud of liking this movie? No. There's no accounting for taste, I guess.
Some other random thoughts:
Anchor Bay originally announced this for DVD and then cancelled it because they reportedly couldn't find good source materials. Shout! Factory also couldn't find good source material but released it anyway. A release print was used by the looks of it. Scratches were somewhat cleaned up but it's hard to judge the film's color due to the processing of the shots with the sky. The buyer should beware because this is one ugly looking movie. Then again, if you're looking to get this on Blu-Ray you probably already know what you are getting into.
The audio is presented in 7.1 lossless but I found it disappointing. The original Sound 360° elements reportedly could not be used either because they were deteriorated or could not be found. For a film this marginal, it could have used the extra punch of an imaginative sound design. Alas, only the music shows any true separation--all of the dialogue and effects are rooted more or less in the front center of the mix. The music by Jerry Goldsmith is easily one of the best things about the film, so having it sound so great is a definite plus.
DAMNATION ALLEY begins with a nod towards realism. George Peppard and Jan-Michael Vincent portray army regulars assigned to a nuclear missile silo. During one of their shifts, an all-out attack occurs from Russia (one presumes from the maps shown on the screen) and they must launch their missiles. That this sequence is as effective as it is using nothing but stock footage is impressive. I have no idea if the procedures shown in the film are technically accurate, but they FEEL accurate and anyone who grew up in the era where nuclear war seemed a distinct possibility will likely respond to the events on screen.
The story then picks up two years after the war, and from all appearances the country is no longer radioactive. Well, that's not entirely true. We are told that large portions of the country and now both uninhabitable and impassable, but we don't see any of this. "Damnation Alley" is a narrow path between the areas of devastation leading to their end goal of Albany, New York. The film is determined to not dwell on anything that veers from the path of showing the trip across country. There are stops along the way, but these merely serve as conveniences for the narrative. They stop in Las Vegas so that a woman can be added to the cast. They stop at a roadside gas station so a boy can be added to the cast. They stop in Salt Lake City so a character can be eaten by cockroaches (in under 5 minutes!). We get little indication of what went on in the Army base in the two years between the war and the start of the trip across the country. True, we know that Peppard's character was busy building the Land Masters, but we see precious little of anything else. Character development is rudimentary at best--Peppard and Jan-Michael Vincent don't like each other but by the end of the film they still don't like each other but begrudgingly respect one another.
The climax of the film is a storm so large and powerful that it knocks the Earth back on it's proper axis. Or maybe it's that the Earth moves back to its proper axis and that causes the storm. It's hard to say because the storm is not explained in the movie. It is fortuitous that the storm waited until our heroes were just about at Albany before it began, or they may not have made it to the end of the story. Albany, when it is shown, is a paradise of green fields and well-fed people. One can only surmise that the extreme weather that was affecting the rest of the world for the previous two years missed their little haven, for their crops seems not to have suffered any.
DAMNATION ALLEY is something of a dumb movie, there is simply no getting around that. The biggest knock against the film--aside from its dumbness--is that the special effects are poor. For the record the special effects ARE bad, mostly in the way of bad blue-screen work and there is a lot of blue screen work in the film. Almost every single shot of the sky has been processed to appear appropriately apocalyptic--it's colorful and interesting but doesn't make much sense. Because every scene featuring the sky contains an optical composite, much of the film is grainy due to the generation-loss inherent to the process. Throw in some poorly handled practical effects and one very badly done miniature, and well, you have the mess that is DAMNATION ALLEY.
And yet...
I find that I like the movie quite a bit. Possibly this is due to having seen it originally at an impressionable age, but mostly I think that it's a decent 'B' movie. That is, it is not a boring movie. It may not make sense but it is easy to watch. It's not the movie's fault that 20th Century Fox promoted it as an 'A' movie so I try not to hold it against it. Are the special effects bad? Yes. Yes, they are. When taken in the spirit of a 'B' movie, however, does this really matter? Are any of the classic Gozilla movies any less enjoyable because you can obviously tell it's a guy in a suit? Is the original BLOB any less enjoyable because its special effects don't really work? Heck, even KING KONG (1933) has some dodgy effects shots in it.** For me, it doesn't matter that the special effects are wonky--DAMNATION ALLEY marginally does more right than it does wrong. I like the simple characters, I like the nonsensical story arc, heck I even like Jan-Michael Vincent in it. Why? Movies about the apocalypse are inherently interesting, regardless of overall quality. Could ALLEY have done more with the premise? Undoubtedly, but the movie moves so quickly you don't mind while watching.
Am I proud of liking this movie? No. There's no accounting for taste, I guess.
Some other random thoughts:
- The Land Master is one of the greatest props ever constructed for a film. Although two are shown in the film, only one was constructed. Shots that show both at the same time were achieved either by optical effects or trickery. The vehicle was reportedly not easy to drive.
- Murray Hamilton has no lines in the released film although he is featured several times in closeups. I believe his voice can be heard during the sequence where the Army base blows up.
- And did I mention that it has giant "killer" cockroaches? Even with the somewhat botched execution on screen (and the lack of logic inherent in the idea) it's a compelling screen sequence.
- The question of residual radiation is never really addressed. One would think that two years is not long enough for safe passage close to irradiated zones. Also, Salt Lake City shows blast damage which makes me wonder if it was from a nuclear blast. Yet, our heros walk around without a care in the world. Perhaps I am thinking too much.
- The film's title sequence features a great energetic theme by Jerry Goldsmith that plays over an absolutely riveting depiction of what looks to be a normal run of the mill meeting in the control room. I can't help but think that the score would have been more effective over something—anything—else.
- This film is cut down to the bone. There is just enough here to tell a coherent story, but every time the film threatens to provide some characterization or background, it cuts away and we're on to the next thing. I guess 20th Century Fox didn't have a lot of faith in the finished film, but they really did the story a disservice by cutting it down so much. Paul Talbot, in his excellent commentary on the 2018 Signal One Blu-Ray, reports that the original final cut was over two hours long.
Anchor Bay originally announced this for DVD and then cancelled it because they reportedly couldn't find good source materials. Shout! Factory also couldn't find good source material but released it anyway. A release print was used by the looks of it. Scratches were somewhat cleaned up but it's hard to judge the film's color due to the processing of the shots with the sky. The buyer should beware because this is one ugly looking movie. Then again, if you're looking to get this on Blu-Ray you probably already know what you are getting into.
The audio is presented in 7.1 lossless but I found it disappointing. The original Sound 360° elements reportedly could not be used either because they were deteriorated or could not be found. For a film this marginal, it could have used the extra punch of an imaginative sound design. Alas, only the music shows any true separation--all of the dialogue and effects are rooted more or less in the front center of the mix. The music by Jerry Goldsmith is easily one of the best things about the film, so having it sound so great is a definite plus.
Sound 360 was developed to be a surround format for either 4 track or 6 track soundtracks, and as designed was intended to be use discrete sound elements for a hyper directional experience by moving the right and left speakers out in the theater as opposed to with the screen. Given that Dolby surround was making significant headway to becoming the industry standard movie soundtrack system, this appears to have been an attempt for Fox to come up with their own sound system. As Fox was trying to spruce up ALLEY to compete with STAR WARS the decision was made to mix the film in this new format.*** Unfortunately, contemporary reports of what it actually sounded like are hard to come by. Only this film and DAMIEN: OMEN II were ever released with it.
On a side note, DAMNATION ALLEY's Sound 360° implementation was reportedly done at the last minute and worked from the original mono mix. One wonders how effective it really was. First hand reports from anyone who actually saw the movie in Sound 360° are hard to find (meaning I could only find one). From its description Sound 360° sounds like a quadrophonic setup--left channel, center channel, right channel and one surround channel. But Dan O'Bannon claimed to have seen the film in Sound 360 and that it was mono with occasional directional effects. I have misplaced the quote, unfortunately. I will post a scan of it when I find it.
I also found the supplemental features on the Shout! Factory disc disappointing. There are video conversations with both the producer and one of the writers and a commentary by the same producer, but nothing that I wanted to hear about was talked about, like the re-editing and the footage shown on television. A still gallery of the Land Master and some trailers round out the mix. I was disappointed that no footage from the television version could be included. I understand why, of course, but I was still disappointed.
In 2018 the film was released on Blu-Ray by Signal One. It uses the same digital source as the Shout! Factory disc, but in direct comparison is less filtered. Grain is somewhat less apparent on the Shout! disc, but so is fine detail. The Signal One release is more pleasing, although casual viewers may not notice. The audio is presented in 6.1 DTS-HD and 2.0 LPCM. I actually preferred the 2.0 track as it seemed to present what stereo there is on the soundtrack more sharply. Extras are largely the same with two exceptions. The Signal One disc features a new commentary by Paul Talbot and it is fantastic. He covers all aspects of the production, from actor backgrounds, filming details, and most impressively what scenes were cut prior to release. Truly, for fans of the film the disc is worth the price purely for the commentary. It really enhanced my appreciation of the film. Also included is a still gallery of lobby cards, poster art and production stills.
* (Brosnan, John. "Damnation Alley." Starburst, vol. 1, no. 8, April 1979, pp. 12-13.)
In 2018 the film was released on Blu-Ray by Signal One. It uses the same digital source as the Shout! Factory disc, but in direct comparison is less filtered. Grain is somewhat less apparent on the Shout! disc, but so is fine detail. The Signal One release is more pleasing, although casual viewers may not notice. The audio is presented in 6.1 DTS-HD and 2.0 LPCM. I actually preferred the 2.0 track as it seemed to present what stereo there is on the soundtrack more sharply. Extras are largely the same with two exceptions. The Signal One disc features a new commentary by Paul Talbot and it is fantastic. He covers all aspects of the production, from actor backgrounds, filming details, and most impressively what scenes were cut prior to release. Truly, for fans of the film the disc is worth the price purely for the commentary. It really enhanced my appreciation of the film. Also included is a still gallery of lobby cards, poster art and production stills.
 |
| It's a little hard to understand this shot at first. They only built one Land Master so for shots that showed both they had to resort to some trickery. Here, a model of the Land Master has been composited in on the right side of the frame. I think this shot is confusing since it is not readily apparent that the full size Land Master is also in the shot. At least, it's not apparent on the small TV screen. Maybe it made more sense on the big screen. |
* (Brosnan, John. "Damnation Alley." Starburst, vol. 1, no. 8, April 1979, pp. 12-13.)
** Okay, ease off. I'm not saying this movie is as good as KING KONG. I'm saying if you're into it you won't notice/mind the bad special effects (too much).
*** (Kroll, Leonard. "The 20th Century Fox 'Sound 360' System" American Cinematographer, vol. 58, no. 12, December 1977, pp. 1257,1312.)
