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Oblivion
Alien Desperados / Welcome to Oblivion / Desperados & Aliens
USA 1994
produced by Michael Catalano, Oana Paunescu, Vlad Paunescu, Charles Band (executive), Albert Band (associate), Peter David (associate), Debra Dion (associate) for Full Moon
directed by Sam Irvin
starring Richard Joseph Paul, Jackie Swanson, Adrew Divoff, Meg Foster, Isaac Hayes, Julie Newmar, Carel Struycken, George Takei, Musetta Vander, Jimmie F. Skaggs, Irwin Keyes, Mike Genovese, Frank Roman, Jeff Moldovan, Joe Muzio, Craig Anthony Muzio, Tim Miller, Peter David, Nadine Emilie Voindrouh, Sam Irvin
original story by Charles Band, story by John Rheaume, Gred Suddeth, Mark Goldstein, screenplay by Peter David, music by Pino Donaggio, visual effects by David Allen/David Allen Productions
Oblivion
review by Mike Haberfelner
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In a galaxy far far away, the West is wild again, and an evil alien
called Redeye (Andrew Divoff) shoots the Marshall (Mike Genovese) of a one
horse town called Oblivion. The Marshall had an estranged son, Zack
(Richard Joseph Paul), whom the gravedigger of Oblivion, Gaunt (Carel
Struycken) hauls back to town for the funeral services, together with his
best friend, the native Buteo (Jimmie F. Skaggs), who owes Zack his life.
Now everybody expects Zack to have his revenge on Redeye or die trying,
especially Mattie (Jackie Swanson), dad's wife Zack never even knew, but
Zack turns down the job ... upon which everybody figures Zack a coward.
But it's not so much cowardice of even pacifism that makes Zack refrain
from the fight but the pure fact that he's an empath, and if somebody else
suffers he feels the pain as well. Of course, Redeye, who is on the
verge of taking over Oblivion, won't let Zack go without a fight, so he
has his men capture Buteo and have him whipped publicly, upon which Zack
overcomes everything, shoots it out with the baddies, kills some of them
and chases the others away ... but of course, Redeye doesn't leave without
insurance, so he kidnaps Mattie, and now Zack can't but become a hero or
die trying, so he, Gaunt, Buteo and half-robot Deputy Stell Barr (Meg
Foster) go after him and into the badlands, where, surrounded by giant
scorpions, they have their final fight good vs evil - guess who wins ... Oblivion
is a surprisingly fun little movie, as it manages to marry the (B-)Western
and sci-fi genre on a budget and with lots of irony (thanks to comicbook
great Peter David's fun screenplay) without ever becoming simply moronic.
Instead it manages to walk the fine line, not only between genres but also
between great comedy and boring spoof thanks to a well structured story, a
bunch of great supporting characters - especially Carel Struycken as
creepy gravedigger, Julie Newmar as barowner in catsuit who meows a lot,
George Takei as mostly drunk doctor and inventor and Musetta Vander as
whip-wielding sexy outlaw - and very decent special effects in all the
right places. Now don't get me wrong, Oblivion is not a great
movie, its directorial effort is somewhat flat, its budgetary restraints
do sometimes show too clearly, and some of the central cast is a little
weak, but it's a fun way to pass about 90 minutes nevertheless. Don't
expect too much depth, and you'll be royally entertained.
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