"Megaforce" and "Making Megaforce" [Chattanooga Film Festival Review]
The Chattanooga Film Festival, known for its awesomely inventive programming, offered a real treat during its 2026 edition. They screened the 1982 sci-fi/action bomb Megaforce along with a documentary about its production and eventual cult status, titled Making Megaforce. Seeing these two pictures together is a doggone delight that reminds you even the worst movies have devoted fans out there somewhere.
If you’ve never had the privilege – or misfortune – of seeing Megaforce, here’s what you need to know. 20th Century Fox gave Smokey and the Bandit director Hal Needham $20 million to make what they anticipated would be the next Star Wars. It’s the tale of an elite defense unit, led by the suave and slightly goofy Ace Hunter (Barry Bostwick), assigned to protect America from terrorist threats. The members have rocket-armed motorcycles and laser-equipped dune buggies at their disposal. Ace and his right-hand man Dallas (The Warriors’ Michael Beck) are charged with protecting the peaceful Republic of Sardun from the hostile neighboring nation of Gamibia. Persis Khambatta (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) co-stars as Zara Benbhutto, a major in Sardun’s army.
Needham was a former stuntman and gained a reputation for only caring about pulling off incredible stunts in his movies. Megaforce bears witness to this fact. The story is muddled and difficult to follow. Action scenes, on the other hand, are elaborate, especially for the early ‘80s time period. Motorcycles are constantly jumping things, explosions occur on a regular basis, and trick driving moves are a basic part of Megaforce’s tactics. Basically, it’s everything a 12-year-old boy in the 1980s would have lost his mind over.
Although by no means a good movie, there are absolutely pleasures to be found. They include howler scenes, like the one where Ace makes Zara go through a series of training exercises, all of which she nails, then refuses to let her join the mission anyway. A climactic action scene features motorcycles emitting massive plumes of different colored smoke as they race across the desert. It’s like the light cycles from Tron come to life. You also get to enjoy Bostwick’s unapologetically campy performance, plus a hilariously ridiculous bit where he rides a flying motorcycle.
All in all, Megaforce is prime ‘80s cheese, a terrible movie that’s nevertheless great fun to watch.
Making Megaforce is not technically a good movie either. It’s haphazardly constructed, and director Bob Lindenmayer focuses a little too much on his own efforts to collect and restore the vehicles used on screen. But man, are the stories great, so it’s also fun to watch. Barry Bostwick is on hand throughout, sharing memories of making the film and generally humoring Lindenmeyer’s obsession. Beck appears too, albeit more briefly, as do the producers, stuntmen, and assorted crew members.
All of them have wild tales to tell, from Needham’s complete disregard for the plot to his insistence on using an untested liquid explosive that resulted in crew members having to dodge flaming debris upon detonation. We also hear how everyone involved in Megaforce expected it to be a blockbuster, only to feel disheartened when it opened to bad reviews and almost non-existent box office business.
A certain percentage of kids who did see it in the summer of 1982 were transfixed. Several of them take part in the documentary, talking about the fondness they maintain for this oddball adventure. Don’t we all have that one movie we loved growing up – whether we saw it theatrically or on HBO – that we still like as adults, despite knowing it’s kind of bad? Making Megaforce speaks to that specific type of nostalgia, so the documentary has a highly relatable quality.
A double bill is definitely the best way to see these two films, but their pleasures, no matter how off-the-wall, can be appreciated anytime. Pairing them up is yet another reason why the Chattanooga Film Festival absolutely rocks.
© 2026 Mike McGranaghan