Laserblast

Rating:
Summary: So Corny, It's Entertaining!
Review: *
Can a movie be so bad that it's good?

Well... If you ask me, a classic example of an automobile that's so ugly it's cute is that retro-looking Plymouth PT Cruiser. So if it works for a stupid old car, then why not a movie?

I had seen "Laserblast" only once: It had apparantly made such an impact at the theatres that about a year or so after it was released I was among an audience of perhaps 70 or 80 viewers at the most in the gymnasium of a children's home that had rented the film reels for a private screening. (Now that just HAS to make it an instant classic!)

But there was just something about this slow-paced sci-fi film with cheesy effects that impressed me enough to stay stuck in my mind for over two decades. My recent purchase of the DVD gave me the answer why: It's so bad that it actually stands out which makes it good, and it really is quite good, despite how bad it really is. (Did that make any sense at all?)

Coming out just on the tail of the eye candy "Star Wars" craze, "Laserblast" was a break (refreshing?... doubtful) from all of the space fantasy knock-offs which deliberately tried to be good (and usually weren't) and all of the space spoofs which deliberately tried to be humorous (and usually weren't). "Laserblast" clearly knows that it's nowhere on the same level as "Star Wars," and it never tries to kid itself otherwise, although there is clearly a fair bit of resentment toward the LucasFilm epic.

"Laserblast" almost revels in its cheesiness. With a little refinement of the special effects, scripting and camera work it could have actually been a pretty good movie that could have done okay at the box office, and I'm actually hoping that someone (other than myself) comes up with the idea to do a decent 'remake.' But even as it stands, it's an enjoyable film.

The late Richard Kim Milford does a decent job portraying "Billy," the neglected introvert living in a dead-end desert town where he is treated as an irrelevant entity by just about everyone except his girlfriend. One day he finds a long plastic and metal tube-thing and a grenade-looking neckace-thing lying around in the open desert, which were left behind in a panic by a couple of turtle-faced space aliens that speak turtle-faced space alien language without English language subtitles who were in a hurry trying to avoid detection by an airplane flying overhead just after they vaporized some green-faced guy with a happy trigger finger. (You got all that?)

The space turtles have to do a quick 180* when they get their reptilian butts chewed out by the 'BiG Boss' space turtle who shows them that another one of 'Those Obnoxious Earthlings' like the one they derezzed earlier has found the 'weapon-things' which turn unsuspecting Earth people into laserblasting rampaging green-faced monsters. So now the reptile people from outer space have to save the day yet again by destroying another one of the terrestrial mammal people in order to save all the other mammal people of Earth from the laserblasting rampage of the Billy mammal person who will soon transform into a green-faced alien monster person with sharp teeth. (With me so far?)

The "MIB" (not "J" "K" or "L" this time) catches up with the now transformed green-faced laser cannon toting rampaging Billy before the space turtles do, but when the aliens finally do get there it's apparantly during one of the biggest celebrations of the year, because the entire residential area is empty (they're probably all attending the parade or something), and when the claymation aliens destroy the rampaging Billy they use this special 'ray gun' thing which they now seem to have fixed so that it kills the monster-man but leaving his "Billy" body intact while vaporizing or digitizing both the laser cannon thing and necklace thing, instead of the other way around, which is how they got into this mess in the first place. (Um... I haven't lost you yet, have I?)

And THIS is the movie that stuck in my mind for so many years? I guess it's obvious to see why. It's good bad stuff.

* * *

Rating:
Summary: Warning! Nostalgists Only
Review: Although watching Laserblast for me brings back a time when films like this were seen in abundance on Saturday afternoon television in the early eighties, and has a great, cheesy B-movie feel that you can only really get from films made in the seventies, it is a bad, bad movie. The acting is terrible, the plot makes little sense. (Who is the man in black and why doesnt he stop Billy when he gets the chance? Where are the people in the "city" scene at the end? Who are the guys in the plane?) but there is a bizzaro quality to it that will make it appealing to schlock lovers, mostly credited to the grunting green faced mutant-Billy. The DVD is in widescreen, but the trailer advertised on the box is nowhere to be found. The picture quality sadly does not improve much from the VHS version. If you remember seeing this way back when and look back at it fondly, by all means get it while its still available. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: This movie ROCKS!!!...
Review: Considering its a late seventies movie.We can look at movies like Star Wars today and be overly critical of the movie because we have come to expect more out of the special effects, sometimes too much. We do not consider that for its era Star Wars effects wereVERY impressive to audinces then and very cutting edge for their Era. This being said Laserblast is precisely one of such movies! This movie has good special effects, an excellent premise,and If you like reptiles, two cool, likeable aliens who give enjoyable and realistic performances! Rarely have any stop motion animation charachters had so much personality and realism as these guys! The movie even has an MIB in it long before most other sci-fi movies!This is a cult classic! The alien concepts and technological style are impressive enough to carry the movie.And it has plenty of excellent explosion effects too! The soundtrack is well put together! All in all this movie is a fun little gem! A great addition to any sci-fi video Library! If you like this movie youll like War of the Worlds,Predator 1 and 2, Alien 1 and 2,Men In Black, Independance Day, I Come In Peace, The Dark (the earlier one)Starship Invasions, Moontrap, Flight of the Navigator, and anything from The Outer Limits Series (New or Old) just to name a few!

Rating:
Summary: Strange, campy '70s sci-fi
Review: I can't recommend this movie. I saw it when I was 10 years old, and even at that age (and a sci-fi freak) I thought it was bad. Let me put it this way: I saw it as part of a double feature with Disney's "The Cat From Outer Space", and it made that poor excuse for entertainment shine in comparison. (Then again, there are a bunch of people that gave TCFOS 5 stars on Amazon, so maybe I'm off base? Whatever.)

Think "Corvette Summer" with cheesy special effects. Only for the avid collector of bad '70s sci-fi.

Rating:
Summary: Memories
Review: I pretty much agree with ALL the reviewers here. This is a bad cheesy movie which I enjoyed for some strange reason. It's hard to describe, but this movie makes cheesy film-making an art form. It probably is for nostalgics only, but who knows. I saw it once when I was very young and it stuck in my mind until I accidentally stumbled across it on amazon.com 24 years later. As soon as I saw it listed here, I just HAD to get it, and I wasn't disappointed. It is what it is, and I like it for that.

Rating:
Summary: HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Review: I pretty much agree with ALL the reviewers here. This is a bad cheesy movie which I enjoyed for some strange reason. It's hard to describe, but this movie makes cheesy film-making an art form. It probably is for nostalgics only, but who knows. I saw it once when I was very young and it stuck in my mind until I accidentally stumbled across it on amazon.com 24 years later. As soon as I saw it listed here, I just HAD to get it, and I wasn't disappointed. It is what it is, and I like it for that.

Rating:
Summary: Science Fiction masterpiece mixed with 70's nastalgia!
Review: I remember that it was a dry Friday night in Phoenix, Arizona and both my sister and I were in hopes of our parents taking us to the movies. They searched the movie section in the paper. They said that they couldn't find anything except this Sci-fi double feature. They had never heard of either movie, but they took us anyway because they could never refuse such a bargain as 2 movies for the price of 1. The double feature was "Star Crash", a Roger Corman film,& "Laserblast". My sister and I had seen a T.V. commercial for "Star Crash", but we hadn't heard of "Laserblast". The first movie was a dud, but "Laserblast" was a hit with my sister and I. The mixture of present day with space aliens had us at the beginning. In Sci-fi terms this could really happen to any of us. A troubled teen takes his van out to the desert to blow of some steam and stumbles onto some wierd clear cylindric space gun left by some apsent minded space cops(who happen to look like dinosaurs with chirpy bird voices). With the help of the accessory necklace he can now get all those people back for mis-treating him. That is how I felt when I first saw the movie. I didn't see "Laserblast" again until 1999 on late-night cable. I couldn't believe my eyes. Yes, I suddenly realized that this movie has some "camp" to it, but it still had that great 70's feel to it. This, I didn't remember about "Laserblast". Now I love to watch it not just for it's original storyline of adolescense meets science fiction, but because it brings back that great free, empty, 70's feel. If you liked the movie "Dazed and Confused", then you will have to see this movie so you can experience what the real 70's felt like.

Rating:
Summary: Memories
Review: I remember this movie when it came out. It was horrible then and still is today. The special effect were cheesy and the acting horrible. It is a great example of a awful movie that is so bad that it is good. For ten bucks go buy it.

Rating:
Summary: laserblast review
Review: It's the story of a guy who is constantly bullied and seeks ultimate revenge against those that bully him: he discovers a sleek laser weapon that resembles a fancy water pistol/rifle and blasts them all to hell with it. As he uses the laser, however, he becomes aware of the glowing green orb that is growing in his chest. Pretty good Harryhausen-style effects, it was a sleeper for its time; never made it big. A cool movie to show your kids. You might even enjoy it the second time around 22 years later!

Rating:
Summary: Fun Science Fiction
Review: Laserblast is a very fun sci-fi movie. It is definitely old school sci-fi because the special effects are cheesy but I like the idea of a young alienated teenager who finds a alien laser rifle and wreaks havoc on his tormentors! In many ways this movie is great! I like the aliens and the way they talk in there own language without subtitles. A lot of the movie is left unexplained and that is a good thing. People should be challenged and use there imagination and not have everything spoonfed to them. I must admit this movie has nostalgic value for me, I remember seeing it at the theater with my father and brother. If you like sci-fi and The X-files you will like this movie. If you do not like sci-fi in general, you probably will not get past the cheesy special effects. I love this movie!