‘Megaforce’ – This Cult Classic Deserves a Second Look

Hal Needham’s “Megaforce” (1982) was a would-be summer movie event that quickly became an embarrassment.

Today, it not only holds an affectionate cult following, but it also inspired a well-received documentary. Bob Lindenmayer’s “Making Megaforce” has been making the rounds at film festivals this year.

Needham, the stunt expert and director whose “Smokey and the Bandit” (1977) remains one of the most influential and still-enjoyable chase movies, hit a career speed bump when “Megaforce” tanked in theaters and was annihilated by film critics.

Seeing the film today, it’s such a gloriously silly work, you wonder how anyone could sink their teeth into something so relentlessly cheerful and often spectacular.

Barry Bostwick stars as Commander Ace Hunter (no, really), the head of an elite squad of top-secret soldiers who battle warlords (of fictional countries) and are called on to save the day. If the British Secret Service were run by The Dukes of Hazzard, it’d be “Megaforce,” which often plays like a 007 thriller with the heart of “Smokey and the Bandit.”

The name of the team’s assignment is, I’m not kidding, “Operation Hook, Line & Sinker.”

“Megaforce” is cartoonish, elaborate and always amusing. Imagine the most earnest sequel to “The Delta Force” (1986) or “Team America: World Police” (2004), done with a completely straight face.

The film’s earnestness, contrasted with a jokey tone, a hero dressed like a fitness instructor and some awesome, large scale action sequences make it irresistible for fans of 1980’s style cheese.

Bostwick, sporting a blue bandana, a Kenny Loggins beard and attired in tight gold spandex, demonstrates that neither this nor “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1975) or anything can embarrass him. There’s even a beautifully lit scene presented in silhouette, perhaps a “Rocky Horror” reference(?).

Henry Silva, even in something this silly, always has the look of a great villain. Persis Khambatta, one of the standouts in “Star Trek – The Motion Picture” (1979), appears here in one of her few film roles (she died far too young, at age 49, in 1998).

The dialogue is quite bad, especially when it’s trying to be funny. Nevertheless, when the chatter halts and the action kicks in, Needham, really delivers some impressive spectacles. There’s a stunning free-fall scene, even with green-screened divers in the foreground of some shots.

Released June 25, 1982, MegaForce is an action film directed by former stuntman Hal Needham and starring Barry Bostwick, Persis Khambatta, Michael Beck, Edward Mulhare, George Furth, Evan C. Kim, Ralph Wilcox, Robert Fuller and Henry Silva. pic.twitter.com/A1bZLlR1NA

— Killer 80s (@killer1980s) June 26, 2025

“Megaforce” is beautifully shot by Michael C. Butler, the cinematographer of no less than “The Missouri Breaks” (1976) and “Jaws 2” (1978). Butler’s imagery is bursting with colors and demonstrating an old fashioned, CGI-free type of spectacle.

What is with that oft-repeated thumb-kiss? I’m guessing the makers of “Masters of the Universe: The Motion Picture” (1987) saw that and adapted it as the “Good Journey” gesture repeated throughout the film, but I could be wrong.

The large-scale action sequences impress, even as none of this can be taken seriously. The climactic trails of colored smoke and the flying bike finale are the showstoppers.

FAST FACT: Needham served as Burt Reynolds’ stunt double on both TV and film projects.

“Megaforce” isn’t violent enough to be offensive and has even less overt politics than the average 007 thriller. In fact, the closest cinematic relation it has is “The Fast and the Furious” (2001), which can be taken as a hearty recommendation or a stern warning to look elsewhere, depending on how one feels about Dominic Toretto, the original Commander Ace hunter.

While the cult following took a while to catch on, it feels like a precursor to that franchise in this way: this is dopey enough to be a semi-spoof but awesome enough to barely skirt self-parody.

Finally, “Megaforce” reveals itself to be a great Dad Movie, if your dad was one of those “Stranger Things” kids in the 1980s. If I could have written a screenplay on what I was into at the age of 10, when I was that very age, it would have looked like this.