Damnation Alley (1977)

In an post-apocalyptic world, a group of survivors travel and find other settlements in huge custom designed all terrain vehicles.

Director:

Jack Smight

Writers:

Roger Zelazny (novel), Alan Sharp (screenplay),

Stars:

Jan-Michael Vincent, George Peppard, Dominique Sanda

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jan-Michael Vincent	...	Tanner
George Peppard	...	Maj. Eugene Denton
Dominique Sanda	...	Janice
Paul Winfield	...	Keegan
Jackie Earle Haley	...	Billy
Kip Niven	...	Lt. Tom Perry
Robert Donner	...	Man / Guard
Seamon Glass	...	Mountain Man #2
Trent Dolan	...	Technician
Mark L. Taylor	...	Haskins
Bob Hackman	...	Colonel
Erik Cord	...	Burning Man
Terence Locke	...	Air Policeman (as Terrence Locke)
Marcia Holley	...	Gloria

Storyline

A small group of survivors at a military installation who survived World War 3 attempt to drive across the desolate wasteland to where they hope more survivors are living. Hopefully their specially built vehicles will protect them against the freakish weather mutated plant and animal life and other dangers along the way.

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Plot Keywords:

travel | desert | future | biker | fortress | 

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Taglines:

More than a movie. An adventure you'll never forget.

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Genres:

Sci-Fi | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 October 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Survival Run

Filming Locations:

Glen Canyon, Utah, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Sound 360°

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After poor initial box office returns, was packaged as a double feature with the similarly under-performing Wizards.

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Goofs

Although the rocket launchers do not appear to be auto-reloading, multiple rockets are fired from each launcher, during the fight at Ellen's Cafe'.

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Quotes

Tanner: So where are we heading for?
Maj. Eugene Denton: Albany.
Tanner: Albany? You have relatives there?
Maj. Eugene Denton: It's the only place we ever got a signal from. Albany is the place to aim for.
Tanner: Sort of the objective of the operation, right?
Maj. Eugene Denton: You could call it that. See, there's a way across... well, not really a way across, but the screens show it to be the path of least resistance. It's not good, but it's the best we've got.
Tanner: What happens if we make a wrong turn?
Maj. Eugene Denton: There are areas of radiation we couldn't get through. It's not a matter of ...
[...]

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Connections

Edited from Earthquake (1974)

User Reviews

If Irwin Allen Combined Mad Max, Deliverance & Them

This notoriously hard to get (at least legitimately) movie follows the travails of five nuke apocalypse survivors in the late 1970s. Their task is to drive their armored personnel vehicle cum Winnabago from Bakersfield CA to Albany NY. On the way they stop off in Vegas, Salt Lake City and Detriot bumping into maniac mutant cockroaches and some radioactive hillbillies along the way. 99% of the time the sky is a swirling orangish red that transfers its Gatorade hues to most sequences in this movie. The locations are all dust, sand and rock... this is after all Damnation Alley and the Earth has been tilted off its axis. An absolute trash B movie that I'm sure many of those associated with would rather forget, it is nonetheless hugely compelling. After viewing you can appreciate the cult classic status of this film, yet to not be entirely sure why that is so.