Choke Canyon (1986)

A "cowboy"-scientist is fighting a corporation who wants to dump atomic waste on a piece of land he has leased.

Director:

Charles Bail

Writers:

Sheila Goldberg, Ovidio G. Assonitis,

Stars:

Stephen Collins, Janet Julian, Bo Svenson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stephen Collins	...	Dr. David Lowell
Janet Julian	...	Vanessa Pilgrim
Bo Svenson	...	Capt. Oliver Parkside
Lance Henriksen	...	Brook Alastair
Nicholas Pryor	...	John Pilgrim
Victoria Racimo	...	Rachel
Robert F. Hoy	...	Buck
Walter Robles	...	Jim
Kurt Woodruff	...	Crane
Mark Baer	...	Orrin
Michael Flynn	...	Governor
Sherry Sailer	...	Mrs. Pilgrim
Alan Gregory	...	Pilgrim's secretary
Michael Phenicie	...	Security guard #1 (as Michael Gates)
Marc Di Nunzio	...	Security guard #2

Storyline

Pilgrim Corporation has leased Choke Canyon to research physicist David Lowell for 99 years. Lowell has built an impressive research laboratory there. When Pilgrim suddenly needs Choke Canyon for toxic waste storage, they resort to violence to force out the renitent Lowell. However, Pilgrim Corportation vastly underestimates Lowell, who is a tenacious, principled, and ingenious man.

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Plot Keywords:

canyon | toxic waste | sabotage | stunt pilot | horse | 

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 August 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der einsame Kämpfer

Filming Locations:

Dead Horse Point State Park - State Highway 313, Moab, Utah, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Brouwersgracht Investments

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Courteney Cox, Helen Hunt, and Mariska Hargitay were all considered for the lead female role that ultimately went to Janet Julian.

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Soundtracks

"Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)"
Written by Mike Rutherford (as Michael Rutherford)
Performed by Mike + The Mechanics
Courtesy of Atlantic Records

User Reviews

Some decent aerial stunts, but your basic low budget movie

I confess to having seen this film only because I made an effort to search it out. In 1986 I was stationed in Ridgecrest, California, and spent my spare time hanging out at a friends machine shop. We were contracted to build some equipment for a movie being shot locally, and that's how I know the film. I built a satellite dish and control console used in the film from scrap, and was out on the shooting location south of Ridgecrest at an old ready mix plant on highway 395. This was the location for the lab, and where the monster trucks were driven over a canyon. The film itself is so low budget it screams for mercy, with much more money spent on F/X than writing or directing. The cast is composed of Hollywood fringe actors who never quite got the big break they were looking for. Some of the stuntwork, particularly the aerial work which was done in Utah was pretty decent, but overall the film was really hurt by the low budget tack taken in making it. However, getting to watch an almost completely Italian film crew at work has got to be on of the greatest sources of humor that can be found, and anyone who ever gets a chance to do so should. It will keep you laughing for years.