Damnation Alley (1977)

In a 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 (from the novel "Damnation Alley"), Alan Sharp (screenplay)

Stars:

Jan-Michael Vincent, George Peppard, Dominique Sanda

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jan-Michael Vincent	...	Tanner
George Peppard	...	Denton
Dominique Sanda	...	Janice
Paul Winfield	...	Keegan
Jackie Earle Haley	...	Billy
Kip Niven	...	Perry
Robert Donner	...	Mountain Man #1
Seamon Glass	...	Mountain Man #2
Trent Dolan	...	Technician
Mark L. Taylor	...	Haskins
Robert Hackman	...	Colonel (as Bob Hackman)
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:

ghost town | cockroach | articulated vehicle | travel | desert | 

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Taglines:

The magnificent epic of five people who survive the nuclear holocaust and their incredible odyssey through the nightmare world it created. And now, you will not only see it, you will feel it, live it--in "Sound 360"--a revolutionary sight and sound experience.

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Genres:

Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The infamous armor-plated "killer cockroaches" are in fact Madagascar "hissing" cockroaches. In reality, they are three-inches long (as seen in the film), and are quite benign. They make the "hissing" sound to communicate with one another, and when they are agitated. Live roaches were used in close up shots, but rubber mock ups were used in the wide and group shots.

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Goofs

Several times during the flood, the voice audio is incorrect or missing completely.

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Quotes

Man: All the dead are dead - and the living are dying.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: 123rd STRATEGIC MISSILE WING TIPTON AFB, CALIFORNIA

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Connections

Edited from Earthquake (1974)

User Reviews

An unfairly maligned effort

I saw this film at the local cinema when it was released ...

and what a great film it seemed. (and in context, still is!).

The context is this - in 1977 we were in the middle of the 'Cold War', and we lived expecting the USA and the USSR to start throwing nukes at each other, which we expected to be the END OF THE WORLD. So a film about the end of civilization was bound to be a hit.

btw if you read the original novel 'Damnation Alley' then I can't recommend this film, because the tie-in is VERY tenuous

back to the film - WWIII devastates the planet, and a group of survivors from a military base build a seriously tasty all terrain vehicle with which to explore the remains of the planet. Damnation Alley - a devastated stretch of the USA - is populated by (among other things), giant scorpions :-) wow!

What would the survivors of WWIII be like? Well maybe they'll retain some semblance of whatever passed for normal before the nuclear strike, or maybe they'll degenerate - the survivors from the base meet a few along the way.

The ending? Was (in my opinion) quite a let down - but you can make your own decision about that

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 October 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Damnation Alley

Filming Locations:

808 Olive Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zeitman-Landers-Roberts Productions, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Sound 360° (as 'Sound 360°') (patent pending)

Color:

Color (Deluxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1