Radioactive Dreams
Encyclopedia
Radioactive Dreams is a 1985 post-apocalyptic science fiction
-comedy film. The film was directed by Albert Pyun
, and stars Michael Dudikoff
, Don Murray
, and Lisa Blount
. The two main characters are named after a combination of noir detective fiction icons, Philip Marlowe
, Raymond Chandler
and Mike Hammer
.
) and Marlowe Hammer (Michael Dudikoff
), are abandoned by their fathers in a fallout shelter
cut into the side of a wooded mountain. The pair grow up in the shelter, with 1950s detective fiction
and swing music as the guiding force in their learning. Fifteen years later Marlowe succeeds in digging out the cave entrance. The pair give each other haircuts, dress in suits, and go to rejoin the world.
Philip narrates their adventure on their first day out:
Marlowe hopes to find their fathers, but Philip is disgruntled that they never returned, and presumes that they are dead. The mountain is now devoid of trees. The first people they find are a trio of radiation burned "mutants" chasing a beautiful woman, Miles Archer (Lisa Blount
). They rescue Miles, who kisses Marlowe as a distraction and steals his gun. This backfires, as she drops the activation keys to the last nuclear missile. Miles leaves, and the pair are immediately attacked by a biker gang of bald women in red wigs. Afterwards the boys discover the activation keys, which bears their fathers' names. This excites Marlowe, but disturbs Philip.
They rescue another young woman, Rusty Mars (Michele Little
), from a group of armed children Philip nicknames "disco mutants". She takes a liking to Philip, and leads the two of them to Edge City which is plagued by gang warfare. Rusty takes them to a dance club, where they are captured by cannibals. They want the nuclear keys, as well as eat the young men, a rarity of uncontaminated meat. Although Rusty helps them escape and apologises, Philip doesn't trust her. Just after they part ways the pair meets up with a friend of Miles' who also wants the keys. After he is dispatched Miles shows up and takes them to her hideout. There she tells them about the purpose of the keys. Miles then threatens to kill them, but they escape.
Rusty has followed them to the hideout, but is attacked by the child gangsters. The pair chase them away, but Philip is still doesn't trust her. He wants to shoot her, but is out of bullets. After Rusty apologises again for lying to him and originally handing him over to the cannibals he says, "That was a million years ago, and I got a short memory. In fact, I don't even remember who you are".
The pair resolves to rid the city of the gangs and keep the keys. They go to an abandoned warehouse, using themselves as bait, in the hopes that the gangs will kill each other before killing them. For the most part, the plan works. However, the bosses of the child-gangsters are in fact Philip and Marlowe's fathers. Before he dies, Philip's father tells him that the past does not matter. In the end, the only gangster left standing is Miles, who has the keys. She shoots at them, and misses, but startles Marlowe into shooting and killing her.
The film ends with Philip letting go of the angst which he had nursed for 15 years. He adopts Marlowe's "silver-lining look on life". The two demonstrate Marlowe's tap-inspired "post-nuke shuffle" to the crowds of the city. In the closing narration, Philip explains that they plan to set up shop as detectives, but that first he will find Rusty and see if he can repair his relationship with her. Of the keys, he says that he and Marlowe hid them in a secret location, because "you never know, in a tight jam a nuclear missile just might come in handy".
style, Daddy's Gonna Boogie Tonight, played on a phonograph during the scene when Philip and Marlowe prepare to leave the fallout shelter. The latter and another track called All Talk were left out of the Australian and German soundtrack releases.
However, the soundtrack was also released in Spain containing ALL the songs featured in the film:
theatrically in the United States by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
in September 1986, grossing $220,038 at the box office.
It was released on VHS
by Vestron Video
. As of 2011, the film has still not officially been released on DVD
in the US. However, there is a rare German Region 2 Special Edition DVD. This Edition also includes the Soundtrack CD and is limited to 1000 copies.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
-comedy film. The film was directed by Albert Pyun
Albert Pyun
Albert Pyun is an American film director best known for having made many low-budget B-movies and direct-to-video action films. He frequently blends kickboxing and hybrid martial arts with science fiction and dystopic or post-apocalyptic themes, which often include cyborgs...
, and stars Michael Dudikoff
Michael Dudikoff
Michael Joseph Dudikoff II is an American actor who has been in numerous films, including the American Ninja series , Tron , Bachelor Party , Platoon Leader , River of Death , Soldier Boyz , Ringmaster , and The Silencer , to name a few...
, Don Murray
Don Murray (actor)
Donald Patrick "Don" Murray is an American actor.-Early life and career:Murray was born in Hollywood, California on July 31, 1929, the only child of Dennis Aloisius, a Broadway dance director and stage manager and Ethel Murray, a former Ziegfeld performer...
, and Lisa Blount
Lisa Blount
Lisa S. Blount was an American film and television actress and Oscar-winning producer.-Career:...
. The two main characters are named after a combination of noir detective fiction icons, Philip Marlowe
Philip Marlowe
Philip Marlowe is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler in a series of novels including The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye. Marlowe first appeared under that name in The Big Sleep published in 1939...
, Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
and Mike Hammer
Mike Hammer
Michael "Mike" Hammer is a fictional detective created by the American author Mickey Spillane in the 1947 book I, the Jury .-Description:...
.
Plot
A nuclear war breaks out in 1996, expending the world's entire nuclear arsenal, except for one missile. Two children, Philip Chandler (John StockwellJohn Stockwell (actor)
John Stockwell is an American actor, director, producer, writer and former model.Stockwell was born John Stockwell Samuels IV in Galveston, Texas, the son of an attorney. His first feature film as an actor came in 1981's So Fine...
) and Marlowe Hammer (Michael Dudikoff
Michael Dudikoff
Michael Joseph Dudikoff II is an American actor who has been in numerous films, including the American Ninja series , Tron , Bachelor Party , Platoon Leader , River of Death , Soldier Boyz , Ringmaster , and The Silencer , to name a few...
), are abandoned by their fathers in a fallout shelter
Fallout shelter
A fallout shelter is an enclosed space specially designed to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion. Many such shelters were constructed as civil defense measures during the Cold War....
cut into the side of a wooded mountain. The pair grow up in the shelter, with 1950s detective fiction
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
and swing music as the guiding force in their learning. Fifteen years later Marlowe succeeds in digging out the cave entrance. The pair give each other haircuts, dress in suits, and go to rejoin the world.
Philip narrates their adventure on their first day out:
"My name's Philip, and this is going to be a yarn about me and my pal, Marlowe. About the day we got out of this shelter and went off into the post-nuclear world. Now, as excited as we were about leaving the shelter, it was still a joint that held fond memories. I mean, it was the only world we'd ever known. Where I practiced my magic, Marlowe, his dancing; where we both dreamed of becoming private eyes, just like the one's we'd read about."
Marlowe hopes to find their fathers, but Philip is disgruntled that they never returned, and presumes that they are dead. The mountain is now devoid of trees. The first people they find are a trio of radiation burned "mutants" chasing a beautiful woman, Miles Archer (Lisa Blount
Lisa Blount
Lisa S. Blount was an American film and television actress and Oscar-winning producer.-Career:...
). They rescue Miles, who kisses Marlowe as a distraction and steals his gun. This backfires, as she drops the activation keys to the last nuclear missile. Miles leaves, and the pair are immediately attacked by a biker gang of bald women in red wigs. Afterwards the boys discover the activation keys, which bears their fathers' names. This excites Marlowe, but disturbs Philip.
They rescue another young woman, Rusty Mars (Michele Little
Michele Little
Michele Little is a former American actress, best known for her appearances in the 1980s and early 1990s.She retired in 1995 to raise a family after giving birth to a daughter by husband Brett Cullen.-Filmography:...
), from a group of armed children Philip nicknames "disco mutants". She takes a liking to Philip, and leads the two of them to Edge City which is plagued by gang warfare. Rusty takes them to a dance club, where they are captured by cannibals. They want the nuclear keys, as well as eat the young men, a rarity of uncontaminated meat. Although Rusty helps them escape and apologises, Philip doesn't trust her. Just after they part ways the pair meets up with a friend of Miles' who also wants the keys. After he is dispatched Miles shows up and takes them to her hideout. There she tells them about the purpose of the keys. Miles then threatens to kill them, but they escape.
Rusty has followed them to the hideout, but is attacked by the child gangsters. The pair chase them away, but Philip is still doesn't trust her. He wants to shoot her, but is out of bullets. After Rusty apologises again for lying to him and originally handing him over to the cannibals he says, "That was a million years ago, and I got a short memory. In fact, I don't even remember who you are".
The pair resolves to rid the city of the gangs and keep the keys. They go to an abandoned warehouse, using themselves as bait, in the hopes that the gangs will kill each other before killing them. For the most part, the plan works. However, the bosses of the child-gangsters are in fact Philip and Marlowe's fathers. Before he dies, Philip's father tells him that the past does not matter. In the end, the only gangster left standing is Miles, who has the keys. She shoots at them, and misses, but startles Marlowe into shooting and killing her.
The film ends with Philip letting go of the angst which he had nursed for 15 years. He adopts Marlowe's "silver-lining look on life". The two demonstrate Marlowe's tap-inspired "post-nuke shuffle" to the crowds of the city. In the closing narration, Philip explains that they plan to set up shop as detectives, but that first he will find Rusty and see if he can repair his relationship with her. Of the keys, he says that he and Marlowe hid them in a secret location, because "you never know, in a tight jam a nuclear missile just might come in handy".
Soundtrack
Most of the songs featured in the film are pop-rock with mild punk elements. The exceptions are Zim Bim Zowie, a swing number, and also a tune in the American SongbookGreat American Songbook
The Great American Songbook is a hypothetical construct that seeks to represent the best American songs of the 20th century principally from Broadway theatre, musical theatre, and Hollywood musicals, from the 1920s to 1960, including dozens of songs of enduring popularity...
style, Daddy's Gonna Boogie Tonight, played on a phonograph during the scene when Philip and Marlowe prepare to leave the fallout shelter. The latter and another track called All Talk were left out of the Australian and German soundtrack releases.
Songs
- Nightmare - Jill Jaxx - 5:10
- Radioactive Dreams - Sue Saad - 5:18
- She'll Burn You - Maureen Steele - 4:13
- Young Thing - Cherri Delight - 4:09
- Tickin' Of The Clock - The Monte Carlos - 2:07
- Psychedelic Man - Shari Saba - 2:41
- Eat You Alive - Lisa Lee - 2:40
- Guilty Pleasures - Sue Saad - 3:44 (Performed by Saad on-screen)
- Turn Away - Mary Ellen Quinn - 2:13
- She's A Fire - Sue Saad - 2:07
- When Lightning Strikes - Sue Saad - 6:51
- Zim Bim Zowie - Darryl Phinessee - 2:20 (Danced-To by Marlowe and Philip as the "Post-Nuke Shuffle" in the closing scene)
However, the soundtrack was also released in Spain containing ALL the songs featured in the film:
Release
The film was given a limited releaseLimited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
theatrically in the United States by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
De Laurentiis Entertainment Group was a production company/distribution unit founded by producer Dino De Laurentiis.The company is notable for producing Manhunter, Blue Velvet, the horror films Near Dark and Evil Dead II, King Kong Lives , and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, as well as...
in September 1986, grossing $220,038 at the box office.
It was released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
by Vestron Video
Vestron Video
Vestron Video was the main subsidiary of Vestron, Inc., a home video company based in Stamford, Connecticut that was active from 1982 to 1992. It is considered to have been a pioneer in the home video market....
. As of 2011, the film has still not officially been released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in the US. However, there is a rare German Region 2 Special Edition DVD. This Edition also includes the Soundtrack CD and is limited to 1000 copies.