Terminus ( Blu Ray) — Terminus
Terminus is a 1987 Franco-German sci-fi movie directed by Pierre-William Glenn (23h58, Death Watch and Extérieur Nuit) . The film stars Jurgen Prochnow (David Lynch’s Dune, Das Boot and Judge Dredd), Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Starman and Animal Lampoon’s Animal House), the man known as the French Elvis, Johnny Hallyday (The Man on the Train, Crime Scene and Pourquoi Pas Moi?), and Gabriel Damon (Robocop 2, The Land Before Time and Tequila Sunrise).
Set in the year 2037, Terminus is centred around a sport where drivers must take a truck across the country and arrive at a specified terminus, all the while evading a series of obstacles and enemies along the way. The rally has a $100m prize and has, thus far, never been won. The lead truck, known as “The Beast” was designed by Mati (Damon), a genetically engineered boy, and was to be driven by a woman named Gus (Allen). The truck’s AI fails, leaving Gus stranded in the middle of nowhere, where she is chased and captured by hoodlums who torture her. There she befriends fellow captive Stump (Hallyday) and the pair plot their escape before tragedy strikes. I don’t want to give away the plot, such as it is, so I won’t say anything further about the storyline.
Terminus is yet another 1980s Mad Max rip-off, with not much of a budget, although it is also far from being the worst or the cheapest of its kind. The surprisingly strong cast give fairly solid performances across the board, particularly Allen, Hallyday and Jurgen Prochnow, who appears as the sinister doctor who created Mati. On top of that, Glenn’s direction and Jean-Claude Vicquery’s cinematography are both pretty robust, managing to elevate the film to a higher level than one might have expected.
The beauty of this new Blu-ray release from MVD's Rewind series is that it features both the extended European director’s cut of the movie, which runs at 115 minutes, which I watched for the purpose of this review, and the shorter US version (83 minutes). Both versions of the movie are presented in full 1080p HD, and look really good with natural, vibrant colours and crisp, sharp visuals. In addition to the two movie prints, the disc features a new interview with star Jurgen Prochnow, a new making-of documentary that includes various archival interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, a theatrical trailer, and a photo gallery. The whole thing is packaged in a rather fetching slipcase, with reversible artwork and a collectable mini-poster.
Overall, this Franco-German title is worth a look for its wild Mad Max/cyberpunk style. The costumes and sets look great, and it’s a very enjoyable take on the dystopian sci-fi genre. The cast is good, and the whole package is well worth investing in for fans of dystopian sci-fi. The movie itself has no shortage of action and set pieces that will please fans of 80s action movies from Aliens to Total Recall and everything in between, with an ending that feels pretty satisfying.