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===Film version===
===Film version===
The 1977 film transforms Hell Tanner into Airman Jake Tanner, an unorthodox Air Force officer, portrayed by [[Jan-Michael Vincent]], who shares [[ICBM]] silo duty at an Air Force missile base in California with cut-and-dry Major Eugene Denton, played by [[George Peppard]]. When the United State detects incoming nuclear missiles, Tanner and Denton "turn the key" to launch a retaliatory strike, initiating [[Doomsday]]. After launching their missile field, they witness nuclear devastation rain down upon the United States.
The 1977 film transforms Hell Tanner into Airman Jake Tanner, an unorthodox Air Force officer, portrayed by [[Jan-Michael Vincent]], who shares [[ICBM]] silo duty at an Air Force missile base in California with cut-and-dry Major Eugene "Sam" Denton, played by [[George Peppard]]. When the United State detects incoming nuclear missiles, Tanner and Denton "turn the key" to launch a retaliatory strike, initiating [[Doomsday]]. After launching their missile field, they witness nuclear devastation rain down upon the United States.


Dissolve forward two years: The earth has been tilted off of its axis by [[World War III]], radiation has mutated insect life, the earth has been wracked by storms of unprecedented severity. Military order at the Air Force base has broken down, Tanner has resigned his commission, and Denton is considering undertaking a trip to [[Albany, New York]] to discover the source of a lone radio transmission. Before the decision to abandon the base can be made, a rocket fuel gas explosion kills all but four men on the base — Peppard, Vincent, [[Paul Winfield]], and [[Kip Niven]].
Dissolve forward two years: The earth has been tilted off of its axis by [[World War III]], radiation has mutated insect life, the earth has been wracked by storms of unprecedented severity. Military order at the Air Force base has broken down, Tanner has resigned his commission, and Denton is considering undertaking a trip to [[Albany, New York]] to discover the source of a lone radio transmission. Before the decision to abandon the base can be made, a rocket fuel gas explosion kills all but four men on the base — Peppard, Vincent, [[Paul Winfield]], and [[Kip Niven]].

Revision as of 07:39, 18 January 2006

Damnation Alley is a novel by Roger Zelazny, and a 1977 film loosely based on the novel, directed by Jack Smight.

Roger Zelazny was reportedly so upset by the actualisation of his novel, that he had his name removed from the film. The film is scheduled to be released on DVD in 2006, after over 20 years of being out of print.

Plot

Template:Spoilers The novel opens in a post-apocalyptic California, in a hellish world shattered by nuclear war. Hurricane-force winds above five hundred feet prevent any sort of air travel, and storms so sudden, violent, and unpredictable make day-to-day life a mini-hell. Hell Tanner, a convicted killer and the last Hell's Angel alive, is offered a full pardon in exchange for taking on a suicide mission - a drive through "Damnation Alley" across a ruined America from Los Angeles to Boston — as one of three vehicles attempting to deliver urgently needed plague vaccine.

Film version

The 1977 film transforms Hell Tanner into Airman Jake Tanner, an unorthodox Air Force officer, portrayed by Jan-Michael Vincent, who shares ICBM silo duty at an Air Force missile base in California with cut-and-dry Major Eugene "Sam" Denton, played by George Peppard. When the United State detects incoming nuclear missiles, Tanner and Denton "turn the key" to launch a retaliatory strike, initiating Doomsday. After launching their missile field, they witness nuclear devastation rain down upon the United States.

Dissolve forward two years: The earth has been tilted off of its axis by World War III, radiation has mutated insect life, the earth has been wracked by storms of unprecedented severity. Military order at the Air Force base has broken down, Tanner has resigned his commission, and Denton is considering undertaking a trip to Albany, New York to discover the source of a lone radio transmission. Before the decision to abandon the base can be made, a rocket fuel gas explosion kills all but four men on the base — Peppard, Vincent, Paul Winfield, and Kip Niven.

They set out across the United States in two Air Force "Landmasters" (half armored personnel carrier, half recreational vehicle) across "Damnation Alley" — described as "the path of least resistance" between areas of intense radiation. In their journey, they pick up two survivors, fight shotgun-toting mountain men, and mutated "killer cockroaches" before reaching their destination.

The film version was marred by cheap special effects, which were cheesy even by 1977 standards — note especially Tanner's motorcycle run through a pack of giant scorpions, and hordes of "killer cockroaches" being dragged by strings. "Damnation Alley" was rife with production problems (large sections of the film were edited out by the studio), and repeated delays in release.

Perhaps the most notable aspect of the film was the unique Landmaster vehicle, which features a hinged center section, and a unique rotating 12-wheel assembly. The "Landmaster" was custom built for the film at a cost of $350,000. The Landmaster should not be confused with the superficial similar but simpler Ark II.