Slipstream:
My interest in this old flick was piqued by the name Mark Hamill, old Luke himself, in the cast list, so I decided to give it a whirl on You Tube.
I have this flick on big box VHS stored away. I was reminded of it in my loo library, whilst browsing through my book, the W.H. Smith Guide to Videos from the 1990's.
The three main actors in Slipstream are:
Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill; A L I E N S' private Hudson aka the late Bill Paxton and Jurassic Park's embattled gamekeeper to be, the late great Bob Peck.
An auspicious trio with a not-too-bad screenplay about a global wind encircling a shattered society.
Yes, Slipstream is about a post-apocalyptic world in which the dominant feature is a tremendous wind [no jokes please!] blowing across the Earth's surface, which is the slipstream of the title.
The story follows a grizzled bounty hunter turned cop [Hamill], his equally tough female assistant [Kitty Aldridge] and a dodgy peddler [Paxton] who, along with a suited man [Peck], is the film's central figure.
Bob Peck has the most interesting character and in a windswept world seems completely out of place with his suit and suave accent. There is more to him than meets the eye but you'll have to watch the film to find out what. There are a few interesting planes and kites too.
I enjoyed it to start with, especially the Mos Eisley-like settlement complete with cantina and music. I also liked the harder edge to Mark Hamill, a sort of older bitter Luke tinged with a little dark side.
I did think the ramshackle plane at the heart of the film and the video sleeve was a bit weak though and lacked any screen presence. In the end I had to turn it off!
Overall it reminded me of a sort of Waterworld mixed with something like Blade Runner - lite. Sadly, apart from the initial interest of seeing a new role for Mark Hamill back with his old Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz, I found the film boring.
I can see why it flopped back in '89. Viewing format: You Tube and PC. Score: 3 out of 10.
Have you seen Slipstream?
