A long time ago…in a movie theatre in Australia in 1989 we got to see the film Slipstream. It was famous at the time for being Mark Hamill’s return to the big screen after Return of the Jedi, with a great cast. Luke Skywalker and Private Hudson would face off in the Slipstream.
Let’s set the scene. It’s a post apocalyptic world of fallout, where technology has left the world and people travel in aeroplanes instead of cars along the ‘slipstream’. Think of Mad Max with planes and you’re halfway there. Mark is actually the bad guy in this. Yep, you read that right. He plays a lawman by the name of Will Tasker, no relation to Arnold’s True Lies character, though it should be said he’s more a bounty hunter, and that’s what makes Mark’s character so great. He’s a man of law in a place that has none.
Built off the back of making the laws up as he goes, the lawmen have pretty much died out. Hamill seemed to have wanted to play a bad guy like this for a while, and he relished it, with a bleach blonde hair dye and a great beard. Mark, you do beards well, better than Kenobi!
Facing off against him was Bill Paxton. By 1989, our fave Hudson was everywhere. He’d been in a series of Cameron films, Terminator as the punk character, and also in Aliens as Hudson. Matt Owens (Paxton) is our happy go lucky window-into-the-world character, who at the start gets to reunite with his Aliens alumni Ricco Ross in the diner scene. This is all great, as we get to see some of the best actors from our favourite films get back together in other roles, and the chemistry is mint. Truly a great experience.
So let’s take a look at the cast. Kitty Aldridge plays Tasker’s bounty hunter companion Belitski, who starts out as a hard-nosed, tough as hell partner who has second thoughts on the law trade after experiencing what Matt Owens went through. There’s the main protagonist Byron, an android, and one that’s not like Blade Runners androids but more a fun Pinocchio-like figure, as he tries to figure out his place in the world. Played by the late Bob Peck, he’s one of those actors you’ll remember more for other roles but it’s his sincere demeanour that really builds the performance.
Robbie Coltrane plays a friend of Matt Owens, and who doesn’t love Coltrane? He steals every scene. Ben Kingsley is Avatar, one of the religious worshippers of the wind. This film does have a kind of spiritual quality in that way, as the slipstream is worshipped almost like the force by this group. Last but not least is F. Murray Abraham, as Cornellius. I couldn’t tell whether or not this was a blatant reference to the great Planet of the Apes character, but he’s a curator of an underground museum filled with music and wealth of information.
The film’s directed by Trons‘ Steven Lisberger. He had found success with the Disney effects film and producer Gary Kurtz picked him to direct. When you think about it, it’s a great grouping of talented people all under the guidance of Kurtz after his success of both Star Wars and The Dark Crystal. This film feels like a journey, like many of those films, and an interesting hero’s journey.
What I love about the film is that it’s shot in Turkey, Ireland and also Pinewood studios, so we get some interesting locations. It feels like a true road movie but it’s not, we’re in the air. Speaking of air, Mark gets his own plane in this one, The Brookland Aerospace Optica which was all over the trailers and the movie poster. It reminded me of Rick Hunter’s fan jet from Robotech, (another animated series Hamill was involved in), but I love the futuristic nature of the wingspan and the overall shadow this vehicle casts. The open cabin was more akin to a helicopter than any other craft.
Feeling like a western with the two heroes being chased by a posse, this is where Slipstream really excels, giving us action and adventure that should have been way more of a hit. It’s not that it’s a bad film, or even a mediocre one. The film was never given a chance, with little or no cinema showings, apart from here in Australia and the UK. It never showed in the USA, going straight to VHS.
This is a film worth your time, and if you can find a copy, now that the film is on the public domain, then give it a go and experience the Slipstream!
