Line #55 Film/Megaforce


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_050.jpeg]]
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3	A 1982 action movie directed by [[Film/SmokeyAndTheBandit Hal]] [[Film/TheCannonballRun Needham]], starring [[Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow Barry]] [[Series/SpinCity Bostwick]], [[Film/TheWarriors Michael]] [[Film/{{Xanadu\|1980}} Beck]], Creator/PersisKhambatta, [[Series/KnightRider Edward Mulhare]], Creator/GeorgeFurth, Evan C. Kim, Ralph Wilcox, Creator/RobertFuller and Creator/HenrySilva.
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5	The film follows the titular "Megaforce", an [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous elite]] [[MultinationalTeam multi-national]] "[[NoSuchAgency phantom]] [[BadassArmy army]]", equipped with "the most powerful weapons science can devise" and which mission is "to preserve freedom and justice, battling the forces of tyranny and evil on every corner of the globe".
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7	Led by [[TheHero Commander Ace Hunter]] (Bostwick) and [[TheLancer his friend]] [[GoodOlBoy Dallas]] (Beck), the Megaforce is sent to help a small (fictional) country in Africa address border incursions from its (equally fictional) neighbor, who has hired an old acquaintance of Hunter's, Duke Guerera (Silva).
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9	No connection to ''Series/PowerRangersMegaforce.''
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11	----
12	!!The film features the following tropes:
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14	* ActionGirl: Major Zara... allegedly. She manages to pass Megaforce qualification training, but [[AbortedArc despite her best desires, doesn't get to go on the mission]].
15	* AffablyEvil: Guerrera and Ace used to be friends and still treat each other as such... a bit too much, really... and at the midpoint of the film they even meet and Guerrera tries to talk Ace into surrendering (and that it's TheEighties, good guys don't win anymore) and in the middle of the climactic rush to evacuate Ace takes a moment to tell Guerrera that no, [[IronicEcho heroes can still win, even in]] the Eighties.
16	* BadassArmy: The titular "Megaforce". Guerera's army is [[InformedAbility apparently]] one, considering that it constantly makes incursions into the Republic of Sardun and wrecks the place with little problem.
17	* CasualDangerDialogue: A lot of the Megaforce's battle dialogue. As a crowning example, one of the Hercules meant for evacuation gets mission-killed by ''a direct hit from a tank's main gun'' and needs to fly off, and the pilot takes the time to ask one of the other pilots if he can call the latter's girlfriend.
18	* ClownCar: The C-130 "Hercules" transports used for the operation, carrying sixty-plus men all riding a motorcycle, dune buggy or an AwesomePersonnelCarrier. Subverted later on in that the mission-kill of one of the planes forces the group to leave behind their vehicles during evac.
19	* CoolCar: The Mega-Destroyer dune buggy and the TAC-COM vehicle, both packing ''[[MoreDakka significant]]'' firepower, including ''[[EnergyWeapon laser cannons]]'' and ''disintegration beams''.
20	* CoolBike: The "Delta Mark 4 Megafighter", with [[MoreDakka triple-barreled machine guns on the nose]], [[MacrossMissileMassacre multiple missiles]], and ''the ability to fly''.
21	* CoolVsAwesome: A collection of dune buggies and dirt bikes outfitted with ''[[MoreDakka a lot]]'' of guns, [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]] and a veritable MacrossMissileMassacre vs. a ''really big'' bunch of ''[[TankGoodness tanks]]''.
22	* CommandingCoolness: [[TheAce Ace]] Hunter.
23	* EightiesHair: Hunter's mullet. Sweet '''GOD''', Hunter's bandanna-wearing mullet. Dallas's 'do isn't far behind.
24	* ElaborateUndergroundBase: The Megaforce headquarters, a bunker deep in the Nevada desert built to withstand a direct hit from a 25-megaton nuke, with all the necessary elements for training and maintaining and leading the Megaforce, and with a CoolGarage full of extensive military hardware (and Dallas then mentions that said garage is ''just'' the one for the ground vehicles, as well as joking about needing $40,000 worth of mops and brooms to keep the place clean).
25	* FakingTheDead: Members of Megaforce have either [[RogueAgent left their original units]] or are officially dead.
26	* FutureSpandex: Megaforce has these as combat gear, presumably as they're using "the most powerful weapons science can devise". They're gleefully derided in the Rifftrax.
27	-->"Well I guess they've all agreed not to laugh when they see him."
28	-->"Are we supposed to wear underwear under these suits? I feel chafing in my sexy place."
29	-->"Do they sell men's unitards where you bought that?"
30	* GoodOlBoy: Dallas is a Southie and proud of it, wearing the Confederate flag on his bike and as a shoulder patch (while everybody else wears their respective countries'). Still pretty much a NiceGuy.
31	--> (Dallas hangs the Stars and Bars from his vehicle) Mike Nelson: 'For Dallas, it's about heritage, not hate. His great uncle, Harry Tage... huge racist.'
32	* HandshakeSubstitute: The forearm clasp version, no doubt [[HoYay compensating for all that]] FutureSpandex.
33	-->'''Podcast/RiffTrax:''' Megaforce -- we've never shaken hands before.
34	* ImpossibleMissionCollapse: "Operation Hook, Line And Sinker" manages to go smoothly on its first two steps (demolish Guerera's main ammo depot and go to a designated rendezvous point for refueling and rearming), but the rest of the operation completely goes to Hell when the Gamibian government denounces the ammo depot raid as an act of war and the Sardun government closes its borders, [[TrappedBehindEnemyLines trapping the Megaforce behind enemy lines]].
35	* ItsRainingMen: The Megaforce's vehicles are capable of being air-dropped... while the driver's on it. Yes, ''even the bikes''. This ability is used to put the team on the ground to start "Operation Hook, Line and Sinker".
36	* MagicalComputer: Megaforce has one on its headquarters, capable of intercepting and insta-decrypting/translating transmissions from all over the world, as well as having a rather thorough OmniscientDatabase.
37	* MildlyMilitary: Also the Megaforce:
38	--> '''Dallas''': Ranks? Over here the only one with a rank is the Commander, but [[LastNameBasis we call him "Hunter"]]!
39	* TheMountainsOfIllinois: The entire film was shot on the Nevada Desert, standing in as itself and the desert countrysides of Sardun and Gamibia, somewhere on the other side of the world.
40	* MultinationalTeam: The Megaforce. They explicitly say that all of the firepower they have (that is, aside from what they built themselves) [[FellOffTheBackOfATruck fell off the back of the proverbial truck]], with the governments' blessings, and every member is a volunteer.
41	* OperationBlank: "Operation Hook, Line And Sinker", Hunter's plan to make Guerera go through the Gamibia/Sardun border and right into the arms of Sardun justice.
42	* ThePreciousPreciousCar: In payback for him stranding them on the wrong side of the border, Megaforce blows up Byrne-White's beloved helicopter.
43	* {{Qurac}}: Both the Republic of Sardun (peaceful, powerless, asks for the Megaforce's help) and Gamibia (which is more in line with the UsefulNotes/ColdWar "revolutionary" type and has raised a lot of hell on Sardun with Guerera's leadership of the military).
44	* ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud: The first scene (the latest of the raids from Guerera's army on Sardun) has a Gamibian political officer reading a speech about revolution and liberation... [[EpicFail from a college notebook... and reading the punctuation out loud]]. Guerera gets so fed up that he skips straight to the StuffBlowingUp part of the raid.
45	* RunForTheBorder: The entire third act. One way or another, the Megaforce is ''leaving''.
46	* RunningTheBlockade: The final battle scene.
47	* ShootingGallery: Our introduction to Megaforce involves several members of the unit shooting down coloured balls with machine guns and missiles while doing wheelies on their {{Cool Bike}}s. Not sure what practical use this has, but Megaforce is clearly an organization that runs on RuleOfCool.
48	* SillyRabbitCynicismIsForLosers: The first time that [[GoKartingWithBowser Hunter and Guerrera meet to talk things mid-mission]], Guerrera talks about how things have gone more crap-sack in TheEighties and he's pretty much just fighting for the strongest side. During the final battle, wherein everybody in the Megaforce assault team is racing to get on the evac plane, Hunter takes some time to knock on Guerrera's tank hatch Bugs Bunny-style and tell him when he opens it:
49	-->'''Hunter''': (with big grin) Oh, I just wanted to tell you that good guys ''can'' win. Even in TheEighties!
50	* SmokeShield: The Megaforce vehicles have the capacity to toss out smoke, which they use at the climactic battle to confuse the tank blockade. For some reason, the designers of the Megafighter motorcycles thought it was a good idea to place the smoke projectors somewhere on the bike's handle bar, meaning that when the smoke starts blowing out the first person it affects is the bike's own driver, who gets all of it right to the face.
51	* StabTheScorpion: Dallas' introduction has him shooting a rattlesnake that was going to attack Major Zara and General Byrne-White.
52	* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: The first act closes with Hunter and Dallas explaining "Operation Hook, Line and Sinker" in complete detail to Zara and Byrne-White (the "Hook" part being ticking off Guerrera by blowing up a munitions depot and the "Line and Sinker" parts being to have Guerrera chase them into Sardun territory for his arrest). It goes without saying that the operation goes completely to hell when Gamibia sues Sardun for the destruction and Sardun decides to close its borders, turning it into "[[TrappedBehindEnemyLines get out any way we can]]".
53	* VideoCredits: The opening and closing credits, both of which show scenes from the film (rather than the regular Hal Needham "blooper reel" montage at the finale, and the opening credits use some shading techniques to make the montage look "groovy" and without context you only see guys with bikes racing around).
54	* TheWarRoom: The Command Center at Megaforce H.Q., complete with a computerized version of TheBigBoard.
55	* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Tennessee-born Michael Beck's Southern/Texan accent for Dallas is a bit... hit-and-miss.

Context Film / Megaforce