Doom Runners is a 1997 Made-for-TV Movie co-produced by Nickelodeon and Showtime.
Set in a post-apocalyptic future of an uncertain time, the story follows a group of young people (siblings Jada and Adam, bad boy Deek (Dean O'Gorman), Magical Girl Lizzie, and ex-soldier Vike) who trek across the dangerous wastelands to find "New Eden", a place where the unpolluted Earth of yesteryear still exists. However, they must also contend with the evil corporation led by Mad Scientist, Dr. Kao (Tim Curry), and his minions the Doom Troopers.
Unfortunately for those of us looking for a nostalgia trip, the film is not available on DVD, but there are a number of VHS copies floating around and it occasionally shows up on the Tubi streaming service.
This movie contains examples of:
- Actor Allusion: Tim Curry's line about "anticipation".
- Badass Biker: Deek, the teen pretty-boy equivalent
- Bowdlerize: A couple shots in the final scenes, of Dr. Kao trying in vain to crawl away from the poison gas, severely burned, only to die on the floor of the tunnel were cut from the Nickelodeon broadcast for (presumably) being too gruesome. This is actually a rare case where the bowdlerization makes it better, since the shots are not only completely unnecessary—we assume Kao's dead anyway—but also, being intercut with our heroes discovering New Eden, they provide some serious Mood Whiplash.
- Chewing the Scenery: Any time Dr. Kao is mind-wiping someone.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: The denizens of Endgame, esp. Cesar. A much darker take on the trope than usual given the only reason the denizens are so eccentric is that Kao has subjected them to so much Mind Rape that it's permanently damaged their minds.
- Magical Girl: In an otherwise mostly realistic world, we have Lizzie, who can do crazy stuff with fire.
- MegaCorp: The unnamed "corporation" seemingly responsible for all of the bad stuff that's gone down in the past however many years.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Firmly on the idealistic side, given its set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
- Title Drop: In the final lines of narration.
