Radioactive Dreams

Plot :

In the mid 1990's an atomic bomb is dropped in which two young boys are forced to hide out in an underground bunker. For nearly ten years the two boys have nothing better to do besides reading old 1940's detective novels and practice dance steps. Finally after tunneling their way out, the two find the world they once knew now turned into a vast desert wasteland. Searching for a couple of girls and adventure, they get more than they barged for. The boys run into their share of trouble including mutant motorcycle gangs, cannibals, gun wheeling children, and punk rockers of the fallout nuclear generation. Dressing and acting like the detectives in the stories they grew up reading, the two are stunned when their forced into this very strange new world and hunted for holding a set of very important keys that could mean life and death for all the young survivors of the ruined world.

Low Down:

I think it's pretty clear how much of a Christine fan I am. Earlier this year just by chance I was looking up one of the lead actors John Stockwell. John played Dennis in Christine, the helpless best friend of the boy who gets possessed by the haunted beautiful car. I knew him from other works such as Cougar in Top Gun, who “held on too tight and lost his edge.” and Michael Harlan in the very underrated sci-fi comedy adventure My Science Project. I was beyond surprised to see that John Stockwell had a pretty steady career in the 1980's before switching sides of the camera and becoming a director. The two movies that stood out the most to be was Radioactive Dreams and Dangerously Close both directed by Albert Pyun. The first two things that jumped out to me about these films was first having John Stockwell as the lead, and second the amazing artwork on both posters. I am a huge fan of old school 1980's airbrush cover-work. It brings back many happy memories of my childhood looking at all the colorful and eye popping VHS artwork. This past spring I picked up Radioactive Dreams at Monster Mania in Cherry Hill NJ. When I bought it, the man selling me this copied DVD laughed asking if I had ever seen it before. Replying no, he said I was in for a treat. That this movie was a post nuclear action adventure musical. Of course I was intrigued. Radioactive Dreams has plenty of flaws, of the main things being it's budget and storyline. I think it has perfect elements for a fun movie, but the many plot holes keeps this movie from truly staying in the cult worthy limelight it deserves. This movie has a clever story with the two teenagers acting like two 1940's Pis, an even amazing storyline, great visuals, and a dance scene at the end that can't make you help it and smile. I'm stunned the Post Nuke Shuffle didn't catch on and isn't a staple to dance at during weddings and birthdays. This is a movie I would love to see restored and finally put on a DVD release it deserves. This is back when the 80's was a crazy awesome time in which such amazing gems were made. I hope someday more people will learn about this movie and it can finally get the credit it deserves. In many ways it was very ahead of it's time and a fun adventure movie to pop in before moving on to the stylish crime mystery Dangerously Close.

Four stars for a very awesome rocking movie!