K20-The Last Chase

Film Year:  1981
Genre:  Adventure
Director:  Martyn Burke
Starring:  Lee Majors, Burgess Meredeth, Chris Makepeace
MST Season:  KTMA

The Movie

In a dystopian future where automobiles have been outlawed in the aftermath of oil depletion and a plague has wiped out a percentage of the American populace, a former racecar driver (Lee Majors) dares to race across the country to the free nation of California.  The government sends a former jet pilot (Burgess Meredith) to follow and destroy the car, but he soon finds himself sympathizing with the driver.

There’s not a whole lot to say about this cheap dystopian sci-fi film.  It’s pretty simple, has some fun moments, but for the most part is pretty crappy.  To an extent The Last Chase almost feels like a TV show like The Fugitive or The Incredible Hulk where characters travel across country, occasionally bumping into a regular nemesis, and moving on to the next town.  The way it’s shot doesn’t help, as I was almost certain this was a TV movie until I looked it up and was proven wrong.

The movie doesn’t have a lot of plot to support it, as it’s mostly just driving sequences followed by some male bonding moments between Majors and his sidekick.  The climax doesn’t even pay off that well with some bloated and prolonged sequence of Meredith making a noble sacrifice, which is undercut by how funny it is in execution.  The Last Chase ultimately is a waste of time, but it’s hardly something you’ll be angry at yourself for watching.

The Episode

Joel and the Bots are quipping away at a rapid pace this week.  However in trying to keep their comments active they wind up talking over each other quite a bit.  All too often you’ll find someone in a middle of a joke only to be cut off, and it doesn’t always feel for the better as I find myself wishing the previous joke was completed.  As such there’s a certain desperation to this episode’s improv that just kind of taints it.

That said, there are plenty of belly laughs in the episode.  Sometimes there’s a goofy observation, or just the right pun at the right moment (the riff about Burgess Meredith “knowing his old birds” got a huge reaction out of me, because it works on several levels).  The movie is watchable garbage that has a slight charm to it, which helps a lot too.

There’s not much to the host segments this week, which devotes three segments to reading letters.  I’m pretty sure the movie was running long so they kept it simple, though Dr. Forrester creating cold fusion in Dr. Erhardt’s mouth was a giant slice of WTF.  Overall I’m going to be lenient on The Last Chase and give it a solid grade.  It constantly amused me.

Good