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| Future War | |
|---|---|
_VHS_cover.jpg) VHS cover | |
| Directed by | Anthony Doublin |
| Screenplay by | Dom Magwili |
| Story by | David Huey Dom Magwili |
| Produced by | Dave Eddy Tim Ubels |
| Starring | Daniel Bernhardt Travis Brooks Stewart Robert Z'Dar Mel Novak |
| Narrated by | Travis Brooks Stewart |
| Cinematography | Cory Geryak Ed Tillman |
| Edited by | Dave Eddy |
| Music by | Arlan H. Boll |
| Distributed by | Screen Pix Home Video |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Future War is a 1997 Americandirect-to-videoscience fiction film about an escaped human slave fleeing hiscyborg masters and seeking refuge on Earth. It was lampooned in a 1999 episode ofMystery Science Theater 3000.
A spaceship is undergoing a revolt. A man enters and activates anescape pod which travels to Earth and crashes into thePacific Ocean. The pod contains “The Runaway”, a human slave played byDaniel Bernhardt. He is being pursued bycyborg slavers and dinosaurs that they use as “trackers”. Since he was kidnapped some time from Earth's past, The Runaway is familiar with the English language and theKing James Bible, and he regards Earth as a literal heaven.
The Runaway finds refuge inLos Angeles withnovice nun Sister Ann (Travis Brooks Stewart), whose past involved dealing drugs and prostitution. Together, they fight the dinosaurs and their robotic masters, seeking help from a street gang.Future War features star Daniel Bernhardt'skickboxing skills in several fight sequences, including against the Cyborg Master (Robert Z'Dar).
After being arrested as a suspect in a rash of deaths due to strange animal attacks, The Runaway is interrogated by federal agents. They present to him a dinosaur collar found on the beach. The Cyborg Master breaks into the police station during the interrogation and The Runaway manages to escape in the confusion. He returns to Sister Ann and her gang friends with a plan to attack the dinosaurs where they live, as Runaway simply explains, "Near water...".
Using dynamite, The Runaway successfully destroys awater treatment plant, killing the dinosaurs. Later, though, the surviving Cyborg Master attacks The Runaway while he watches Sister Ann make her final vows to become anun. After The Runaway finally kills the Cyborg Master, he becomes a counselor for runaway teens, working closely with Sister Ann.
Future War was released directly tohome video on January 28, 1997 by Screen Pix Home Video.
It was later released onDVD in 2002 by EVG Digital Entertainment. This release contained no bonus materials. Despite the film itself being unrated, theFilm Advisory Board rated this DVD EM or "Extremely Mature"[1] (the equivalent of an R rating from theMPAA).
It was released onDVD again on May 4, 2004 by Trinity Home Entertainment, also with no bonus materials.
The film was also released on DVD as part of theMystery Science Theater 3000: 20th Anniversary Edition DVD set released byShout! Factory on October 8, 2008.[2]
In 2015, the film was featured on an episode ofRed Letter Media'sBest of the Worst, together withThe Jar andWhite Fire. The film was positively received by the hosts, who named it as the episode's "Best of the Worst".[3]
Future War was riffed in episode #1004 of comedy television seriesMystery Science Theater 3000, which first aired on theSci-Fi Channel on April 25, 1999.[4] Writer / performerMary Jo Pehl refers to star Daniel Berkhardt as "a B-squad Jean-Claude Van Damme" and mocks the blandness of the character of Sister Anne. She also calls the scene in which a cameraman uses a fake video camera made out of cardboard "heartbreaking."[5]
Paste writer Jim Vorel places the episode in the series' top 10, ranking it #9 out of 191MST3K episodes from the first twelve seasons. "The laughs never slow down for a moment," Vorel writes, with Mike and the 'bots mocking "the absurdity of the premise" and "the hilariously slapdash production values."[6]
Shout! Factory released the episode on November 18, 2008, as part of theMST3K: 20th Anniversary Edition DVD set. The set also included three other episodes:First Spaceship On Venus (episode #112),Laserblast (episode (#706), andWerewolf (episode #904).[7]