Nice effects though.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This low-cost Canadian produced presentation is reasonably ordinary, but for its type not as terrible as it's made out to be. This is one of those films that the cover artwork always made it look quite interesting, but the synopsis on the back had less of an affect. A friend of mine convinced me to watch it, after the first half-hour I could see why because the story does such a great job setting up the highly-charged, innovative predicament (three astronauts in space watch on as world war three erupts with nuclear attacks on Earth) to only lose its way when a couple months later they crash-land back on earth then it becomes a very vanilla-like post-apocalyptic Sci-fi wasteland survival outing (of the very cheap, rancid b-grade kind) with some very unbelievably trite villains that come off more as joke than anything truly threatening. The head honcho played by Kevin King seemed more suited in a "Save by the Bell" episode, than as a ruthlessly imposing leader. At times I was waiting for cued laughter from an audience whenever he was on screen, as he came off more so a brat. Just as poor was Tim Choate in the leading role. Well more so eccentrically annoying. I found the support to be much better; Kate Lynch, Lenore Zann (running around in a school uniform), Maury Chaykin and John Walsch. The opening first half-hour is very well pulled off; with some striking visuals, solid set-designs and usefully gripping details. You could see where all the money went in to, but that could probably explain its weakly conceived abrupt ending. Maybe that had run out. Anyhow during its grounded action, it does create some nasty touches, edgy activity and cement an ugly intensity. Too bad it just too daft (simply lacking the colourful craziness) and at times incoherent. The story is straight-forward, although the script is flimsy and too black and white to make it completely fulfilling. Minimally junky and grim, if particularly plain post-nuke entertainment.

"Def-Con 4" can basically be described as a mundane and ordinary post- apocalyptic Sci-Fi/thriller from the mid-80's, but at least it has a couple of semi-original elements in store. There were most 'after the nuclear bomb' movies were uninspired clones of "Mad Max: The Road Warrior", with flamboyantly tuned vehicles and deranged Mohawk villains, this film at least tries to put the emphasis a little more on depth and characters drawings. Although I really like "Mad Max" and most of its clones (especially the Italian ones), admittedly it's not a very plausible post-apocalyptic scenario that all remaining survivors will go bonkers and drive around in eccentric buggies. Anyway, "Def-Con 4" starts from a fairly inventive viewpoint. Whilst orbiting around in a satellite and minding their own business, a three-headed crew of astronauts witnesses how our planet Earth is destroyed during a short but devastating nuclear war between the US and USSR. Two months later, their board computer get "hijacked" and the satellite crash-lands in unknown and probably extremely hostile territory. Quickly after their captain Walker is ripped to pieces by unseen assailants, sole survivors Jordon and Howe end up in a secluded camp run by a pretentious teenager. He's the leader because his parents were rich, influential and owned a helicopter. You'd think people don't care about financial status anymore in a world destroyed by nuclear missiles, but apparently they do. "Def- Con 4" is full of illogical and implausible stuff similar to this, as a matter a fact. Do you reckon it only takes two months for survivors of a nuclear holocaust to turn into cannibalistic savages? Two months of hunger and disease and people are ready to devour fellow person's ripped off arms and rape women with nicely red aureoles. We're doomed, I tell you. Still, if you manage to overlook the dumb errors in the script, this might become an enjoyable little Sci-Fi treat with a decent first half hour and a familiarly tacky climax. The "evil" characters are quite funny and actually come across as pathetic instead of menacing. Kevin King tries hard to act like a genuine bastard, especially when he deliberately drops the freshly baked steak of his paralyzed computer specialist in the mud, but it really doesn't help that he has a cute baby-face and high school jock attitude. His first commander is a sort of albino Nazi and their legal system is a throwback to Medieval times. You survived atomic bombs and now you're going to hang people?!? Please!

A group of American astronauts orbit the Earth in a top secret nuclear warhead carrying spaceship. Suddenly World War 3 breaks out down below and the ship is unexpectedly put into a program to land. On arrival on the planet, they are soon captured by a warlord who has emerged after the war.Def-Con 4 is a low budget Canadian attempt at a post-apocalyptic sci-fi action-thriller. These films were ten-a-penny back in the mid 80's. They were often low budget but full of enough action and violence to get away with it. This movie certainly fits the criteria but it fails to impress. I think this is due to a mix of things. The budget is perhaps TOO low, meaning that the sets are very limited. There are also no characters to get overly excited about. There's no one really worth rooting for and that doesn't help. And finally, the story line just seems so under-developed and almost random. It's taking the audiences credibility to the limit to think that the day after a nuclear war, the general population will resemble a Mad Max movie.Not terrible but not good. If you have a tolerance for cheesy and cheap 80's sci-fi movies then you could find something here of interest.

I haven't seen DEF-CON 4 for several years and if it's as bad as I remember it I hope to never see it again . The story is grim and lacks credibility . A space station witnesses the third world war and a trio of survivors wait for the radiation levels to drop so they can return to Earth , and when they return they find that the survivors are well armed barbarians where it's survival of the fittest This movie doesn't concern itself with the intellect of post apocalypse authors like John Wyndham or John Christopher , it's trying to be similar in genre to the likes of MAD MAX etc . The problem is that it doesn't have the budget to do so . We see no devastated cities and most of the action takes place in North American woodland which is an obvious budgetery descion on the part of the producers and not a creative one . There probably wasn't much of a movie to start with but if there was the exploitive scenes take it down to an even lower level . For example the hero walks through woodland ( Did I mention most of the action takes place in the sticks ? ) and comes across a bunch of survivors who are carving up a roast dinner - A human leg ! There's another scene with a severed arm and a couple of other gory scenes . I know that the likes of 28 DAYS LATER and THE OMEGA MAN suffer from gaps in logic but at least they're entertaining and enthralling unlike this contrived unsympathetic mess