Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

The first must-see film of the year.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Yes, I know the original messages were written years ago, but I just saw them today.To Bruce: Straczynski only wrote the pilot episode of "Spiral Zone" ("Mission Into Evil"), then left the series after a dispute with the producers. Also, he never wrote for "Bravestarr" as far as I know. He was busy with "The Real Ghostbusters" and "Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future" at the time.To bcolquho: The Australian Zone Rider was Ned *Tucker* (Ned Kelly was a famous Aussie criminal), and the French Black Widow was named Crook.I hope this post doesn't sound snarky or anything; I just want the information on "Spiral Zone" to be as accurate as possible.

Hi ,my name is Pierre De Celles,I would like to have you know that I was supervising animation director on 'Spiral Zone' and my second in command supervising director was 'Georges Grammat';We had about 11 months and a few weeks to create 65 episodes,of which 15 shows went to 'Akom' in Korea,and the rest to 'Visual 80' in Japan.It was a very difficult series to produce cause the show was realistic SC.-FI. a bit like 'Akira' the famous Japanese comic strip.You can check on the website for 'Spiral Zone' # 3,you will find there a devoted bunch of fans,Chris Millar being the first one and in command of the site;I have submitted actual original artwork from the series to him.And we are hoping to get the rights to make all 65 episodes available on DVD format for the fans.I kept all 65 episodes on tape and some of the Artwork for the last 20 years,I am proud of that because we do not know what was the faith of the negatives,films or 3/4 inch tapes,was everything lost ????? So thank you very for the opportunity to share this with you. Pierre De Celles

That's what opened every episode of Spiral Zone. I used to watch it all the time back in 1987. Overlord, a mad scientist who invented the Zone Generator, had stolen an ion shuttle and Zoned half the world. Earth's finest soldiers, Dirk Courage, and Max Jones, (USA,) Katerina Anastasia, (USSR, if it sounds dated, it's because I'm using the name of the country before 1991,) and Tank, (West Germany, again, this is prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall two later.) These are the Zone Riders. They wear Zone resistant armor to protect themselves against the Zone. As for why Overlord, (real name Michael Bent,) Zoned half the world, the reason's revealed in a later episode. Dr. Michael Bent, who would later become Overlord, defected to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union didn't want him and showed him the door. He didn't forget this perceived insult and vowed revenge. The series is set twenty years in the future. Twenty years from 1987 is 2007. The Zone Riders, led by Dirk Courage, also include Hiro Taka, (Japan,) Ned Kelly, (Australia,) and Benjamin Franklin, (USA.) Overlord's followers include Duchess Dire, Bandit, and Rawmeat. There was also a French criminal who was part of Overlord's gang.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that J. Michael Straczynski was involved with the writing on this show. When I first watched it some 10+ years ago, I wasn't impressed with the obviously 'toy oriented' hardware the various heroes and villains used, but rather with the potential depth shown with the characters. IE the character Tank had evacuated the Zone in the initial attack, and ended up leaving his loved ones behind (His daughter, maybe a wife, too). This tortured him and was especially touching in one ep when he attached himself to a young girl that was seemingly immune to the Zone. Another where one character froze up during combat and was assigned to the rear, humiliating him into becoming a trustworthy soldier again. These came to a somewhat 'stunted' ending, it being a 'kids' show and all, but that's what I mean when I say it was as well developed as the demands of the late 80's allowed.I don't think it was ever repeated since it's initial showing and I know that I didn't see ALL the eps that were made (No idea why, the local channel only showed 20-30 out of the 60 ep run). Knowing JMS (Babylon 5, Murder She Wrote, The New Twilight Zone) as I do, I am sure that they wouldn't have disappointed me. Perhaps they even would have filled in some of the blank spots in the characterization. After all, JMS has a reputation of forcing genuine quality down the throats of executive types that only care about selling a related toy line. Just look at "The Real Ghostbusters" that JMS edited for, and "Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future" that has a strong cult following. Both, like Spiral Zone, had genuine character development, as opposed to simply having a background story. This series is not his best, but it definitely puts He-Man and Brave Starr to shame. (Not that it was hard to do for those series).