Def-Con 4 (1985)

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Defcon-4 is a great post-apocalyptic film with a well developed story and great cast. The movie has three people returning to earth and found out that the earth is obliterated after the effect of world war 3. When they return they find a wasteland of hell and dismay. As they explore they are captured...........that's all I have to say, you have to see the rest to find out what happens after that because the movie is so good, you have to watch it. The movie is a low-budget film, but it is a great film done by a big director who has sadly passed away. The movie is not like another Mad Max, but something different to the table that most people will enjoy, especially the sci-fi fans and fans of action and post- apocalyptic movies.

I saw this one when it first came out, back in the 80s and was looking for it to watch it again. I didn't think it was all that bad, I thought it was actually entertaining. The WW3 aftermath was much more realistic than in most other post-apocalyptic movies of the time. The beginning of the movie was really good but lost some steam towards the 2nd half. I especially liked the beginning, when the crew realized in horror that a nuclear war had broken out on the Earth below. Just as they are trying to decide if they should go back or not, the decision is made for them and they end up crash landing.Yes, the acting was mediocre at best, but that is to be expected in a low-budget movie with largely unknown actors. Taking that into consideration I thought it was done quite well. Compared to some of the stinkers that received high praises by the movie critics, this one would have been Oscar material. I would rather watch this one several times than having to watch Last Days all the way through one more time.*SPOILER* I vividly recall one scene, where the guy with the broken back is strapped to a board and being teased with a steak.

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.

The first half hour of this flick is so intense and well-done that you can't help but feel letdown when it quickly degenerates into Z-grade, Mad Max post apocalyptic nonsense. And it just continues to get worse and worse until the rather abrupt ending.Three astronauts orbiting Earth watch helplessly as World War III erupts. After making an emergency crash landing, one of the astronauts in rendered unconscious while another is dragged from the ship and eaten by savages. Howe, our hero, escapes and finds that Earth has become a wasteland inhabited by post apocalyptic cretins ruled over by a snot nosed rich kid named Gideon.If the film had maintained the tension and drama of the first half hour, this movie would have been a classic. But as it stands, it's just another Mad Max wannabe. Skip it.