Sons of Steel (1988)

January 21, 2025 5:45 AM

[TRAILER] When heavy metal singer/peace activist Black Alice finds himself in a dystopian future, he must go back in time to save the world from a nuclear disaster. An Australian sci-fi rock musical from 1988.

Starring Rob Hartley, Roz Wason, Jeff Duff, Dagmar Bláhová, Ralph Cotterill, Elizabeth Richmond, Wayne Snell.

Written and directed by Gary L. Keady. Based on the short film "Knightmare" by Gary L. Keady and Yahoo Serious. Produced by James Michael Vernon. Cinematography by Joseph Pickering. Edited by Amanda Robson. Music by Gary L. Keady, Rod Keady, John Vallins.

posted by DirtyOldTown (6 comments total)

So in the opening scene, a disembodied 80's 3-D animated head a la Max Headroom tells us about a fractured future.

Then Black Alice and his Mad Max-ish band sing what sounds like a hair metal showtune about peace. He has Robert Palmer-style backup singers. His vibe is somewhere between Dee Snider and the saxophone guy from Lost Boys. At the end of the song he rides a penis-shaped missile into the air. (Yeah, all missiles are sorta penis shaped, but this one has a helmet-shaped head and bends into a crooked erection.)

This is a lot. Very fucking weird. I'm only about 20 minutes in but I am fascinated.

Forgot to mention availability, but this is on Tubi and Shudder. Here's a JustWatch listing so you can check for your area.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:53 AM on January 21 [2 favorites]

“The saxophone guy from Lost Boys” is a surprisingly iconic figure.
posted by Lemkin at 6:19 AM on January 21 [1 favorite]

This has been on my watch list for awhile - might need to move it up. Post needs the Ozploitation tag.
posted by Ashwagandha at 7:40 AM on January 21 [1 favorite]

The good: this is like spending 97 minutes in a weird music video from 1988.

The bad: this is like spending 97 minutes in a weird music video from 1988.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:35 PM on January 21 [1 favorite]

"The president proudly sits in his citadel of slime" I was all in from the moment I heard this line.
posted by miss-lapin at 3:24 PM on January 27 [1 favorite]

For a peace activist, Black Alice really spends a lot of time imagining indiscriminately killing lots of people in dream sequence/musical numbers.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:18 AM on January 28 [1 favorite]