Hidden Gems: Radioactive Dreams

After nuclear fallout from a war, mutants, anarchy, and violence reign supreme across the land. All nuclear weapons in the world have been detonated, except for one last missile. The two heroes of the movie grew up safely in a bunker, away from all the danger. Safe from the violence. Safe from the radiation.

However, they had no one to raise them except one another. Their only entertainment was detective movies and swing music from the 40’s. So, named after characters made famous by Humphrey Bogart, Phillip Hammer and Marlowe Chandler dress and act like streetwise private detectives from the bygone era of 40’s film noir.

Played by John Stockwell from Christine and Michael Dudikoff from American Ninja, the guys really lean into how weird the movie is. They talk like Bogart, and they even break out into swing-inspired dance numbers when needed!

After they leave the bunker on their 19^th birthday, they absolutely do not fit into their new surroundings. This is an 80’s post-apocalyptic movie after all. Even the people who aren’t mutants are weird looking. Everyone looks like a punk rocker with pink or green hair and chains!

That doesn’t stop the buddy team heroes, though. They enter the world of nuclear radiation and cannibals with the intent of becoming famous gumshoes. After saving a woman from being eaten by radiation-burned mutants, the duo gets pulled into a plot to stop the activation of the final nuclear missile left in the world.

The rest of the movie, they struggle to keep the activation keys to the missile out of evil hands and save the world. Along the way, the guys swing dance, speak Bogie-style, and vow to rid the world of all the gangs and fighting.

So, does a movie set in an 80’s created post-apocalyptic landscape with Bogart-inspired detectives, cannibals, mutants, gun-toting children, and a plot to stop the armament of the world’s final nuclear missile sound nutty? It absolutely is. 100 percent.