Before he became known as Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties, a young Michael J. Fox had a supporting role in Midnight Madness, an odd little comedy about an all-night scavenger hunt. This 1980 film was inspired by some creative, real-life scavenger hunts that still attract participants today.

An eccentric genius named Leon (Alan Solomon) comes up with a competition that he calls "The Great All-Nighter," a scavenger hunt involving five teams of college students. Each team has to solve clues that Leon plants across the city of Los Angeles, and the first team to cross the finish line is declared the winner of the game. Without the benefit of cell phones or GPS tracking, the students had to use both their brains and brawn to win.

David Naughton, who would later star in An American Werewolf in London, plays Adam Larson, the leader of the Yellow Team. Adam and his teammates try to play fair, but they are going up against frat boys and science geeks who will do anything to win the game. Adam also has to deal with his rebellious little brother Scott, who is played by Fox.

Before it was released on VHS, Midnight Madness aired quite frequently late at night on cable stations in the early 1980's. In what appears to be his first movie credit, Michael J. Fox gives an interesting performance as the troubled teenage Scott. He gets to prove that he's valuable to his brother's team, though, when they have to find a clue hidden inside an arcade game.

The whole concept of a city-wide scavenger hunt has some real-life equivalents. Road rallies, for instance, take place on some out-of-the-way roads, but teams have to decipher clues to navigate the course properly. A company in San Francisco also stages "The Go Game," which can be used as a corporate team-building event or just as a way to have some fun with a group of friends.

If you can find it on a scavenger hunt through your television channels, Midnight Madness is a fun, goofy movie that, like the real-life version, is oddly addictive.

Resources:
http://www.thegogame.com/team/index.asp
http://www.tsdroadrally.com/

Ten years ago, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez redefined moviemaking with "The Blair Witch Project," a labor of love that turned into one of the highest grossing films of that year. According to the movie's opening credits, three student filmmakers went into the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland to do some research on the "Blair Witch," a local Burkittsville legend. The students allegedly disappeared in October 1994, but the footage they shot was recovered a year later.

Myrick and Sanchez reportedly assembled "The Blair Witch Project" from the recovered camcorder tapes. The shaky footage shows Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael Williams camping out in the woods for their film project. Unfortunately, creepy images and sounds start tormenting the young filmmakers. The movie ends with jumbled footage and screaming before the screen finally goes blank.

Prior to the release of "The Blair Witch Project," the movie's publicists were conspicuously silent when asked if the film was real or fiction. The question was quickly answered in the Midwest when Heather Donahue appeared as a waitress in a series of commercials for Steak 'n Shake restaurants. As it turns out, the three "student filmmakers" actually were recruited by the directors to play themselves in the film.

According to the cast members, Myrick and Sanchez handed Donahue, Leonard and Williams instructions on slips of paper prior to each day's shooting. The instructions would say to do things such as "Start an argument" or "Don't believe anything that Heather says." This improvisation gave the film its realistic and chilly feeling, especially the famous scene where Heather Donahue is crying into the camera lens.

In many ways, "The Blair Witch Project" remains one of the purest horror films that uses an outdoor setting. In fact, Emily Riemer of "Paste Magazine" recently reported that Myrick and Sanchez are planning a sequel to their original film, which should be more faithful to the original than the disappointing follow-up in 2000.

Resources:
Paste Magazine, "Tenth Anniversary Sequel to 'The Blair Witch Project' in the Works," Emily Riemer

Everyone is going green these days, but Bruce Dern takes that concept to the extreme in Silent Running, a 1972 outer space thriller. In the not-so-distant future, scientists place the last remaining plant specimens on space freighters orbiting Saturn. Earth's government plans to recall the ships at some point, with the expressed goal of reforest the planet.

Dern plays Freeman Lowell, the chief botanist on the freighter known as "Valley Forge." A devoted ecologist, Lowell adopts one of the plant domes as his own, tending it with love and care. Tired of life in outer space, his sneering colleagues don't understand Lowell's reverence toward his "garden."

When a message arrives from Earth, it tells the crew to destroy all the domes and return home. After watching the gleeful crew members blow up several domes, Lowell decides to take action. When they show up in his garden with a box of nuclear charges, Freeman Lowell makes a life-or-death decision between the plants and the people.

Although this film first arrived in theaters in 1972, Silent Running contains a powerful message that still has meaning today. Director Douglas Trumbull looks ahead to a time when mankind's carelessness has destroyed the Earth's flora and fauna. Even in the 21st Century, it is hard to imagine what kind of neglect would cause this kind of destruction.

Known for edgy characters, Bruce Dern turns in a complex performance as Freeman Lowell. Treating one dome like his private sanctuary, Lowell only eats fresh produce, rejecting the processed food favored by the rest of the crew. At times, he even gets down on his hands and knees to tend to his garden, almost like it was his backyard back home.

Silent Running also features three little droids who are way cooler than R2D2 and C3PO in Star Wars. Freeman Lowell names them "Huey, Dewey and Louie," the same names as *Donald Duck*'s nephews. With cool droids, great special effects and a powerful environmental message, Silent Running remains a classic film and one that everyone should see.

Those who came of age during the 1970's will remember how strongly "Moon Fever" burned in some people. After John F. Kennedy made his ambitious commitment to putting a man on the Moon, NASA came up with a system to send two men to the lunar surface 8 years later.

"Stowaway to the Moon," a made-for-TV movie, is geared to the fantasies of anyone who desperately wanted to travel with the astronauts. Child actor Michael Link plays Eli Mackernutt, Jr., a bright kid that everyone simply calls E.J. Living in Florida, E.J. naturally develops a love for the space program, learning everything he can about the Moon.

E.J. then figures out a way to hitch a ride on the next Apollo mission. Disguising himself as a maintenance worker, young E.J. sneaks into Camelot, the Command Module, and hides out in one of the waste disposal units. At launch time, Mission Control detects E.J.'s extra weight, but the crew thinks it is just water that seeped in the spaceship and turned into ice.

When Ben Pelham (Jim McMullan), the baseball cap-wearing Command Module Pilot, gets violently sick in space, E.J. steps in and saves his life with a vacuum cleaner. The unofficial "fourth astronaut" then finds Little Dipper, the Lunar Module, when it goes off course. Obviously, it's handy to have a kid around on a Moon mission.

Based on the book by William R. Shelton, "Stowaway to the Moon" is a fun little movie that is highly unbelievable, but quite entertaining nonetheless. E.J. makes it through NASA's front gate and past all the security cameras with surprising ease. It's also hard to believe that a pre-teen could survive the incredible G-Forces that build up during a Moon launch, even if he is surrounded by blue garbage bags.

Lloyd Bridges is ultra-cool though as Charlie Englehardt, the flight controller, he is ready to abort the mission after the astronauts find their young stowaway. Veteran actor John Carradine and real-life astronaut Charles "Pete" Conrad also have small roles in this Made-For-TV adventure. "Stowaway to the Moon" definitely is worth a look when you come across it on television.

Twenty years before Spider-Man first appeared on the big screen, The Swamp Thing, a character from the world of DC Comics, appeared in the live action movie that bears his name. Wes Craven, the man who would later unleash Freddy Krueger on an unsuspecting world, wrote and directed this science fiction thriller that was set in and around a marshy swamp.

Dr. Alec Holland (Ray Wise) and his sister Linda (Nannette Brown) are developing a method to combine plant and animal tissues when Dr. Anton Arcane (Louis Jourdan) and his henchmen confront them. In the struggle for Holland's research, Linda is killed and Alec is doused in his own chemical formulas and starts to burn. To save his life, Dr. Holland then throws himself into the nearby swamp and disappears.

A short time later, Government Agent Alice Cable (the beautiful Adrienne Barbeau) finds Alec Holland, but he has been transformed into a hulking green plant creature. Still possessing his human mind and emotions, Alec and Alice start a kind of "Beauty and the Beast" relationship right there in the swamp. Arcane isn't content to leave them alone, however, and he wants to use the Swamp Thing to recreate Dr. Holland's chemical formula.

A cult classic from 1982, The Swamp Thing is based on one of DC Comics' lesser-known characters, but the film definitely is a lot of fun. It is strange, though, to see an established actor such as Louis Jourdan in a horror film, but he throws himself in the villain role with skill and class. Jourdan even gets his own dramatic transformation scene after he drinks Dr. Holland's special formula.c

When talking about this film, most comic book fans fondly remember Adrienne Barbeau's performance as Agent Alice Cable. Fresh off featured roles in The Cannonball Run and Escape from New York, Barbeau had a large fan following coming into The Swamp Thing, a movie that comic book fans still fondly remember.

Seven years later, The Return of the Swamp Thing picked up the storyline, but nothing can match the outrageous 1982 original.

Months before Tom Cruise felt the need for speed in Top Gun, Louis Gossett, Jr. and Jason Gedrick starred in Iron Eagle, an ultra-patriotic film that flew into theaters in early 1986. Gedrick plays Doug Masters, the son of a well-respected Air Force Colonel. After his father is captured by a power-mad, Middle Eastern dictator, Doug hatches a wild plan to fly into this foreign country and rescue his dad.

With the help of his friends, Doug gathers enough Air Force Intelligence and secures the use of two fighter jets to make the trip. Doug then seeks out Colonel Charles "Chappy" Sinclair, a good friend of his father who is played by Gossett. Chappy has been mapping out his own rescue plan, but he can't believe this cocky teenager would be able to fly a jet, much less mount a rescue mission.

Definitely a movie from the 1980's, Iron Eagle is both ultra-cool and highly unbelievable. If, for instance, the security on that Air Force Base was so lax that teenagers had the run of the place, Russian MiG fighters could have easily flown in and bombed the whole place out of existence.

As played by Jason Gedrick, Doug Masters is a hotshot kid who thinks he knows everything about flying. Doug spends quite a bit of the movie wearing a flight jacket, but when he's in the cockpit, he has to listen to hard rock music. In those pre-iPod days, however, Doug has to settle for a cassette player strapped to the leg of his flight suit, and, in one funny sequence, Chappy reminds Doug to make sure that he's playing the right music when he's firing missiles.

Fresh off his Academy Award-winning performance in An Officer and a Gentleman, Louis Gossett, Jr. brings Sergeant Foley's bad attitude to Colonel Chappy Sinclair. Even with Gossett in the pilot's seat, it's hard to believe that two unauthorized American fighter jets could have left United States airspace as easily as they did in this movie.

Still, Iron Eagle has some excellent flying sequences, such as when Doug starts dropping bombs on an oil refinery. Iron Eagle definitely is a wild ride, especially if you, like Doug, remember to play the right music.

Decades after his untimely death, Bruce Lee's movies continue to inspire other filmmakers to make contemporary martial arts films. In 1985, Motown legend Berry Gordon put his seal of approval on The Last Dragon, a tongue-in-cheek adventure with plenty of high-kicking action.

Real-life martial arts expert Taimak Guarriello plays Leroy Green, a New York City kid who is a huge fan of Bruce Lee's movies, so much so that people start calling him "Bruce Leroy." To honor the memory of his fallen idol, Leroy studies karate and other martial arts, but before he can achieve the final level of his training, he must seek out the proper master to teach him. While seeking his advanced training, a rival named Sho'nuff (Julius Carry) wants to fight Leroy. Calling himself the "Shogun of Harlem," Sho'nuff needs to beat Leroy to become the undisputed champion of New York City, but Leroy doesn't believe in fighting unless it is absolutely necessary.

Leroy also catches the eye of Laura Charles (Vanity), the host of a popular television dance show. When ruthless businessman Eddie Arkadian (Christopher Murney) kidnaps Laura, Leroy uses his fighting skills to rescue her. Laura definitely is attracted to Leroy, but Arkadian hires Sho'nuff to take care of Leroy once and for all.

With great martial arts action and a soundtrack featuring songs from Debarge and Stevie Wonder, The Last Dragon definitely is a 1980's classic. Taimak Guarriello gives the Leroy Green character an eagerness that makes him a likable, if somewhat goofy, hero. Leroy identifies so much with Bruce Lee that he even eats his popcorn at the movies with chopsticks.

Vanity, who was once romantically and professionally linked to Prince, also turns in a nice performance, but it is Julius Carry who steals the show. Built like a brick wall, Carry makes the Shogun of Harlem a definite force to be reckoned with. The Last Dragon is considered such a classic, in fact, that singer Rihanna is being considered for the Laura Charles role in a remake starring Samuel L. Jackson. If all goes well, Bruce Leroy and Sho'nuff might be coming back to theaters in the near future.

Everyone would like at least one second chance in life, but what if fate gave you the opportunity to prevent one of the most horrific events of the 20th Century? That's the question facing the crew of the U.S.S. Nimitz during the 1980 time travel adventure The Final Countdown.

Kirk Douglas plays Captain Matthew Yelland, the commander of the U.S.S. Nimitz. While on maneuvers, an unusual storm moves in and totally engulfs the aircraft carrier. The ship survives the storm, but the Captain and his crew pick up strange radio broadcasts as they get closer to Hawaii. The music is from the late 1930's and attempts to contact nearby naval bases are met with hostile reactions.

As strange as it seems, Captain Yelland and his senior staff determine that the U.S.S. Nimitz has somehow been transported back to December 1941, a few days before the Japanese attacked the naval base at Pearl Harbor. They even locate Samuel Chapman (Charles Durning), a Congressman who had originally been killed before the attack.

Captain Yelland never had to make a command decision such as this one. The attack on Pearl Harbor took the lives of hundreds of American sailors, and the U.S.S. Nimitz, with its modern jet fighters and weapons, could attack the Japanese fleet and save American lives. Pearl Harbor also was the event that prompted the United States to enter World War II, and by interfering with history, Captain Yelland could cause more harm than good.

Unlike the more explosive 2001 epic Pearl Harbor, The Final Countdown looks at the events of December 7, 1941 from an entirely different perspective. The senior crew members on the U.S.S. Nimitz know exactly where and when the Japanese will strike, but they don't know if they have the right to stop them.

Pearl Harbor was still fresh in the minds of some viewers as they watched The Final Countdown in theaters back in 1980. It definitely was cool to watch the then state-of-the-art jets fly circles around the Japanese planes from 1941, knowing that a few well-placed missiles could have forced the enemy fleet to retreat.

For any outdoor enthusiast, dehydration can become a major problem, especially if you are caught miles away from civilization on a hiking trail without adequate water. In "Dune," the 1984 film based on the novels of Frank Herbert, staying properly hydrated becomes a daily, life-or-death challenge.

Kyle MacLachlan plays Paul Atreides, the son of the very powerful and influential Duke Leto (Jurgen Prochnow). Paul and his father journey to the planet Arrakis, a dry, desert planet that is a prime source of a substance called the "Spice Melange." By ingesting Melange, you could increase your consciousness, but eating too much causes your eyes to glow blue. Those that overdose on spice gain great powers, but their bodies also turn warped and twisted. After his father is murdered by a rival family, Paul and his mother flee into the deserts of Arrakis, wearing only an all-purpose garment called a "Stillsuit." Worn by the Fremen, the native people of Arrakis, a Stillsuit reclaims and recycles fluids typically lost through perspiration and other bodily functions. By wearing this device, someone lost in the desert could survive for days, even weeks, without additional water.

Water is such a crucial commodity in "Dune," in fact, that when someone dies, their bodily fluids are reclaimed and stored in hidden caves across the surface of Arrakis. When Paul does battle with one of the Fremen, he becomes the guardian of all the water that his body had once contained.

A film that makes you wish you had a canteen or a microfilter close by, "Dune" is among the ultimate outdoor films produced during the 1980's. Hiking and climbing gear has come a long way in recent years, but nothing can compare to the fictional Stillsuit. Drinking water produced by one's own bodily wastes is a unique experience, to say the least, but on Arrakis, the alternative was a slow, painful death from dehydration.

"Dune" didn't do that well in its initial theatrical run, but it is a safe bet that soft drink sales at theaters skyrocketed during every screening of this very dry film.

To start their new lives together, many newlywed couples travel to beautiful, exotic locations for their honeymoon, one of the most popular destinations being the Hawaiian Islands. Normally, the scariest thing one might see in this tropical paradise is Greg, Marcia and the rest of "The Brady Bunch," but during "A Perfect Getaway," a honeymoon takes a deadly turn.

Cliff (*Steve Zahn*) and Cydney (*Milla Jovovich*) fly to Hawaii after their wedding to hike on the more challenging trails and enjoy the beautiful beaches. Unfortunately, while they are making their way to paradise, they hear about a young couple that was murdered on one of the other Hawaiian Islands.

Despite this horrific news, Cliff and Cydney keep moving forward, eventually hooking up with another couple named Nick (*Timothy Olyphant*) and Gina (*Kiele Sanchez*). These two attractive, interesting people have plenty of stories to tell, and Gina also demonstrates the meat-cutting skills she learned back in high school when she worked for a Piggly Wiggly grocery store. Cliff and Cydney aren't quite sure if their new friends are on the level or if they have a more sinister agenda.

Besides the serial killer subplot, "A Perfect Getaway" is like a video guide to hiking through the Hawaiian Islands. Cliff and Cydney start their adventure on a helicopter tour of the islands, and Cliff literally hangs out of the copter to get some high-definition video footage of the places they want to go.

Later on, Cliff shells out nearly $500 for freeze-dried food and other supplies to carry in his rucksack. When he and his wife reach a point in the trail that gets pretty steep and slippery, Cliff comments that he's walking around with about 40 pounds of gear strapped to his back. During a moment of male bonding, Cliff and Nick even take some time out to go kayaking into some gorgeous water caves.

All things considered, "A Perfect Getaway" is a fairly decent outdoor thriller, but the indescribably beautiful Hawaiian backdrop makes this film well worth the price of admission.

"Spelunking" refers to the outdoor activity of exploring caves and caverns, either for fun or research. In the 2003 adventure called The Core, however, a team of specialists take spelunking to the ultimate level by drilling down to the very center of the Earth.

A secret government experiment has caused the planet's molten core to stop its natural rotation, which affects the Earth's electromagnetic field. Without this protective energy layer, people with pacemakers start dropping dead, birds fly off-course and the Sun's rays start burning people and buildings to a crisp.

The quickest way to get the core moving again is by sending a submersible ship through the layers of rock and molten lava and then detonating a series of nuclear warheads. In order to survive the heat, Dr. Ed "Brazz" Brazzleton (*Delroy Lindo*) creates a substance that he calls "unobtanium," which resists extreme temperatures and pressure. The good doctor also has a laser drill capable of drilling through the toughest rock.

In a ship outfitted with Dr. Brazzleton's inventions, the team, led by Commander Robert Iverson (*Bruce Greenwood*), drills through the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. As the first humans to go deep below the surface of the Earth, they see amazing things, such as huge diamonds formed from the tremendous heat and pressure. The deeper they drill, however, the greater the danger becomes.

An entertaining scientific fantasy, The Core takes cave exploration to new depths. It also shows what could theoretically happen if the Earth's electromagnetic field did start to erode. In one early scene, for instance, Major Rebecca Childs (*Hilary Swank*) has to find a safe place to land a space shuttle when magnetic interference wipes out her guidance system.

The Core does get a little grisly at times, showing in graphic detail what happens when unfiltered solar radiation hits the Earth. Even the best sunscreens can't help you when nothing stands between your face and the rays of the Sun.

A fun, but sometimes unbelievable adventure, The Core is one way to heat up a night of movie watching at home.

After pitching tents, laying out sleeping bags and cooking dinner, some campers like to relax around the campfire and tell scary stories. Many of these tales are pretty standard stuff, like the escaped murderer with a hook for a hand, but when you are several miles from the nearest town, even the most unbelievable story can seem pretty real.

In 1990, Wayne Coe took the concept of campfire stories one step further with "Grim Prairie Tales," a horror movie composed of four separate Old West horror stories. The always impressive James Earl Jones plays Morrison, a bounty hunter who has a body strapped to his horse. Sitting around the campfire, Morrison is joined by Farley Deeds (**Brad Dourif**), a man traveling home to be with the woman he loves.

While they sit under the stars, Morrison starts telling campfire stories to his companion, the first one being a tale about an Indian burial ground and some very poetic justice. Morrison tells another story and then Mr. Deeds offers up one of his own about a prairie girl who realizes some horrifying truths about her own father. As the men part ways in the final few minutes of the film, the audience gets one last parting shot from the mysterious Morrison.

An anthology horror movie set in the Old West, "Grim Prairie Tales" is a well-executed movie that will, at times, have you squirming in your seat. In the most memorable story, Marc McClure from "Back to the Future" plays a Good Samaritan who pays the ultimate price for helping a pregnant woman who is traveling alone. No good deed goes unpunished in this movie, and McClure's character pays an unusual price for lending a helping, uh, hand.

James Earl Jones was the perfect choice to play Morrison, a man who hunts down criminals for a living. It would be hard not to feel a little nervous sitting around a campfire while listening to Jones' deep baritone tell stories of revenge and punishment. "Grim Prairie Tales" is a great rental for those nights when you are in the mood for something different.

Modern technology has changed the way that judges determine the winners at the Olympic Games. Look, for instance, at how close Michael Phelps came to losing his 7th Gold Medal last summer in Beijing. After officials reviewed the video of the 100m Butterfly, Phelps was declared the winner over Milorad Cavic by a mere 1/100th of a second.

"Chariots of Fire," which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1981, looks back almost 90 years to a time when Olympic victories were not determined by computerized timers and video replays. Ben Cross plays Harold Abrahams, a wealthy Jewish student at England's Cambridge University. Determined to prove himself in the eyes of the school and his classmates, Abrahams distinguishes himself as a track star, even tackling a foot race called "The College Dash."

At the same time in Scotland, Eric Liddell (played by *Ian Charleson*), the son of Christian missionaries, is preparing for a trip to China. Liddell can't, however, escape the fact that he is one of the fastest runners in the country. Nicknamed "The Flying Scotsman," Liddell joined Abrahams on the track, first as competitors and then as teammates, at the 1924 Paris Olympiad.

Based on the experiences of two real-life athletes, "Chariots of Fire" is a fascinating look back at what Olympic runners had to deal with in the early 20th century. Hi-tech athletic shoes weren't even a glint in an inventor's eyes at the time, so Liddell and Abrahams had to wear spiked running shoes made out of leather.

"Chariots of Fire" is a sports film that shows running in its purest form. Instead of training at a government sponsored athletic center, Liddell runs through the hills. At one point in the film, he even says "I believe that God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. When I run, I can feel his pleasure."

Combined with some beautiful background music from Vangelis, "Chariots of Fire" is a sometimes overlooked gem that celebrates the simple elegance and beauty of the runner.

Although police officers have been chasing fugitives on television for years, very few had to deal with the challenges faced by Captain Darien Lambert (Dale Midkiff) on the syndicated series "Time Trax." An officer from the 22nd Century, Lambert chased hundreds of criminals who had escaped to the year 1993.

The fugitives had used TRAX, a time machine that could send human beings into the past. The device wasn't quite perfect, though, because each person could only make a single roundtrip through time. Captain Lambert was sent back to 1993 to hunt down each fugitive, but the limitations of the time machine meant he had to stay in the past until each criminal had been shipped back.

His superiors gave Darien some specialized equipment to help him accomplish his mission, including a powerful, pocket-sized computer called Selma (Elizabeth Alexander). Disguised as a contemporary credit card, Selma helped Lambert uncover clues and locate each of the time traveling fugitives.

Darien also carried a special palm-sized weapon which could return each escapee to the 22nd Century. The device fired a special pellet which, when injected into a human body, allowed the TRAX machine to transport them back home. Darien longed for the day when he could inject himself, but he had to accomplish his mission first.

Two hundred years of evolution and conditioning also gave Darien Lambert a distinct advantage over 20th Century humans. He could run faster and his reflexes were sharper, making him a challenge to even Olympic level athletes. This physical superiority helped him locate a young boy who had been kidnapped by his father and taken to 1993. During a school track meet, the future boy broke a world record, which indicated to Darien that he was from the future.

Like the original 5-year mission on "Star Trek," Darien Lambert's fugitive hunt was cut short by low ratings. Still, the two seasons of "Time Trax" were a fun adventure series and one of the best uses of time travel on television.

Typically, when a time traveler heads into the past or future, they know exactly where they are going. In the 1982 adventure "Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann," however, the dirt-bike riding hero has no idea that he has gone back to the 19th Century.

Fred Ward, who later starred as action hero Remo Williams, plays Lyle Swann, one of the best dirt bike riders in the country. While participating in the Baja 1000, a race through Mexico's Baja California Peninsula, Swann goes off course and drives right into the middle of a time travel experiment. Without realizing it, the racer ends up 105 years in the past.

While riding through the desert, Lyle, in his racing leathers and high-tech helmet, scare off some of the residents of a nearby village. The beautiful and fiery Claire Cygne (*Belinda Bauer*), on the other hand, is intrigued by the handsome stranger, who is like no other man in her village.

Swann also runs afoul of Porter Reese (*Peter Coyote*), who leads a small group of outlaws that terrorize the village. After Reese kidnaps Claire and steals Lyle's dirt bike, Swann faces off against the outlaw in the ultimate showdown.

Written and produced by Michael Nesmith, who had left the Monkees years earlier, "Timerider" is a decent adventure that didn't get much exposure until it arrived on cable and home video. Fred Ward does a nice job as Lyle Swann, a dedicated rider who has no clue that he has gone back in time.

Long before "Back to the Future" became a hit, Nesmith wrote some incredibly funny time travel gags for his film. While tracking down Porter Reese, for instance, Lyle uses cyalume glow sticks to light the way. When the villagers stare in amazement, he smiles and says they came from K-Mart. In a different scene, Lyle produces a highly detailed map of the area that he tells an amazed priest came from an Exxon Service Station.

An almost-forgotten gem, "Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann" has twists, turns and plenty of outdoor action.