Have you ever wondered what it would be like to stand in the spot where a movie crew had once worked, making a film? My watching "Spacehunter" led, over a period of about 15 years, to that sense of wonder. Here's the story...
Around 1990, I stumbled upon "Spacehunter," possibly while watching TV to kill time. The acting was not especially good and plot elements were goofy. To be diplomatic, I would classify it as "light entertainment." Its only redeeming social value was the presence of actress Andrea Marcovicci, who played Chalmers, the protagonist's android assistant: she was a vision of beauty. Sadly, her part was brief, as she was killed off during a battle near the beginning of the story.
That early-on battle scene interested me because it involved a long, sail-powered railcar (I like railroads). The thing was bizarre-looking and reminded me of the movie "Mad Max." Not only was the railcar cool, the desert environment surrounding the scene was fascinating. But in short order the movie faded from my memory.
The movie returned to my consciousness in 2004, during my first visit to Moab, Utah. Just north of Moab there is a railroad track that runs parallel to US Highway 191. Upon seeing it I thought of "Spacehunter" right away: the environment looked much like that of the battle scene mentioned above. I figured that the battle scene had been filmed on that track but wasn't sure just where.
Later I rented the movie to see the battle scene again and determine just where it had been filmed. Surprise!: the place I saw north of Moab was not the place used in the movie. However, the site of the battle scene was recognizable because I had driven right past it a few times. The scene was filmed at Potash, Utah, which is the site of a potash mine. It is about 20 miles from Moab, at the south end of State Highway 279 (also called Potash Road). In 2006 the mine was owned and operated by Intrepid Potash. It turns out that many (most?) of the exterior scenes of the film were shot on the private property of the mine.
With this knowledge I wanted to visit those sites and take pictures that attempted to duplicate camera angles used in the film. Why?---who knows? Armed with numerous poor-quality photos of TV screen shots of the movie, I returned to Moab in late 2006 and visited three places that were used in filming; this required getting permission from the mining company. Standing in those places where movie crews had once worked, I tried to imagine the presence of a lot of people and equipment and sounds like "Action!" and "Cut!" It was great fun. The result is here: http://www.pbase.com/listorama/movie_spacehunter .
