Survivor - Zum Überleben verdammt

Even among forgotten movies, this movie is probably forgotten. It's so obscure that there isn't even a Motion Picture Association of America logo or seal at the end of the final credits, and even Grade-Z Golan-Globus Cannon movies got those. I'm insanely curious about the background of how this movie got made, and my guess is that some low-rent producer came up with the idea based on whatever old sets and plane tickets he could muster together.

That said, this movie has the kind of scruffy charm you could only get from a 1980s post-apocalyptic straight-to-video film. The banal offbeat locations give this movie its boost. Makes sense, though: if the world has been destroyed in a nuclear holocaust, who wouldn't want to live in an underground factory in the middle of a desert with a pool inside? And if you have an attractive actress, why not use her in the most awkwardly-long '80s-style softcore sex scene ever filmed? Why this scene was placed into a violent post-apocalyptic science fiction movie is beyond me, but then again I'd love to find out what was going on behind the scenes.

Movies like this defy any conventional star rating. Who was the intended audience for a movie like this? How did Richard Moll("Bull") from TV's "Night Court" get cast as the villain? Why was this the director's first and only film? What is he doing now? Just like the unexplained weirdness of the entire movie, such questions only heighten the mystery. Perhaps if the world is ever destroyed by nuclear war, survivors will find old VHS copies of movies like this and wonder what the heck society was thinking.

Man returns from space to find war has devastated the earth . . .starts promisingly with a solar powered train, and the hero almost dying, but alas we are not spared the rest of the film. What few people he comes across all try to kill him, except for a scary foreign girl that he becomes. . .erm. .. friendly with.

Well, she gets kidnapped by some bad guy (what is it about the future? There's an apocalypse and suddenly everyone changes their name to Kragg) and being the only woman he's seen, he has to go off to save her. Not too bad a film in the "so bad it's good" sense. A rare accurate post-apocalyptic world - no water OR petrol.

"The Survivor", as he is known (even though there are other survivors too), wanders around what's left of Spain (mostly desert!) after the apocalypse ten years ago, looking for a hidden paradise supposedly rich with food and water. Seems an old Turkish man confided in "The Survivor" about it a few years back, and, on his last legs, our hero is determined to find it, although not really sure if he can believe the story. Along the way he is attacked by other survivors and left for dead, but a female prisoner he managed to free in the process takes him to her "ship" off the coast of Madrid and lets him sleep it off until he recovers. They strike-up a relationship and she tells him she knows of this so-called "paradise" he is looking for, but warns him not to go there. But he doesn't listen, of course! While preparing to set-off in search of it, his new lady friend is kidnapped by the evil Kragg (who he seems to know from a flashback he keeps having, but later we see that this flashback is something that happens at the end of the movie, in present time!), and hero must try to rescue her.

The end of the movie takes place in a power station buried under the sand, where other survivors are now living with just enough food and water for themselves. This is the paradise everyone was talking about. "The Survivor" finds it and is soon captured. Surprisingly, everyone bar Kragg and a few of his goons wants Kragg dead, and order "The Survivor" to kill him! Kragg is a very nasty and deluded man, full of big ideas for the future of Earth and everything must go his way. He proclaims himself as God and fought and killed other survivors to keep the power station-dwellers a uniform and tight-knit unit, but the others don't like his future plans. "The Survivor" agrees and sets about killing Kragg, leading to a long, drawn-out battle with chains and guns within the power station. Can our hero save his new love and rid the world of the evil Kragg before it becomes even worse than it was before? Watch breathlessly to find out as "The Survivor" hides directly under Kragg on a chain! There is something of a surprise twist-ending, which was more satisfying than what I thought was the end, but doesn't seem to hold too much hope for Earth either way.

The music throughout the film (not the songs) is very good, and suited well to the mood. Acting is what you'd expect (Chip Mayer is laughable), and the production values don't look much. The coastal location with the wrecked ship is excellent, however. As another reviewer mentioned, most of the film jumps back-and-forth between the past and the present, which at best is painfully bearable. Most of the dialog is also done in voice-overs, as character's "thoughts". There isn't much character interplay until the end. There are a couple of stupid moments too, such as when "The Survivor" and an enemy shoot each other at the start. Dig those wounds! That said, the opening scene is fantastic, with NASA voice-overs and the launching of the space shuttle that will carry Chip Mayer to safety before the end of the world (he says in the film that he watched it all from space, but how much could he have seen from up there?). These voice-overs come back later with footage of mushroom clouds as "The Survivor" is looking at a photo of his dead daughter, which is probably one of the best scenes. Other than that, it's your average post-apocalyptic mess!

"Survivor"is a truly terrible "action" feature consisting of endless wandering around the desert, voice-over exposition and stock footage. The first half hour plays out as a silent film. Would-be sci-fi entry appears, from its credits and internal evidence, to be one of many features shot on the q.t. In South Africa and environs of late.

Attempt at a plot is in the "Mad Max" vein, with Chip Mayer in the title role as a NASA pilot who returns to Earth after witnessing World War III. He meets up with Kragg (Richard Moll), a despot identified as "the one who killed Qadaffi". Kragg has a harem of women, but wants Survivor to help him out with servicing them, in order to enrich the gene pool for the future civilization he is building. Sue Kiel is a tough babe irrelevant to the story but nice to have on the set for a sweaty softcore sex scene.

There is no continuity to this farrago, which features some pretentious writing to boot.

The memory I have of this film goes a long way back ever since I saw the theatrical trailer (it actually got released in the Philipines back in '87). Recently I picked up the DVD (region 0) and I just like this film for unknown reasons really. Chip Meyer plays an astronaut who comes back to earth only to discover he just missed out on world war III. It starts in flashback style and alot will find this film a total bore (specially the second half) but if you like end of the war films, you should see this film. It's the narration perhaps (the actors don't really talk, just narrate their thoughts to us), is it the cheesy score? Is it the cool cover art that appealed to me? Maybe it's because I love films about the end of the world. Check out Damnation Alley, City Limits for more post-apocalyptic low-budget mayem.