Warriors of the Wasteland

OK. First of all this movie is one of the better B-movies I have seen for awhile. It is a cheap Italian knockoff of "Road Warrior". However, Mel Gibson has been replaced by a major phuckin ham of an actor and Fred Williamson is hilarious. The outfits are utterly retarded, especially those of the bad guys. Was I supposed to be scared of these guys? They dress like rejects from an Andrew Lloyd Weber show and their vehicles are golf carts covered in aluminum foil. Plus there must be some Weirdo,Italian thing going on that I don't understand. Why are the bad guys all Puritan, vigilante homosexuals? One of the more entertaining scenes is one our hero is captured and boned in the rump as initiation for execution, mainly because it is the weakest cinematographic displays of the movie. For a B-movie, this film has just about everything:Bad special effects, bad acting, lame plot, weak characters, crappy dialogue, Casio keyboard soundtrack, Fred Williamson, and way too many cliches. Rent it, get some cheap beer, and watch it with some friends for a good laugh.

I see from the reviews on this board that the film in question is dividing opinion hugely. On one hand many reviewers are describing this as one of, if not the worst movie ever made whilst others are touting it as an unintentional work of genius. For what it's worth, I would place the movie as somewhere in between the two extremes.

Yes, the film is admittedly a low budget, low brow rip off of Mad Max……but…….taken for what it is, and if you approach it in the right frame of mind, it's actually a pretty decent, undemanding watch. In fact, I would even go as so far as to suggest that the film is actually one of the better post apocalyptic Mad Max inspired outings to spring out of Italy during the 1980's.

That staple plot of a lone group of survivors terrorised by nomadic barbarians rears its' hoary old head yet again here. In this case, the villains are a group of self appointed purges of humanity calling themselves The Templar's who are headed by that Italian B-movie stalwart of villainous roles, BIG George Eastman who plays a character named (oddly) One.

There is ostensibly some enmity between One and the hero in this, Scorpion, based on some undisclosed prior events. For his part, Scorpion seems content to drive around in his souped up car and periodically wipe out Templar raiding parties although predictably, Scorpion and One are bound to meet up at the films climax for one final battle.

Although the budgetary constraints are overtly apparent in the films overall look, there are a number of commendable action and gore sequences littered throughout the running time including a humorous beheading scene and a number of bodies exploding in a particularly cool manner! And let us not forget, how can any film be entirely bad when the always awesome Fred 'The Hammer' Williamson is on board?! (Well with the exception of the atrocious Delta Force Commando of course!)

May I finally just add a special mention to Anna Kanakis, the actress in this who Scorpion saves from a Templar assault……she is seriously HOT, HOT, HOT stuff! – Hell, watch the film to feast your eyes upon her if nothing else!

The cover of this little stinker has a bunch of punkers (none of which are in the film) so i went into it expecting a punk rock style exploitation flick from the late 80's and instead discovered the funniest ROAD WARRIOR rip off ever! It's one of the tons of Italian knock offs of the early 80's so you know it's gonna be cheesy but this one is just ridiculous! Ultra cheap with plenty of action/violence and enough funny gore to satisfy any fan of 80s b-rated sleaze. Not to mention a ridiculous soundtrack! The only thing that's missing is some boobies. Not that there's no sex just not anything arousing in any way. Of course it takes place in the post apocalyptic future where a gang of ridiculously costumed barbarian types called the Templars set out to destroy the few humans left as punishment for the crime of being born. Cool enough plot for me! Basically this movie is pure shite but it's funny as hell especially when watched with chicks or people who are not fans of crappy movies. Trust me, seeing the expression on their face during the Templars initiation sense will make hunting this baby down well worth the hunt!

I only write reviews of movies with low rating, which actually are not that bad. Give them a chance!

Yes, they tried to make another Mad Max and yes, they failed. But, the movie is still watchable and good in some parts. Vehicles are SO BAD that they actually look like the apocalypse happened! Nothing can be perfect when you have nothing! So I find this great! :) Acting is OK, Fred is great choice. Fighting scenes are bad, but if we look at the budget...

Don't expect much and you will watch it to the end, especially if you like post-apocalyptic movies as I do.

5.5/10

This is a crash-budget spaghetti-western (with open references to films by Sergio Leone) disguised as a post-apocalyptic action film ala "Mad Max" or "Escape From New York". Apparently the whole world has been reduced to gravel-pits, because the whole film takes place in one after another of these - a sure sign the budget allowed for zero set design. There's no point in trying to pretend it's a good film.

However, I should note that there is some good in it; whether enough to warrant a viewing is debatable - let the buyer beware.

First and foremost is that the director, having decided he was going to make an action film using only funds and resources he had at hand, has done a rather remarkable job of keeping up traditional action-film pacing throughout the film. This is largely thanks to camera angles and editing. We get rapid intercuts between close-ups of struggling hands, full-shots of bodies blowing apart, long shots of an over-all battle area - with very little excessive flashiness masquerading as 'art'. These guys intend to sell some tickets, period (and, at the time of 1st release, were actually successful at it). These film-makers either know what they're doing or are really trying to learn what to do (more likely). They certainly deserve points for effort.

Although the characters are all one-dimensional, the actors manage to flesh them out somewhat, even Fred Williamson. And the cars are silly and kind of fun in a dumb way. But it's really the pacing that saves the film.

Hey, it's late at night, you had to work over-time, you're over-tired, you wanna crash with a cold drink and numb out before a forgettable action picture - well, this could be the one.