Deadly Harvest

"Deadly Harvest" was made at a time when the Earth's climate was thought to be cooling due to a sun-blocking shroud of pollution. The film takes this premise to a setting in which winter begins in August! The world's food supply is almost gone and the social order is breaking down.

Unfortunately, this film mostly comes across as just another cheap, violent 'tax shelter' ripoff. Walker is wooden (and his wood is weaker than usual) as the heroic farmer, while Persoff is inappropriately hammy as the arch-villain. Geraint Wyn-Davies of later "Forever Knight" fame had yet to show talent here.

The film does take on a haunting quality near the end as it tours a frozen, near-deserted Toronto and witnesses a family's last meal.

-Tony

"To most of us, it came as a surprise. Not many understood. Too few cared enough to stop it. Then, it no longer mattered how many understood or cared. It was too late.

The beginning of the end came in the late '70s. The climate changes... the energy crisis, the shortages, the high costs of growing and transporting grain, the lack of government support for research programs. The disappearance of arable land beneath the monoliths of reinforced concrete and steel as the urban centers continued their unchecked sprawl into the countryside. The industrial pollution that poisoned the earth, the water, and the air. And the continuing growth of population out of all bounds of reason. More and more people, less and less food.

By the end of the '70s, the fabric of society was breaking down in most parts of he world... And then, the bubble burst."

So begins a cautionary tale from the sages in Hollywood, who even thirty years ago were desperately trying to warn us unwashed masses about the dangers of climate change facing us. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

So what is "The World's Scourge" as described in the movie's tagline? GLOBAL COOLING!

Draw your own conclusions.

P.S. - This would make a great double feature with "An Inconvenient Truth".

Just watched Deadly Harvest, then noticed a distinct lack - and recent vintage - of IMDb comments about it. But I ain't even gonna TRY to sway ya: You're gonna hafta make up your OWN mind about this one. You probably won't regard your time and/or money to have been wasted if you view this. But, neither do I believe that it's one of the greatest movies ever made, although a considerable percentage of IMDb voters apparently feel that way. It's got an uncomplicated premise: because of global COOLING, the food supply has become inadequate - nothing new in some parts of the world; but, in THIS film, in North America, as well. That's as much SCIENCE fiction as there is, however. The rest of the picture focuses on character behavior resultant from this circumstance. Therefore, the heavy reliance on acting, and not much else. I'll leave it up to you to decide who, if any of, and how, the thespians might imperfectly execute their craft. My impression is that it's done well enough to take seriously, but just average.

After several disastrous harvests, people from the cities are venturing into rural areas hoping to procure food to feed their families. Compounding the problem is that the farmers are also experiencing the same issues and there simply isn't enough food to go around. As a result, the cities are placed under martial law while small vigilante groups are set up in the country to prevent armed groups from urban areas looting nearby farms. Although one particular farmer by the name of "Grant Franklin" (Clint Walker) disagrees with the need for these vigilante groups, what he doesn't know is that the politicians have been deliberately misleading the populace and things are about to get much worse for everybody. Now rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film definitely had potential. Unfortunately, it lacked the necessary drama and suspense due in large part to the stoic manner of the main character. To that effect, in spite of everything happening all around, nothing seemed to faze him. At least, not initially. Be that as it may, while I don't consider this to be a bad film by any means, I honestly wasn't that impressed with it and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

A well-acted drama about people surviving a food shortage due to climate fluctuations. Considering the present unnatural weather we've recently been getting, this strikes a most sombre note. The electronic music soundtrack is striking as well. Clint Walker especially shines in this, and because he put his heart into his character, I will be forever endeared to him as an actor. I'm puzzled by the negative criticism some have given this movie. Perhaps, they were expecting Terminator 3 or something with less substance and more special effects. If that's what you're looking for, it's not here. You'll find something much more worthwhile in this movie. The ultimate question this movie asks is, "How would you conduct yourself in a time of crisis?" Which really points to: How do you conduct yourself in everyday life with the people you interact with? There are two kinds of characters in this movie: Those who show other human beings kindness and those who view our fellow man as opportunities for exploitation. There are really no times that one can say are entirely free of desperation. This is a movie with a message. I like it.