Review: Warriors of the Wasteland

Set in the post-apocalyptic future of…2019. A motley gang called the Templars roams the landscape in an array of vehicles, with their sole mission to wipe the land free of humanity. Well, except for themselves, one presumes. The Templars, by the way, are an all-male gang. Standing up against the likes of One (George Eastman) and his henchmen Shadow (Ennio Girolami) and Mako (Massimo Vanni), is ex-Templar Skorpion (Giancarlo Prete), who makes a reluctant alliance with former rival Nadir (Fred Williamson) to take the Templars down as they target a small community of pacifist religious folk. Anna Kanakis plays a slave woman Skorpion picks up along the way.

 

AKA “The New Barbarians”, AKA “Mad Max 2” melded with a spaghetti western. “Mad Max 2” was a big deal in Italy, it seems. If you’re a film buff/movie lover such as myself, you’ll be aware that Italian filmmakers ripped off “Mad Max 2” about a gazillion times over the years. This 1983 blend of “Mad Max 2” and The Corman/Bartel cult classic “Death Race 2000” (with a touch of “Escape From New York”) is considered to be one of the best of the trashy subgenre of Italian post-apocalyptic knock-offs. In my view it’s shy of being a good film in the traditional sense. There’s certainly not much in the way of story or character, and I can’t quite give it a full recommendation. Still, on a trashy B-level it is mostly very watchable stuff as a curio.

 

It looks a whole heck of a lot cooler than its budget likely should’ve rendered it. Director Enzio G. Castellari (“Street Law”, “Keoma”, “1990: The Bronx Warriors”) and his co-writer Tito Capri (“Escape From the Bronx”, “Code Name: Wild Geese”, “The Commander”) get points for the fun post-apocalyptic vehicles and bizarro costuming and hairstyling. It’s got plenty of that, as well as a lot of George Eastman and Ennio Girolami glowering – intensely in the former’s case. There’s entertainment value in that, too. The violence and gore are a lot of fun when we get it – a nice exploding head in particular, though the decapitation to a very obvious department store mannequin is probably a different kind of amusing. The action is good fun, though you do wish more was done with ice-cool Fred Williamson and his slick crossbow. His performance stands out despite being far from his best, it’s just that he’s a better and more charismatic actor than anyone else here. Williamson (enjoying himself it seems) looks awesomely ridiculous yet kinda cool in his shiny armoured outfit, but he doesn’t fire the damn crossbow often enough. That thing was awesome and we should’ve been seeing a lot more of it in action.

 

If anything, I wished it had been trashier and more violent than it is. However, there’s plenty of action and explosions so you never get bored. There’s a bizarro torture scene in the second half which sure was something. In fact, the strangeness and camp is what really keep this one afloat along with the action. In other words, it’s kind of amusing to watch a film being re-imagined through the eyes of a filmmaker from another nation. For instance, machine guns in this film make laser gun ‘pew pew’ sound effects, and that’s just the most adorably weird thing ever. I should probably point out though, that the original, rather stripped-back  “Mad Max” is by far my favourite of the four films to date, and this is very much “Mad Max 2” done in Italy. Look out for the appalling sex scene, shot behind a dirty-looking sheet of plastic lit green so that you can’t see a damn thing.

 

Lead actor Giancarlo Prete (who had a role in “Ladyhawke”) is rather good, he looks like a cross between Eric Bogosian and Peter Capaldi from “Dr. Who”. Check out his bulletproof armour at the climax, it’s the goofiest shit you’ll ever see. It’s a hoot and a half. To be honest though, the only bad performance comes from lead actress Anna Kanakis. She’s not just bad, she’s porno-bad. Eastman and the absolutely ridiculous-looking Girolami are far from subtle, but they’re definitely amusing in the Vernon Wells mould.

 

A watchable B-movie that is quite bizarre and lively. Plot, character, and dialogue are…minimalist, to be charitable. Worth a look for the curious and never dull, but I can’t quite pluck up the courage to give it a full recommendation. I have a reputation, y’know.

 

Rating: C+