Review: Warrior of the Lost World

The Earth was essentially destroyed by nuclear war. In the post-apocalyptic landscape ruled harshly by The Omega and its sadistic leader Prosser (Donald Pleasence) one man – yes ONE MAN – takes a stand against tyranny. He is The Rider (Robert Ginty), so named because…well, he rides a bike I guess. Persis Khambatta turns up as the daughter of a rebel movement who seeks The Rider for urgent help. Fred Williamson plays an aide to the rebel leader.

 

Another Italian-made post-apocalyptic exploitation flick, this 1984 film coming from American writer-director David Worth (Director of “Kickboxer”). In addition to the usual “Mad Max II” vibes, the major aesthetic influence here appears to be Just Jaeckin’s wacky and kinky but uneven “Gwendoline”. Either that or “Gwendoline” took inspiration from this film, as I believe both films came out the same year. At any rate, they’re both on about the same level of quality, which is to say it’s not quite able to be recommended but it sure ain’t boring. It moves too quickly for you to get bored with anything here.

 

The big drawback here is that star Robert Ginty simply can’t act. One of the worst actors to have amassed a fairly large series of action films for himself, Mr. Ginty’s performance here comes off like Chuck Norris doing an impersonation of Clint Eastwood’s ‘Man With No Name’ whilst ostensibly playing “Mad Max”. His sleepy-sounding Eastwood mumble is bad. Very, very bad, and he’s charisma-deprived to boot. Oh, and his character’s name? McWayne. Yep, McWayne. I will say that his motorbike is kinda cool-looking, like something out of “Death Race 2000”. Persis Khambatta is a bit better as the leading lady who spends much of the film being tortured, but Fred Williamson is utterly wasted in a nothing role. Apparently he enjoyed making films in Italy so much that he’d look for more work no matter the size or shape of the role just to stick around. He should’ve kept looking on this occasion, as he gets even less to do than Steve James in “The Delta Force”. His big moustache is at peak level, however.

 

Despite an American writer-director, this is just as wacky and weird as any of the other Italian-lensed post-apocalyptic action flicks. It’s a blend of stupid, weird, creepy, and infantile – the dopey voice used for the computer in Ginty’s otherwise cool bike is a mixture of stupid and infantile itself. I did like the bizarre and random excursion into Indiana Jones vs. Mummies territory, though. That was insane, though also brief. At one point we appear to be in some kind of strange mixture of “Gwendoline” and a Duran Duran music video. I did think the martial arts fight was one random thing too many, the choreography/fighting isn’t memorable and it slows the plot down a bit. Speaking of which, weirdness aside the varied plot here is still pretty unoriginal. In fact, the strangeness is clearly the film’s main strength, that and a dependably sinister turn by Donald Pleasence as the chief villain. We hear him first actually, and his flat voice proves a genuinely creepy asset. When we do see him, he appears to be wearing his Blofeld outfit from “You Only Live Twice”, and while not a great performance (he’s pretty much coasting throughout) it’s easily the best performance here. He’s quite cold-blooded. In fact, the society he runs is rather bleak and cruel. His law enforcers give out harsh punishments, torturing you to death and then using flame throwers to cremate your body on the spot! The dreadful laser sounds on the guns do take away some of the menace, unfortunately. I did love that brilliant set-up for a sequel that never happened, though. It’s bloody marvellous, and reveals a possible reason for Fred Williamson’s strangely titled character in the credits (I can’t reveal anything more without spoiling things).

 

One of those films where I awkwardly have to give it a borderline score despite it being more watchable than a lot of other films I’d give the C+ rating to. Too goofy and clichéd to recommend in the traditional sense, yet that goofiness does provide a lot of the watchability on a camp level at the same time. Fun action and cool vehicles, an enjoyable Donald Pleasence, and a fast pace are dragged down by a terrible leading man and an outlandish but still unoriginal plot. Embarrassing sound FX too. It’s OK or thereabouts and will easily kill 90 minutes or so if you’re bored.

 

Rating: C+