2019 - After the Fall of New York

Rating:
Summary: excellent post-apocalyptic fun
Review: "After the Fall of New York" was one of the post-apocalyptic films that came out en masse in 1983 from italy. It's real title should be "After the Success of Escape from New York", as its location borrows rather heavily from that film. However, the plot is strikingly original, concerning the evil Euracs and the last fertile woman on earth (all the others were rendered sterile by the radioactivity). It has a very dark atmosphere, yet it is also very flamboyant and imaginative. However, if you don't like gore, you shouldn't see this movie (there are scenes with people getting their faces blown off, eyes gouged out, etc). Overall, it is an excellent movie, especially for fans of action, scifi, gore, post apocalyptic movies or "Escape from New York" (like myself). I garuntee you will have a fun time watching it!

Rating:
Summary: Cheesy On A Level Rarely Imagined! But Fun!
Review: After the emergence of John Carpenter's 1981 "Escape From New York," numerous cheap imitations appeared as if by magic. Made mostly by Italian filmmakers like Sergio Martino and Enzo G. Castellari, the Italian science fiction genre never got off the ground because it suffered from numerous fundamental failures. One deficit these directors encountered was meager budgets. Granted, "Escape From New York" did have a lower budget, but John Carpenter overcame this deficit quite nicely because even with less money (by American standards) his funds still towered over anything the Italians could ever hope to raise. Moreover, Carpenter's cast list for his science fiction epic boasted such notable talents as Kurt Russell, Harry Dean Stanton, Ernest Borgnine, Adrienne Barbeau, Isaac Hayes, and Donald Pleasance. With such a stellar ensemble as this one, Carpenter could hardly have failed to produce something worth watching. Sergio Martino's "2019: After The Fall of New York" cast is, with notable exceptions, largely forgettable, and the movie really suffers from a host of cheesy special effects because of budgetary restraints. Having said that, there is enough all around silliness in this film to keep a B movie fan hooting from beginning to end.

"2019: After the Fall of New York" begins with a voice over. According to this monologue, New York along with the rest of the country fell into nuclear chaos some twenty years before 2019. As the camera pans over a ravaged New York, we discover that the Euracs now occupy New York City and other regions of the former United States. These Euracs (an abbreviation referring to a confederation between Europe, Africa, and Asia) now roam through the blasted streets of New York City in search of the only fertile woman left on the planet. The Euracs need this woman in order to perpetuate their iron rule over this conquered territory. Moreover, the power to have children will also allow the Eurac confederation to finally vanquish any smoldering remnants of the PAN, the good guys of a Pacific-American orientation. The Euracs aren't completely sure PAN survives, but that's because they cannot see into the frigid realms of Alaska where PAN has its secret base. In the meantime, the Euracs spend their time riding around the ruins of New York on horses and attacking the local population with flamethrowers (always a good sign for this viewer) and weird laser guns shaped like cheesy crossbows. These thugs even dress in black capes complete with helmets that look a lot like catcher's masks. Those Euracs are nasty people!

Fortunately, the future of humanity has a hero in the form of Parsifal, played with iron-faced solidity by Michael Sopkiw. An American male model who only made four low budget films in his career, Sopkiw is sort of a hero to certain segments of the B movie fan base. Notice I say CERTAIN elements of the fan base because most people watching this film will roar with laughter over Sopkiw's acting skills. I know I did. This guy makes Joe Dallesandro look like Robin Williams. The good thing about saving the future, however, is that you do not need to be a good actor. When we first meet up with Parsifal, he's earning bucks and babes by taking part in a smash 'em up car derby somewhere out in Nevada. After winning this race by killing several opponents, Parsifal soon finds himself transported to PAN headquarters in Alaska, where the president of PAN (played by Edmund Purdom! What the heck is he doing in THIS?!?) informs our hero about a mission to rescue the last fertile woman. If Parsifal accomplishes this mission, he gets to take the girl and blast off the ruined earth in a hidden rocket ship. To help him on his assignment, the president sends a whopping back up force of two men along with Parsifal.

At this point, the movie really begins to pick up. Martino treats us to endless battle scenes as Parsifal and gang move through the streets of New York in search of the woman with the golden womb. The three heroes encounter street gangs, Eurac soldiers, a group of midgets, and a band of half man/half ape creatures during their quest. The whole thing is completely ridiculous, of course, and only gets more so as the picture progresses. In fact, you will be amazed at the imaginative leaps you will make just to keep up with the unfolding plot. The final segments of the film where Parsifal and the gang ride through a tunnel on the way out of the city should win an award for the hokiest action sequence ever filmed in motion picture history. There is some underlying message about hope for humanity throughout the film, but it is buried under layers of bad acting, metacheesy special effects, bad editing, and a lame script. The only thing that really appeals is the gore, with exploding heads and gunshot wounds aplenty in nearly every scene.

I find it difficult to condemn this movie, though, because it's too much fun to watch it. Especially amusing is George Eastman, an actor better known from such films as "Anthropophagus," in the role of Big Ape, the leader of the carnival gang. At one point in the film, you will hear the following line, "I'm from the stick people. You're Big Ape, right?" Need I say more? With lines like that, who needs big budget Hollywood productions? Amazingly, when you get done with the movie, you can look through the extras on this Media Blasters DVD. Extras? For a film of this caliber? You bet! Interviews with Sergio Martino, George Eastman, and Al Yamanouchi all appear on the disc, along with a short introduction to the film by an aging Michael Sopkiw. You simply cannot believe how cheesy this movie is, so only diehard B movie fans should spend time with this one.

Rating:
Summary: Cheesy On A Level Rarely Imagined! But Fun!
Review: After the emergence of John Carpenter's 1981 "Escape From New York," numerous cheap imitations appeared as if by magic. Made mostly by Italian filmmakers like Sergio Martino and Enzo G. Castellari, the Italian science fiction genre never got off the ground because it suffered from numerous fundamental failures. One deficit these directors encountered was meager budgets. Granted, "Escape From New York" did have a lower budget, but John Carpenter overcame this deficit quite nicely because even with less money (by American standards) his funds still towered over anything the Italians could ever hope to raise. Moreover, Carpenter's cast list for his science fiction epic boasted such notable talents as Kurt Russell, Harry Dean Stanton, Ernest Borgnine, Adrienne Barbeau, Isaac Hayes, and Donald Pleasance. With such a stellar ensemble as this one, Carpenter could hardly have failed to produce something worth watching. Sergio Martino's "2019: After The Fall of New York" cast is, with notable exceptions, largely forgettable, and the movie really suffers from a host of cheesy special effects because of budgetary restraints. Having said that, there is enough all around silliness in this film to keep a B movie fan hooting from beginning to end.

"2019: After the Fall of New York" begins with a voice over. According to this monologue, New York along with the rest of the country fell into nuclear chaos some twenty years before 2019. As the camera pans over a ravaged New York, we discover that the Euracs now occupy New York City and other regions of the former United States. These Euracs (an abbreviation referring to a confederation between Europe, Africa, and Asia) now roam through the blasted streets of New York City in search of the only fertile woman left on the planet. The Euracs need this woman in order to perpetuate their iron rule over this conquered territory. Moreover, the power to have children will also allow the Eurac confederation to finally vanquish any smoldering remnants of the PAN, the good guys of a Pacific-American orientation. The Euracs aren't completely sure PAN survives, but that's because they cannot see into the frigid realms of Alaska where PAN has its secret base. In the meantime, the Euracs spend their time riding around the ruins of New York on horses and attacking the local population with flamethrowers (always a good sign for this viewer) and weird laser guns shaped like cheesy crossbows. These thugs even dress in black capes complete with helmets that look a lot like catcher's masks. Those Euracs are nasty people!

Fortunately, the future of humanity has a hero in the form of Parsifal, played with iron-faced solidity by Michael Sopkiw. An American male model who only made four low budget films in his career, Sopkiw is sort of a hero to certain segments of the B movie fan base. Notice I say CERTAIN elements of the fan base because most people watching this film will roar with laughter over Sopkiw's acting skills. I know I did. This guy makes Joe Dallesandro look like Robin Williams. The good thing about saving the future, however, is that you do not need to be a good actor. When we first meet up with Parsifal, he's earning bucks and babes by taking part in a smash 'em up car derby somewhere out in Nevada. After winning this race by killing several opponents, Parsifal soon finds himself transported to PAN headquarters in Alaska, where the president of PAN (played by Edmund Purdom! What the heck is he doing in THIS?!?) informs our hero about a mission to rescue the last fertile woman. If Parsifal accomplishes this mission, he gets to take the girl and blast off the ruined earth in a hidden rocket ship. To help him on his assignment, the president sends a whopping back up force of two men along with Parsifal.

At this point, the movie really begins to pick up. Martino treats us to endless battle scenes as Parsifal and gang move through the streets of New York in search of the woman with the golden womb. The three heroes encounter street gangs, Eurac soldiers, a group of midgets, and a band of half man/half ape creatures during their quest. The whole thing is completely ridiculous, of course, and only gets more so as the picture progresses. In fact, you will be amazed at the imaginative leaps you will make just to keep up with the unfolding plot. The final segments of the film where Parsifal and the gang ride through a tunnel on the way out of the city should win an award for the hokiest action sequence ever filmed in motion picture history. There is some underlying message about hope for humanity throughout the film, but it is buried under layers of bad acting, metacheesy special effects, bad editing, and a lame script. The only thing that really appeals is the gore, with exploding heads and gunshot wounds aplenty in nearly every scene.

I find it difficult to condemn this movie, though, because it's too much fun to watch it. Especially amusing is George Eastman, an actor better known from such films as "Anthropophagus," in the role of Big Ape, the leader of the carnival gang. At one point in the film, you will hear the following line, "I'm from the stick people. You're Big Ape, right?" Need I say more? With lines like that, who needs big budget Hollywood productions? Amazingly, when you get done with the movie, you can look through the extras on this Media Blasters DVD. Extras? For a film of this caliber? You bet! Interviews with Sergio Martino, George Eastman, and Al Yamanouchi all appear on the disc, along with a short introduction to the film by an aging Michael Sopkiw. You simply cannot believe how cheesy this movie is, so only diehard B movie fans should spend time with this one.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly good Italian post-apocalypse
Review: After the success of such movies as "The Road Warrior" and "Escape From New York," The Italian low-budget movie industry started creating bunches of post-apocalypse movies, much like their famous "spaghetti westerns" and "sword-and-sandal" epics. Sometimes, they came up with a good one, surprisingly well thought out and offering genuine thrills and occasionally even a deeper meaning. This is one of those.

The story is set in the early 21st centry, some time after a nuclear war, when the Eurax (Europe-Asia-Africa union) has taken over much of the world, and people have become sterile. A gladiatorial warrior is recruited by the Pan-American Alliance to find and bring back the last fertile female, who happens to be somewhere in the ruins of New York, which is held by Eurax. In the couse of his adventure, we find various subterranean tribes of survivors and mutants, as well as the evil technocratic empire. There are messages about the potential dangers of technology and the power of love. Low-budget action legends George Eastman and Al Yamaguchi show up as leaders of survivor tribes. Eastman especially gets a surprisingly sensitive and important role as "Big Ape," the leader of a mutant carnival.

The production doesn't skimp on the gore or the grit. This isn't a "splatter" film in the traditional sense, but almost every bloody wound is shown in gory detail The setting in the post-apocalyptic world are suitably ugly for a collapsed society that is scavenging what it can and making do with what's falling apart. This is brought in to contrast by the clean, sterile, geometric designs in the Eurax fortress.

There is some cheapness to the special effects and of course it's all dubbed, but that goes with the territory in low-budget italian movies.

There is a haunting sense of loss throughout the movie, as if the filmakers actually believed that a nuclear war and the end of humanity was a terrible thing, not just a great setting for an action movie.

Rating:
Summary: The GREATEST film Micheal Sopkiw ever made!
Review: From the mind of director Sergio Martino, this post nuke classic exemplifies the genre. Classic action, classic effects, and classic score by Oliver Onions!!
Includes a Bonus Commentary!