Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Warrior [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Ultimate Warrior" is a post-Holocaust action film that came out in 1975 after "The Omega Man," but just before the genre became popular with "Mad Max" and "Escape From New York." The film is set in 2012 in a New York City that was decimated by a biological plague a couple of decades earlier that has created a world in which nothing grows. Now in the decaying city Baron (Max Von Sydow), leads a group that has barricaded a street against a rival gang of thugs, run by Carrot (William Smith). Wanting his pregnant daughter, Melinda (Joanna Miles), to have a better future, Baron hires Carson (Yul Brynner), a super-Samurai, who has been standing outside the public library waiting for somebody to make an offer for his services. Baron has heard of a mythical island off of the coast of North Carolina and wants to relocate his band there. Of course, this means fighting their way out of what is left of the Big Apple. Melinda's husband, Cal (Richard Kelton) is a scientist who knows the secret of growing plants from seeds, so humanity might have a chance after all.

Director/writer Robert Clouse is therefore offering up the first combination Science Fiction/Kung Fu film, which is not surprising since he directed Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon." From that perspective the film offers up the tradition two warring sides with champions that face off to settle the issue. The script is actually halfway decent, although surprisingly the action sequences are the weakest part of the film until the climatic battle between Carson and Carrot. However, the opening scene does a nice job of establishing the world in which this film takes place. The film hinges on Brynner's performance, which is actually fairly complex because we are not completely sure that Carson is a cynical anti-hero; in fact, we suspect he might be the only truly human character in the film. "The Ultimate Warrior" is no where near being the ultimate example of the post-apocalyptic action film, but it is a solid, unpretentious little B-movie. Plus, it has Yul Brynner.

The Ultimate Warrior baldly set precident for other films of similar genres. I had read about this film a while back and had been waiting for a chance to view it. The Ultimate Warrior is far from perfect but brings forth a lot fun that todays watered down made for video flops can't seem to do. This movie seems like a combo of Logans Run, Man Max, and Kung Fu. Wow, where to begin? I personally like Yul Brynner's character, it makes me remember when movies with masculine heros existed. Bynner doesn't play a pretty boy, he is a bald tough guy who has a job to do. I like the independance of the hero character, he doesn't rely on a affirmitive action based sidekick or allow himself to be overtaken by feelings towards [beautiful] woman.... A thinking man of the sorts who smokes cigars and does what is right even if it means chopping his own hand off. I'm not going to ruin the plot of this gem for you, just add it to your collection and pray they don't try making a remake of this post appocalptic rarety.

By the time they stop the legal wrangling anyone interested in this film will be dead.

And yes it is an interesting film...but where is the DVD? They must be having a real ball with the pathetic legal dispute that is hobbling the release. Why not transfer the original on to DVD, see how it fares and then squabble over the dollars? The film has a solid story, good actors (hey, there's Yul Brynner and Max Von Sydow working it as hard as they can). The director, Robert Clouse, creates an authentic nuclear winter look and employs his skills as an action / actor's director to give gravitas to a Twilight Zone type story. It needs to be out there and in widescreen because some of these "B movies" offer something new films don't - personality and originality.

I am still waiting for the DVD. A decent transfer in its original scope of 1.85:1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono sound would be in order.

For now let me just say that I am reviewing an old VHS tape I already own since 1988.

Besides considering the poorer picture quality for this medium, compared to today's normal standards, the movie is flawless.

The entire movie is shot with tan colored tints using filters and gels, in order to add and enhance the feeling of a post-apocalyptic world which has turned into a wasteland, like a desert.

Within this desert is a small suburban island, sort of an isolated oasis, with its own tiny feudal government and a its governor (Max von Sydow).

This tiny spot, well secluded from the outside "savage and brutal" world, is the only "civilized" corner still left on the planet, but like in Heaven, there is always the Hellish side.

They need food and materials to keep this oasis functioning.

There is a catch though. For some time The Baron (the said Max von Sydow), is aware that sooner or later the outside world will catch up with them and destroy all they have worked for.

In order to defend this tiny jewel of his, he needs the help of a "specialist", a professional savage, a warrior.

This warrior appears one day out of nowhere, almost as a Messianic appearance, standing tall and still in the outskirts of town. This warrior is none else than Yul Brynner.

To ascertain whether he would be the ideal candidate to become the "Lord Protector" of this tiny Realm, he is indirectly put to the test by forcing him to cross a dangerous zone dividing the two worlds, where hoodlums and killers of any kind are lurking in hiding for a sure kill.

This is just the beginning of the movie and I won't reveal any more than this, so not to spoil the pleasure of watching the rest unfolding.

Be it enough to say that there are lots of surprises in the plot and some very dramatic moments, as well as a very acute eeriness pervading the entire movie.

The final fight scene is a true Clash of Titans, happening in a dark and abandoned subway station, closely reflecting some mythological themes regarding the underworld.
The resolution is almost as mythical as the rest of the story.

This is far more than a Mad Max movie. It is so realistically construed that one could be reminded to some streets in New Orleans after the Great Storm had wiped everything flat and left desolation and abandoned buildings everywhere.

This movie is not an action movie in the truest sense of the word, nor is it a totally impossible story of Science Fiction.
It is far more a social study, as well as being a very good character study, about the human condition when put into harsh and hostile conditions.

The cast, including Yul Brynner's antithesis, monumentally played by William Smith, and the sweet, but nevertheless, strong female lead, played by the skillful Joanna Miles, is impeccable and well-balanced for a movie of this kind.

I still like this movie, far more than Soylent Green, although even there, especially in the scenes played by Edward G. Robinson, you could sense how a possible world of tomorrow could look like, if we are not more respectful to nature and to ourselves.

Someone also mentioned The Omega Man, but while Omega was a vehicle for Charlton Heston to keep him afloat and into money, The Barony, or as I like to call it, The Ultimate Warrior, is a serious approach to themes such as survival of the fittest and the fight of the wisest against pure brute force.

Despite the lack of lavish CGI special effects and a modern fight scene standard (which today is a bit overdone, and almost ridiculous - how many times has one to kick somebody in the ribs before he kills him? -), this is a small jewel of filmmaking, still done when movies were still movies, rather than being cheap and mindless imitations of computer games.

This is a movie for the thinking and serious movie buff, who by entertainment means to watch actors doing what they do best: to act.

As said before, if treated in a DVD edition, it would be an even superior pleasure, watching this tiny gem.

Alas, at least for the time being, we have to be content with the VHS "cropped" version, but since the story is not dragged around, it grips the viewer at every turn and holds him clinging in his/her armchair or sofa, always wanting to know more.

Will our heroes make it, or won't they, and believe me, there are moments in which you truly start to wonder about it, right to the end.

So be curious and be surprised.

It is money truly well spent, and hopefully, this money spent by you, will go into a fund to polish a pristine copy of the film, in order to transfer it finally, in digital format, onto a disc.

Highly recommended!

This is the movie that virtually set the template for all post-holocaust action films. Yul Brynner, pushing sixty at the time of filming(!)has enough old school movie star charisma to more than make up for the rather pedestrian fight scenes. It is a shame he died when he did because he is loaded with charm and presence and he could have made a much better action movie hero than the lame wanna-be's who followed in the 80's. If one could quibble with anything it would be the sheer cleanliness of everyone--they all look like they just got their freshly laundered clothes from Wardrobe. But if you take the cool story, cool post-apocalyptic sets, and Brynner's and Von Sydow's presence, and then add b-movie legend William Smit as the heavy... well, you have a rather enjoyable way to spend 90 minutes.

It's been quite a while since I've seen this film, but surprisingly I remember it pretty well. I'm a fan of this genre, so this film, along Costner's work and one of Gibson's "Mad Max" stories, I do enjoy (at certain times). Even Patrick Swayze's "Steel Dawn" has many things that I liked.

While none of these films are 5-star material, they do well to fill in the blank/bland spots in ones' day or evening. Surprisingly, "The Ultimate Warrior" ended up being pretty darn good (related to others of the genre).

If you're hunting and pecking to find a film that you haven't seen (and like this genre), try it out. I certainly won't guarantee that you'll like it, but heck, two bucks for a rental won't kill ya. Between 1 and 10, I give "The Ultimate Warrior" a solid 6 (a rating within the genre--I'd be hard pressed giving anything more than a marginal 5 otherwise).

I am a big Yul Brynner fan, so to see him in any film is a great pleasure for me. Although The Omega Man was the film that got this genre of film rolling in 1971, it was 1975's The Ultimate Warrior that in my mind paved the way for the lone post nuclear hero that would come five years later in 1979 in the form of Mel Gibson. There are some great artistic moments in this film that I as an actor and writer picked up on even when I first saw this film in 1985.

The musical score by Gil Melle is a total standout being that Melle was always an eclectic experimental musician any way. Check out the Sidney Poitier film The Organization from 1971 for more examples of Melle's work. His music sets the mood for the entire situation and time of this film. The film like all films made during this time looked like a 100 minute 70's cop drama, but Yul Brynner's performance made up for it. There were flaws of course; the fight scenes were too quick, especially the climactic scene in the subway between Yul Brynner and William Smith who was a former bodybuilder and Al Adamson regular. Taking into consideration that Brynner was 55 when he did this film he still showed audiences that he could move and get down.

This film deserves a remake! There should be one because there is so much more that could be done with this film such as probing more into Carson's past (Brynner's character) and more ferocity and a struggle to survive between the two factions (Carrot's and The Baron). The fact that The Baron (played by Max Von Sydow) knows his group is slowly dying and that they are running out of time, and the desperate appeal to Carson to take Melinda away so that she will not be apart of the inevitable demise of the commune.

What would make the remake of this film successful would be a stronger script with a more concrete storyline, better character connection (especially between Carson and Melinda), better action sequences (more of a need for survival and a sense of weariness), and good direction. There are some films out there that it would be a sin to remake(such as Citizen Kane),but some films can be enhanced and made into what they should have been. The Omega Man deserves a remake too. Hopefully we will finally see the novel that inspired that film.

In the (near?), post-apocalyptic (actually, I think it's post-environmental-disaster) future, a group of survivors try to rebuild society on Manhatten Island. Led by Max Von Sydow, they hire Yul Bynner as their "fighting man" to defend them against a rapacious gang (led by William Smith in one of his bad-*** roles). This movie is a lot of fun, and I've got a soft spot in my heart for it, because I saw it as a kid and just thought it was totally cool. It's by no means great. However, it has some great action and fight scenes (Yul Brynner doing his portly, half-***** kung fu against dozens of badguys is worth the price of admission). The fight scene at the end between Brynner and Smith is especially great, with Smith's bunch weilding medieval-type weapons in a ruined subway tunnel. Let me put it this way: It's not as good as THE ROAD WARRIOR or ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, but it's a hell of a lot better than CYBORG (all of which pay homage to ULTIMATE WARRIOR in a number of ways). See it on a lazy afternoon instead of washing the car!

Just a note to all out there that I picked up a copy at Best Buy this week on a double disk Science Fiction Collection. Its out there and a pretty cool movie. Wonder why not available on Amazon.

An interesting film from the 1970's, part of a string of movies -- such as SOYLENT GREEN, THE OMEGA MAN, DAMNATION ALLEY, A BOY AND HIS DOG,etc. --which deal with civilization after some violent cataclysm. Yul Brynner was no spring chicken when he did this role but performs well. Max Von Sydow as the Baron (originally it was to been called THE BARONEY) delivers as a man struggling to keep the people in his charge from being overcome by the violent forces outside his compound and from extinction. Then there is Big Bill Smith. Has anyone ever played better-- and more -- crazed over the edge psychos than this son of a gun? I think not. In an interview he said that in his death scene, while rats ran over him, one actually crapped in his mouth. Now that's taking one for the team!