Customer Reviews

Warlords of the 21st Century

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Warlords of the 21st century otherwise known as Battletruck
is a low budget, shot in NZ attempt to cash in on the worldwide success of Mad Max. It has a lot of things wrong with it but rather than dwell on those, I would like to point out the things that are right- for instance the simple but effective opening sequence with a sky filled with black smoke and the words AFTER THE OIL WARS...
Then on the soundtrack a crackling and distorted radio broadcast...
"Satellite measurements at the Mesopotamian basin show that radioactivity levels remain high and with the oil fields in Arabia still burning the world's total reserves of petroleum have dropped even lower, making gasoline all but unobtainable except for governmental agencies...Food riots continued into the third day and martial law has been declared for all of greater Detroit. Army units and the National Guard have been called in to restore order and the Military Commander for Michigan has warned that all looters will be shot on sight...The migration into the countryside continues and once peaceful rural areas have become a battlefield as roaming bands of what can only be called bandits raid farming communities for well hidden supplies of fuel as well as food and ammunition..."

If the set up were followed through with a better film this could have been a classic, but as actually executed it's merely an early 80's curiosity only worth picking up for fans of the genre who have a lot of forgiveness for a high level of cheese. Having said that, I enjoyed this movie very much as a thirteen year old when I first saw it.

I watched this movie with little pretense, and was pleasantly surprised.Warlords Of The 21st Century (a.k.a. Battletruck) is an indulgent exercise in 1970s automotive mayhem, though much less goofy than its chronological counterpart Megaforce. These are similarly themed movies that inexplicably share a leading actor [Michael Beck] and, by my estimate, a motorcycle. I highly recommend watching Megaforce, and following it up with Warlords because there are some hilarious references that just can't be coincidental.
Warlords breaks from the formula of similar movies, in that there is definitely something that resembles character development. Although some will disagree, the acting is above the bar for movies of this caliber. Michael Beck gives a good performance as the enigmatic Hunter. A recluse with a methane motorcycle and a quaint cabin off the grid. This ranks as some of his best work, along with The Warriors. You'll also recognize TV's John Ratzenberger from Cheers, giving another fine performance. Annie McEnroe does fairly well acting this part, though her character is frustrating at some times (she constantly gives up too easily, but thats more attributable to the script writers.) James Wainwright is detestable as a villain, and basically nothing else.
The action sequences are where this movie shines. There are quite a few, and repeats of previously used shots number only a few. I won't go in to much detail, but things do blow up in satisfying balls of fire, and there are creatively designed vehicles of destruction. Crashes and demolitions are relatively convincing on the whole, what was happening on screen was decipherable to your average viewer.
Perhaps I've been starved by watching the dregs of cinema, looking for that diamond in the rough. Perhaps my judgement is clouded by The Devastator and other destitute action films. Still I can say with relative confidence that if you're going to spend a couple bucks on this movie because it looks pretty cool, you probably won't be disappointed. If you do get Warlords though, get Megaforce too. The humor of the latter compliments the concise plot in the former (each of which the other is lacking.)

this is a grade z rip-off of the road warrior that plays like outtakes from that movie. action is very small and the acting is just not good. stick with the road warrior instead