Customer Reviews

Warriors of the Wasteland [VHS]

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

 

 

The film starts promisingly with a mushroom cloud over a city as the openning credits roll and moody '80's techno movie music plays. Next we see a caravan of wandering survivors seeking something on the radio and rationing out their last scraps of food. Of course they are attacked and massacred by a band of white-clad motorcyclists, and the adventure begins to go downhill. Our hero, "Scorpion," is a blatant Mad Max rip-off. The key differences are that he has grey on both temples, not one, he wears a sheepskin, not leather, and drives a sedan musclecar, not a sports musclecar.

I had just seen "The Road Warrior" not long before I saw this in a double feature on 42nd Street. The Post-Apocalypse had just become my favorite movie genre, what with the Reagan-era cold war in full swing. This movie was filled with so many absurdities, I hated it. There is a young kid who is an inventor. Fred Williamson plays an archer with explosive arrows in a beautiful polished leather outfit. The leader of the bad guys has some sort of gun that shoots explosives that vary in destructiveness for no reason. The bad guys call themselves "Templars" and have a manifesto that God sent down the apocalypse to rid the world of humans and they are there to finish the job. Our hero gets captured by the templars and in a nightime torchlight "initiation," they bend him over and...

I had really dug the earthy realism, the feeling of decay, improvisation, and dwindling resources that permeated the esthetic of such films as "The Road Warrior" and "Escape From New York." There was some of that, but certain things, such as the Templars' uniforms, Fred Williamson's outfit, the way the firearms and explovives were used so freely, that got away from the sense that civilization was truly dead (which I thought was sort of the point of this sort of movie). I had thought that the filmakers were that dumb to not consider this. Now, with the advantage of time, I see that they just wanted to make an exciting action film that pretended to be just serious enough to keep a low-common-denominator crowd interested.

The plot has nothing really original in it, combining certain elements of "The Road Warrior" and "Yojimbo/Fistfull of Dollars." The writing shows brief moments of serviceability, with instances of absurdity thrown in. The acting spans the gamut from passable to over-the top to really bad.

I recommend watching this no more than once, and then, be in the mood to do it up MST3K style. Then you can say you've done it and warn people away.

The film starts promisingly with a mushroom cloud over a city as the openning credits roll and moody '80's techno movie music plays. Next we see a caravan of wandering survivors seeking something on the radio and rationing out their last scraps of food. Of course they are attacked and massacred by a band of white-clad motorcyclists, and the adventure begins to go downhill. Our hero, "Scorpion," is a blatant Mad Max rip-off. The key differences are that he has grey on both temples, not one, he wears a sheepskin, not leather, and drives a sedan musclecar, not a sports musclecar.

I had just seen "The Road Warrior" not long before I saw this in a double feature on 42nd Street. The Post-Apocalypse had just become my favorite movie genre, what with the Reagan-era cold war in full swing. This movie was filled with so many absurdities, I hated it. There is a young kid who is an inventor. Fred Williamson plays an archer with explosive arrows in a beautiful polished leather outfit. The leader of the bad guys has some sort of gun that shoots explosives that vary in destructiveness for no reason. The bad guys call themselves "Templars" and have a manifesto that God sent down the apocalypse to rid the world of humans and they are there to finish the job. Our hero gets captured by the templars and in a nightime torchlight "initiation," they bend him over and...

I had really dug the earthy realism, the feeling of decay, improvisation, and dwindling resources that permeated the esthetic of such films as "The Road Warrior" and "Escape From New York." There was some of that, but certain things, such as the Templars' uniforms, Fred Williamson's outfit, the way the firearms and explovives were used so freely, that got away from the sense that civilization was truly dead (which I thought was sort of the point of this sort of movie). I had thought that the filmakers were that dumb to not consider this. Now, with the advantage of time, I see that they just wanted to make an exciting action film that pretended to be just serious enough to keep a low-common-denominator crowd interested.

The plot has nothing really original in it, combining certain elements of "The Road Warrior" and "Yojimbo/Fistfull of Dollars." The writing shows brief moments of serviceability, with instances of absurdity thrown in. The acting spans the gamut from passable to over-the top to really bad.

I recommend watching this no more than once, and then, be in the mood to do it up MST3K style. Then you can say you've done it and warn people away.

If this review looks familiar, there's a reason for that: This movie is "Warriors of the Wasteland under a new title.

Interesting footnote: when I wrote this review, there was an "auction recommendation" of a lobby card set for "Sword of the Barbarians." This was the second feature I saw on 42nd Street with this movie.

I have seen Warriors of the Wasteland more times than I can count. It is without a doubt, the best movie ever made. At the same time, it is the worst movie ever made. That's what makes it so great. If you're into a good laugh with friends, and don't have some sort of Road Warrior loyalty, check this out! If anything, you can make fun of it the whole time it's on. The version sold here is slightly different than the original. Miramax tried to capatalize on Fred Williamson's psuedo-success. This movie isn't nearly as good as the box makes it look. In my reccomendation, you should buy it.... now.

It's 2019 A.D The nuclear holocaust is over. Now only small bands of human and mutants live in scattered clans and barely scrape out an existance. No one is blameless in this disgraceful demolition of the earth, but the futuristic tribe of the Templates vow to purify the land with the blood of their enemies. Follow the explosive action and nonstop warfare as the end of the earth seems inevitable unless someone (Fred Williamson) can stop the New Barbarians.