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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
"I don't have time to jaw with anyone who won't identify himself.", July 1, 2005
Originally I thought 2019: After the Fall of New York (1983) was a sequel to 1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982), but that was wrong (the latter did have a sequel titled Bronx Warriors 2, released in 1983). This is actually a completely different rip off of John Carpenter's Escape from New York (1981), and one of the many post-apocalyptic future tales so prevalent in the early to mid 1980's. Co-written and directed by Sergio Martino (Screamers, Alligators, Atomic Cyborg), this Italia-Franco production stars Michael Sopkiw (Devil Fish, Blastfighter) in his screen debut. Also appearing is Valentine Monnier (Devil Fish, Three Men and a Cradle), Romano Puppo (Bronx Warriors 2), Anna Kanakis (The New Barbarians), George Eastman (1990: The Bronx Warriors), and Al Yamanouchi (2020 Texas Gladiators, Endgame, Warriors of the Year 2072).
We begin with a short introduction with Michael Sopkiw, obviously tacked on for this release, and then into the movie proper. As we scan over visages of once great, now destroyed cardboard miniature city (it must represent New York, as we also see a miniature of The Statue of Liberty), a voice over tells us it's been 20 years since the nuclear holocaust (initiated by the Euraks, a collective consisting of Euro/Afro/Asian countries) and because of the subsequent radiation, no new babies have been born (everyone's sterile, you see). We also learn the Euraks control the rubble that was once New York, utilizing squads of mercenary hunters as they progress with their `de-infestation' program (the killing of the scabby, mutated denizens...they save the not so damaged peoples for experimentation). After this we cut to the Nevada desert where we meet our shaggy hero, Parsifal (Sopkiw), participating in some sort of goofy demolition derby of death, which he wins, of course, but barely has time to enjoy his victory as he's kidnapped by some Pan American Confederacy goons and taken to a secret miniature base in Alaska. Turns out there is one fertile woman left in the world, and they want Parsifal to retrieve her so they can harvest her eggs, ensuring the survival of the human race. Only problem is the woman is in New York, which is controlled by the Euraks, who wouldn't mind getting their grubby mitts on her, as they're also struggling to break the sterility stalemate, but they're unaware she even exists (at least until Parsifal spills the beans...good job there, dingus...he wasn't even being tortured or anything). Accompanied by two Pan American aides, Parsifal and his companions make it into New York, which was the easy part...now all they have to do is get past the Euraks and the various gangs, find the woman, and get her out as the survival of mankind hangs in the balance...
My second foray into The Post Apocalyptic Collection (as stated on the DVD case for this film and that of 1990: The Bronx Warriors, both released by Media Blasters) proved to be a more enjoyable than the last one in 1990: The Bronx Warriors, as this film was just consistently more violent, featuring scenes of disembowelment, sonic torture, groin stabbing, head bashing, heads exploding, eye gouging, throat slashing, flamethrowers, laser guns, automotive mayhem, rats, and a whole lot more... Martino lays it on pretty thick, and that's a good thing because this film would have difficulty playing towards its other aspects, like the story, scripting, acting, etc. In terms of story, this one sticks much closer to that of Escape from new York, while 1990: The Bronx Warriors tended to be an amalgam of a couple of different films including Escape from New York and The Warriors. One thing that seemed odd to me was the use of so many different characters when less would have sufficed. Did Parsifal really need those two Pan American aides? One guy was supposed to be really strong and the other was supposed to be really familiar with the layout of New York...both of these aspects could have been worked into the story in such a way as to leave these characters out...also, the character of Giara, played by Monnier...at first we think she's the woman everyone is looking for, but turns out not to be true...she ends up being the love interest for Parsifal, but what's the point? So they can have an extremely lame and painful debate on whether or not mankind is worth saving? Ugh, just go waste some more Eurak punks, for God's sake...and the villains, one of them played by Anna Kanakis, were diluted solely on the fact that there were two (one would have been sufficient), neither of which had any great amount of screen time or struck me as being a particularly menacing characters. These elements do work against the plot, but at least it is strong enough to stand up and stay reasonable focused. In terms of characters there are plenty of them (whether they're needed or not) including a dwarf (whose name is Shorty...gee, that's not demeaning at all), the Rat Eater King (Yamanouchi), the Fu Manchu looking leader of a subterranean tribe that lives off rats, Big Ape (Eastman), leader of a tribe of devolved, Cro-Magnon types, and others...once past the miniatures, which were used solely to indicate location, the actual location shots looked applicable to the film and hinted at decent production values...although that New York Eurak stronghold looked a lot like a distillery to me, but you use what you can in the world of low budget filmmaking. The dialog was pretty awful (as expected), illustrated by the following line that occurred during a conversation between Parsifal and Giara, "If love had any meaning in this world, you'd be the one I love."...I don't even know what that means...here's another bit of flotsam spoken by Giara, "I'm really rooting for you to bring this mission off."...I was rooting for some tongues to be removed as not to have to listen to anymore of this craptacular interaction. At least the music was decent, the action consistent, and the violence ever present, making this an entertaining flick that rises (slightly) above its brethren.
Media Blasters provides an exceptionally good-looking, anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) print on this DVD release. The audio is very strong, and is available either in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround or Dolby Digital stereo. Special features include a short art gallery, an original theatrical trailer, and separate interviews with the director Sergio Martino (14:12), actors George Eastman (5:16), and Hal Yamanouchi (4:32).
Cookieman108
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cheesy On A Level Rarely Imagined! But Fun!, October 22, 2003
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.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly good Italian post-apocalypse, September 27, 2001
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.
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