Italian Post Nuke Films!

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

88 has these in the works, I know Code Red has a few coming too, possibly sooner than 88 - that got me thinking about this stuff, the post-nuke/Mad Max rip off stuff that Italy churned out in the 80s.



I think my favorites are the Castellari movies - I'd probably put New Barbarians first, but I like 2019 a lot too. I don't think I've seen Hands Of Steel, if I have I don't remember much about it.

It's cool to see that this stuff is coming out on Blu-ray, even if it's a trickle rather than a landslide.

[The Silly Swede Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close The Silly Swede]

My personal fave, from late night cable, is Interzone. Bruce Abbott plays the hero, Swan, and he has an asian monk sidekick named Panasonic. Top notch! I google for a DVD from time to time, but it appears to have never been released on disc :( (It is up in parts on youtube though, but that is not good enough for me! )

But the whole genre is great, as far as I am concerned.

[Andrew Monroe Pallid Hands Find all posts View Profile Close Andrew Monroe]

I'm a sucker for 1990:THE BRONX WARRIORS. Gotta love the acting chops of Mark Gregory. Same expression no matter what is happening.

[IanIcon Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close IanIcon]

Oh man, I LOVE this genre. I have an original VHS of Interzone in a box, but I remember the dialogue being so hard to hear that it was almost unwatchable. Why haven't Endgame and 2020 Texas Gladiators (the D'Amato entries) been released on DVD anywhere? Or Raiders of Atlantis, for that matter (I think it's in a 50 movie pack I have, but it's just the VHS slapped onto disc)?
2020 After the Fall of New York is above and beyond the best entry in this genre, but I also love both Bronx movies (make a drinking game out of how many times a character says 'BRONX') and New Barbarians. I think that both of these 88 releases are the same two Code Red is doing, no? Hands of Steel is OK - sort of badly paced, but there are some cool bits. I thought the scene where the hood of the car is getting melted by acid rain was awesome when I saw it on HBO as a kid.
I read once that Mark Gregory quit acting because he was gay and got tons of homophobic taunts from cast members on some of his movies - really sad if that's true. I think I have one or two of the Thunder movies on VHS - Rambo ripoffs where he played a Native American.

[Alex K. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alex K.]

I'm a fan of some of them. Mattei's Rats: Night of Terror is such a bizarre amalgam of sub-genres. Post Apoc meets Night of the Living Dead scenario meets Willard meets Rat People. Big fan of Escape From the Bronx and 2020: Texas Gladiators. 2019: After the Fall of New York was fun but not my favorite Michael Sopkiw picture (that belongs to Massacre in Dinosaur Valley). I don't get the love for Joe D'amato's Endgame. Warriors of the Wasteland is an interesting entry. Fun for all the head explosions courtesy of Fred Williamson's character. Has a lot of cheesy charm and goes into Deliverance territory...

All the rest didn't leave much of an impression.

[Matt H. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matt H.]

Love this sub-genre. My faves are 2019, NEW BARBARIANS and HANDS OF STEEL (though that one's not exactly post-nuke, more straight sci-fi). The amazing thing about Martino is that he could switch genres effortlessly, and still make films that were as good (and often better) as his contemporaries.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Cover art for CR's Blu-ray release of 2019.

[Scyther Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Scyther]

Man, the Interzone audio on that VHS is TERRIBLE. Shame, really, cuz the film is fun. Another Italian post nuke no one talks about (with good reason?) is Urban Warriors. No disc release to my knowledge, but the VHS is fun, so long as you have high tolerance for the sometimes slow nature of Italian films with a lot of padding.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Full details on the 88 release of 2019:

88 FILMS ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Release date 27th March 2017

2019: After the Fall of New York - Blu-ray and DVD

After the nuclear holocaust, society breaks down into two groups, the evil Euraks and the rebel Federation. A mercenary named Parsifal ( Michael Sopkiw) is hired by the Federation to infiltrate New York City and rescue the only fertile woman left on Earth. But with all the obstacles ahead, he will need to count on Big Ape (George Eastman), and the mysterious Ratchet (Puppo) to accomplish the mission, and save the human race from extinction. Released for the first ever time on disc, Sergio Martino's seminal, post-apocalyptic classic comes home, transferred from the original negative and presented in its original scope aspect ratio for the first time ever. Starring Michael Sopkiw (Blastfighter), George Eastman (Anthropophagous), Al Yamanouchi (Endgame), and Romano Puppo (Escape from the Bronx), and benefiting from an amazing synth score by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis (Oliver Onions), revel in what is often considered a neglected genre, the post nuke film. From the explosions & the Rat King to the cardboard cutout New York skyline, sit back and don't jaw with anyone who won't identify themselves.....

Features:
Interview with Director Sergio Martino
Interview with Massimo Anotello Galeng
Joint interview with Massimo Anotnello Galeng and Ginacarlo Marin
Reversible Sleeve with Alternate Artwork

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

I rewatched HANDS OF STEEL last night, via the new UK Blu-ray release, for the first time since the early 2000s. Not really a post-apocalyptic picture, but it often gets lumped in with those. I always thought Albert Pyun's CYBORG and NEMESIS, and Roland Emmerich's UNIVERSAL SOLDIER all seemed to borrow elements from this film's plot; I wonder if it's an acknowledged influence on any of those pictures. That said, the film's plot is itself a mish-mash of THE TERMINATOR (even the arrival of Daniel Greene at the hotel near the start of the film echoes the compositions of Schwarzenegger's famous 'I'll be back' moment from the Cameron picture) with an arm-wrestling motif that would appear in Stallone's OVER THE TOP the following year. Luigi Montefiore's heavy is deliciously over the top (fnar) with an accent that comes from Mexico via Mumbai.

Speaking of arm wrestling, why don't people arm wrestle in movies anymore? It was a big thing during the 1980s.

The death of Cassinelli during production sours the film a little, especially given the preponderance of scenes featuring helicopters. The last time I watched the film, I wasn't aware of that incident.

It's good to finally have a decent release of this, after having only seen it via VHS dupes before. Here's hoping ENDGAME gets similar treatment.