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The post-doomsday world of 2025: Shannon (Al Cliver) has found fame and
fortune participating in a reality TV-show in which he is the prey of a
manhunt that usually ends in the death of the hunters or their game -
except for the last time, when Shannon won but refused to kill his final
hunter, Karnak (George Eastman), a friend from childhood but now a sworn
enemy. Fact is though that Shannon only defeated Karnak thanks to Lilith
(Laura Gemser), a telepathic mutant - and in return she asks him to get
her and several other mutants like her out of town, where mutants are
hunted like animals, and to a rendez-vous point with a helicopter about
200 miles from here that gets them to safety. The catch is though that the
road to the rendez vous point leads right through some forbitten zone, and
the helicopter will be gone for good in 2 days ... Shannon collects a
bunch of trusted mercenaries (Hal Yamanouchi, Gabriele Tinti, Mario
Pedone, Nello Pazzafini) who all want to get their hands on the gold
promised for the completion of the mission, and off they go through the
forbidden zone by motorbike, jeep and van, and they don't only have to
fight the regressive mutants (mutants who have stepped down the evolution
ladder to mutate back to ape and fish people) in front of them, but also
the army (led by Gordon Mitchell) that's desperate to capture the mutants,
because young Tommy (Christopher Walsh), a boy of unparalelled ESP powers
that could be used as the ultimate weapon. Time and again, it looks as
if Shannon and company have had it, and all of his mercenaries die one by
one - but when it looks like everything is lost, enter Karnak, his old
rival from the TV show, who actually saves Shannon's hide more than once.
Why? Because he wants to get his hands Shannon was promised for completing
his mission ... then he plans to have his final fight with Shannon. Against
all odds, Shannon manages to bring Lilith and her mutants to their rendez
vous points, even if he has to use Tommy's ESP powers in the finale, but
when she asks him to join them going where they go, he refuses, claiming
he's a man of the past and they're the future of the world. Thus he is
content with the gold they pay him, and as soon as their helicopter is
gone, he engages in his final battle with Karnak ... In the
early 1980's, dozens of films based on post-doomsday movies like Escape
from New York and Road Warrior were produced in Italy, usually
on the cheap - and Endgame was made on a low budget end of the
low-budget scale, which shows in the crude and cheap props and costumes
and lack of special effects. On top of that, action was not really
director Joe D'Amato's forte, and his interest in the science fiction
aspects of is story seems to be neglectable. That all said, Endgame
is not too bad a movie, especially if compared to others of its kind: The
story seems to be more thought through than usual and actually features a
few interesting points, the crude and cheap costumes and props give the
film a certain realism (concerning its post-doomsday settings) not often
found in the pseudo sci-fi worlds not often found in other post-doomsday
flicks, and the lack of spectacle helps the story to develop more fully.
Sure, this all makes the film no masterpiece, but more interesting than
many other movies of its ilk nevertheless.
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