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Warrior of the Lost World
Il Giustiziere della Terra Perduta / I Predatori dell'Anno Omega / Mad Rider
USA / Italy 1983
produced by Robert Bessi, Frank Hildebrand, Eduard Sarlui (executive) for A.D.I. Inc, Continental Motion Pictures, Royal Film
directed by David Worth
starring Robert Ginty, Persis Khambatta, Donald Pleasence, Fred Williamson, Harrison Muller sr, Philip Dallas, Laura Nucci, Vinicio Ricchi, Janna Ryan (= Geretta Geretta), Consuelo Marcaccini, Daniel Stephen, Stefano Mior, Scott Coffey, Goffredo Marcaccini, Urs Althaus, Lucien Bruchon, Harrison Muller jr, Nguyen Huu Phu, Giuliano Rosati, Ennio Antonelli, Russel Case, Hernani Moreira, Samuele Goldzader, Massimo Liti
written by David Worth, music by Daniele Patucchi, special effects by Paolo Ricci, special maekup effects by Otello Fava
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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So the apocalypse has happened, and mankind faces new Dark Ages. There
is one dictator guy, Prossor (Donald Pleasence), who's just plain evil and
who's the leader of the Omegas, and then there's a good guy, McWayne
(Harrison Muller sr), leader of the Elders ... who has unfortunately
become captive of Prossor. There's of course also this bad-ass loner, only
known as the Rider (Robert Ginty), who loves nobody but the onboard
computer of his fancy motorbike. The Elders think in the Rider they have
found their Chosen One, and they send him along with McWayne's daughter
Nastasia (Persis Khambatta) to Prossor's headquarters to litterally save
McWayne from execution. The two succeed, but when they get away with
McWayne, Nastasia is wounded and the Rider has to leave her behind. Of
course, at first the Rider plays the hardened man who cannot be bothered
with anything other than riding his beloved bike, least of all saving
Nastasia from the tyrant, but ultimately, he does of course just that,
leading McWayne and his men back into the lion's den, killing hordes of
Omegas in the process. Eventually, they make it to Prossor's sanctuary,
but when they want to kill him, they find out he has in the meantime
brainwashed Nastasia, and she's quick to shoot (but not kill) the Rider,
but when Prossor tells her to turn her weapon on her own dad, she turns it
onto Prossor instead, blowing his brains out. So of course, everything
ends happily ... or does it? The Rider turns his back on McWayne and
Nastasia (who has in the meantime dutifully fallen in love with him) to
ride the plains some more with his motorbike. And Prossor - he hasn't died
for real, Nastasia has only shot his android double ... Genre fave Fred
Williamson plays one of McWayne's henchmen who's really in league with
Prossor though. Despite all of this, his contribution to the film's plot
is minimal. Very obviously made as a cash in on the then very
popular movie Mad Max 2/Road Warrior, Warrior of the Lost
World has not only got none of that movie's charm, it also hardly
lives up to most other Road Warrior cash-ins - and not because it's
so crappy (there are far crappier ones, actually), but because it feels
just so sloppily and tiredly made. There is lots of action in this movie,
but no tension, shoot-outs aplenty but no emotional involvement, chases
but no (virtual) adrenaline shots. Everything is just presented as as-is,
the directorial effort never goes beyond this. Add to this then that the
budget of the movie was obviously very low, so regular street cars and
motorbikes were equipped with spikes to double for futuristic vehicles,
and a defintiely unthreatening quarry truck is supposed to pose as the
"Megaweapon", and you're left with a slight feeling of
what-the-fuck, but not in the so-bad-it's-good-way, just in the
I-couldn't-care-less-way. Rather a disappointment, really!
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