2019: After the Fall of New York (1984)

Great Film overall

Blistering performances.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

2019: After the Fall of New York (1983)* 1/2 (out of 4) During Italy's "trash boom", each and every film from America that was popular would eventually be "reinmagined" but in a lower form. Take this film where we get a semi-remake of John Carpenter's ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and needless to say, this here isn't quite as good. Twenty years after a nuclear apocalypse, three men are sent into New York where they must find the last fertile woman and bring her out so that civilization can start over. Making it through New York isn't going to be easy as we got several bad guys, several ugly guys and a giant ape man (George Eastman). We can start off by stating the obvious in that Martino isn't Carpenter and Michael Sopkiw isn't Kurt Russell. With that said, this is still a pretty poor movie on all levels and in the end I was really disappointed because a lot of times these re-imagined films are decent for a few good laughs. That's not the case here because by the thirty-minute mark I was bored out of my mind and the final hour really dragged its feet so badly that the film just crashed and burned. I think the biggest problem is the budget. The horror or giallo films could get away with a low budget but I think that's a lot harder to do when it comes to futuristic action films. The action scenes are all incredibly cheap and they come off very fake looking. The post-apocalyptic world also looks very fake and especially the "burnt down" NYC at the start of the film. These are two things that you don't need a big budget for, just look at ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK but you need someone behind the camera to pull it off. Martino has made some good films throughout his career but this here isn't one of them. I think he has a hard time putting everything together as the film really loses focus of its (limited) story and goes off in all sorts of directions. Another major problem is that Sopkiw is just boring in the lead and doesn't make for a good character. The supporting cast isn't any better and that includes cult favorite Eastman.

If you are reading this, you probably are interested in post-apocalyptic movies and you probably already seen movies like Mad Max and Escape From New York. It's not a secret that this movie was inspired by those films, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Actually I think if you liked those films, you'll like this one too. Maybe it's not that good, but it has more gangs, more colorful characters and much more action sequences (mayebe even better action sequences). Since Mad Max have already showed us what the future is going to be like, this movie gives us an opportunity to travel around a post-apocalyptic wastelands to get to know better this kind of world and to experience all sorts of adventures. There's all sorts of different characters like cyborgs, lonely wasteland warriors, infected people and many others. Like I already have mentioned, this movie has a lot of great action. There's some great car-chase scenes, which were surprisingly well made and looked very exiting. Also there was lot's of fighting scenes, with some great acrobatic tricks and the fighters sometimes used strange looking weapons, which cosed lots of blood and some chopped-off limbs. Shoot-outs were great too, only there was too little of them. The acting (if you care about the acting) was good, actually there was lots of great actors in this film, though not many of them are known today. So if you are fan of post-apocalyptic movies, you just have to watch this one.

The last fertile woman on earth is somewhere in New York and the Pan American confederacy wants to find her. Former elite soldier Parsifal is coerced into looking for her. Joining him are Bronx and Ratchet(who we later find out is a cyborg). They enter New York through a rat filled tunnel and end up fighting a gang called the Harlem hunters(great fight scene). They move on to rat eaters then little people and then a group of half men/half apes. Someone from each group joins in the effort of finding the girl. After she is found a daring escape is needed.This movie has a lot of elements from other films and a very small budget,but despite it's shortcomings this movie pulls through. Some movies like the Road Warrior and Escape from New York are headed up by reluctant anti-heros. While I love the characters of Snake and Max I find cool that Parsifal is anything but that. He is a tough guy to be sure, but we also see a very kind side of him. Also, while the outlook of this movie is bleak, I thought it was very touching that Bronx,Shorty,Big ape, and Giada all give their lives to rescue this girl and thus save humanity. I also found Bronx to be an interesting and insightful person. His character is a former professor and his discussion with the Eurac leader is full of food for thought.One negative thing about this movie is that I didn't care for the showdown with Ratchet at the end. There is no forewarning to it and it seems tacked on. I would have preferred to have Ratchet see the good in humanity and just walk away from his mission to kill Parsifal(kind of like the ending of Blade Runner). That being said, this movie is a must see for all PA fans. Enjoy it.

2019: After the Fall of New York is inspired by Escape from New York, the hero is similar to Snake except he doesn't wear a eye-patch, they're both in New York trying to find someone then escape, 2019: After the Fall of New York also has some different things that isn't in Esacpe from New York. The film does have some nice music, action and the effects are pretty good.The plot sees the world in the future and everything is post apocalyptic, New York has been occupied by an army of people called Eurac's who are cleaning up the streets. Meanwhile in the deserts a death rally is going on where some people in armoured vehicles try to kill each other. The champion Parsifal beats the opponents and gets his reward, he soon finds himself being knocked out by a stun ray and sent to the Alaska where he meets the President who tells him that they have found a fertile women on earth, Parsifal is told to go into New York and find her then bring her hear. Two people are sent with him to find her, they then go off into New York where they soon find themselves in trouble, as they hide in the sewers they discover the Rat-eaters, a group of people who live in the sewers and feast on flesh eating Rats. They soon get captured by the Rat-eaters and Parsifal beings to fall in love with one of the female Rat-eaters, suddenly the Eurac's attack the Rat-eaters. Parsifal ends up being captured by them. In there he makes a deal with one of the Eurac's that he'll show them the fertile women who he believes is the Rat-eater women, soon he escapes freeing his two friends and the Rat-eater. Parsifal must find the true fertile women before the Eurac's capture them again.2019: Ater the Fall of New York is a great post apocalyptic movie that should be seen. 10/10