Ravagers (1979)

Lack of good storyline.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Apparently there are good reasons for this film's obscurity status as well as for the low rating on this wondrous website. Richard Harris doesn't nearly whoop as much butt as I expected in this overall dull and completely unmemorable post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi feature from the late 70's. The one strong point this movie benefices from (set pieces) isn't nearly enough to overlook the massive amount of weaknesses (lack of action, miscast players, no script…), but it has to be said the location spotters and set piece designers pulled off an exquisite job. The story may be non-existent and sadly ruining all its potential, at least all the exteriors look very depressing and the scenery appears to genuinely have lived through a nuclear holocaust. The story, as said, is mundane and hardly worth wasting words on. Falk (Harris) and his wife are two of the last few civilized people left in the world, all the rest is either extinct or joined Ravagers clans. When a gang viciously kills his wife (of screen even, damned!), Falk flees towards … nowhere. On his journey chased by the same scum that killed his wife, Falk encounters an army sergeant who went a little mad due to the loneliness, a community of cave people and the new & highly enlightened leader of mankind Rann. "Ravagers" had copious possibilities and could have become a great film, but nothing justifies the script boredom! Falk doesn't even want to avenge the death of his wife? Bah! There may be some famous names in this American production, but without hesitating I prefer the anonymous but violence & spectacle-packed Italian exploitation efforts instead.

Being the hard-core aficionado of post-apocalyptic sci-fi/action features that I am, I naturally was pretty pumped at the prospect of finally seeing this extremely rare, forgotten and elusive genre entry after taping it in its uncut entirety off of cable. I didn't really know what to expect, since this was given a spotty release by Columbia and received extremely negative reviews by the handful of critics who bothered to see it during its fleeting theatrical run. After viewing it I can now say it's neither the best nor worst of its type. Instead, it rates as a strictly middling affair that basically does the trick but never totally amounts to anything truly special or resonant.The plot set-up is standard, but serviceable enough: Following a devastating nuclear holocaust the world has thoroughly degenerated into a bleak, harsh, desolate and dangerous hellhole where all hope has been lost, food is scarce, and vicious vulturous packs of roving ragtag psycho freaks called "ravagers" loot and kill with merciless abandon. A scuzzy band of filthy no-count "ravagers" led by ruthless sleazoid Anthony James viciously rape and murder the lovely wife (bewitching blonde Alana Hamilton) of cagey, cautious, constantly on the move loner Richard Harris, who narrowly avoids getting bagged himself. Harris makes a risky and arduous trek across the dry, barren, perilous wasteland, befriending both a lovably crackpot army sergeant (a delightfully dotty Art Carney) and a sassy lass (ravishing brunette Ann Turkel) during his journey. James and his grimy gang doggedly pursue Harris every step of the way. Harris and his newfound friends discover a heavily fortified redoubt run by benevolently jovial and avuncular dictator Ernest Borgnine. James and his foul flunkies close in to attack the fortress.Donald Sanford's neatly realized script keeps the story moving and further offers a provocative theme addressing the difficulty of regaining hope in the wake of a severe catastrophe which has rendered the world a most feral, unkind and godforsaken place. Unfortunately, Richard Compton's uneven direction runs hot and cold throughout, thereby scuppering a good deal of the sound script's potential. The film gets off to a cracking start, sags a lot at mid-point by becoming much too dull, talky and sluggish, but luckily gets back on thrilling track with a genuinely rousing conclusion. The cast is uniformly solid: Harris does well as the plausibly rumpled and rundown survival-weary protagonist, the ever-slimy lanky beanpole James makes for a splendidly scurvy villain, and both Turkel and Hamilton are quite charming as well as real easy on the eyes. Seymour Cassel as a doomed blind lawyer and the always dignified Woody Strode as a shrewd survivalist contribute nifty cameos. Fred Karlin's stirring score and Vincent Saizis' grungy cinematography are likewise up to par. Tasty trivia tidbit: Gilda Texter, the cute blonde naked girl on the motorcycle in "Vanishing Point," designed the ratty costumes. Alas, the often painfully poky pacing, infrequent outbursts of reasonably effective, albeit rather bland action, much too tame violence, and, most damagingly, a restrictive PG rating which prevents the picture from completely achieving the raw, gritty, no-holds-barred ferocious tone this baby desperately needs to fully work prevent "Ravagers" from being an all-out knock-your-socks-off winner. If it was only more lively and down'n'dirty nasty in both its content and execution then "Ravagers" would have rocked. As it is, very flawed and imperfect, but not without a few substantial merits, it's passable, but altogether nothing terribly potent or spectacular.

One of a handful of post-apocalyptic films I've tried to track down over the years.(The others being Captive Women, Aftermath, The Last Chase and The Quiet Earth.) Recently, I viewed the film and found it to be quite entertaining as well as a bit weird. The "Ravagers" roam the Earth for the sole purpose of disposing of as much of the population as possible. Rewarding work? The "Flockers" are kind of new-age hippy types who party in cavernous caves. They are a strange lot and are in need of a constructive kick in the pants. Fred Karlin's eclectic score shines during this passage. Richard Harris, the hero by default, has a simple delivery of his lines. There is a cool scene involving a blind lawyer, who has been tossed out of his community and is later stoned to death in front of Harris. The movie was shot in Alabama of all places. The locations chosen are desolate and appropriately barren. Harris finds Art Carney in an abandoned military silo and army base of some kind. Carney's girth, remember there is little food, is explained by his ample ration stash. Rod Stewart's ex-wife, Alana, makes a brief appearance before she is quickly dispatched to heaven by the Ravagers. Everyone in the film follows Harris' lead in search of a city called Genesis. Strategically, Woody Strode played professional football and would have been a better blocker for the Flockers than the boozer, Harris. Just a plan.

Richard Harris and Alana Stewart (George hamilton's ex, and at the time Mrs. Rod Stewart) plays couple trying to survive the future where earth is pretty much dead. Now there are these normads called the ravagers that roams and kills because they are your typical bad guys. The leader is character actor Anthony James. They even play undressing the manniquin (later stolen by MAD MAX). James and his ravager's attack Harris and Stewart, and kills Stewart leaving Harris for dead. Harris in return comes back and kills James' gay sidekick making James go on a revenge trail. Harris goes on a quest for a better life meeting a messed up old army guy (art Carney), Ann Turkel, Woody Strode and Ernest Borgnine (who takes 70min to appear only to disappear in 81min). Cassel plays a nothing part as a blindman who gets stoned. The film looks real cheap and it looks like it was cut to get a PG rating. The film is very padded, but looks slopply edited near the end. In fact James seems to be gaining more new ravagers which each new scene! It's ironic that this was Hollywood's answer to the apocalypstic theme, as this and DAMNATION ALLEY killed the apocalypitic theme craze, and it took a Aussie film MAD MAX 2 3 years later to get people interested in this genre once again, causing a grut of Italian rip-offs! But nothing beats the cheeziness of the original "Hollywood" incarnation The Ravagers!