The New Barbarians

Every time cinema has a game-changer (in this case, 'Mad Max' and the entire genre of 'post-apocalyptic dystopia movies'), it's fascinating to watch how various countries and cultures react to the instant knowledge that 'something new is out there that can bring in for us a lot of money'. For this Italian effort, which needed very little in the way of budgeting for either actors, set design or costumes, it's not bad.

Director Castellari brings to it an action-packed flow which never flags for a moment. (The 87-year-old Rome native--God bless him--is directing 'Keoma Rises' at the moment, his first film in six years, and it is slated to be released later this year.) I have previously only seen his spaghetti-western 'Keoma', which I adore. He throws in two instances of nice gratuitous sex in a heartened attempt at 'character and plot development', but I really don't have a problem with that, especially with great Italian beauties like he has at his disposal here. There's a bizarre homoerotic undertone, particularly to a scene in which Scorpion is being tortured, but it's not problematic. Fred Williamson is the only star I recognized, and he continues his credo of 'getting the girls and winning the fights', which he stands by in his movies. The electronic score is dated but not bad, though it's inferior to those of, say, either Tangerine Dream or Goblin.

All in all, it was a 91-minute span of time I don't regret in the slightest--I even watched it with a plate of spaghetti and glass of red wine at hand to further exemplify the Italian experience.