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For those of you who weren't there to see it live, the 1980's were replete with an incredible number of motion pictures that explored our planet's impending apocalypse.
A lot of this was owed to the popularity of Australia's Mad Max (1979) and its follow-up sensation The Road Warrior (1981), so who can blame the various filmmakers and storytellers around the world for trying to (cough cough) cash in on a popular theatrical trend? In fairness -- while reserving my critical opinion -- many of these weren't very good; instead they were quick and cheap knock-offs meant to separate a fool and his money with a reasonable substitute for the real thing. A good deal of them essentially involved total screen badasses all decked out in leather, and the stories were half-baked iterations exploring the chaos resulting from the fall of man.
Italian auteur Enzo G. Castellari was particularly smitten with the idea about exploring the end of civilization, and some have written that the man really was at the forefront of keeping these Mad Max rip-offs going for as long as they did. His Escape From The Bronx (1983) was billed as a direct sequel to 1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982); and a third film -- The New Barbarians (aka Warriors Of The Wasteland) -- even took the Intellectual Property off in another direction. Castellari crafted the story with longtime contribution Tito Carpi, and he brought along such stars for the ride as Mark Gregory, Henry Silva, Valeria D'Obici, Giancarlo Prete, and Paolo Malco.
Here's the plot summary as provided by our friends at IMDB.com:
"A vicious corporation tries to kill and starve the last remaining habitants of the Bronx in order to build their own high-rise developments. A lone long-haired, hot-tempered warrior, Trash, is his only obstacle. Trash, a psychopathic bomb-maker and his equally psychopathic preschool son and an annoying activist help him out by kidnapping "the President" (of the corporation), a Richard Dreyfuss look-alike. Henry Silva plays another psychopath, this one on the side of the corporations. A favorite movie of Mystery Science Theater 3000 series."
A lot of this was owed to the popularity of Australia's Mad Max (1979) and its follow-up sensation The Road Warrior (1981), so who can blame the various filmmakers and storytellers around the world for trying to (cough cough) cash in on a popular theatrical trend? In fairness -- while reserving my critical opinion -- many of these weren't very good; instead they were quick and cheap knock-offs meant to separate a fool and his money with a reasonable substitute for the real thing. A good deal of them essentially involved total screen badasses all decked out in leather, and the stories were half-baked iterations exploring the chaos resulting from the fall of man.
Italian auteur Enzo G. Castellari was particularly smitten with the idea about exploring the end of civilization, and some have written that the man really was at the forefront of keeping these Mad Max rip-offs going for as long as they did. His Escape From The Bronx (1983) was billed as a direct sequel to 1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982); and a third film -- The New Barbarians (aka Warriors Of The Wasteland) -- even took the Intellectual Property off in another direction. Castellari crafted the story with longtime contribution Tito Carpi, and he brought along such stars for the ride as Mark Gregory, Henry Silva, Valeria D'Obici, Giancarlo Prete, and Paolo Malco.
Here's the plot summary as provided by our friends at IMDB.com:
"A vicious corporation tries to kill and starve the last remaining habitants of the Bronx in order to build their own high-rise developments. A lone long-haired, hot-tempered warrior, Trash, is his only obstacle. Trash, a psychopathic bomb-maker and his equally psychopathic preschool son and an annoying activist help him out by kidnapping "the President" (of the corporation), a Richard Dreyfuss look-alike. Henry Silva plays another psychopath, this one on the side of the corporations. A favorite movie of Mystery Science Theater 3000 series."
I think it's safe to suggest that Escape is the kind of film that has a cult audience somewhere out there, though I don't run into them all that often in my pursuits. Castellari's flicks -- from those I've seen -- have a basic low-budget sensibility to them; and they typically frolic along in search of high body counts along with a splattering of useful violence. IMDB.com's trivia page for the film states that Escape's body count -- as an example -- nears 200 victims (in its uncut version), and that's honestly the kind of business these flicks did very well in the 1980's. Often viewed as excuses to be exploitative, they're largely dismissed by mainstream audiences as little more than curiosities, so maybe it's best we let bygones be bygones.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
-- EZ
-- EZ
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