Fireflash - Der Tag nach dem Ende

After The Fall of New York (1983) is a cheesy knock-off of the cult classic Escape From New York. But like most knock-off they're parodies of the original source material and have achieved cult status on their own. This one is no exception. From "Martin Dolman" comes a tale about a once great city that has fallen during World War III. The city's inhabitants are dead or dying from radiation or have mutated to it's filthy surroundings. The "government" has hired a man who looks like a hybrid of Mad Max and Snake Plisken to travel the nuclear wastelands and sneak into New York City to find the "prize". Someone who's very being is key for the survival of the human race.

Filled with action and cheesy special effects, After The Fall of New York is a very entertaining sci-fi/action film. Takes one part Escape From New York, one part Mad Max, throw in some Mad Max 2 and a dash of Alien and viola! For fans of 80's Italian b-movies and lovers of bad cinema. Just remember the filmmakers were having fun. Not to be taken seriously folks. "George Eastman" steals the movie in a great guest star appearance (man can he swing some mean hardware!).

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Fascist kingpins scheme in an office decorated with a futuristic knockoff of "Guernica." Gladiators clash in souped-up sedans, then get hookers dispensed by cyborgs styled like female clowns. A Dr. Evil-like chrome-dome bad guy gets his eyeballs pulled out by hooks, then replaced by peepers from an unlucky donor. Sergio Martino's AFTER THE FALL OF NEW YORK may be the only grindhouse ripoff of a famous movie that out-invents the original by a power of one hundred. It's supposed to be a copy of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, but it suggests Jess Franco having a field day on the abandoned sets of Altman's QUINTET. Dizzily cast and designed, with more visual ideas and free-form movement than any grindhouse movie of the period, it's a lesson in what B movies are supposed to be--and were, before they turned into bland late-night-Cinemax fodder.

Agreeable fun'n'funky post-nuke science-fiction/action romp . This exciting picture packs kinetic action , thrills, intrigue , shocks and lots of blood and violence . The movie likely satisfy action enthusiasts and Italian Sci-Fi fonds . After a nuclear war, society breaks down into two sides , the evil Euraks and the rebel Federation . In this future , crime is out of control and New York City turned into an inhabitable location and finds itself under siege by violent gangs . A mercenary named Parsifal (Michel Sopkiw of Blastfighter) is assigned a dangerous mission by President of the Pan American Confederacy (Edmund Purdom of Sinuhe the Egyptian and The prodigal) to infiltrate New York City , which is controlled by the Euraks, to take the only fertile woman left on Earth . Parsifal along with two hunk men (Romano Puppo , Scalondro) go out from desert toward feared New York City) . There , they meet Rat Eater King (Yamanouchi) , a nasty Eurac Commander and cruel Eurac Officer named Ania (Anna Kanakis) . They'll have to fight against cutthroats , a band of depraved crazies thirsty for blood and survive some battles to-the-death with lots of blood and gore , including throating-slit , beheading and blow up . At the end a motley group (Sipkiw , Valentine Monner , Romano Puppo and George Eastman) embarks a spectacular escape against vicious murderous .

"2019: After the Fall of New York" (1983) film is a comic book plenty of action , fun, adventures , thriller and surprise-filled entertainment . Spectacular stunt-work plenty of motorcycles, car crashes , with bounds and leaps and explosions . Michael Sopkiw as tough and valiant renegade is passable . Sopkiw made his film debut with this substantial lead part as rugged Snake Plissken-like survivalist warrior hero Parsifal . Adequate plethora of characters with average performances by its entire support cast . There appears ordinary secondaries from Italian B series such as George Eastman as Big Ape , Romano Puppo , Giovanni Cianfriglia as Panther , Ottaviano Dell'Acqua and the American Edmund Purdom ; all of them played lots of Spaghetti , Peplum , Giallo and customary genres of the 60s and 70s . Rumbling and screeching musical score by Oliver Onions , the usuals Guido and Maurizio De Angelis . The picture is a rip-off from ¨1997 , Escape from New York¨ by John Carpenter that was also followed by an inferior sequel by the same actor and director : ¨Escape from L.A.¨.

The picture was professionally directed by the prolific filmmaker Sergio Martino or Martin Dolman . Talented and versatile writer/director Sergio Martino has made a vast array of often solid and entertaining films in all kind of genres as horror, Giallo , comedy, Western , and science fiction in a career that spans over 40 years . He especially was expert on Western as proved in ¨Mannaja¨ and ¨Arizona returns¨ and Giallo as this ¨The case of scorpion's tail ¨ , ¨Torso¨ ,¨the scorpion with two tails¨ , ¨The strange vice of Mrs Ward¨ , Cannibal movie as "Mountain of the Cannibal God", Italian crime thrillers as "Violent Professionals" and ¨Sci-Fi as ¨Destroyer¨ and this "2019: After the Fall of New York". Rating: Acceptable and passable Sci-Fi movie, this is an imaginative Sci-Fi picture in which the camera stalks in moving style throughout a story with enjoyable visual skills . This is a bewildering story , funny in some moment but falls flat and it will appeal to Science Fiction and Italian exploitation fans .

Yup, 2019: After The Fall Of New York is on of those "so bad its fun' kind of movies.

"Fall" (as I will call it from now on because I don't feel like saying its full name over and over) is a complete rip-off of John Carpenter's "Escape From New York". You know that one. Manhattan Island is now a maximum security prison. The President Of The United States crash lands in it with some highly secret information. Snake Plisskin (one of the greatest names in movie history!) is sent in to this hellhole to get the President out. In "Fall" New York has been nuked. A military police force has taken over what is left and tries to rub out everyone they don't see as fit to live, which is basically everybody since everybody has a some kind of mutation. Oh yeah, everybody is also sterile thanks to the radiation. However there in beautiful, bombed out Manhattan is one woman who was born after the bomb hit, therefore making her fertile and worthy of motherhood. Gladiator fighter Parsifal (Michael Sopkiw) is sent in to get her and bring her out so that the Pan America Confederacy - our current government whose headquarters are located in on a glacier in Alaska (Alaska?) - can start repopulating the world again with fresh, unpolluted humans. Parsifal's reward? He gets to go to one of the areas of Earth that has survived and prospered from the bomb, making it a virtual paradise with sunny beaches and clean air. Or something like that

In Escape, Snake goes up against scores of allies and scores of freaky enemies while trying to achieve his goal. In Fall, Parsifal goes through score of allies and scores of enemies to get his goal as well. In Escape. Snake crosses a bridge to get out. In Fall, Parsifal crosses a tunnel to get out. Get the picture? But goshdang it, Fall sure is a fun ripoff! And wait, there is more! At the movie's beginning our hero fights in Mad Max type gladiator battles in which his reward is a hot chick who will be his sex slave/girlfriend, and these large gold tokens that allow him to buy special privileges. That's two ripoffs, yes two ripoffs (Escape from New York AND Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior) for the price of one. Ohhhh man, you can't beat that!

Like the movie itself, the acting isn't that bad. Its just B-level Italian actors playing cheap sci-fi stereotypes (the brave Little Person, the heroic female sidekick, the friend who turns into a backstabber, and so on) and dubbed with stupid dialogue. The sound effects and special effects are the same type of low budget crap you experience in all those other B-level sci-fi and horror flicks from the 1980's. In fact this was released about a year after Blade Runner, another early 1980's flick that takes place in 2019. What's up with that? Well I guess 2019 was just a great future year for science fiction movies to take place.

But is this movie entertaining? For the most part, yes. Cheesy Italian made stuff - like this - always certified a good time. If you grew up the 1980's, like I did, then you will remember that cheap, B-movie titles like this were in every video store. And they were always a blast to watch with a living room of friends, a large bag of crispy cheese curls, a joint or two, and a bottle of whiskey or a six pack of beer handy.

My rating (from Excellent to Poor) Pretty Good. Yeah it is shoddy, but "2019: After The Fall Of New York" is a fun shoddy.

20 years after a nuclear holocaust radiation has rendered all remaining humans sterile. After winning a motorized deathmatch an ex-Confederate soldier named Parsifal is offered a place on a rocketship by The President if he can infiltrate New York City and retrieve a fertile woman, or be killed.

Directed by Sergio Martino 2019, After the Fall of New York (2019 - Dopo la caduta di New York) is more sci-fi orientated than most (with a spaceship inclusion). Ernesto Gastaldi, Martino and Gabriel Rossini screenplay has echoes of Blade Runner (1982), Mad Max 2 (1981) and borrows heavily from Escape from New York (1981). It's one of the better copy-cat post-apocalyptic Italian films in the vein of similar to the films 1990 The Bronx Warriors, Escape from the Bronx, The New Barbarians and Endgame to name a few. Even copying a scene from Flash Gordon (1980).

It has all the same production issues of these low budget Italian cash-ins. Questionable, dialogue, acting, special effects, dubbing and sound design. This aside, the catchy soundtrack from Guido De Angelis and Maurizio De Angelis compliments the shenanigans and action adding to the B-movie charm. In contrast to the kitted vehicles, some of the sets and locations are notable. The derelict city set scenes have plenty of atmosphere courteous of cinematographer Giancarlo Ferrando as Michael Sopkiw's Parsifal and his rag tag side kicks Bronx and Ratchet make their way through the city encountering rats, cyborgs, fallout stricken street gangs, horses, ape-like mutants, dwarfs and dodging sonic weapons. It's grim and downbeat for the most part.

Miss Italy Anna Kanakis as evil officer Ania and striking Valentine Monnier as Giara along with B-movie regular George Eastman are memorable. Unfortunately Monnier is given little to do. Tiziana Fibi and Alessandra Tani even less. Kanakis shines here as the femme fatale as steals the film from not only the villain Serge Feuillard's Eurac Commander but also lead Sopkiw. To Martino's credit and company it's well filmed, with some tight continuity (Donatella Botti) and editing by Eugenio Alabiso there's also a few light left of field twists from the writers in the closing act.

Overall, it should come as no surprise it's over the top, full of tropes and holes, but its fast pace keeps momentum in true 80s Italian science fiction film style.