Rush 2 - Final Game

A surprisingly watchable post-apocalyptic Italian flick.

I wasn't expecting much from it and I had a decent time while watching it. Its not as good as something like Escape from the Bronx or 2019 After The Fall of New York, but Rage still manages to be entertaining.

Quite exploitive and mindless but really fun and somewhat interesting. I would recommend it for fans of the genre, even if I don't like that many post-apocalyptic films.

The opening minutes state immediately clear what kind cheap, trashy, and derivative piece of action/Sci-Fi fodder this will be. "A Man called Rage" starts with a montage of clichéd archive footage, primarily of nuclear explosions intermixed with images of crying children in 3rd world countries, and dense traffic in metropole cities. This should be enough information for the experienced viewer to deduct that the entire world was destroyed, and only small groups of people still roam around in a post-apocalyptic landscape. What comes next is a very mundane and unexciting story of a lone warrior (the titular Rage) teaming up with a few others and trying to find a cave full of uranium before another posse (led by a guy named Slash) does. I still don't fully understand why they are looking for uranium, though. Do they intend to blow up whatever is left of the world as well?

Instead of uranium, they find a cave full of old books and philosophical messages, which makes this flick a bizarre crossover between "Mad Max II" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Makes sense as Italian exploitation-directors were never too ashamed of ripping off several blockbusters at once; - and Tonino Ricci was one of the most shameless ones of them all. "A Man called Rage" is a weak film, with as main defaults uninteresting lead characters and a severe shortage of extreme & gratuitous violence. There are also positive notes, namely the outfit of the heavenly beautiful actress Taida Urruzola, the dazzling score by Stelvio Cipriani that deserved a better screenplay, and an ingenious battle sequence of an old train wagon verses a bunch of dune buggies and motorcycles.

What can be said that wasn't covered by the other comment? This movie is a truly surprising delight, especially considering that it's a sequel to a quite droll and lifeless film, the previous year's cash-in RUSH with largely the same cast and crew. What RAGE has that RUSH lacks is a lot of kinetic energy - our heroes are constantly on the move encountering new obstacles and it's not too predictable, only weighed down by the episodic nature of everything.

The film really is a showcase for the abilities of editor Vincenzo Tomassi, who manages to breathe a lot of life into the action scenes and a shockingly powerful pre-credits intro with some spectacular stock footage of New York, Nuclear Tests, and impoverished children of the 3rd world into a representation of World War 3. On top of that you have some solid musical work by Stelvio Cipriani who was easily one of the best composers in the world working at the time. However I have no idea what's going on with the music choice during the battle with the nuke mutants mid-movie. It sounds like music out of a Jamaican cabana. Had director Ricci lost his mind or was he going for some sort of brain-bending juxtaposition? I don't get it.

Most bizarrely of all is how this film premeditates a lot of elements seen in the next year's MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME and even a little DAY OF THE DEAD (a chase involving a locomotive, whimsical old adversary out for revenge, survivors driving jeeps around underground bunkers), rather than straight-up ripping off MAD MAX 2 like so many of its peers. It reminds me of how the similarly cheaply made Italian JAWS knockoff KILLER CROCODILE feels like practically the same movie as ANACONDA which came out almost a decade later. I really doubt George Miller or George Romero saw this film, but I suppose with this material there's only so much one can do.

In a post-apocalyptic future, people have banded together for survival. One group who would like to see the old world restored to all its glory believes they know the location where uranium was once housed. They hope to power their cities with it. Another group would like to get their hands on the uranium for their own, more destructive purposes. Who will get there first?

First, what's with the character names in these post-apocalyptic movies? Rage? Slash? Trash? Ratchet? Bronx? Hammer? One? Why not Roger or Fred or even Bill? I think the Italian filmmakers tried to outdo each other with their names. Rage and Slash from A Man Called Rage are perfect examples.

As far as this kind of movie goes, A Man Called Rage isn't overly original. There are only two scenes I can think of that stray from the standard playbook - the seeds at the end (nice touch) and the train. The rest is derivative filmmaking at its finest. A noticeable lack of budget doesn't help. Costuming is often as uninspired (and cheap) as tying a t-shirt around an actor's head. There's a lot of driving that serves as inexpensive padding. I can't tell you how many scenes begin with the good guys' jeep coming into frame, stopping, and someone pointing and saying, "Look". It happens over and over. Finally, the best (or worst) example of the film's budget limitations has to be earthquake. A few pebbles thrown across the surface of a larger rock while the camera shakes doesn't make for an effective natural disaster. Throw in some poorly choreographed fight scenes, iffy acting, and ridiculous special effects and you've got the makings of a real stinker.

However, despite all the flaws, A Man Called Rage is still watchable. The main actors playing the good guys are likable enough. Bruno Minniti is oddly enjoyable in the role of Rage. The chief baddie is appropriately over-the-top. Even though there's padding galore, there are some nice action sequences sprinkled throughout. Like I said, I especially enjoyed the scenes on the train. Finally, the ending worked for me. The use of the seeds was something completely different from what I was expecting or what I've seen before in one of these movies. It's a nice, restrained, upbeat moment.

Oh, I almost forgot another big plus for The Man Called Rage. Those painted-on jean shorts worn by lead actress, Taida Urruzola, are the real star. Wow!

With the name Tonino Ricci connected to this, one could be quite forgiven for initially fleeing in horror at the very prospect of sitting through it in its entirety.

Ricci is widely considered to be one of if not THE most consistently inept director working in the Italian film business and has the ignominy of boasting a long list of inane and poorly made action films to his name.

Having viewed a fair few of these undistinguished titles I would certainly concede that the allegations made against Ricci are mostly well founded; His works are generally mind numbing affairs containing lacklustre action and poor acting in addition to the conspicuous absence of anything remotely resembling plotting.

It was with this somewhat ominous factor in the back of my mind that I sat down to view the film in question here which stars Ricci regular Luigi Mezzanotte (billed here as he very often is as Conrad Nichols)

And my verdict? Well, much to my pleasant surprise it actually wasn't half bad.

OK so it's admittedly no masterpiece, it's obviously been shot on the cheap, the acting is hardly stellar and it's been entirely overdubbed throughout (despite the fact that the actors are clearly speaking in English beneath the dub anyway!!!) In fact this is unmistakably a Ricci made film, comprising a typically aimless storyline with plenty of his trademark padding to bump up the movies running time (in this case comprising our protagonists driving incessantly around in a jeep for most of the movies duration) But…….much like the same director's Thor The Conqueror (again starring Nichols) and despite its many flaws, this actually proves to be quite a watchable affair.

The post nuclear war story has Nichols, who stars as Captain Strike (what a cool name!), code name: Rage (what an even cooler name!!!) being hired by a group of fellow survivors (including Italian B-movie regular Werner Pochath) to obtain a stash of uranium which they desperately require in order to power their generators in this hostile and baron world. Rage reluctantly agrees to undertake the mission but the path turns out to be fraught with danger as he and his small group face various perils along the way in addition to being pursued by an old enemy named Slash (no, not the former Guns & Roses guitarist!) Cue some fairly decent action sequences and a surprisingly happy albeit sloppily conceived ending and you have an undemanding and mildly enjoyable watch for 90 or so minutes.

I must make special note of two things here which certainly up'ed the rating I have awarded this: One is an absolutely hilarious scene in which our hero's are beset by some radiation infected mutants. How is this hilarious you may well ask? Well as Rage is giving the attackers a jolly good beat down we are treated to what must surely rank as some of the most bizarrely inappropriate music ever put to any scene in any film – ever! The sensation of watching a violent sequence backed by some incredibly 'happy' sounding music proves to be almost surreal and had me in absolute hysterics.

The second point of special interest, and forgive me if this sounds at all sexist, but the female lead in this is a MAJOR HOTTIE!!!! Not only that, she dresses in tight denim shorts and a revealing vest for most of the movies running time! WHOA!!!

Ahem…..anyway to summarise, the film is certainly worth checking out if you have a fondness for the post nuke genre and is without doubt one of the more dignified highlights of its directors much maligned career.