2019, escape de Nueva York II

Despite being a huge fan of cult and B-Movies and even though I really wanted and tried hard to enjoy this, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to go against the general tide of opinion as regards this film.

The ever likable Michael Sopkiw, who's career in B-movies was admittedly brief but so very fondly remembered, appears here as a sort of Mad Max/Snake Plissken type of guy who is coerced into rescuing the last fertile woman on earth from within the hell hole that has become Manhattan Island.

Cue lots of fights, sludging through rat infested sewers, getting captured about every five minutes (!) a healthy splashing of gore and the appearance of perennial B-Movie fave big George Eastman as a simian character called 'Big Ape' and hey presto - you have what on paper at least sounds like a great movie.....

On paper perhaps......

To be fair, the movie isn't at all bad by any means and even boasts some pretty decent production values in fact, but sadly it just failed to enthral me.

The biggest problem I had with this is that the action scenes are for the most part handled with very little flair. Added to this, the best scene in the entire movie (for me at least) was actually at the very beginning when our hero is shown banger racing in a heavily armoured car. Needless to say, after such an intro the remaining 80 or so minutes of the movie seemed pale in comparison.

Still, as previously mentioned, the overall look of the film is very commendable indeed (bar one or two instances of very dodgy model work) and there's some great gross out moments (including one excellent head bashing scene!)

I'm tempted to deduct another point from this film however, due to the all too common and sad trend of some Italian genre movies of the time that regretfully rears it's ugly head here - genuine animal cruelty/killing. In this case we are 'treated' to a display of some rats getting speared. Such a disgusting trend ostensibly stemmed from the cannibal themed movies of the same period as were pioneered by directors Umberto Lenzi and Ruggero Deodato - both of whom were more than capable of producing highly enjoyable films without having to resort to such repulsive, cheap shock tactics.

Would you believe that I have actually spoken to people who have tried to justify such barbaric acts 'for the sake of art''?! I've also spoken to various other cretinous wretches who seem to be under the misguided impression that watching such acts of cruelty in films somehow makes them more 'macho' as it logically denotes that 'they can take anything' (!!!!)

Still back to the film in question.....overall, whilst not unwatchable by any stretch of the imagination, After The Fall Of New York, for me, distinctly lacked enough intriguing scenes to raise it above the average mark.

My advice is, if you're into the genre then watch it by all means, it does have a hefty fan base, however for much more enjoyment value, check out the far superior film it is copied - erm...I mean inspired from, Escape From New York.

A Mad Max-like rogue soldier is asked by the President of the new world, to go to New York (Which is of course a wasteland) and rescue the last fertile woman on earth, while on the mission he runs into a band of good mutants, savage cannibalistic gangs and a good midget who knows the location of the last fertile woman, while on the way the totalitarian establishment conducts experiments and also want to find the last fertile woman on earth. 2019:Fall Of New York actually predates Hell Comes To Frogtown and Cyborg which basically borrow plot elements from this movie. Of course the main inspiration here is Escape From New York and Mad Max, in fact the main lead looks sort of like Kurt Russell, but with that said this is actually a fun movie. Indeed I was shocked at how invested I was in the hero's plight. I also found many elements interesting, the first one being that our heroes are aided by those devastated physically by the nuclear holocaust, usually they serve as villains but here they aid the heroes in their fight against the normal looking soldiers in the employ of a ruthless cult. Sure the message doesn't mean much and the film is goofy but this element adds likability to the characters and I found myself strangely engrossed in the hero's mission. In fact, for a no-name cast this is actually pretty decently acted. The movie could've used a tighter pace, and the ending seems rushed but as far as Escape From New York rip offs go, this is a very enjoyable product.

**1/2 Out Of 4-(Pretty Good)

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.

Twenty years after a nuclear holocaust ravaged the Earth, the Euraks and the Pan American Confederacy continue the battle for supremacy. Mercenary Parsifal (Michael Sopkiw) is recruited by the Confederacy to try and locate the only fertile woman on Earth, hidden somewhere in the ruins of Manhattan. He is joined on his quest by warriors Bronx (Paolo Maria Scalondro) and Ratchet (Romano Puppo), pretty blonde Giara (Valentine Monnier), dwarf Shorty (Louis Ecclesia) and hulking half-man/half-monkey mutant Big Ape (George Eastman).

One of many Italian post-apocalyptic action flicks to follow in the wake of Mad Max and Escape From New York, Sergio Martino's 2019: After The Fall Of New York is a wholly unoriginal, shoddily made, poorly acted crap-fest full of really badly choreographed action scenes, lousy special effects, manky props, amusing costumes, and seriously dumb characters. Opening with an unconvincing miniature model of nuked New York and ending with the launch of an equally cruddy model spacecraft, with all manner of cheap-jack nonsense packed in between, one might imagine the film to be hugely entertaining as a result, but Martino's uninspired direction and his cast's abysmal performances suck the life out of even the most silly of scenes.

Possibly just about worth watching for the robot clown with a massive glowing eyeball on its head, Shorty's valiant death ("Bastaaaarrrds!"), Big Ape throwing his sword to decapitate several of his enemy, and the hilarious eye-gouging (seriously, how did he not see that coming?), but don't bank on it. 3.5 out of 10, rounded up to 4 for IMDb.

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 .