Interceptor

It's the year 3000 -- the Earth's ozone belt has been destroyed by nuclear blasts leaving survivors scouring the scorched landscape for that most precious commodity: H2O. Tough loner Alien (Robert Iannucci) travels this waterless wasteland in a souped-up car called the Exterminator (guzzoline clearly not an issue in this particular future world), the motor kitted out with all manner of gadgetry, including in-car video and bullet-proof armour; this makes him the target of a band of ruthless marauders, led by Crazy Bull (Fernando Bilbao), from whom Alien stole the vehicle, as well as opportunistic post-apocalyptic carjacker Trash (Alicia Moro), who, in the opening sequence, snaffles the Exterminator, leading to a high speed chase that leaves Alien trapped upside down in a wrecked police car.

Rescue comes in the form of ten-year-old Tommy (Luca Venantini), only survivor of an expedition to locate a rumoured underground water supply; he frees Alien from the twisted wreckage and the two from an unlikely alliance. Their journey involves run-ins with Crazy Bull and his gang, a visit to ex-astronaut turned engineer Papillon (Luciano Pigozzi), and encounters with Trash, who ultimately teams up with the guys to find the water.

A prime slice of early'-80s post-apocalyptic cheeze, The Exterminators of the Year 3000 is chock full of stunts, crazy characters, and diabolical dialogue, making it a real hoot for fans of low-budget Mad Max rip-offs. While the action isn't as impressive as the vehicular mayhem in George Miller's classics (what is?), it still looks fairly dangerous and is therefore suitably entertaining, but the film is at its most enjoyable when introducing its more outlandish comic-book elements: the Exterminator's Bond-style gadgetry, Tommy's new and improved bionic arm, Trash's sonic key, the group of mutants who protect their water with Indiana Jones-style booby traps, and the hilarious dialogue ("Into battle, my merry mother-grabbers!", "Unleash the dogs of war", "C'mon you little honey parrot"). I'd definitely liked to have seen director Giuliano Carnimeo push the futuristic angle more (apparently, men have travelled to Mars and Venus, yet Earth-bound transport technology has remained firmly rooted in the 20th century), but I imagine the minimal space-age tech was down to budgetary constraints.

After lots of shooting and explosions, the corny ending sees the heroes' tanker of water accidentally depleted by Crazy Bull's sadistic henchwoman Shadow, and the source of all that H20 destroyed by the mutants, but - as luck would have it - the Earth's damaged atmosphere repairs itself at the same time, leading to a downpour of rain. Cue freeze frame on the ecstatic good guys!

5/10. Anyone expecting the extreme adrenaline rush of the likes of Fury Road will be disappointed, but go into this with the right mindset and a fun time is there to be had.

Everything you really want from this kind of film (minus nudity possibly). Alien is a hard headed but love-able warrior of the wasteland, who ends up joining a young cyborg in a quest for water to bring back to the boy's peaceful commune. The two are accompanied by Alien's (long time?) frienamie, the beautiful but rugged "Trash" and a lovable retired astronaut. The crew must face a roving car gang, who's leader uses the word "mudder" pretty frequently, as well as doomsday water cultists(?) and the unforgiving desert of the post apocalyptic future. The movie of course takes its cues from (read rips off) Mad Max as well as a few other Sci-Fi classics. There is plenty of possibly unintentional humor, corny action and entertaining 80s schlock. The dub falls out of place a little at times but its watchable all the way through.

In a world of TurboKid and Fury Road, its a little easier to get other people to watch these kind of fun trashy films. Getting them to stick around for most of it is another story. This title has great pacing for a film of its type and would make a great intro in to the genre for that friend who likes some of the Neo-Trash like Turbokid but maybe wouldn't make it through Battletruck or Bronx Warriors.

Comparing this with "Mad Max 2" in terms of quality is akin to a cage match between a donkey and a grizzly bear; the outcome is a foregone conclusion. If however, you were to compare this with "New Barbarians", or "1990 The Bronx Warriors" where technical ratios are more equal, then "Exterminators" isn't a bad yarn.

The premise concerns a post apocalyptic world in which water is scarce, and various territorial tribes emerge to claim what little water there is in isolated wells. Crazy Bull is the main adversary and his vicious sidekick Shadow (Cunningham) packs a claw that commands respect. It's a shame that Cunningham didn't find greater exposure in her film career, as she showed a lot of promise and has a decent cinema legacy.

The visual effects, as expected, are the heroes, including the trailblazing stunt-work in which dune buggies leap and pirouette in the air, while bodies are flung around like rag dolls. There's plenty of gruesome carnage in keeping with the sub-genre. Scripting is minimal, although as most of the story is essentially borrowed, grafted and re-imagined, it's not altogether critical for success. I've seen a few of these post-apocalypse biker pictures, some with more recognisable faces and more sophisticated production values, but "Exterminators" holds its own and so if this is your cup of tea, drink up.

My review was written in January 1985 after watching the movie on Thorn EMI video cassette.

"The Exterminators of the Year 3000" is a weak imitation of "The Road Warrior" hit. In unusual fashion, it opened simultaneously in the theatrical (on 42nd St.) and home video market, with meager prospects in either medium.

After a plotless opening reel of old cars chasing around (though set in the year 3000, pic populated with well--preserved models from the 1960s and 1970s), story concerns the search for water in a post-nuclear wasteland. Teamed up are the handsome hero Alien (Robert Jannucci), a petty girl he used to know named Trash (Alicia Moro) and a cute bionic boy Tommy (Luca Ventantini). Tommy's dad was murdered by the big baddie Crazy Bul, who leads a gang of bikers whom he tastefully calls "Mother grabbers" in the poorly-dubbed dialog when not shouting out quaint expressions such as "Let's purloin that water".

When Tommy loses a biomechanical arm, they go to an ex-astronaut Papillon (Alan Collins) to fix it. Papillon has already fixed Alien's souped-up stolen car which is called the Exterminator. Baddies are defeated and pic ends with the star trio frolicking in the first rainfall in years, though the Earth's ozone layer has been destroyed by nuclear bombs making for cloudless skies.

Pic has little to offer beyond okay stunts and action footage. Oddly anticipating "Road Warrior II's" casting of Tina Turner, veteran black actress in Continental productions Beryl Cunningham is cast as a vicious killer in Crazy Bull's gang.

Solid Italian Max Mad ripoff has tons of tricked our car and motorcycle desert chases, along with some pretty good Road Warrior copycat costumes, which is fun, even if the action is nothing compared to George Miller's groundbreaking films. Instead of fuel, the survivors of this post apocalyptic hell are in search of water. Though lacking the massive production values of Kevin Coster's "Waterworld" or even Miller's "The Road Warrior," director Giuliano Carnimeo (billed as Jules Harrison) manages to infuse some decent thrills out of his minuscule budget and the corny script from the same writing team who brought you the equally silly "1990: The Bronx Warriors" and "The New Gladiators" (they also wrote the Lucio Fulci horror classics "Manhattan Baby" "The House by the Cemetary"). However, the film is hampered by lousy acting, a dull story, and terrible dubbing (though that does offer camp value). Also, the film takes a major nosedive in terms of pacing once the main character comes across a community of wastelanders. From there, it's a bunch of boring talk about how they can get more water and nothing much of interest. That is until the final's climactic road battle, which although nothing spectacular and plays out more like a demolition derby than a coherent action sequence is still a step above most low budget warriors of the wasteland films of this ilk. Overall, far from a classic, but solidly enjoyable if you enjoy this sort of disreputable film genre.