An Enraged New World

Enraged New World is great homegrown no-budget sci-fi film that appears to have been shot largely in Alaska. The location work is outstanding for what was probably a film that cost the price of the DV tapes and PBJ Sandwiches for the actors. The lead George N. Thompson (as Corp. Roger Corman!) gives a good performance. What really make the film enjoyable is the strong, serious, story and direction. Think Tarkovsky's THE STALKER meets Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD with a dash of Bruce Lee. Martinez shows a nack for storytelling and look forward to seeing what he will do in the future with a budget.

Enraged New World is promising homegrown no-budget sci-fi film that appears to have been shot largely in Alaska. The location work is outstanding for what was probably a film that cost the price of the DV tapes and PBJ Sandwiches for the actors. The lead George N. Thompson (as Corp. Roger Corman!) gives a good performance and makes up for some of the unevenness of a few of the other actors. What really make the film enjoyable is the strong, serious, story and direction. Think Tarkovsky's THE STALKER meets Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD with a dash of Bruce Lee. Martinez shows a nack for storytelling and it would be interesting to see what he could do with a budget.

AN ENRAGED NEW WORLD is something unique: it's a low-budget very long short-film that actually is entertaining, fun, action-packed and even has a GREAT twist ending!

Mike A. Martinez has made pretty much fun short-films, but AENW is his absolute best. It shows that Mike will someday become a very good feature director. He has a great sence of humour and a LARGE amount of imagination, which is so important when creating no- or low-budget films.

In AENW we meet three astronauts that find themselves on an Earth they are not familiar with when they come back from their seven year mission. It starts of like PLANET OF THE APES, becomese then DAY OF THE DEAD and suddenly turns into something completely different with one of the best endings I've ever seen in a production like this.

AENW has some moments where everything isn't perfect, as the shuttle-crash in the beginning for instance. But this is all lifted by great acting by George Thompson, very cool effects in the later part of the movie and perfect locations and sets!

Mike has, as always, done a tremendous job with directing, filming and especially editing! Mike is a very creative editor, which shows in AENW.

AENW is the Scythe-guys first production featuring female actors too, which is both good and bad. It's fun to see that someone more than just Mike's closest friends shows up for a good time "at the studios" :), but the actresses doesn't do any remberable performances. This doesn't matter though, because the action is so intence, so nicely done and very cool, that you forgive them for any bad acting.

AENW is the best short-film action-movie I've ever seen. 48 minutes have never past this fast! Now I am only waiting for Mike's new movie CHIMERA!

9 of 10

WOW! A highly impressive fifty-minute movie from Scythe Productions, their most professional to date and also their most cinematic! Mike Martinez and his cast and crew build on previous experience to deliver an excellent little movie, packed with neat camera tricks, directorial flourishes, an engaging story and some hilarious acting in places! A steady tide of well-choreographed action keeps the movie zooming along nicely and the amount of work and effort put into the production is tremendous. Things begin explosively as the credits play out over a string of explosions (footage cribbed from other movies, of course) while pumping music plays. The film begins for real when three astronauts crash-land in a lake and find themselves in a barren world seemingly totally devoid of any human life (incidentally, this opening is EXACTLY the same as in the film THE AFTERMATH!).

After lots of trekking through some splendid (and eerily isolated) Alaskan scenery, our unlucky heroes find themselves battling mutant gas mask-wearing soldiers and soon only one man, Corporal Roger Corman (!) is left alive. Taking a hostage, he escapes into a nearby city and makes a horrific discovery. Okay, so AN ENRAGED NEW WORLD doesn't have a lot of story, but being an action-orientated flick it doesn't need to. The latter half of the film is packed with gun battles, stuntmen, and cheap explosions and is a real riot to watch. Things finish off with a genuinely surprising twist ending which I didn't see coming and which throws a whole new light on previous occurrences. Although the acting is a bit lacking (although noticeably better than in THE FROZEN INFERNO, for instance), leading star George Thompson is impossible to dislike, proving himself a force to be reckoned with in the action stakes (that flip he does is a hoot!) and mugging into the camera more openly than Jackie Chan at other times!

Mike manages to throw in some pleasing references to his beloved Italian cinema (Lenzi' THE EXECUTIONER appears playing on a television in one scene, and there's a YOR THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE poster in another) whilst spicing the film up with music varying from orchestral pieces to a newly-composed synthesiser score which is impossibly catchy. One of my favourite scenes is in the spooky segment with the ALIEN theme playing - a nice touch. Most impressively of all, Italian cult cinema icon Gordon Mitchell appears in a cameo appearance which is almost exactly the same as the one he had in 2 + 5: MISSION HYDRA (both scenes involve Mitchell appearing for ten seconds on a monitor), thirty-seven years previously! Cheesy computer animations only add to the irresistible brew. AN ENRAGED NEW WORLD is everything it should be but above all else is a lot of fun - so I recommend seeing it now!

An exciting bit of entertainment from Independent film producer, Mike A. Martinez and his Alaskan film troupe.

The story is brought to the screen via a viable script with loads of flashy special effects and exciting dialogue. Coupled with a stirring mixture of World class film scores and original music it sets the pace for drama, intrigue and a unique twist of the plot near the end.

An exciting idea for a movie, we would love to see more from Scythe Productions down the road someday. This time perhaps, on the big screen, and with a big budget. Possibly, even a remake of this film with an extended script, and same fine cast and crew.

Gordon Mitchell's cameo was no doubt, one of the film's high-lights and added greatly to the film, being well placed within the folds of cinematography, by the astute editing of Mike Martinez himself.

For the vote, we'll have to give this film a thumbs-up and a big eight. As a fan of Mike Martinez and his work, I reason that there is always the best, yet to come. Keep up the great work Guy.