Zona 39 - Perigo Mortal

First of all, let me come out by saying this is not the best movie ever, far from it. The story is shady, vehicles look shoddy, and the weapon props used are downright shitty.

But this movie is not just a Mad Max clone, as a great many people would have you believe. Sure, they're both about a man who loses his wife and any hopes for a sane future, they're both Australian, and they're both mostly set in desert backgrounds in a not-so verdant future, but that doesn't mean it should be shunned. I think there's plenty of room for culty sci-fi movies like this one and Screamers for instance.

About the movie: The atmosphere of desolation the creators wanted to use throughout is brilliant. The drugs used also put extra feelings of gloom on it, making the difference between reality and figments of a depressed mind's imagination not so easy to discern. If you're into this sort of thing, I'd advise you (all three of you) to just watch it without any hopes for Mad Max styled action scenes, because that's not what the makers wanted with this. Violence used is always harsh and short-lived, which is quite realistic.

So, in recap: Only watch this without prejudice and if you're into this sort of thing. Zone 39 is Zone 39, not Mad Max 1.5

What do we have here? More futuristic doom and gloom! It is an age of communication technology (amidst the crumbling and decaying real world) where the unscrupulous have seized power - could be November 2001 couldn't it?

Alert computer techo Ann (Carolyn Bock), quite by accident stumbles across something she wasn't supposed to and quicker than you can say "back up the hard drive," she's outta here - a statistic! A dead one at that. Grieving husband MaGaw (Phelps) a zone soldier (the counterpart of 'Mo' (Dylan McDermott) in HARDWARE) is totally miffed by this turn of events and in his anguish, volunteers for a turn at the outpost Zone 39, suffering obviously from a touch of the DANCES WITH WOLVES syndrome. NO-ONE in their right mind 'volunteers' for Zone 39!! This high-tech, end-of-the-line foxhole, squares off against 'the enemy' in a similarly fortified outpost across the desert, wastelands, whatever you want to call it.

With only oddball "Alfie the Lizard" for human companionship, Magaw resorts to drug induced stupors to help pass the time, during which he re-visits his life with Ann in the occasional flashback. Eventually he decides "Well hell, my counterpart across the desert there, might just be a nice guy after all?" We are then staring down the barrel of the beginning of a new film "MAD MAX FINDS HELL IN THE PACIFIC." I just hope Lee Marvin never gets to read this!

This movie is great! A friend of mine got it in a bargain budget pack with Driller Killer by Ferrara and another movie I forgot about, and I absolutely loved this one! The beginning could be quite misleading, but once the desert stuff kicks in, it's just great. The fact that it is low-budget, which can be an handicap for a Science Fiction movie, is totally forgotten. This movie has a 'je ne sais quoi' giving it a particular atmosphere which I can only compare so far with movies such as Summer of Sam by Spike Lee, or, to stay in the Science Fiction area, Screamers. I really recommend it, this is the kind of movie that actually make me want to start making movies! Wonderful!

Think my one-liner says it all for me. Thought the scenes in the desert outpost made it - the civilization scenes were a bit corny in appearance. Not a great film, but certainly not a yawn.

This is not an easy film to find; I was astonished to discover not even the world-famous MOVIE MADNESS in Portland carries it. After locating a reasonably priced used DVD I can say I am happy to own ZONE 39. It hovers in a strange realm between traditional sci fi action film and slower, more cerebral and arty science fiction fare such as SOLARIS.

Peter Phelps is a hugely likable actor. His central performance dominates the film and he shows he is fully up to the task of carrying a major motion picture; he has a lot of scenes where he is alone and they never drag on into dullness. Why he isn't as big of a star as Russell Crowe is a mystery.

The "future world" scenario that ZONE 39 presents is rendered extremely plausibly within the confines of the tight budget; this movie really shows what a dedicated production team can do in conjunction with a tightly written script. Nothing is attempted that cannot be pulled off convincingly.

This is yet another one of those films that should be more well-known.