Giancarlo Prete

Fred Williamson

George Eastman

Anna Kanakis

Ennio Girolami

Venantino Venantini

Massimo Vanni

Giovanni Frezza

Iris Peynado

Andrea Coppola

Vito Fornari

Zora Kerova

Fulvio Mingozzi

Marinella Troian

Patsy May McLachlan

Franco Maria Salamon

Stefano Randazzo

Ivano Silveri

Arthur Bergman

Sherman 'Big Train' Bergman

Enzo G. Castellari

Paul Costello

Stefania Girolami Goodwin

Andrea Girolami

Paul Dion Monte

Enrica Saltutti

Raul Lovecchio

Tito Carpi

Antonio Visone

Fabrizio De Angelis

Claudio Simonetti

Fausto Zuccoli

Gianfranco Amicucci

Rita Antonelli

Mario Giorsi

Germano Natali

Science Fiction

Action

Thriller

I nuovi barbari

Deaf International

Fulvia Film

Italy

United States of America

Every time cinema has a game-changer (in this case, 'Mad Max' and the entire genre of 'post-apocalyptic dystopia movies'), it's fascinating to watch how various countries and cultures react to the instant knowledge that 'something new is out there that can bring in for us a lot of money'. For this Italian effort, which needed very little in the way of budgeting for either actors, set design or costumes, it's not bad.

Director Castellari brings to it an action-packed flow which never flags for a moment. (The 87-year-old Rome native--God bless him--is directing 'Keoma Rises' at the moment, his first film in six years, and it is slated to be released later this year.) I have previously only seen his spaghetti-western 'Keoma', which I adore. He throws in two instances of nice gratuitous sex in a heartened attempt at 'character and plot development', but I really don't have a problem with that, especially with great Italian beauties like he has at his disposal here. There's a bizarre homoerotic undertone, particularly to a scene in which Scorpion is being tortured, but it's not problematic. Fred Williamson is the only star I recognized, and he continues his credo of 'getting the girls and winning the fights', which he stands by in his movies. The electronic score is dated but not bad, though it's inferior to those of, say, either Tangerine Dream or Goblin.

All in all, it was a 91-minute span of time I don't regret in the slightest--I even watched it with a plate of spaghetti and glass of red wine at hand to further exemplify the Italian experience.

Italiano

The New Barbarians

The New Barbarians (1983) Trailer