2019 After the Fall of New York

[morymb]

The Road Warrior meets Planet of the Apes.
Essential Post-Apocalyptic Italian-French Sci-Fi Actioner, needs a BD release on the double.

[filmgrainiac]

what is Blue Underground waiting for? Why dont they jump on this one... I wonder what the hold up on this one is... This is the best of the 80s post apocalyptic b movies. Someone needs to get on this right SMACK NOW!!

[billyearle]

has anyone compared the two blu-rays? The 88 looks decent but has tape bleed though on a lot of the audio.

[The Great Owl]

In the year 2019, life is no picnic. Because of a nuclear war that occurred two decades prior, the Earth has been reduced to a wasteland that is contaminated with radiation. Most of the surviving humans are infertile and suffering from disfiguring mutations. Parsifal, a cynical and rebellious ex-operative played by Michael Sopkiw (Monster Shark, Blastfighter), is recruited by the Pan-American Confederacy to lead a team into the devastated ruins of New York City in order to retrieve a woman who has mysteriously remained capable of reproduction and who is the only hope for the survival of the human race. Unfortunately, the city is controlled by the Euracs, an alliance of Europeans, Asians, and Africans, who patrol the streets to exterminate the mutants and abduct people for laboratory experiments.

Our rugged antihero, with the help of a female warrior played by Valentine Monnier (Monster Shark), a courageous dwarf played by Louis Ecclesia, an ape-like mutant leader played by George Eastman (Blastfighter, StageFright), and two other soldiers, played by Paolo Maria Scalondro and Romano Puppo, must race against time to infiltrate the quarantined area by way of rat-infested tunnels and find his objective, but a ruthlessly sinister female Eurac officer, played by Anna Kanakis (Warriors of the Wasteland), will stop at nothing to prevent the rescue. Chaos ensues, in the form of fierce hand-to-hand combat, knife fights, explosions, laser guns, and steel-armored cars.

I enjoy watching older futuristic sci-fi movies that are set in years that are already coming to pass, because it's fun to see how the predictions of the filmmakers line up with the way that things actually are today. The 1983 Italian production, 2019, After the Fall of New York, is spot-on accurate.

This rip-off of Max Max and Escape from New York, complete with Sopkiw playing a blatant Snake Plissken clone, was directed by the legendary Sergio Martino (Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, Torso), and it benefits from the visual adeptness that graced his past efforts in giallo and drive-in horror. If you have a phobia of rats and rodent attacks, then this movie will probably not cure that phobia. You are in the right place, however, if you have a soft spot for less-than-stellar acting, and if you love action scenes that fly by at a lightning pace and belie their low budgets. The excellent synthesizer music completes the effect.

This Code Red Blu-ray looks and sounds great. Michael Sopkiw talks with the Banana Man during a forced intro and a commentary track. Several interviews, new and old, with Martino and the cast are engaging and fun.

[ccunning1]

Yeah, that was one of the better Italian post nuke films. I got the code red release and the US dvd and I can't tell much of a difference; haven't touched the UK release, though.

[levcore]

This is an awesome Mad Max/ Escape From New York rip off. The visuals are great and there are plenty of fun action scenes. Despite jamming together loads of different sci fi elements, it really works. I watched the 88 Films blu ray and it looked excellent.

[Kakihara]

Originally Posted by levcore

This is an awesome Mad Max/ Escape From New York rip off. The visuals are great and there are plenty of fun action scenes. Despite jamming together loads of different sci fi elements, it really works. I watched the 88 Films blu ray and it looked excellent.

How horrible is the acting and is it mainly due to the dubbing? If so, is there an Italian audio option available that makes it better?

[deltatauhobbit]

Originally Posted by Kakihara

How horrible is the acting and is it mainly due to the dubbing? If so, is there an Italian audio option available that makes it better?

The main actor in 2019 is American so he’s speaking English throughout, an Italian dub would probably make it worse haha.

[levcore]

Yeah I mean the acting is really rough but that's to be expected for this kind of knock off. The whole movie is just a load of fun with so much going on. I feel like Doomsday was the modern equivalent of this with lots of disparate elements fused together to create a crazy future world. I love the contrast of the high tech and the run down in 2019 After the Fall of New York.

[Kill Bren]

One of my favorite B-movies

[Cornelius Analog]

I'd never heard of this movie before, so just judging from the title, I thought it was going to be a realistic documentary before I clicked on the thread (I live in the area), but I love post-apocalyptic movies, so I will definitely be checking this one out.

[Psycho Judge Dredd]

Originally Posted by ccunning1

Yeah, that was one of the better Italian post nuke films. I got the code red release and the US dvd and I can't tell much of a difference; haven't touched the UK release, though.

What are some of your other favs?

I've been meaning to see this since a local theater showed it a couple years back. One obscure-ish 80s Italian action thriller I like is Blastfighter, isn't post-apocalyptic though.

[levcore]

Yes can anyone recommend more similar movies? I really love Solarbabies/ Solar Warriors which has a very similar vibe. Also Cherry 2000 although that's less of an action movie.

[deltatauhobbit]

Originally Posted by levcore

Yes can anyone recommend more similar movies? I really love Solarbabies/ Solar Warriors which has a very similar vibe. Also Cherry 2000 although that's less of an action movie.

I've enjoyed the heck out of all the Code Red post-apocalyptic films. Dune Warriors, The Sisterhood, Equalizer 2000, Wheels of Fire, out of the bunch I liked Equalizer 2000 the most. If you notice one thing about the four I listed, they're all directed by Cicio Santiago.

Kino released Stryker which is also another Cirio post-apocalyptic film and another solid addition if you enjoyed any of the above.

Shout released Metalstorm which is another Mad Max ripoff and with the added benefit of being in 3D (which is very strong but has many flaws to give you a headache). Oh, and they also put out Tank Girl.

Blue Underground released Escape from the Bronx, 1990: The Bronx Warriors and The New Barbarians.

All of the films above are quite similar in feel, breaking away slightly would be Robot Jox and Robot Wars, technically both post-apocalyptic in nature but not in the Mad Max mold as everything else has been. Shout/Scream released Jox while Full Moon put out Wars.

Finally, one of my favorites would be Turbo Kid, which is a recent movie made the vein of an 80's post-apocalyptic film. Plenty of great traditional effects, more playful and less serious than the others but much more bloody haha.

[levcore]

Wow thanks for the info deltatauhobbit, you've given me plenty to go on there! I'm going to track down some of those titles.

[kraven]

There's also Exterminators from the year 3000.

[levcore]

It's a shame Metalstorm 3D is region locked otherwise I would definitely have picked that up.

[johnlennon696]

Originally Posted by kraven

There's also Exterminators from the year 3000.

I hope this gets released in the UK at some point.

[Kakihara]

Originally Posted by levcore

Yeah I mean the acting is really rough but that's to be expected for this kind of knock off. The whole movie is just a load of fun with so much going on. I feel like Doomsday was the modern equivalent of this with lots of disparate elements fused together to create a crazy future world. I love the contrast of the high tech and the run down in 2019 After the Fall of New York.

It still surprises me though considering all the other Martino movies I've seen are so technically accomplished with solid acting throughout.

[Kill Bren]

Originally Posted by levcore

Yes can anyone recommend more similar movies? I really love Solarbabies/ Solar Warriors which has a very similar vibe. Also Cherry 2000 although that's less of an action movie.

Death Race 2000, Battletruck, Hell Comes to Frogtown, Nemesis, Rats: Night of Terror, Creepozoids, A Boy and His Dog, Hardware, Hands of Steel, The Blood of Heroes, World Gone Wild, The New Gladiators, Steel Dawn, 2020 Texas Gladiators and Turkey Shoot.