- Directed by Cirio H. Santiago
- Written by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
- Starring
- David Carradine
- Rick Hill
- Luke Askew
- Produced by Roger Corman and Cirio H. Santiago
Now, after Star Crystal, anything would look good. And there’s nothing like a post-apoc to wash the bad taste of an Alien-ripoff out of your mouth.
What we’ve got here is The Magnificent Seven, done post-apoc (despite the fact that there are only five of them). Or maybe it’s A Bug’s Life.
In any event, bad-guy William has dispatched a few of his dune-buggy-riding men to capture the touch of Chin-Li, known to have an endless well (water is, naturally, scarce). A young girl from the village goes out to recruit warriors to come fight for them; among the mercenaries she recruits are Michael (David Carradine) and John (Rick Hill, the original Deathstalker). By the numbers they: Rid the village from the advanced party, train the villagers to fight, defeat a second wave of William’s forces, get betrayed by an insider, lose the village to William, rally back and defeat him.
It’s a better concept than Solar Force, but done with lower budget and less pizzazz. But at least the villagers aren’t growing watermelons.
Some things to note:
While there are bullets and munitions aplenty, most people also use swords (a nice non-expendable resource). And the blades actually get bloody!
There’s some motorcycle jousting in the city where the girl goes to get help. Note to inhabitants: Horses don’t use up gasoline!
I’m never quite sure, when I watch David Carradine, if I’m seeing good fighting. He sure looks like he’s moving slowly to me; on the other hand, he’s using such confident economy of motion I’d still rather not go one on one with him.
In every climactic battle, there has to be at least one kid crying for his or her mother.
The female mercenary, Miranda, gets shot and disappears from the movie entirely. Even John, who bedded her, doesn’t mention her or shed a tear.
The entire conclusion is a deus ex machina. The mercenaries and their supporting villagers, while hiding in the hills, discover a cave with an enormous cache of machine guns, bazookas, and grenades. How fortunate.
In the end, the best post-apocalyptic movies are those that rip off spaghetti westerns and add more explosions. This is no exception (although the movie it ripped off, The Magnificent Seven, is itself a ripoff of Shichinin no Samurai).
Discuss This
Respond to This
