2019: After the Fall of New York (1983)

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nTitle: 2019: After the Fall of New York (1983)

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nDirector: Sergio Martino

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nCast: Michael Sopkiw, Valentine Monnier

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nReview:

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nItalian post apocalyptic rip-offs should have their own subngenre, there’s so many of them out there. One thing these movies have is thatnthey will always, almost certainly make you laugh. I still haven’t seen an Italiannrip off that hasn’t started me off on a fit of laughter, 2019: After the Fallnof New York is one of these movies. The thing about these rip offs is that theynsteal their ideas from films that have no comedy in them whatsoever. So why isnit that when Italians try and make their own version of The Road Warrior itncomes off as a comedy? Did the filmmakers have any idea how funny their filmsnwere gonna end up being when they made them? I doubt it, but I think the funnynis in the dubbing, the lack of budget and the cheesy nature of the filmsnthemselves. I’ll elaborate.

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nIn 2019: After the Fall of New York we meet our hero, a loner by thenname of ‘Parsifal’ as he is about to begin participating in a car race. Thenobject of the game is to get to the finishing line as both cars try to blowneach other out of existence by any means possible. If your co-driver has anbazooka with which to shoot the other car, then he has every right to use it!   Since Parsifalnis the hero of the film, of course he wins the race and gets the big prize: anwoman/sex slave who is willing to obey his every desire. She calls him ‘Master’.nSince Parsifal is a good guy, of course, he gives the lady her freedom. Fivenseconds later, a ship hovers above Parcifal’s head requesting his acquaintancenfor something, they don’t tell him what it is, but they say it’s urgent. Hentells them to fuck off because he won’t give the time of day to anyonenunwilling to identify themselves. So they the natural thing to do: stun himnwith lazer beams and take him to the offices of the Pan American Confederacy; angroup of people trying to rebuild the human race. They offer Parsifal a seat inna space ship towards ‘Alfa Centauri’ a planet in which supposedly life cannthrive once again! But first, he needs to find the last remaining fertile womannon earth! And she’s lost somewhere within the bowels of deadly Manhattan Island. Will Parsifal find her amidstnall the whackos?

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nSo, Parsifal goes to the wasteland filled with infectednpeople and mutants. You see this world was ravaged by nuclear weapons, and sonwe get to see entire cities burned to a crisp, of course they look like cheap miniatures, but hey, there’s the charm of a b-movie for ya! You’ll also see people with their skins fallingnoff and mutants that look like half men, half monkeys! There are all sorts ofncrazies in this post apocalyptic world concocted by these crazy Italiannfilmmakers. And yeah, these guys were crazy. I mean, they’d have to be to makena movie like this one! But to tell you the truth, the film was actuallynentertaining.  I’ll give ‘em this: thenfilm wasn’t boring. It starts off with a bang with the derby scenes, it’snbasically a sequence with two cars crashing on each other as much as they cannand the drivers and passengers shooting each other with assorted weapons. Thesenmoments of the film reminded me of Roger Corman’s Death Race 2000 (1975). Tonmake things more twisted, this whole derby sequence is being watched by a postnapocalyptic circus troupe of clowns and their ringmaster! Like I tell ya, it’s crazynidea after crazy idea in this movie.

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nSome things simply defy logic. Take for example the mainncharacter, Parsifal. He probably hasn’t been with a lady for years and yearsn(this is the apocalypse after all) and when he wins one, he simply cuts hernloose. I don’t want to sound like a pig or anything, but this lady was actuallynwilling to be with him, she was like “let’s make love Master!” Yet, apparentlynthis is a dude who can keep his libido in control even under strenuous circumstancesnsuch as these and so he is waiting for the right post apocalyptic lady to benwith; so he sets his lady slave free. Ha! Another thing that makes no sense:nthe main character appears to have an endless arsenal of vehicles. He opens upnthe movie with a cool ass looking car, which he quickly bangs up, but nonproblemo, then he appears with this huge ass chopper! Minutes later, he hasnanother motorcycle! And the cycle goes on and on through out the whole film! Inconsistenciesndon’t stop there; we actually see characters travel from Alaskanto New Yorknon motorcycle! In the blink of an eye! From New Yorknto Alaska in a matter of seconds, one secondnwere in Manhattannthen blam! Cut to Alaskanand we’re there. How did that happen? Who knows what happened to thesencharacters on their journey, it must not have been that important. The filmmakersnsimply cut from location to location without the faintest notion of timenpassing by. So be ready for a film with lot’s of nonsensical moments; which ofncourse is a given in Italian Cinema of this era.

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nFinally, it was apparent to me that 2019: After the Fall ofnNew York was simply trying to create an amalgam of every other post apocalypticnfilm that came before it. We get glimpses of Escape from Newn York (1981) because practically the whole film takes place in New York. Parsifal is anmix between Max Rockatansky and Snake Plissken. It’s got a lot of the Mad Maxnfilms in it, especially when it comes to those car chase sequences and thencrazy looking characters; in fact, Mad Max (1979) and Mad Max 2 (1981) are thenmain reasons why these films exist. Post Apocalyptic films where a real hitnduring the eighties for this fad in films was not only rampant in Italy, United States had its own rash ofnpost apocalyptic films. I guess it had a lot to do with living under the shadownof the mushroom cloud. That cold war had people paranoid. So many postnapocalyptic films surfaced because of this collective paranoia. And finally, 2019:nAfter the Fall of New York even has a bit of Planet of the Apes in it becausenone of the gangs that exist within Manhattannis a gang of ape men that resemble the monkeys from the Planet of the Apesnmovies. So basically, it’s an amalgam of all of these films, but with a sci-fintwist because it’s all about Parsifal trying to achieve his mission just so hencan go to another planet to live a better life. I also think that director AlbertnPyun must have been a huge fan of this film because Pyun’s own Cyborg (1989)nshares a lot of similarities with it: the idea of having to protect a femalenthrough a waste land in order to get her to a safe location, so that she cannsave the human race.

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nIn conclusion, this one was fun. In accordance to ItaliannRip Off Rule # 5016; this flick is cheap as hell, but its nonsensical naturenwill keep you entertained through out its running time. To be honest, this isnwhat I like about these films, how crazy they get with their situations. 2019:nAfter the Fall of New York falls perfectly in the same category as films likenEndgame (1983), 1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982), The New Barbarians (1983) andnWarrior of the Lost World (1983), you know, cheap, fast paced, nonsensical fun.nI mean in no other type of film but an Italian rip off will you hear dialog suchnas: “That thing back there was a cyborg! Half Man! Half Robot! Funny thing is, Indidn’t know what it was until I made love to him!” Only in an Italian Rip offnladies and gentlemen, only in an Italian Rip Off!

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nRating: 2 ½ out of 5

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