1990: Bronx Warriors

Customer Reviews:

Simpleton plot and dialog, but very strong on the visual aspects.......2007-05-19

BRONX WARRIORS (1983) from Enzo Castellari will principally be of
interest to fans of the director, as well as the occasional
retro-movie goer, who is into Mad Max style movies, wherein the world
or sections of it show people living in a No-Man's Land divided into
dozens of gangs, each with their own uniforms, fighting styles,
belief systems, organization and ceremonies. e.g. a funeral of a key
biker fallen in combat is shown. A kind of diversity is celebrated,
whic his not unlike modern society today.

The story is partly a legacy of Star Wars I, in which there are
bizarre characters carrying out their lives in a bubble away from the
rest of the world, exactly like a science fiction comic book.

The music and soundtrack is excellent, as are the many special
effects, such as the flame throwers, knife and physical battles, etc
Some numbers are reminiscent of Jean Luc Ponty's fusion music, or
Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here or The Wall, or Carmina Burana for
example.

The visual aspects are outstanding, showing hot rods, classic cars
from the pre-50's era, Harley Davidson motorbikes, people getting
engulfed in red hot flames, blood packs going off as a result of gun
wounds. There's also a special sensitivity of the director in
selecting unusually artistic filming locations and moments, such as
the World Trade Center towers in a panoramic view, seen from the
Bronx, or a typically colorful sunset.

The cast is also very well chosen, in their unusual visual
presentation, out of the norm and appealing for that exact same
reason .

The filming is extremely clean, and sharp, a pleasure to see in its
wide-screen format.

There are a few vulnerable moments, such as a birthday celebration,
or tender moments between the protagonist "Trash" and his new
girlfriend, for which the director should be congratulated for
bringing a hint of balance and realism to this nihilist story.

Unfortunately, there are multiple downsides to this picture, the
foremost being the simpleton script, plot, and dialog that drags it
down from what otherwise could have been an overall very decent
effort.

Another one, is the stereotypical consideration of the largest
American cities being wastelands, combat zones, made up of abandoned
housing projects, with gang strife such that even the law is afraid
of walking the streets in those areas.

There's a few one-liners some may like, such as "He's a killer at
heart" to which the other character replies " No, he's just an a#$ole
who thinks he's G-D".

The litmus test is whether people would want to see this picture
again, and the answer is no. Not because features anarchy, but
because the film doesn't possess the all-important dream-like quality
and high paced unfolding action that the public expects but won't get
from this release.

The Bronx is No Man's land!.......2006-08-29

Enzo Castelarri's "Bronx Warriors" does what many truly great films do: It inspires fascinating discussion and provokes mixed reactions. The male friend with whom I saw it back in 1993 and I were so enthralled that we kept our significant others waiting to leave for our respective Christmas vacations because we kept phoning each other to discuss symbolism and interesting themes in the movie. While I continue to absolutely love the film, I also recognize why some viewers have not shared my reaction. Perhaps you have to have at least considered a forbidden love affair or perhaps you have to have found yourself trapped in a relationship where you feel you have lost your voice to appreciate what Trash explores.
The story centers around Ann (Stefania Girolami in an Oscar-winning performance) and her boyfriend, Trash (Mark Gregory--who also won an Oscar for his extraordinary performance). She leave her upper-class home in New York after her father (apparently) arranges for her to take over the Manhattan Corporation, which controls 60% of the world's arms production!. Ann, who has willed herself not to speak since age 6, expresses herself through her beloved motorcycle.

The true story of who fathered Ann is never revealed in the movie, but the context suggests that she is Hot Dog's illegimate child born from an illicit affair. The hinted-at story of Sandy conception provides a key to understanding both why Hammer later begins an affair with his Bronx neighbor Rat (George Eastman) and why he makes a mail-order marriage in the first place. I suspect that Hot Dog's aging father may have wanted to see him settled--preferably far away so that his unconventional behavior would no longer be a source of social embarassment--and given Ann's muteness and out-of-wedlock child, her father probably couldn't find a suitable suitor in the Bronx.

Ogre (Fred Williamson) first encounters his future wife on a lonesome gray beach surrounded by her crated belongings. His tiger gang buddies begin carrying many household items up the muddy path to his dreary homestead. But Ogre refuses to bring Witch along, despite Ann's apparent distress and Trash's pleas that her mother MUST have her motorcycle.

Ann's motorcycle, abandoned on the New York beach, captures the sense of what 20th century Bronx life might have been like for too many women--treasured possessions, the last ties to "civilization" left behind.

Rendered voiceless without her motorcycle, Ann begs Ogre to return for her motorcycle through notes and more pleas from Ice. Finally she persuades Hot Dog--a truck driver whose messed up leg evidences the extent to which he has "gone native" and who is considered less civilized by his neighbors--to guide her back to the beach. Ann comes to life again as she, at last, gets to ride. Drawn by her passion for the motorcycle, Ogre arranges with Trash to trade land for the Motorcycle. Without consulting his witch, Ogre assures him that Ann will provide lessons too.

During first of these lessons, Ann strikes her own bargain with Hot Dog, whom she still considers a boor: She will trade sexual favors to earn back her motorcycle, one piece at a time. Ultimately, her reluctant bargain grows into full-blown love and passion. The dark, brooding tone of "Bronx Warriors" however, suggests that something in this situation will go tragically, and probably violently, wrong.

Castellari has filled his movie with awesome rock music (actually played by Bon Jovi) and intriguing imagery. The metaphor of rock music as voice and losing and regaining one's voice, Ann's role in changing her father's fate, the question of whether Trash's bargain reflects a man taking control of his life or just being victimized in a different way, and many other complexities make this a movie worth watching again and again and again.

Spaghetti Fred!!!!!.......2006-01-20

Who knew society would go so far down the crapper by 1990? The Bronx is lawless, with gangs running the whole show, though I suppose the rest of New York is okay, though it seems a little like a police state. A very important chick flees to the Bronx and is pursued by the corporate bigshots who need her back. And who better to send when you need some some [...] kicking done and a girl rescued than Vic Morrow? Morrow's actually pretty cool in this. He plays a loon called "Hammer"(funny, you'd think Fred Williamson would have this name!) who's doing a job, but is pretty much looking to annihilate everyone by playing all the gangs against each other. The chick falls in with one of the many groups, who like in Walter Hill's The Warriors, have their own themes. The main gang, The Riders, look mainly like refugees from the Blue Oyster gay bar in the Police Academy films. They aren't particularly tough or threatening. They don't even really do anything unless it's in self defense. The gang leader and central character, Trash, seems to be modeled after Eric Adams of Manowar. In fact, I kept waiting for him to suddenly belt out, "Brothers everywhere, raise your hands into the air. We're Warriors.....WARRIORS OF THE BRONX!" Trash gets a liking for the new woman and becomes aware of Vic Morrow's plan, so he decides to team up with Fred Williamson's gang. Like in The Warriors, he has to cross through territories run by hostile gangs to get to Williamson's palace(he lives like a king). One gang wears Ace Frehley makeup, silver tophats and canes and fight with a kind of Fred Astaire dance movement. Being the 80s, of course you have the gang on rollerskates. I enjoyed this film probably more than I should of. I found I actually liked a few of the characters and really did want to see what happened to them. If you tell anyone this, I'll deny it. A great addition to this disc is the Fred Williamson interview. It's about 40 minutes and covers his humble beginnings as an aspiring architect, through his football career, through his movie career. He talks about his start in blaxploitation(some interesting facts here), and how much he loves the low budget film scene as well as the Italian film scene(some very interesting tidbits here. Interesting stories about various Italian directors including Lucio Fulci). He also expresses distaste for big Hollywood productions. I had never seen or read an interview with Williamson, I get the feeling he doesn't do alot of them. I've always been a fan of his, but after this interview, I must say I really love the guy. Sure, he's got an ego, a big ego, but at the same time seems so friendly and down to earth. I'll bet Williamson is the kind of guy who really embraces his fans. The director interview is okay, but nothing special. All in all, 1990: Bronx Warriors is a film that's gonna be loved by a handful of people, and hated by everyone else. I'm sure you already know which group you fit in.

"We were born dead...life means nothing.".......2005-06-30

John Carpenter's Escape from New York (1981) brought us vision of a bleak future, one where crime was rampant, swelling the prison populations to the point where the authorities finally had to take extreme measures basically isolating the island of Manhattan into lawless, free-range dumping ground for convicted criminals, a no man's land for no-goodniks, if you will...the popularity of this film, along with that of the post apocalyptic thriller Mad Max (1979) and its sequel Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) spawned any number of low budget imitators, both in the U.S. and abroad, including this Italian production titled 1990: The Bronx Warriors (1983), co-written and directed by European exploitationeer extraordinaire Enzo G. Castellari, who was also responsible for other films in the same vein like The New Barbarians (1981) and Escape from the Bronx aka Bronx Warriors 2 (1983). Starring in the film is Mark Gregory (Bronx Warriors 2, Delta Force Commando), Fred `The Hammer' Williamson (That Man Bolt, Black Caesar, From Dusk Till Dawn), and Vic Morrow (Blackboard Jungle, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, Humanoids from the Deep). Also appearing is Christopher Connelly (Manhattan Baby), Joshua Sinclair (Shaka Zulu), George Eastman (2019: After the Fall of New York), and Stefania Girolami (The New Barbarians), daughter of the director Enzo G. Castellari, who, by the way, also makes an appearance as the character of `Vice-President'.

As the movie opens, we learn three things; the 1st is a young woman named Ann (Girolami) has run away from her boarding school in Manhattan, fleeing across the bridge into the Bronx, the 2nd is the Bronx has been officially declared a no man's land by authorities as they've basically given up trying to enforce the law, and the 3rd thing is the Bronx is supposedly ruled by a motorcycle gang known as The Riders (they're so cool they ride around with lit plastic skulls on their handlebars). Anyway, shortly after arriving in the Bronx, Ann is accosted by a roller skating gang but is soon rescued as The Riders, led by someone named Trash (Gregory), show up and lay the smack down. As they return to their own turf, they have an encounter with a group of dandies (dressed up like pimps, calling themselves The Tigers), led by Ogre (Williamson), who apparently rules the Bronx, which conflicts with the information given at the beginning stating The Riders ruled, so I'm confused...anyway, it turns out Ann is from an extremely wealthy family, and is meant to take on an incredible responsibility when she turns 18, which is in a few days. To facilitate her safe return, the powers that be enlist the aide of The Hammer (Morrow), a ruthless, sadistic, `play by his own rules' lone wolf type with his own agenda. As gangs clash and The Hammer plays his games (which usually involve pitting various gangs against each other), everyone is after Ann, putting Trash in the middle (Trash and Ann have developed some sort of relationship) of what looks to be a coming confrontation to see who will truly rule the Bronx...I think...there's a number of aspects to the story that weren't all that clear.

When I reflect on this film, originality is not the first thing that comes to my mind...cheap rip-off, perhaps, but not originality...I read somewhere else where someone stated it was unfair to compare this film against those that were ripped off, like Escape from New York or Walter Hill's The Warriors, because of budget differences, but I didn't see how that was relevant as a rip off is a rip off, regardless if it has a big budget or not...filmmakers worldwide tend to bereft of originality, and much focus is put forth on making money by rehashing concepts that have proven successful. In this case it is just more obvious than others...and I don't necessarily mind the blatant usage of successful concept if it is entertaining and done well...which is about half the case here...the film was entertaining, despite the fact it wasn't made very well. The biggest drawbacks are the generally unfocused plot (overall it keeps well, but its in the details things go awry), the poor scripting, and lame acting (specifically the lead). And I'll tell you what, given the Bronx was supposed to be this lawless territory ruled by violent gangs, I never got that sense...one gang was made up of nearly an all male, burlesque, tap dancing troop with painted faces, top hats and canes...another featured pasty faced ragamuffins who live in the sewers, a third featured a bunch of dandies dressed in polyester leisure suits, and then there's leather and denim clad motorcycle gang The Riders, who mostly look like carbon copies of that biker from the group The Village People, certainly not helped by a leader (Trash) who tends to sashay when he walks (turns out Gregory, the actor who played this character, was, in fact, of the swishy sort, according to Williamson, who stated he `left no footprints in the snow', meaning he was light in the loafers). There were some violent confrontations and some decent bloodletting, but most of it came at the expense of The Riders, whose members dropped like flies throughout the film, due to, in my opinion, poor leadership at the hands of Trash...by the way, if Gregory's performance seems awkward its because he didn't understand English, so when they were feeding him his lines and he would repeat them to the camera, so he had no idea what he was saying and therefore couldn't always produce the necessary expressions (I got the feeling even if he knew what he was saying it still would have been the same). At least Williamson and Morrow were fun to watch, especially Morrow, who seemed to have taken acting lessons at the Jack Palance School of Scenery Chewing (think I'm kidding? Check out Palance's performance as Voltan in Hawk the Slayer). As far as the dialog, here's an especially painful bit when Trash is opening up to Ann..."At least dying for you would give my life meaning."...oh bruther...here's another spewed forth by Ann as treachery is revealed..."Foiled at the last minute. How could you think you'd get away with it?"...cripes...the production values weren't as bad as I thought they'd be (the film was shot in Rome, with a weeks worth in New York, and the footage interspersed to give the appearance of the entire film taking place in New York). And get used to that psuedo jazz fusion musical score, as its played over and over and over...

Media Blasters really does an amazing job with this DVD release. Not only have they presented a really good looking widescreen (2.35:1), enhanced for 16X9 televisions, picture, but they've also provided the 92 minute uncut version, something not a lot of fans had seen prior. The audio also comes through well in Dolby Digital stereo. Special features include an audio commentary with the director (his Italian accent is very thick, so I was unable to listen all the way through in one sitting), along with a 40-minute interview with Fred `The Hammer' Williamson (they keep calling him `Da' Hammer, but it is really `The' Hammer), a 6-minute interview with the director, a photo gallery, and trailers for films like Flesh for the Beast (2003), Faceless (1988),2019: After the Fall of New York (1983), and Flesh Eater aka Revenge of the Living Zombies (1988).

Cookieman108

By the way, if you watch the interview with director Enzo G. Castellari, you'll notice he's sitting in a rather nice office, but look to behind him and to the right...you'll see one of those yellow, pine tree car air fresheners hanging on his bookshelf...real classy...I guess the guy has an odor problem...and while watching the film, pay particular attention around the 57 minute 30 second mark for a nasty looking, unintentional motorcycle wipe out...

Mediocre movie but great disc.......2004-06-05

The early 1980s produced some of the best low budget Italian schlockfest rip-offs in the history of film. It may have been the only time that that ever occurred, but that's beside the point. All that mattered was sitting down in front of the television late at night, turning on a movie channel, and sitting back to watch horribly cheap movies like "Warrior of the Lost World" and "2019: The Fall of New York." Enzo G. Castellari was one of the groundbreaking figures during this time (the others including Sergio Martino, Lucio Fulci, and Fabrizio De Angelis), a filmmaker never afraid to shamelessly base a film on "The Road Warrior" or "Escape From New York" but with one tenth the budget and talent. "1990: Bronx Warriors" is one of these films. It's actually a sort of prequel to another, equally tasteless and cheap rip-off called "Escape From the Bronx" released by Castellari in 1985. Scary, huh? How could a movie this bad merit a sequel? Three words: worldwide box office. Yep, the rest of the world doesn't have the cynical attitude audiences have around these parts. They'll watch just about anything as long as they think it takes place in the United States or something blows up. Remember how big a hit "Dallas" was a few years back? I think they're still watching that in Kiribati or some such place.

If Kurt Russell could have predicted what the Italians would do to his work in "Escape From New York," he probably would have outright refused to star in the picture. John Carpenter probably would have burned the negatives. Castellari's film follows Trash (Mark Gregory), a gang leader in the blasted remnants of the Bronx. The year 1990 hasn't been a good year for New York City, apparently. Some huge conglomerate called the Manhattan Corporation is taking over the world neighborhood by neighborhood. They own the Bronx, nominally anyway, but the various gangs really control the borough. You've got gangs on roller skates, gangs on motorcycles, kung fu gangs, and gangs that look like rejects from "All That Jazz." A powerful gang lord called Ogre (Fred Williamson) presides over the entire area. It's a wild, wacky world, the Bronx, but it's also a dangerous place to go messing around in. Wars go on all the time in this place. When a young lady named Amy turns up in the Bronx, her appearance incites a brief battle between Trash's gang and the roller skating clowns. Trash soon learns who Amy is and why she's in the Bronx, and her presence is going to cause a world of trouble.

It turns out that Amy is a key figure in the future of the Manhattan Corporation. The head of the company wants her back, so he hires Hammer (Vic Morrow) to infiltrate the Bronx and cause discord amongst the competing thugs. In the process, he'll extract Amy and mop up the syndicates for the last time. It's a good plan on paper but a poor one in execution as a movie. Nothing really happens onscreen for the entire duration of the picture. Oh sure, Trash embarks on a mission to see Ogre, requiring him to navigate a path through many rivals' territory. A bit of hand-to-hand combat, a betrayal within Trash's organization, and a conclusion involving chaotic scenes of combat are all rather tepid and poorly filmed. Even the sight of Vic Morrow laughing maniacally before meeting his maker isn't enough to raise the pulse rate. The plot sort of just lies there, slowly meandering along until the credits roll. The only question the film raises is this one: what was that guy doing out there playing drums when the gangs confabbed at the wharf?

The acting, script, and special effects are so poorly done and horribly presented that I would rather spend time discussing a feature on the extras' menu, namely the very lengthy interview (forty minutes) with Fred Williamson that Media Blasters filmed for the DVD release. The Hammer waxes on numerous topics of interest to the lover of low budget 1980's cinema. He discusses how he moved into the foreign film business, his experiences with several notable directors, and how utterly pathetic these Italian rip-offs were. Williamson talks about the highly praised Lucio Fulci, claiming that the man was not a great director because he never followed up on what was going on. Moreover, he says Fulci never had a sense of continuity in his films because he would just show up and start filming whatever he thought would work that day. Anyone who has seen Fulci's films knows Williamson tells the truth. We worship Fulci for the mind blasting gore in his films even as we cringe at the plodding pacing and sloppy plot. I think anyone who likes watching these zero budget horror and action films should pick this DVD up just for the Williamson interview.

Description

In the near future, gangs of bloodthirsty androids battle with humans and mechanical replicants for control of New York City's dwindling resources. The only chance of defeating the androids and saving the city from total chaos fall into the hands of one man, the sector sheriff. But in order to win, he must join forces with a voiolently unpredictable replicant behemoth know as Darkar. It's a showdown of apocalyptic proportions!

Customer Reviews:

I love death!...........the death of others of course.......2007-05-23

This 1989 film is simply amazing. It is perhaps the one and only 92 minute film with no plot, story-line, or sense. The director must have thought the average movie goer is of high intelligence, why else would he leave it up to you to figure this out??

OK from what I can tell, is this sometime in the future where there are cyborgs. Some cyborgs are good and some are bad. So bad humans and bad cyborgs fight the good cyborgs and good humans. That's really about it. However there is one more added element. There is one policeman. Yes you read that right, one policeman. They come out of some kind of academy, and then they are field trained by a veteran cop. The veteran cop is known as 'Black Man', because he is a black man. He trains the new cop to take his place. He is white, so of course the good cyborg who comes looking for help from the law asks "May I call you white man?"

It seems the cyborg (whose name is Dakar, or something like that) was in love with a human female. In the beginning of the movie we see evil people and cyborgs using good people as target practice. They are chased into a quarry by evil cyborg Shark. Once the humans are in the quarry, the bullets fly. One girl manages to escape and gets caught by the evil ones, she is raped and then shot. So now Dakar is out for revenge, he leads the good people and the sherrif to the evil fortress to kill them.

OK let's talk about the highlight of the movie. The evil blonde. She is stunning in her low cut red leather outfit. She's evil alright. It takes an evil woman to watch another woman get raped. It takes a more evil woman to smile as she shoots the woman after the rape. But this woman is the queen of all evil, because she has it on film and watches an hour later on a big screen TV. She does have some nude scenes, but the more I watched it, it seems that as the movie goes by her boobs get smaller and smaller.

Well the 'climax' of the movie if you want to call it that, borders on the ridiculous. You will see scenes of the same people going through the same area, shooting the same people they just shot a minute ago. Also they hit the fortress at night, but within moments it is high noon, then at the end of the movie it is sunrise. You figure that one out. The fight scenes are equally bizarre. Shark fights Dakar in a room and Shark knocks Dakar down and runs out of the room. In the next scene we have Dakar running down the stairs and into a hallway, and Shark comes up behind him. Now I said "wait a minute. How did that happen? Shark ran out of the room first while Dakar was on the ground." So Dakar had to run past Shark on the stairs to get ready for th enext fight scene.

In the end all are dead except for the sherrif. The hot blond shoots Dakar and the sherrif shoots the hot blonde. Blood flies throughout this movie, but when the hot blond gets shot while wearing nothing but a silk nightgown, she goes down without a mark on her. Even though she was shot at close range two times with a Colt 45. The sheriff then leaves his badge on dead Dakar's body and walks away.

Of course in the beginning of the movie all this man wanted was that badge. It was his dream. Now after one mission he gives up his badge and goes off to wherever heros walk off to.

If I could describe this movie in one word...... inane.

Average customer rating:

Bronx Executioner
Starring: Marina Costa , Gabriel Gori , William Mang , Harrison Muller , and Margie Newton
Director: Vanio Amici , and Bob Collins
Manufacturer: Bci / Eclipse
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

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General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B0000CNY5U
Release Date: 2003-10-07

Average customer rating:

DEFINITELY DESERVED MORE ATTENTION

The Bronx War
Starring: Andre Brown , Francis Colon , Charmaine Cruz , Marlene Forte , and Gene Gabriel
Director: Joseph B. Vasquez
Manufacturer: Platinum Disc
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00008G8NX
Release Date: 1999-06-29

Customer Reviews:

DEFINITELY DESERVED MORE ATTENTION.......2003-12-03

A GANG OF BLACK DRUG RUNNERS FEUD WITH A GANG OF LATINO DRUG RUNNERS IN THE SOUTH BRONX. THIS MOVIE DEFINITELY SHOULD'VE GOTTEN MUCH MORE ATTENTION WHEN IT WAS RELEASED 13 YEARS AGO. EVERYONE DID A GOOD JOB IN THIS MOVIE, ESPECIALLY THE MAN WHO PLAYED THE LEADER OF THE LATINOS [WHO'S BILLED ONLY AS JOSEPH]. SCREW ''EMPIRE'', YOU NEED TO SEE THIS MOVIE! THIS MAY BE ONE OF THE MOST UNDERRATED GANGSTA MOVIES EVER MADE.

Dangerous Action: The Bronx War/Dangerous Relations

Average customer rating:

Great Detective movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dangerous Action: The Bronx War/Dangerous Relations
Starring: Stuart Adelstein , George Barnes Jr. , Gary Busey , Sheree Devereaux , and Peter Fonda
Director: Fred Williamson , and Alain Zaloum
Manufacturer: Platinum Disc
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00008XEOJ
Release Date: 2002-10-29

Customer Reviews:

Great Detective movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2005-05-12

This is a great detective movie starring Peter Fonda and Gary Busey based in the South Beach!!!It's a must see!!!!!!!!!

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