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Released by: Vipco
Released on: N/A
Director: Enzo G. Castellari
Cast: Fred The Hammer Williamson, George Eastman
Year: 1983
The Movie:
In 1981 when the Road Warrior made a ton of money at the box office, it was only a matter of time before the knock offs appeared. One of the more memorable films of the 'post nuke' genre was Enzo G. Castellari's I Nuovi Barbari, known better in English markets as The New Barbarians and also as Warriors of the Wasteland.
The story takes place in 2019, after the nuclear holocaust where a band of roaming cult members bent on destroying all of mankind called the Templars are wreaking havoc against pretty much anyone and everyone they come into contact with. Shortly after the massacre a band of nomads, we're introduced to Scorpion, who's waging a one-man war against the Templars as he drives around in his crazy bubble roofed car with a skull on the front. Eventually he runs into a convoy of peaceful travelers and, after rescuing a girl from some nasty Templars, brings her to them for some desperately needed medical attention.
But when Scorpion is captured by the evil Templars and surprisingly raped in the ass by their leader, One (George Eastman of Anthropophagous fame), it's all out war as he teams up with a nomadic archer named Nadir (played by Fred 'The Hammer Williamson) and a child mechanic (played by Giovanni Frezza, best known as Bob from Lucio Fulci's House By The Cemetery) and puts on his special plastic see-through bubble armor to take down the bad guys and saves the girl.
There is very little that is done well in this movie, but it still has a crazy kind of charm and is really a lot of fun. Budget restraints are obvious (the Templars look to be driving modified golf carts). Most of the action scenes are totally over the top and all of the characters are dressed in some of the most garish and phallic costumes I've ever seen (everyone seems to have a giant codpiece in the future).
But despite all it's flaws, The New Barbarians has a nice sense of manic energy to it and makes for a good time killer. The action is non-stop, the macho posturing and more than implied homoeroticism is oddly hilarious, and the movie runs at an extremely fast pace. It may be a rather blatant Road Warrior rip off, but it's a damned entertaining one.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Sadly, the 2.35.1 transfer is not anamorphic, but despite that complaint, it looks surprisingly good. Having only ever seen this on fullscreen VHS back in the day, and then again recently on the Brentwood 'Future Cops' 4-pack (which was likely taken from that same VHS source) it was quite a revelation to finally see it in its original aspect ratio. For the most part, the print is pretty clean with nice colors and minimal print damage. Some of the night scenes look a little worse for wear, but with most of the film set in the daylight, this doesn't affect the presentation too much.
The Dolby Digital Stereo track is quite solid with some nice channel separation and quite a bit of low-end bass action going on during the action scenes. A true surround mix would have been great, especially during the fights and car battle scenes, but the mix provided is quite satisfactory with only a slight bit of hiss cropping up once and a while.
Here's where the disc falls short. Included are four other trailers for Vipco presentations (but no trailer for the feature presentation) and filmographies for the cast and crew. There is also a small still gallery that looks to be made up of screen shots from the DVD.
The Final Word:
Until someone gives The New Barbarians an anamorphic presentation, this is the best release of the film out there.