Friday, December 10, 2010

#126. 2019: After the Fall of New York (1983)

DVD Synopsis: After the nuclear holocaust, society breaks down into two groups, the evil Euraks and the rebel Federation. A mercenary named Parsifal (Michael Sopkiw) is hired by the Federation to infiltrate New York City and rescue the only fertile woman left on Earth. But with all the obstacles ahead, he will need to count on Big Ape (George Eastman), and the mysterious Ratchet (Romano Puppo) to accomplish the mission, and save the human race from extinction.









Heavily influenced by John Carpenter's Escape From New York, 2019: After the Fall of New York is amusing enough, but only if you're willing to overlook a few things. 

Now, the special effects are definitely on the cheap side (the opening credits play over a panoramic view of a bombed-out New York City, which is obviously a model), but they aren't so bad that they detract from the movie as a whole.  What does detract, however, is the dialogue, which ranges from bad one minute to downright pathetic the next (the exchange between the hero and his girl towards the end of the film, where they try to wrap everything up in a nice, neat “all you need is love” package, is particularly cringe-inducing). 

Yet I wouldn't quite place 2019: After the Fall of New York in the 'so bad it's good' category, mostly because some aspects of the film are legitimately good. For one, the post-apocalyptic set pieces are very well-done; the streets and buildings look convincingly dilapidated, and the handful of scenes that take place in the rat-infested sewers are very effective. Also impressive are some of the film's action scenes (I especially liked the battle in the bus depot), and there are enough of them to keep things moving along at a decent pace. 

Given a chance, 2019: After the Fall of New York proves to be a good, though not great, bit of escapist entertainment.



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2 comments:

Klaus said...

I do love post-apocalyptic themes, and even made it through a viewing of "A Boy and his Dog" 1975), but I tried watching "2019: After the Fall of New York" over the holidays but couldn't get past the opening credits. While I suspect that I didn't give it a chance, i'm wondering if a viewing may be more relevant in 8 years ;)

DVD Infatuation said...

@Klaus: I'm with you...I love Post-apocalyptic movies, and while 2019 does have it's moments, I'm not surprised you had a hard time getting through it.

And yes, 8 years might just do the trick!