2019: After the Fall of New York Review

MPAA Rating: R
Released: 1983

2019: After the Fall of New York doesn't disguise its inspiration, which of course was Carpenter's smash hit Escape From New York. The success of Carpenter's film brought about an explosion of post-nuclear films from Italian directors during the early 80's, and while most of the low budget imitations don't warrant much attention, this one actually wasn't all that bad in a campy B-movie type of way.

It's the year 2019, and the remnants of a nuclear war that occurred 20 years earlier are dying off. It doesn't help that mankind is now an endangered species; nuclear radiation doesn't do a whole lot for our reproductive systems, doncha know. So of course all the world's women are sterile except for one… and she lives in New York! Who would have guessed?

(Okay, most fans of B-movies would have called that one a mile away… perhaps it wasn't such an unexpected twist.)

The good guys (The Pan-American Alliance), who are holed up in a secret installation in Alaska, hire a mercenary named Parsifal (Michael Sopkiw) to sneak into New York, locate the woman and return her to their base so that they can help repopulate the human species. Wow… I'm sure she'd be honored to know what good times await her ahead.

Actually, it might not be so bad if Parsifal found her after all, since the bad guys (the Euraks) that hold control over New York wouldn't mind abducting her to gain ultimate power over humanity (and perhaps other gains best left unsaid!). If your fate is to be the mother of humanity, guess the lesser of two evils suddenly becomes rather attractive.

If this review sounds cheesy so far, I assure you it's no cheesier than the film it's based on. But you know what? Who cares? Dare I say 2019: After the Fall of New York is actually a light, check-your-brain-in-at-the-door bundle of fun?

The sets and special effects are what you expect of a low budget B-movie, but nevertheless they set the post-apocalyptic, grungy, despairing tone well. None of the actors were destined to win any special accolades for their performances in this film, but they have a B-movie charm that makes them kinda interesting to watch. In fact fans of the 80's low budget Italian-produced action flicks will recognize some of the names included within this movie such as George Eastman and Hal Yamanouchi.

I do have to offer my respect to director Sergio Martino, because it's clear he had a passion for this movie and truly did try to produce the best film he could for the minimal budget he had to work with. Whereas other post-nuclear genre Italian B-movies have failed miserably, 2019: After the Fall of New York succeeds provided you view it with the understanding that as fun as it is, it's not going to be a film classic like it's main source of inspiration: Escape From New York.

Movie rating: 6 stars

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