It’s 2072, and shit is Blade Runner as fuck.
In this foggy, moving billboard landscape a new form of extremely popular motorcycle sport has arisen, and no one is better at it than ol’ Drake (Jared Martin, who you may remember from the ultra-gory late ’80s War of the Worlds television show)… and while the fans love him to itty-bitty pieces, the network sees him as a hurdle in the way of promoting further, more deadlier entertainment… namely a program where death row prisoners are offered a chance at redemption by competing in a “to the death” blood sport!
A solution is soon reached; send in some whistling dime store Droogs, have them off Drakes’ lady, and when Drake goes Blood Simple on their asses, throw him in the hoosegow… thus making him a criminal and eligible to “participate” in the new gladiatorial games.
Once in training he meets his rag-tag team; acid-scarred dude, Fred “the Hammer” Williamson, mohawk karate lunatic, and bearded fucker that hucks foot stools at people (to name a few)… and after some strobe light and shreddin’ guitar solo montage action and bizarre hallucinogenic mind fucking, Drake and his new pals make an escape attempt but are foiled by their overseer, the sadistic Raven (Howard Ross)… at least the resulting torture serves as a team building exercise… and there’s groovy hand drawn laser force fields involved in the whole will laffair, so win/win…
Will Drake have the sack to survive the assault of rival gladiators and the machinations of the network?
With it’s brutal sport, over-the-top television programs, and death row contestants you’d swear Lucio fulci’s Warriors of the Year 2072 was a riff on 1987’s The Running Man with a dash of Robocop spice… but this shit predates those flicks by three years (and yeah, I know the Stephen King/Richard Bachman novel was out in 1982, but that was waaaay different than the Schwarzenegger flick this is more similar to)… and maestro Fulci directs the shit out of the whole shebang with plenty of off-kilter lighting choices, fetish costumery, groovy hand-drawn laser effects, soft focus fever dream cinematography (courtesy of Giuseppe Pinori… who also gives us J.J. Abrams levels of lens-flare at times), gore, and motorbike stunt-tacular derring-do.
I mentioned this was a Blade Runner affair as far as the future environs are concerned, and while the miniature effects utilized to realize this world are a few steps below the expertise demonstrated in Ridley Scott’s masterpiece, they are nevertheless a marvel of practical effects artistry and are a ton of fun to look at… and that’s worth it’s weight in gold to yours cruelly!
Also on point are the motorcycle stunts and combat, and cool-as-fuck armored bikes and neo-gladiator costumes the contestants wear; this is flashy, action-packed material and certainly doesn’t disappoint… but there is a slight problem…
If you expect the entirety of Warriors of the Year 2072 to be this kind of action be warned; that shit is late third act material, with the rest of the film following the team as their bonds grow through training and torture… and that is never dull, but it isn’t mayhem and murder filled mortal combat… but that shit is well worth the wait…
How about another positive? I can assure you this new Blu-ray version of the film from Severin beats the fuck out of the previous version of this movie I own, namely Troma’s dogshit DVD release of the film as The New Gladiators. The image here is bright, vibrant, and every bit as eye-slappin’ as Maestro Fulci intended!
Speaking of Severin, those delightful devils have included a few bonus features on here as well including an audio commentary courtesy of Fulci scholar Troy Howarth and Mondo Digital’s Nathaniel Thompson that presents a lively and info-packed journey through the film’s production and legacy, as well as examining the latter part of Fulci’s career, followed by interviews with Fulci (in an archival audio conversation with Michel Romagnoli), screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti, actors Ross and Al Cliver, Fulci’s daughter Antonella, cinematographer Giuseppe Pinori, and actress Cinzia Monreale.
Also included are the film’s trailer, and it’s soundtrack (featuring the work of composer Riz Ortolani) on a separate CD.
Trust me, if you dig The Running Man you’ll lap up Warriors of the Year 2072 with a sinister silver spoon!
