I have watched the sequel to this film before, but this is the first time seeing this one and I have to say it is a better film. Basically, it is kind of a combination of Warriors and Escape From New York brought to us by Italy who likes to take something that is popular here and make it their own. Usually the film is not the best film ever made, but it can oftentimes turn out to be rather entertaining and that is the case with this one. It has some good action and a so over the top plot that it is at times rather funny too.

The story, Trash and his gang find a girl being harassed by a gang on roller skates called the Zombies! Why they are called the Zombies and not the Wheelies is anybody's guess. This girl is actually supposed to be the head of some major weapons company, which is honestly rather stupid and just a strange excuse to bring in the Hammer! Vic Morrow plays the bad guy and does so with his usual gusto making the film more entertaining than it should be. Trash must find the Ogre who is king of Bronx, but there is much treachery afoot and the flamethrowers are a coming!

Fred Williamson plays the Ogre and the amount of times he appears in films in Italy leads me to believe the man really enjoy the country. I heard he once asked to be in a film, the one with the guy and a talking motorcycle and they agreed to put him in it. I am betting he was going to have to go home otherwise! Vic Morrow also appears in a lot of these Italian films too and I bet the same applies to him.

So, this film has lots of mindless violence and lots of weird stuff going on and so it is not a good film, but fun to watch nonetheless. It is kind of like a Full Moon film with these Italian films that copy the famous films, they are usually short and may not be great, but always generally fun and once in a while you get a diamond in the rough. This one manages to entertain and also can make you laugh and make you wonder. Like, why didn't Vic Morrow simply move out of the way of the harpoon as he had all day to do so.

Italian post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi filled with chills , noisy action and spectacular scenes in slow-moving . Agreeable fun'n'funky science-fiction/action romp packing kinetic action , thrills, intrigue , shocks and lots of blood and violence . The movie likely satisfy action enthusiasts and Italian Sci-Fi fonds , concerning a wealthy young woman into this wasteland of motorcycle becomes a hostage in the most dangerous place on Earth . It's 1990 and the Bronx's New York society breaks down into two sides which has become a battleground for several murderous street bands , marauding delinquents , and degenerate slums trash . The authorities give up all attempts to restore law and order. From then on , the area is ruled by the Riders . In this future , crime is out of control and the Bronx turned into an inhabitable location and finds itself under siege by violent gangs with rare weapons fighting each other . Meanwhile , a girl named Young Ann (Estefania Girolami , daughter of director Enzo) runs away from her Manhattan boarding school being attacked by a gang of street hockey players wielding hockey sticks but then they are themselves surrounded . There appears a much tougher-looking gang , the Bronx Warriors led by Trash to take care of her , they'll have to fight against cutthroats , gangs of depraved crazies thirsty for blood and survive some battles to-the-death with lots of blood and gore . On the other side of the bridge , Samuel Fisher (Ennio Girolami) and the Vice president (Enzo G Castel) of a powerful company hire a ruthless mercenary (Vic Morrow) , he is assigned a dangerous mission : to infiltrate the Bronx and find the missing girl . As a corrupt father sends a violent agent to bring her back at all cost . In the middle of this chaos and at the end the motley group embarks a spectacular rescue against vicious murderous . The first to die were the lucky ones! Who will survive when no one deserves to live? A Heavy Metal Journey Into An Urban . Hell Where Everything Has Gone Wrong! .The lucky ones were the first to die! Now only the deadliest man alive can save him . Breaking out is impossible. Breaking in is insane. Once You go In, You don't Come Out... Until Today.

This film is a comic-book plenty of action , fun , adventures , thriller and surprise-filled entertainment . Adequate plethora of characters with average performances by its entire main and support cast . Spectacular stunt-work plenty of motorcycles running and leaping , crashes and violent fights including stabbing , throating-slit , slashing and blowing-up . Nice costuming and evocative production design in which the Brox has officially been declared a "No Man's Land" devoid of any law , there live several urban tribes , with weird costumes , as Trash's riders and strange guys dressed in fiberglass safety gear are on roller skates and others in plastic dresses practicing coreographic movements . Lousily starred by Mark Gregory as the tough and valiant renegade Trash , leader of the two-fisted Riders . Fine plethora of secondaries with familiar faces for its entire support cast cast . The enjoyable American actor Vic Morrow , in his last one , in fact this was Vic Morrow's last completed film before his unfortunate on-set death while filming Twilight zone by Steven Spielberg , the prolific B-actor Fred Williamson ¨The Hammer¨ playing The Ogre , and the early deceased Christopher Connelly . And other ordinary secondaries from Italian B series such as : George Eastman , director himself Enzo G. Castellari , his brother Ennio Girolami , Joshua Sinclair , Massimo Vanni , some of them played lots of Spaghetti , Peplum , Giallo and customary genres of the 60s and 70s . Screeching and anti-climatic musical score by Walter Ritz as well as functional musical score by Sergio Salvati . The picture is a rip-off , taking parts here and there from¨The Warriors¨ by Walter Hill , ¨Mad Max¨series , and ¨1997 escape from New York¨ by John Carpenter that was also followed by an inferior sequel : ¨Escape from L.A.¨.

The picture was professionally directed by the prolific filmmaker Enzo G Castellari . And had a sequel : "Escape from the Bronx" aka "Escape 2000" aka "Bronx Warriors 2" . Talented and versatile writer/director Enzo G Castellari has made a vast array of often solid and entertaining films in all kind of genres as horror , Giallo , comedy , Western , and science fiction in a career that spans over 40 years . He made especially Westerns as ¨ Johnny Hamlet , Kill them everybody and came back alone, Seven Winchester for a massacre, Cipolla colt¨ and the masterpiece : ¨Keoma¨ . He also directed successful wartime movies as ¨Inglorious bastards ¨ , ¨Eagles over London¨ , Adventures : ¨Tuareg¨, ¨Adventures and loves of Scaramouche¨ , Simbad¨, "The Shark Hunter" , Poliziotteschi : "Day of the Cobra" , ¨Striker¨, ¨Heroin Busters¨ and Sci-Fi : ¨1990 : Bronx warriors¨ , "The New Barbarians : Warriors of the Wasteland" , "Escape from the Bronx" . This is a passable Sci-Fi movie, it is an imaginative Sci-Fi picture in which the camera stalks in moving style throughout a story with agreeable visual skills . This is a bewildering story , funny in some moment but falls flat and it will appeal to Science Fiction and Italian exploitation fans .

Enzo G Castellari, I salute you.

I first saw this movie in my local youth club in 1983 when a VCR was still a luxury and around a dozen sweaty teenagers would gather in Bertie Road YC on a damp Monday evening to be entertained by whatever Mr Butler had rented from the petty cash for our amusement.

From the opening montage of myriad nasty, pointy things and exquisitely made up "warriors" we were hooked and the first brawl of 5 riders whupping the arses of 10 silly skaters our attention was riveted to the screen like Trash's jeans to his thighs. (Seeing the "Ben Hur axle blade things" flip down to hamstring the two skaters and Trash elbow a bloke in the face with his sooo cool fashion accessory were the hight points for me).

This movie is undoubtedly flawed. Atrocious choreography, risible dubbing and more holes than a popular brand of cheese. BUT....

Enzo and pals obviously had so much fun making this film that you can forgive them their trespasses. Any movie that has a birthday party being interrupted by Vic Morrow, clad in leather and conducting a slaughter of street gangs by baddies on horses, armed with flamethrowers...well, what can I say? I have loved this movie and its sequel for nearly 25 years now, well not warming to Enzo's other work particularly (anyone seen Warriors of the Wasteland? It's Mad Max 2 in a quarry!). I own the two VHS versions from the shop that the Bertie Road youth club hired from and have met Enzo twice in the last few years in Rome (nice fella).

Check out my website dedicated to the two greatest movies about the Bronx (although not in the opinion of the mayor of Manhattan methinks).

www.bronxwarriors.com

One of life's guilty pleasures.