After most of civilization destroyed by a futuristic World War III, well-built warrior Patrick Swayze (as Nomad) wanders through the desert. He meditates while doing handstands (guess this helps make him a better warrior, and you will be proved correct), then shows excellent swordsmanship by annihilating some "half-people" who appear to live in the sand. As "Tremors" (1990) later confirmed, sand creatures are nasty; besides, they threaten the life of our handsome hero. Looking like a romance novel cover model, Mr. Swayze must find sneering vigilante Christopher Neame (as Sho), the man killed his martial arts mentor...

Cooling his heels, Swayze stays at a farm with beautiful blonde widow Lisa Niemi-Swayze (as Kasha) and her cute son Brett Hool (as Jux), who just may be related to director Lance Hool. They live with brave Brion James (as Tark). Proving hairstylists will survive a nuclear holocaust, the Swayzes must protect her irrigation development from wicked Anthony Zerbe (as Damnil). His wells are running dry and she has all the water. This is highly derivative, but with good enough action. Swayze body watchers will be in more than pleased with his appearance. The soundtrack by Mad Max" (1979) composer Brian May is adept.

****** Steel Dawn (11/6/87) Lance Hool ~ Patrick Swayze, Lisa Niemi, Christopher Neame, Brion James

Patrick Swayze excels as Nomad, a reticent itinerant martial arts specialist and adept swordsman who roams the parched, perilous nuclear fall-out ravaged desert wasteland meditating on sandy hilltops and dicing up any raggedy subterranean mutants who dare disrupt him when he's in his relaxed, reflective all's quiet with the universe zone. Nomad keeps on keeping on, a forever on the move loner with a troubled past and an unusual air of mystery hanging around him at all times. Nomad, who at first merely seeks water, food and shelter, gets involved in a heated territorial dispute between willful, but lonely widow farmer Kasha (a spirited and appealing Lisa Niemi) and resident sinister, despicable tyrant Damnil (the always terrific Anthony Zerbe at his most reliably hateful and disgusting), a total bastard with a vicious entourage of thugs ready to take down anyone who threatens his cold, iron-fisted reign over the land. Nomad comes to Kasha's aide, befriending her eager beaver son Jux (the endearing Brett Hool) and winning over the trust of dumb, but dependable strong-as-a-rhino farm foreman Tark (a typically robust Brion James, who's quite engaging in a rare change-of-pace nice guy role) with his supremely sinewy kung-fu skills and bottomless supply of raw courage.

Ably directed by ace direct-to-video action feature filmmaker Lance Hool, this flick really hits the post-apocalyptic sci-fi/action movie spot, offering up a strong, man-sized serving of stirring, down'n'dirty, no-frills action which includes gritty hand-to-hand fighting, a rousing across the desert wind-propelled car chase, and a particularly roughhouse final sword-swinging confrontation between Nomad and ruthless hired gun assassin Sho (a perfectly repellent Christopher Neame), an arrogant, sneering, spiky-haired behemoth who wants to carve Nomad up so he can prove that he's top dog. The action scenes are every bit as sudden, brutal, grisly and exciting as they ought to be; they are expertly staged in a smack dab on target harsh, bloody and unflashy style which keeps everything plausible throughout and thus all the more thrilling. Moreover, Doug Lefler's compact, intelligent script smartly combines the plot from the classic Western "Shane" with tasty elements of the karate and samurai mythos for a fresh, intriguing, extremely tough-minded and satisfying tweaking of your standard bleak futuristic scenario. Brian May's majestic score and George Tirl's fluid, expansive cinematography add a proper amount of grand scope and spectacle to the otherwise modest, yet well-mounted proceedings, therefor ensuring that this movie ultimately measures up as a solid and spot-on little winner.

Sword wielding Nomad (Patrick Swayze) wanders a post-apocalyptic desert world. He comes upon a settlement of farmers. He accepts an offer of food and shelter. They are set upon by a gang looking to take control of the valley.

This is a nothing B-movie. The story is pure western. There really is nothing here except Patrick Swayze and his headstands. There is some action but it's weakly done. Even the car chase is a low speed affair. It's almost funny but it's not. At best, this is a cult sarcastic comedy.