Too much of everything

That was an excellent one.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Classic Sopkiw.Michael Sopkiw plays Parsifal, a guy who loves racing cars around the Arizona desert and basking in the love of his fans for beating his opponents on the post-apocalyptic racing circuit. But his world is interrupted when he's summoned to a secret base by The President of the Pan-American Confederacy (Purdom). He's informed that he must break into New York City - which is controlled by deadly gangs called the Euraks - to rescue a woman from their clutches who can perhaps help to replenish the depleted population of earth. He also gets assigned two helpers: Ratchet (Puppo), who's supposed to be one of the strongest men left on the planet, and Bronx (Scalondro), a man who has memorized the map of New York. During their mission, the three men meet tons of trials and tribulations, not the least of which is New York's serious rat problem. They meet many wacky characters along the way, such as Big Ape (Eastman). Will they get out of NYC alive and save the world? Find out today! Despite being the pride of our home state, Connecticut, Sopkiw starred almost exclusively in Italian productions. Between 1983-1985 he appeared in 2019, then did two movies for Lamberto Bava: Blastfighter (1984) and Devil Fish (also 1984), then one more for Michele Massimo Tarantini, Massacre In Dinosaur Valley (1985) then all but disappeared. Just more evidence that the 80's was awesome - Italian productions were flourishing, and stars like Sopkiw had venues to flower and we got to know them all through our local video stores. Sadly, that time is over, but gems like 2019 provide much-appreciated artifacts from that golden time period.2019 appears to be the result of Sergio Martino throwing his hat into the then-hot post-apocalyptic genre. The movie has all the insane outfits, wonderfully decorated sets, innovative weapons and vehicles with crazy crap glued to them that any Italian post-nuke movie would have, and that fans have grown to love and have become accustomed to. Of course that includes flamethrowers and "Pew Pew" lasers. These movies were primarily meant to entertain, and 2019 completely succeeds. It has the ultimate coolguy for a hero, plenty of wild situations intermixed with brutal violence, and the time-honored innovations we often talk about, ensuring an 80's Video Store Classic.Speaking of video stores (though when aren't we?), when 2019 was released on VHS by Vestron, they dropped the 2019 and just went with After the Fall of New York. Could this be because they wanted to bring the similarities to Escape From New York (1981) front and center? Nah. Can't be. But then Joe D'Amato's 2020 Texas Gladiators (1984) presumably picked up where this movie left off? Regardless, the Guido and Maurizio DeAngelis music (using their pseudonym Oliver Onions) is typically solid and appropriately synthy and futuristic. Their soundtrack to Street Law (1974) is hard to beat, but this one is a winner as well.The Media Blasters DVD is a must-own if you're into the Italian post-apocalyptic genre. It looks great in widescreen and even has an intro from Michael Sopkiw. We recommend it.For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com

America, now a desolate wasteland from nuclear warfare that has left the remaining survivors of mankind infertile, yields two warring factions both seeking the answer for the plight of a dying race. The villains of this film are the Eurac corporation, experimenting on test subjects they pluck from the city of New York, hoping to find the answer to birthing a new nation on their own corrupt terms. Most of the Euracs dress like imitation Star Wars Storm Troopers, perhaps representing a Communist regime, setting up outposts and booby traps towards anyone getting in or out of New York. A desert racer, Parsifal(Michael Sopkiw, playing a more sympathetic version of Snake Plisskin, except donning a bandanna instead of an eye-patch), is taken to a top secret outpost in Alaska against his will and asked by the hidden President of the United States to seek out a fertile female housed somewhere within the ruins of a ravaged New York City, buried under rubble and filth. Parsifal once worked under his command in the Pan American Federation, and now the President hopes to start a new race on another world, not corrupted with radiation or war, Alpha Centuri, and promises Parsifal a seat on the ship heading off of Earth if he fulfills the mission by finding the young woman and getting her to them. Along with two assigned operatives to accompany him, a secret cyborg with a rag covering his robotic eye(..quite a wiz when using his stringed set of steel balls often knocking his foes out)and a hook-handed "human map"(..who lost his family to the evil Euracs and knows New York City better than just about anyone), Parsifal will attempt to infiltrate New York City, preferably the damaged Manhattan, to find the fertile woman. In his way are sewer crazies(whose head is a nutty Asian played by Hal Yamanouchi) who hunt rats as a food source, the prowling Eurac soldiers on horseback, and ape-men lead by the gargantuan Big Ape(George Eastman). Luckily Parcifal will find an ally in a dwarf named Shorty(Louis Ecclesia)who knows the location of the fertile woman, but also runs into trouble with the bald Eurac Commandant(Serge Feuillard)and his lieutenant Ania(Anna Kanakis). Parcifal also finds a love-interest in Giara(Valentine Monnier), thought, at first, to be the fertile woman sought found wandering with the sewer, rat hunting pack.Plucking ideas from multiple sci-actioners, this post-apocalyptic tale, from director Sergio Martino(..far removed from his 70's giallo heyday)moves along at a quickened pace, set to a cool rhythmic beat. Models are used for large shots of New York City and space ships. The outfits used to clothe the characters are mismatched scraps of this and that providing them with a hobo look(..or what I like to call, "junk-garb") while the Eurac officers often wear matching suits representing a type of totalitarian order dictating the kind of police state they're hoping to employ to the destroyed world(..which is perhaps why their purpose for gaining control over the fertile woman is essential). The heroes embark on their mission through flooded sewers, often containing red-eyed flesh-eating rats, bus-graveyards, and underground dwelling places for those with radiation burns, trying to hide from the Euracs. Good fun for non-discriminating viewers who accept the film's relatively low budget, burdened with rather cheap special effects, where the filmmakers try to bring to life an ambitious equivalent to films like "Escape from New York" and "Mad Max". There's no doubt where "2019" gets it's inspirations from..some scenes are directly aping near-exact moments from the aforementioned ESCAPE(..such as when Parsifal is stabbed in the leg, in practically the same spot as Snake Plisskin, or how both heroes face off with their foes, carrying a motley group of misfits).. but Martino knows how to add zing and zang to action scenes. The camera moves with the characters really well, taking off like a galloping horse during chases and hand-to-hand combats between our heroes and the Euracian forces. "Animal lovers" might take offense to the ways the sewer crazies hunt their rats. Only real problem I had was an abandoned plot resolution regarding Ania, who had taken control of the Euracian forces, yet you never see her again once she claims to take matters into her own hands regarding Parsifal.

2019: After the Fall of New York is inspired by Escape from New York, the hero is similar to Snake except he doesn't wear a eye-patch, they're both in New York trying to find someone then escape, 2019: After the Fall of New York also has some different things that isn't in Esacpe from New York. The film does have some nice music, action and the effects are pretty good.The plot sees the world in the future and everything is post apocalyptic, New York has been occupied by an army of people called Eurac's who are cleaning up the streets. Meanwhile in the deserts a death rally is going on where some people in armoured vehicles try to kill each other. The champion Parsifal beats the opponents and gets his reward, he soon finds himself being knocked out by a stun ray and sent to the Alaska where he meets the President who tells him that they have found a fertile women on earth, Parsifal is told to go into New York and find her then bring her hear. Two people are sent with him to find her, they then go off into New York where they soon find themselves in trouble, as they hide in the sewers they discover the Rat-eaters, a group of people who live in the sewers and feast on flesh eating Rats. They soon get captured by the Rat-eaters and Parsifal beings to fall in love with one of the female Rat-eaters, suddenly the Eurac's attack the Rat-eaters. Parsifal ends up being captured by them. In there he makes a deal with one of the Eurac's that he'll show them the fertile women who he believes is the Rat-eater women, soon he escapes freeing his two friends and the Rat-eater. Parsifal must find the true fertile women before the Eurac's capture them again.2019: Ater the Fall of New York is a great post apocalyptic movie that should be seen. 10/10

In the sub-genre of post-apocalyptic action films, 2019: After the Fall of New York is pretty much an average example. The plot makes sense within the framework of the film and provides the film's heroes with a legitimate reason to go on their mission into enemy territory. In some of these films, the heroes go on these missions for the most ridiculous of reasons with a totally unbelievable object/device/rock/etc. as their goal. The idea of tracking down the last fertile woman on the planet to use in repopulating the planet is better than most. I'm not going to go so far as to call it an intelligently written script, but I've seen a whole lot worse.As I wrote previously, 2019: After the Fall of New York is an average example of the 1980s post-apocalyptic films. As most all of these films take their "inspiration" from The Road Warrior and Escape from New York, none of them stray very far from the norm. 2019: After the Fall of New York has the same bad special effects, the same Flock of Seagulls wardrobe, and the same perfectly chiseled, but ultimately dull, hero you can find in any of these movies. But, even with the predictability and other shortcomings, it's a fun watch.