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2019, After the Fall of New York

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2019, After the Fall of New York
Theatrical release poster by Renato Casaro
Directed bySergio Martino[1]
Written byErnesto Gastaldi
Sergio Martino
Gabriel Rossini
Produced byLuciano Martino
StarringMichael Sopkiw
Valentine Monnier
Anna Kanakis
George Eastman
CinematographyGiancarlo Ferrando
Edited byEugenio Alabiso
Music byGuido & Maurizio De Angelis
Release date
  • 1983 (1983)
Running time
91 minutes
CountriesItaly
France
LanguagesItalian
English

2019, After the Fall of New York, also known simply as After the Fall of New York (Template:Lang-it) is a 1983 Italian science fiction film directed by Sergio Martino in both English and Italian. The film belongs to the post-apocalyptic Italian genre similar to the films 1990 The Bronx Warriors and Endgame. It is set in 2019, after a nuclear apocalypse, and stars a mercenary out to rescue the last fertile woman on Earth. The film starred Michael Sopkiw, Valentine Monnier, Anna Kanakis, and B-movie regular George Eastman.

The film was influenced by John Carpenter's Escape from New York[2] and George Miller's Mad Max 2.[3]

The story's premise bears some similarities with Alfonso Cuarón's 2006 film Children of Men.[3] Besides the idea of the lack of fertile women in Earth, both films include a scene with Picasso's Guernica used as a backdrop.

Plot

In 1999, a war between the Pan-American Confederacy and the Eurac Monarchy (comprising Europe, Africa, and Asia) resulted in a nuclear holocaust. 20 years later, radiation has rendered all remaining humans sterile, and the victorious Euracs have occupied Manhattan and hunt survivors for genetic experiments. 

After winning a motorized deathmatch in Nevada, an ex-Confederate soldier named Parsifal is abducted and taken to the Confederacy's secret base in Alaska. The President of the Confederacy tells him there is a fertile woman somewhere in New York City. He offers Parsifal a place on a Confederate rocketship bound for Alpha Centauri if he can infiltrate the city and retrieve her; otherwise, he will be killed. When Parsifal proposes sending in a cyborg instead, the President reveals the Confederacy eliminated all its cyborgs.

Parsifal is accompanied by two Confederate agents, Bronx and Ratchet. After entering Manhattan through the sewers, they are attacked by the Harlem Hunters, a street gang. They escape and come upon the Needle People, a group of scavengers led by the Rat Eater King, preparing to kill a dwarf named Shorty. Parsifal intervenes, and the three agents are captured. Eurac troops raid the scavengers’ hideout and bring Parsifal, Bronx, and Ratchet to their base along with a scavenger girl, Giara.

Parsifal escapes and rescues Bronx and Giara. Bronx stays behind and is killed, while Parsifal and Giara are saved by Ratchet. The three escape into the sewers and find refuge in a subterranean dwarf colony with Shorty, who claims to know the location of the fertile woman. The colony is attacked by Euracs using sonic weapons, and Parsifal, Giara, Ratchet, and Shorty flee. They are saved by a group of ape-like mutants, led by Big Ape. When Parsifal explains their mission, Big Ape reveals he is also fertile. That night, Parsifal protects Giara from one of Big Ape's mutants, and they have sex.

Shorty leads them to an underground vault, where they find a deceased professor and a life support chamber containing Melissa, the professor's daughter, who entered hibernation before the bombs fell and thus remained fertile. They also find a station wagon to escape through the Lincoln Tunnel. Big Ape and Giara stay with Melissa while Shorty, Parsifal, and Ratchet leave to find armor plating for the car. Big Ape then knocks Giara unconscious and impregnates Melissa.

At a junkyard, Shorty distracts the Euracs and sacrifices himself to buy Parsifal and Ratchet time to salvage. They return, collect Melissa, and drive through a cave wall into the tunnel. Parsifal manages to navigate the armored car past several minefields and barricades to freedom, but Big Ape is killed by a laser trap. While driving through the desert to their rendezvous, Parsifal deduces that Ratchet is actually a cyborg. Ratchet attacks him and stabs Giara before Parsifal kills him. Giara begs Parsifal to ensure humanity's survival as she dies in his arms.

Back at the Confederacy's headquarters, the President reveals that he is terminally ill, and gives Parsifal his place on the rocketship, which is revealed to be the base itself. As the ship blasts off, Parsifal watches Melissa finally awaken.

Cast

Reception

Creature Feature gave the movie 2 out of 5 stars. While it found the rubble and sewers to be well done, it states the acting and direction to be lacking.[4] Moria found the movie to be better than other Italian exploitation films, and better than most other Mad Max rip-offs, giving the movie 2 stars.[5] TV Guide gave the movie one out of 5 stars, finding it to be "silly at best, with ludicrous plot full of clichés and holes, bad acting, and laughable special effects."[6]

Release

2019, After the Fall of New York was distributed in the United States in January 1985 with a 95-minute running time.[7] Released for home viewing on DVD, VHS and Blu-Ray [8]

References

  1. ^ Whalen, Andrew (3 January 2019). "Dystopian sci-fi dominates movies set in 2019, could you survive 'The Running Man'?". Newsweek. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  2. ^ Conrich, Ian; Woods, David. (2004). The Cinema of John Carpenter: The Technique of Terror. Wallflower Press. p. 158
  3. ^ a b "2019: After the Fall of New York (Sergio Martino, 1983)". Offscreen.com. May 21, 2018.
  4. ^ Stanley, J. Creature Feature:3rd Edition (2000)
  5. ^ "2019: After the Fall of New York (1983)". 16 April 2015.
  6. ^ "After the Fall of New York".
  7. ^ Klain, Jane, ed. (1989). International Motion Picture Almanac for 1989 (60 ed.). Quigley Publishing Company, Inc. p. 408. ISBN 0-900610-40-9.
  8. ^ "2019 - After the Fall of New York". Amazon.
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