So much average

i must have seen a different film!!

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

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

2019: After the Fall of New York (1983)* 1/2 (out of 4) During Italy's "trash boom", each and every film from America that was popular would eventually be "reinmagined" but in a lower form. Take this film where we get a semi-remake of John Carpenter's ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and needless to say, this here isn't quite as good. Twenty years after a nuclear apocalypse, three men are sent into New York where they must find the last fertile woman and bring her out so that civilization can start over. Making it through New York isn't going to be easy as we got several bad guys, several ugly guys and a giant ape man (George Eastman). We can start off by stating the obvious in that Martino isn't Carpenter and Michael Sopkiw isn't Kurt Russell. With that said, this is still a pretty poor movie on all levels and in the end I was really disappointed because a lot of times these re-imagined films are decent for a few good laughs. That's not the case here because by the thirty-minute mark I was bored out of my mind and the final hour really dragged its feet so badly that the film just crashed and burned. I think the biggest problem is the budget. The horror or giallo films could get away with a low budget but I think that's a lot harder to do when it comes to futuristic action films. The action scenes are all incredibly cheap and they come off very fake looking. The post-apocalyptic world also looks very fake and especially the "burnt down" NYC at the start of the film. These are two things that you don't need a big budget for, just look at ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK but you need someone behind the camera to pull it off. Martino has made some good films throughout his career but this here isn't one of them. I think he has a hard time putting everything together as the film really loses focus of its (limited) story and goes off in all sorts of directions. Another major problem is that Sopkiw is just boring in the lead and doesn't make for a good character. The supporting cast isn't any better and that includes cult favorite Eastman.

The last fertile woman on earth is somewhere in New York and the Pan American confederacy wants to find her. Former elite soldier Parsifal is coerced into looking for her. Joining him are Bronx and Ratchet(who we later find out is a cyborg). They enter New York through a rat filled tunnel and end up fighting a gang called the Harlem hunters(great fight scene). They move on to rat eaters then little people and then a group of half men/half apes. Someone from each group joins in the effort of finding the girl. After she is found a daring escape is needed.This movie has a lot of elements from other films and a very small budget,but despite it's shortcomings this movie pulls through. Some movies like the Road Warrior and Escape from New York are headed up by reluctant anti-heros. While I love the characters of Snake and Max I find cool that Parsifal is anything but that. He is a tough guy to be sure, but we also see a very kind side of him. Also, while the outlook of this movie is bleak, I thought it was very touching that Bronx,Shorty,Big ape, and Giada all give their lives to rescue this girl and thus save humanity. I also found Bronx to be an interesting and insightful person. His character is a former professor and his discussion with the Eurac leader is full of food for thought.One negative thing about this movie is that I didn't care for the showdown with Ratchet at the end. There is no forewarning to it and it seems tacked on. I would have preferred to have Ratchet see the good in humanity and just walk away from his mission to kill Parsifal(kind of like the ending of Blade Runner). That being said, this movie is a must see for all PA fans. Enjoy it.

Despite being a huge fan of cult and B-Movies and even though I really wanted and tried hard to enjoy this, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to go against the general tide of opinion as regards this film.The ever likable Michael Sopkiw, who's career in B-movies was admittedly brief but so very fondly remembered, appears here as a sort of Mad Max/Snake Plissken type of guy who is coerced into rescuing the last fertile woman on earth from within the hell hole that has become Manhattan Island.Cue lots of fights, sludging through rat infested sewers, getting captured about every five minutes (!) a healthy splashing of gore and the appearance of perennial B-Movie fave big George Eastman as a simian character called 'Big Ape' and hey presto - you have what on paper at least sounds like a great movie.....On paper perhaps......To be fair, the movie isn't at all bad by any means and even boasts some pretty decent production values in fact, but sadly it just failed to enthral me.The biggest problem I had with this is that the action scenes are for the most part handled with very little flair. Added to this, the best scene in the entire movie (for me at least) was actually at the very beginning when our hero is shown banger racing in a heavily armoured car. Needless to say, after such an intro the remaining 80 or so minutes of the movie seemed pale in comparison.Still, as previously mentioned, the overall look of the film is very commendable indeed (bar one or two instances of very dodgy model work) and there's some great gross out moments (including one excellent head bashing scene!)I'm tempted to deduct another point from this film however, due to the all too common and sad trend of some Italian genre movies of the time that regretfully rears it's ugly head here - genuine animal cruelty/killing. In this case we are 'treated' to a display of some rats getting speared. Such a disgusting trend ostensibly stemmed from the cannibal themed movies of the same period as were pioneered by directors Umberto Lenzi and Ruggero Deodato - both of whom were more than capable of producing highly enjoyable films without having to resort to such repulsive, cheap shock tactics.Would you believe that I have actually spoken to people who have tried to justify such barbaric acts 'for the sake of art''?! I've also spoken to various other cretinous wretches who seem to be under the misguided impression that watching such acts of cruelty in films somehow makes them more 'macho' as it logically denotes that 'they can take anything' (!!!!)Still back to the film in question.....overall, whilst not unwatchable by any stretch of the imagination, After The Fall Of New York, for me, distinctly lacked enough intriguing scenes to raise it above the average mark.My advice is, if you're into the genre then watch it by all means, it does have a hefty fan base, however for much more enjoyment value, check out the far superior film it is copied - erm...I mean inspired from, Escape From New York.