Escape from the Bronx (1983)

An evil corporation sends in an extermination squad led by the unhinged Floyd Wrangler (veteran villain thespian Henry Silva in peak loopy form) to rid the Bronx of undesirables in order to make room for a series of high-rise luxury apartments. Tough gang leader Trash (stiffly played by the brawny Mark Gregory) and his scrappy friends decide they aren't going down without a fight.Director Enzo G. Castellari, who also co-wrote the compact script with Tito Carpi, keeps the entertaining story hurtling along at a brisk pace, stages the copious action set pieces with rip-roaring gusto, and blows and burns a lot of stuff up real good. While this movie suffers a bit from Gregory's wooden acting in the lead, this fortunately gets compensated by sturdy contributions from Valeria D'Obica as feisty crusading reporter Moon Grey, Giancarlo Prete as amiable scoundrel Strike, Paolo Malco as nefarious fascist swine Vice President Hoffman, Antonio Sabato as the hotheaded Dablone, and Carla Brait as the sassy leader of the Iron Men gang. Blasco Giurato's crisp widescreen cinematography provides a pleasing polished look and makes neat occasional use of strenuous slow motion. Francesco De Masi's funky-throbbing score does the groovy bluesy trick. An immensely fun flick.

Energetic follow-up by director Enzo G. Castellari to his post-apocalypse trash epic "1990: The Bronx Warriors" wasn't long in coming. Mark Gregory reprises his role of super human gang leader Trash, who hooks up with other underground gang members. The omnipotent GC Corporation is now attempting to round up the residents of the Bronx and forcibly "relocate" them. In the company of crusading reporter Moon (Valeria D'Obici) - a truly annoying character - and intrepid guide Strike (Giancarlo Prete), Trash embarks on a mission to undermine the corporation by snatching their boss, Clark (Ennio Girolami), out from under them.In some ways, "Escape from the Bronx" outdoes its predecessor. Fans of Italian post-nuke exploitation will appreciate the wall to wall action, the myriad of explosions, the nonstop onslaught of thoroughly expendable bad guys, the impressive stunts, and the level of violence. Use of locations is excellent, and the look of the picture is just right. The music by Francesco De Masi is good, but it sounds oddly out of tune at times. The pacing is more than adequate, and Castellari (who has an on screen cameo as a mustachioed radio operator) gives the proceedings an undeniably high fun factor.At first, it would seem that the almighty Henry Silva is somewhat wasted in his role as corporation enforcer Floyd Wrangler. But fear not, he does get some juicy Silva-esque moments towards the end, especially when he doesn't get his coffee the way he wants it. Gregory (who's actually dubbed by Steven Luotto) is a hunky plank of wood; Prete is much more engaging in his role. Paolo Malco (as Hoffman), Antonio Sabato (as Dablone), and Romano Puppo (as Trash's father), all add to the movie with their presence. D'Obici is good, even if Moon is overbearing and obnoxious.A guaranteed good time, if one is partial to this kind of entertainment.Seven out of 10.

This post-apocalyptic film is a barrage of non-stop action and cheese. A ruthless corporation decides to exterminate inhabitants of the Bronx. In the future. In the year 2000. The said inhabitants from the future, strangely resemble every conceivable type of pop star from the early 1980's; from synth pop futurists to New Wave cheesemongers to heavy metal poodle-permers. Funnily enough, it only appears to be 'the future' in the Bronx - on the streets of Manhattan it clearly seems to be 1983. Confused? You should be; this is after all an 80's Italian sci-fi actioner.Bronx Warriors 2 is full of action and stupidity. It's a lot of fun. It's chock-full of silly characters. The star Mark Gregory makes for a ridiculous hero. Antonio Sabato is hilariously OTT as a character inexplicably called Toblerone. Henry Silva phones in a performance of a man shouting on a phone.You can never truthfully be bored with this movie. It's action from start to finish. And there are some hilarious details to enjoy. For instance, the model of the redeveloped city - in it, not only have they went to the trouble of hilariously depicting the Bronx buildings in crumbling detail but if this is true to scale then the Bronx is only three blocks big! This film would make a great double-bill alongside Bruno Mattei's equally trashy post-apocalyptic movie, Rats (1984). That would be a good night of fun for the Italian Z-Movie aficionado. Ciao!

BRONX WARRIORS was a pretty bad movie to say the least, but BRONX WARRIORS 2, which has clearly been conceived out of optimism rather than anything else, exceeds in sheer badness and dullness. It has a bit more energy and enthusiasm than it's predecessor, but the sheer lack of logistical thought and evidence that it was shot wherever the director could muster a location in the Hudson River are makes it a turkey amongst equals.A Government corporation sends in flamethrower and machine gun wielding jump-suited soldiers wearing crash helmets to raze a dilapidated area of the Bronx to make way for developments of housing and the residents who are refusing to budge. Led by villainous Henry Silva, they have reckoned without our illustrious hero Trash (Mark Gregory) who, armed with his super-powerful Magnum (so powerful) that he manages to blow up a whole helicopter with six bullets (similar in logistical relish as George Kennedy's flare gun party piece in AIRPORT 80 THE CONCORDE when he directs a guided missile using a flare gun and succeeds!!!) and a war breaks out to decide the future of the Bronx. Where is Acme Realty when you need them!!!? Another moment to behold is the four or five soldiers who turn up in a clearly rush-hour moment and waltz down subway stairs whilst watched by workers bemused by their suits and thinking they are on their way to a fancy-dress party. Coupled with the music score that personifies many spaghetti offerings like this, it is only worth viewing if you are genuinely in need of a beer-and-curry night in with your girlfriend.