No End

 

WORLD WITHOUT END-1956-4 astronauts on a spaceship probing Mars have trouble getting home. John Borden (Hugh Marlowe) is the kind of leader. There's also Dr. Galbraithe (Nelson Leigh), Ellis (Rod Taylor) and Jaffe (Christopher Dark). They crash land on an unknown planet that has gravity, oxygen and snow. After they encounter two giant spiders, they bed down for the evening and are attacked by disfigured caveman. Of course, they are actually on the future Earth (after an apocalypse). They retreat to a cave and meet the underground survivors of mankind. A bunch of male fuddy duddies and beautiful short-skirted women all led by Timmak (Everett Glass). The men wear bathing caps. The jealous Mories (Booth Colman) plots to destroy the astros when Borden falls in love with Garnet (Nancy Gates), the leader's daughter. Later they build a bazooka and fight the mutants. Borden then has to fight the mutants' one-eyed leader. Borden wins the fight and mutants and humans live together in harmony. 

This science fiction post-apocalyptic adventure is pretty funny with the astronauts conveniently landing on Earth (no spacesuits), travelling in regular hiking clothes with knapsacks and the weapons being guns and an axe. Still the premise is fairly interesting. 

Paul Brineger, Strother Martin, Mickey Thompson and Herb Vigran have uncredited roles. Sam Peckinpah was the dialogue director. Director/writer Edward Bernds was working on the “Bowery Boys” series around this time and later worked a lot with The Three Stooges.

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It's The Limit

 

 (wkipedia)

CITY LIMITS-1984-After a plague kills off most adults, a young guy, Lee (John Stockwell) goes to the city to join The Clippers. He and Yogi (Rae Dawn Chong) fight a gang dressed as nurses. James Earl Jones is Albert, Lee's mentor, who helps them fight the army of overacting evil. Carver (Robby Benson) is behind a plot and sits at a desk for his few scenes (they could have been filmed in his home!). Also with Kim Cattrall, Pamela Ludwig and Don Keith Opper (also a co-writer).  

Stupid hi-jinx from director/co-writer Arnold Lipstadt a few years after his first film ANDROID (1982). At least that movie had Klaus Kinski in it...

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Six String

 

 (imdb)

SIX STRING SAMURAI-1998-In a post-apocalyptic USA (Russia dropped a bomb in 1957), a nerdy looking guy (with taped horn rims) named Buddy (co-writer Jeffery Falcon), travels around with a six-string guitar and a samurai sword. He wants to reach “Lost Vegas”. He fights some bald guys who have knives concealed in bowling pins. Then he hooks up with a young kid (Justin McGuire) who can drive a car. They run into some Road Warrior type gang. The kid is almost eaten by a cannibal family. Also around is a group led by Death, who kill a lot. A Wolfman Jack like DJ called The Werewolf, makes announcements. 

This is a weird imaginative independent film influenced by Yojimbo was directed and co-written by Lance Mungiaco. It's entertaining but it could have been better.

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What Day?

THE DAY-2011-This mean spirited nonsense combines elements of THE HUNGER GAMES meets NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD with a splash of 28 DAYS LATER and probably a bit of THE ROAD.

The self important action gore mess has some young survivors of an apocalypse hold up in an abandon house to stave off an army of flesh eating humans (not zombies for a change). Ashley Bell (THE LAST EXORCISM) is Mary, a reformed cannibal out to kill the invading cannibals. But the group doesn't trust her so they wind up torturing her. Eventually she helps them (unsuccessfully) fight the invading horde. Everyone is killed which means nothing since there are no likable characters except Mary who in the final scene decapitates a little girl (ok, so it's a cannibal little girl....). With the usual jerky camera work, overacting and violence.

Dominic Monaghan (THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy) is killed early (he was one of the producers too). 

The director Douglas Aarniokoski was a second unit director on many films before obviously graduating to full director on second rate films.

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End of The World (the first time)

FIVE-1951-This low budget post apocalyptic drama was produced, written and directed by Arch Obler, creator of the radio (and later TV) program LIGHTS OUT.

It concerns the last 5 survivors of a nuclear holocaust. Michael (William Phipps), a poet/philosopher who really doesn't seem to miss mankind, Roseanne (Susan Douglas), a pregnant woman who wants to go to the city to find her husband, Charles (Charles Lampkin), an optimistic African American, Mr. Barnstaple (Earl Lee), a brain addled banker and eventual troublemaker (and bigot) Eric (James Anderson), a European spared because he was on Mt. Everest. Eric (who kind of talks like Paul Burich's alien character in NOT OF THIS EARTH) wants to go to the city on the pretense that there will be more survivors and presents the theory the little group is actually immune to the bomb's radioactivity but he's really only interested in plunder. After the banker dies and Eric reveals himself to be a racist Michael delivers Roseanne's baby. Despite Michael's care and protection Roseanne still clings to the hope that her husband is alive. Stupidly, she agrees to accompany Eric to the city in hopes of finding her husband right before Eric kills Charles. All they find are empty streets, abandoned cars and skeleton remains (including Roseanne's husband). Eric gets radiation poisoning and somehow Roseanne and Michael meet up again but her baby dies. After they bury the baby, Roseanne joins Michael in planting crops (which Eric had deliberately destroyed). The final scene of the couple standing together could signify a new beginning and maybe the end....

FIVE was the first atomic bomb survival and despite the minimal budget the acting pulls this one through despite Eric's weird accent. Actor Anderson would play with more success another bigoted role eleven years later in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Obler made the first feature length 3-D movie BWANA DEVIL next and later made THE TWONKY and THE BUBBLE.

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Wizards

WIZARDS-1977-I realize 1977 was a long time ago but I found this Ralph Bakshi production a little disappointing. It's very crude and cartoonish and I thought some of the voices and characters don't quite mesh with the overall story of two wizard brothers: Avatar, a good guy who uses magic and Blackwolf, who uses the last remains of technology to conquer the post-apocalyptic Earth which resembles Tolkien's Middle Earth. There are elves, fairies, wizard, mutants and strange robots. Avatar is joined by a fairy princess Elinore, the elf warrior Weehawk and a rebel robot named Peace. To get his armies in a frenzy Blackwolf shows his troops WW2 footage including speeches by Hitler. There are some violent scenes but it almost seems to be aimed at children.

Despite some obstacles WIZARDS was a success for Bakshi and it led to him doing the first half of his often criticized THE LORD OF THE RINGS the next year. (the second half was never made).

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No Gas in 2012

TOOTH AND NAIL-2007-In this sort of twist on post-apocalyptic zombie cannibal movies, it seems the world ran out of gasoline in 2012 and civilization collapsed. “The American dream became the American nightmare” says Darwin (Robert Carradine), the bearded egghead who leads a small group of survivors with names like Dakota, Ford, Torino and Yukon in a Philadelphia hospital. He seems very optimistic about “creating a new life” but the rest (except for a little girl who doesn't talk) are the usual bickering self obsessed imbeciles. When a new girl Nova (Emily Catherine Young) arrives things seem to deteriorate but she has a secret. 

Later on Michael Madsen shows up as Jackal, the leader of The Rovers, a group of cannibalistic nomads. The twist here I guess is that the flesh eaters are human not zombies. The dialogue is terrible, the action scenes too dark and some of gore effects too phony. Vinnie Jones (X MEN:LAST STAND) has a small role. Director Mark Young made THE KILLING JAR (also with Madsen) after this. I never saw so many producers on one movie! 

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9

9-2009-In a post-apocalyptic world where machines revolted against man and destroyed everything, little snitched together doll like beings (with  numbers on their backs) inhabit the gigantic ruins. One little renegade, 9 (voice of Elijah Wood) looks for answers and tries to save 2 (voice of Martin Landau) but he accidentally unleashes a machine called The Brain which seems to have been created by a Nazi like leader, The Chancellor. Recent Academy Award winner Christopher Plummer voices 1, the leader of the group who would rather stay in hiding than fight. Jennifer Connelly is 7 and Crispin Glover and John C. Reilly also lend their vocals talents. 


This is a cool animated Sci-Fi fantasy from debuting director Shane Acker who had previously done short films. 


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Was The Book Better?

THE BOOK OF ELI-2010-In this strange big budget post-apocalyptic movie co-producer Denzel Washington is Eli, a violent loner trekking across the devastated US protecting a secret sacred book.

From what he says it seems to be....The Bible!

He kills a lot of scum with a sword, gun and bow and arrow and talks about "the war" and a "hole in the sky". He enters a town run by Carnegie (Gary Oldman) who controls the water supply and is searching for the book Eli is conveniently coveting. After more killing he leaves the town with Solara (Mila Kunis) with Carnegie in hot pursuit. Michael Gambon and Frances del la Tour play a helpful cannibal couple. It's well directed but the story drags despite the killings and the surprise conclusion isn't really worth the wait (although you do get Malcolm McDowell in an un-credited role!). Also with Jennifer Beals, Tom Waits and Ray Stevenson.

The directing brother team of Allen and Albert Hughes had previously made FROM HELL, DEAD PRESIDENTS and MENACE II SOCIETY.

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