Post Apocalypse Worlds An interesting film from the 1970's, part of a string of movies -- such as SOYLENT GREEN, THE OMEGA MAN, DAMNATION ALLEY, A BOY AND HIS DOG,etc. --which deal with civilization after some violent cataclysm. Yul Brynner was no spring chicken when he did this role but performs well. Max Von Sydow as the Baron (originally it was to been called THE BARONEY) delivers as a man struggling to keep the people in his charge from being overcome by the violent forces outside his compound and from extinction. Then there is Big Bill Smith. Has anyone ever played better-- and more -- crazed over the edge psychos than this son of a gun? I think not. In an interview he said that in his death scene, while rats ran over him, one actually crapped in his mouth. Now that's taking one for the team!
Brynner is Coooooooooooool. I picked up this movie on VHS and hadn't seen it since I was a kid. I must say that I still like the movie. Some of that may be a nostalgia thing and some of it is simply because of Yul Brynner being super cool and also William Smith as the menacing villian. Max Von Sydow is also one of my favorite actors. But I must say this movie looks like an early 70's made for TV movie. The settings look really fake and like they are on the studio lot and a stock city setting. Some of the acting is also just horrible. But the top three guys make it worth watching and if you are a fan of this time period and this genre I think you will like this film.
I love this film because of William Smith I love this film. While somewhat disjointed at times, truly some bad editing, it is one of those guilty pleasures, at least one of mine anyway. When I first saw it I was smitten with the actor who played the villian Carrot, William Smith, who is a very under appreciated actor, and have been a fan ever since. Max Von Sydow is also good as Baron and gives a performance that makes you feel sorry for the position he's in. Don't get me wrong I like Yul Brynner, I saw him onstage in the King and I back in the early eighties, but director Robert Clouse did not write the role of Carson for him so to me he is completely out of his element with this role. he just does not embrace the part and I think the film might have done better had Warner Brothers cast someone else in the part. Overall this film laid some of the ground work for later films of this type, including "Mad Max." If you watch it please do it to see William Smith he is great in this part and it is one of his best villian roles. I'd love to see this released on DVD with extras.
Just release the bloody DVD already.. By the time they stop the legal wrangling anyone interested in this film will be dead.
And yes it is an interesting film...but where is the DVD? They must be having a real ball with the pathetic legal dispute that is hobbling the release. Why not transfer the original on to DVD, see how it fares and then squabble over the dollars? The film has a solid story, good actors (hey, there's Yul Brynner and Max Von Sydow working it as hard as they can). The director, Robert Clouse, creates an authentic nuclear winter look and employs his skills as an action / actor's director to give gravitas to a Twilight Zone type story. It needs to be out there and in widescreen because some of these "B movies" offer something new films don't - personality and originality.
The Ultimate Yul Brynner... I am still waiting for the DVD. A decent transfer in its original scope of 1.85:1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono sound would be in order.
For now let me just say that I am reviewing an old VHS tape I already own since 1988.
Besides considering the poorer picture quality for this medium, compared to today's normal standards, the movie is flawless.
The entire movie is shot with tan colored tints using filters and gels, in order to add and enhance the feeling of a post-apocalyptic world which has turned into a wasteland, like a desert.
Within this desert is a small suburban island, sort of an isolated oasis, with its own tiny feudal government and a its governor (Max von Sydow).
This tiny spot, well secluded from the outside "savage and brutal" world, is the only "civilized" corner still left on the planet, but like in Heaven, there is always the Hellish side.
They need food and materials to keep this oasis functioning.
There is a catch though. For some time The Baron (the said Max von Sydow), is aware that sooner or later the outside world will catch up with them and destroy all they have worked for.
In order to defend this tiny jewel of his, he needs the help of a "specialist", a professional savage, a warrior.
This warrior appears one day out of nowhere, almost as a Messianic appearance, standing tall and still in the outskirts of town. This warrior is none else than Yul Brynner.
To ascertain whether he would be the ideal candidate to become the "Lord Protector" of this tiny Realm, he is indirectly put to the test by forcing him to cross a dangerous zone dividing the two worlds, where hoodlums and killers of any kind are lurking in hiding for a sure kill.
This is just the beginning of the movie and I won't reveal any more than this, so not to spoil the pleasure of watching the rest unfolding.
Be it enough to say that there are lots of surprises in the plot and some very dramatic moments, as well as a very acute eeriness pervading the entire movie.
The final fight scene is a true Clash of Titans, happening in a dark and abandoned subway station, closely reflecting some mythological themes regarding the underworld. The resolution is almost as mythical as the rest of the story.
This is far more than a Mad Max movie. It is so realistically construed that one could be reminded to some streets in New Orleans after the Great Storm had wiped everything flat and left desolation and abandoned buildings everywhere.
This movie is not an action movie in the truest sense of the word, nor is it a totally impossible story of Science Fiction. It is far more a social study, as well as being a very good character study, about the human condition when put into harsh and hostile conditions.
The cast, including Yul Brynner's antithesis, monumentally played by William Smith, and the sweet, but nevertheless, strong female lead, played by the skillful Joanna Miles, is impeccable and well-balanced for a movie of this kind.
I still like this movie, far more than Soylent Green, although even there, especially in the scenes played by Edward G. Robinson, you could sense how a possible world of tomorrow could look like, if we are not more respectful to nature and to ourselves.
Someone also mentioned The Omega Man, but while Omega was a vehicle for Charlton Heston to keep him afloat and into money, The Barony, or as I like to call it, The Ultimate Warrior, is a serious approach to themes such as survival of the fittest and the fight of the wisest against pure brute force.
Despite the lack of lavish CGI special effects and a modern fight scene standard (which today is a bit overdone, and almost ridiculous - how many times has one to kick somebody in the ribs before he kills him? -), this is a small jewel of filmmaking, still done when movies were still movies, rather than being cheap and mindless imitations of computer games.
This is a movie for the thinking and serious movie buff, who by entertainment means to watch actors doing what they do best: to act.
As said before, if treated in a DVD edition, it would be an even superior pleasure, watching this tiny gem.
Alas, at least for the time being, we have to be content with the VHS "cropped" version, but since the story is not dragged around, it grips the viewer at every turn and holds him clinging in his/her armchair or sofa, always wanting to know more.
Will our heroes make it, or won't they, and believe me, there are moments in which you truly start to wonder about it, right to the end.
So be curious and be surprised.
It is money truly well spent, and hopefully, this money spent by you, will go into a fund to polish a pristine copy of the film, in order to transfer it finally, in digital format, onto a disc.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
