‘That’s too much lipstick and not enough napalm.’
The Oil Wars provoke a shortage of fuel and food, leading to society’s collapse. The military struggles to control the cities, while out in the badlands, a renegade Colonel enforces his rule with a reign of violence and terror…
Post-apocalyptic action in rural New Zealand, courtesy of co-writer and director Harley Cokeliss. Michael Beck dons the leathers to go up against ruthless warlord James Wainwright and his private army.
As the world we know starts tumbling into anarchy, outside the cities, the rule of law does not exist. Lone wolf Hunter (Beck) lives in isolation, refusing invitations to join the nearby rural community of ‘Clearwater’, whose residents grow their own food. Travelling one day on his motorbike, Hunter sees runaway Coralie (Annie McEnroe) being pursued by soldiers under the command of Col Jakob Straker (Wainwright). Rescuing the girl, he drops her off at ‘Clearwater’, telling her to ask for mechanic Rusty (John Ratzenberger) for shelter.
However, Wainwright is still after her and attacks the community in his fearsome battle truck, an armoured vehicle complete with machine guns. The farmers have no chance against his small army, but McEnroe manages to escape and seeks out Beck. Reluctantly, he agrees to help, but the couple is betrayed by traitorous farmer Judd (Randy Powell). Beck’s home is destroyed, and McEnroe is captured, leaving Beck to join up with the members of ‘Clearwater’ and take the fight to Wainwright.
Considering the timing of this film’s release and the plot specifics, tagging this as the first rip-off of George Miller’s ‘Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior’ (1981) is a given. However, the two films were in production simultaneously and ‘Max’ only made it into cinemas first by a few weeks. Director Cokeliss has always denied any connection between the two projects, and it’s fair to say that, plot aside, they don’t have that much in common. Of course, the original ‘Mad Max’ (1979) had already become a cult favourite, and it’s possible that Cokeliss and his team knew a sequel was in the works.
However, this is generally a more grounded vision of the future than its more famous counterpart. Cokeliss doesn’t attempt to build a heroic mythology around his lead character, either, and there are no outlandish costumes or bizarre villains. Although the Western has often been cited as an inspiration for Miller’s film, it’s perhaps even more appropriate here, with the action winding up with Beck pursuing Wainwright’s truck on his motorbike and jumping aboard, much like a hero might leap aboard a train or a stagecoach (although to be fair, he does take his bike with him!) Of course, the climax is not the tour de force of the closing chase from Miller’s film, but perhaps it’s unfair to compare the two any further.
The more realistic approach is laudable, of course. However, the absence of the wilder conceits of the many post-apocalyptic films to come means it lacks some of their entertainment value. It’s certainly a better film than most of them, particularly on the production side, but it’s not as much fun. One of its most impressive aspects is the battle truck itself, a heavy metal leviathan of the empty highway, roaring like a hungry beast. Sadly, there’s little to it than its striking appearance. There are a few electronic screens in the cab, but armaments seem to consist entirely of Wainwright’s men firing machine guns out of slits in the armoured sides. Similarly, Beck’s ride and helmet might look vaguely futuristic, but it is just a motorbike. However, these facts didn’t deter the distributors, who saddled the film with highly creative poster artwork, playing up a hi-tech science-fiction angle that barely existed.
Beck and McEnroe make for a fairly colourless leading couple, leaving the drama resting on the shoulders of Wainwright, who is quite superb as the renegade Colonel. Unfailingly polite, friendly and courteous, he’s still cold and utterly ruthless, without conscious or scruples. It’s a fine performance, assisted by the fact that the script takes pain to show him as an efficient military commander with a fine grasp of strategy. However, this makes the final quarter of an hour all the more disappointing when the script suddenly has him running away from a single man on a motorbike in his mighty truck and making decisions so stupid that he seems to have turned off his brain.
There’s a little subtext about the conflict between dictatorship and democracy if you look hard enough, as all important decisions in ‘Clearwater’ are taken with an open vote. This is contrasted with the supreme authority of Wainwright, but wisely the theme isn’t allowed to distract from the main story. Unfortunately, the virtues of the commune are presented rather clumsily and without apparent irony or humour. Before voting on McEnroe’s candidacy to join, we see her reading the ‘Cinderella’ story to a group of lovable pre-schoolers. It’s not exactly subtle.
What may linger longest in the memory, though, are the beautiful New Zealand landscapes captured by some truly gorgeous cinematography. They look genuinely otherworldly at times and make a highly credible setting for a post-apocalyptic adventure. The quality of the work here is a real surprise until you realise that this is a ‘before they were famous’ moment. The man behind the camera was Chris Menges, who would have two Oscars on his mantelpiece by the end of the decade for his exemplary work on ‘The Killing Fields’ (1984) and ‘The Mission’ (1986). He has gone on to win multiple other awards in almost 40 years since. In the same vein, the boom operator on the project was none other than Lee Tamahori, who is somewhat better known today as the director of James Bond adventure ‘Die Another Day’ (2002).
Beck was a hot property coming off Walter Hill’s ‘The Warriors (1979), but his possible elevation to the Hollywood ‘A’ list was derailed by his participation in the box office disaster ‘Xanadu’ (1980). Playing second fiddle to Olivia Newton John’s Greek muse with a love of roller disco was not the best of career choices. Post-apocalyptic New Zealand probably seemed like a good idea after lip-synching Cliff Richard’s part in a sappy love duet. Unfortunately, he buried his chance at big screen stardom for good by signing up as Barry Bostwick’s lieutenant for ‘Megaforce’ (1982). It was another big-budget flop and would be a ‘so bad; it’s good’ tentpole if it wasn’t so incredibly boring. After a couple more features, he drifted into made-for-television films and guest slots on hit network shows like ‘Murder, She Wrote’, ‘Babylon 5’, ‘Diagnosis: Murder’ and ‘Walker, Texas Ranger.’ At the time of writing, his last screen role was in 2015.
Very professionally made with outstanding cinematography, but with little else to make it memorable.
Mark David Welsh 