1990: The Bronx Warriors/1990: I guerrieri del Bronx (1982)

‘Besides, the sucker was carrying a gizmo…’

In the near future of 1990, the police have withdrawn from the Bronx, leaving it in the hands of warring gangs. A young rich girl on the run takes refuge with one group, but the authorities are desperate to retrieve her at any cost…

Italian exploitation riff on hit film ‘The Warriors’ (1979), with a little seasoning courtesy of John Carpenter’s ‘Escape from New York’ (1981). Enzo G Castellari co-writes, directs and rounds up some of the usual suspects to support new stars Mark Gregory and Stefania Girolami.

The Bronx has become an urban wasteland, abandoned by the authorities and left to the street gangs. However, the all-powerful Manhattan Corporation take an interest when they discover that their founder’s daughter, Ann (Girolami), has fled into its maze of vacant lots and burned-out buildings. When she’s attacked by members of a gang known as the Zombies, she is saved by Trash (Gregory), leader of the Bikers, and the two fall in love.

Desperate to retrieve her before she comes of age and takes control of the Corporation, Samuel Fisher (Ennio Girolami) and the firm’s Vice-President (director Castellari) decide to take extreme measures. Despite his infamous reputation, they task rogue cop Hammer (Vic Morrow) with the job of bringing her back. However, she is kidnapped by the Zombies, and Gregory must cross the territories of other gangs to reach her, including the one ruled by The Ogre (Fred Williamson), the self-styled ‘King of the Bronx.’

Conceived by producer Fabrizio De Angelis as a response to the surprising success of Walter Hill’s tale of New York street gangs, this project inches into Science Fiction territory by lifting the basic premise of Carpenter’s ‘Escape from New York’ (1981). However, it’s not that Manhattan Island has become a maximum security prison; instead, it’s a far more nebulous setup, with one of the five boroughs simply abandoned by the authorities due to gang violence. Left to their own devices, the residents have resorted to the law of the jungle. Beyond its borders, the police are run by the sinister Manhattan Corporation, but that’s about as complex as the back story gets. Unfortunately, this lack of detail is reflected in other aspects of the story.

Ultimately, though, world-building is not something that concerns director Castellari. He’s here to supply action and that he delivers, staging tightly choreographed hand-to-hand fight sequences, stunts, gun battles and bloody violence. After over fifteen years in the canvas seat, he knows his business, framing shots to create striking visuals and keeping a tight grip on the narrative to ensure the results rarely drag. The New York locations are also well-chosen, and Castellari cuts back and forth between those and material shot in Rome, often many times in a single scene. This is accomplished with such skill that it’s virtually seamless.

There are also some pleasingly quirky elements, even if they are somewhat overplayed. An effort was made to give each gang in the Bronx its own identity, resulting in some dubious, if undeniably entertaining, choices. The Zombies are a gang of Roller Hockey players fighting on skates, in crash helmets, and wielding metal sticks. Their leader, man mountain Golan (George Eastman, soon to be a familiar face in this kind of enterprise), instead favours a topknot and silk kimono ensemble and runs what would look like a dojo if it wasn’t for the rollerskating hockey players! On the other hand, Williamson’s ‘Tigers’ seem to have wandered in from a Blaxploitation feature, marrying a 1970s aesthetic with gangster fashions of the 1930s, accentuated by their taste for vintage automobiles. His right-hand woman, Witch (Betty Dessy), looks like she’d be at home at a 1920s garden party, provided it was held in an S&M Club.

Best of all, though, are the Iron Men, a troupe of expressionless guys in face paint and metal bowler hats who combine tap dance with martial arts and are led by the wonderful Carla Brait. In contrast, the Bikers look pretty much as you’d expect: sunglasses, bandanas and black leather, although they have skull headlamps on their bikes. All of this is pretty silly, of course, but it’s a lot of fun, and the outrageous costumes have led to comparisons with ‘Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior’ (1981), although that notion doesn’t bear close examination. Similarly, the film is permanently tagged as ‘Post Apocalyptic’ but, strictly speaking, despite the obvious stylistic trappings, that’s not true. From the information we’re given, the world outside of the Bronx is operating normally, and no reference is ever made to a global catastrophe or widespread societal breakdown.

Unfortunately, all the film’s good points don’t entirely make up for some significant flaws. The most obvious are the weak performances of leads Gregory and Girolami. The script doesn’t give them much to work with, but their relationship as star-crossed lovers never convinces and robs proceedings of any emotional core. Gregory, in particular, is awkward at times (dig his strange walk!), but given that he came straight from the gym to star in the film, that’s pretty understandable. Neither is bad by any means, but their combined lack of charisma is a severe handicap.

The rest of the cast is also stuck in underwritten roles that have zero character development. Morrow is the proverbial ‘loose cannon’ who grew up in the Bronx and seems to have a personal grudge against everyone living there.  However, we never find out why and, in the end, his performance disintegrates into the kind of maniacal laughter episode favoured by many a mad movie villain. His reluctant partner in crime is Hot Dog (Christopher Connelly), who prowls the ruined streets in the detached cab of a semi-truck for no apparent reason. It’s hinted that he’s some kind of black marketeer, but that’s all we get. Still, the two share a dialogue scene (apparently improvised), which is a textbook example of ‘less is more’. They’re only overshadowed by the imperious Williamson, who is so effortlessly cool throughout that it should be registered as a crime.

Unfortunately, the plot never surprises, and nothing develops in a very creative or exciting way. The lack of detail mentioned earlier is also a problem, highlighted by the seemingly muddled motivation of our corporate villains. Girolami has escaped to the Bronx because she doesn’t want to take over the Manhattan Corporation, which deals in weapons and other unsavoury shenanigans. It’s understandable that she doesn’t want to be involved with all that, although couldn’t she change things if she was in charge? And, as she disappeared off the grid, why do they want to get her back? Wouldn’t it be better just to leave her there? It’s a little frustrating when just a few lines of dialogue (however generic or even borderline implausible) could have straightened out these issues.

This production was quite a family affair for Castellari. Leading lady Giroilami is his daughter, Ennio Girolami his brother and Massimo Vanni, who did much of the excellent stunt choreography, is one of his cousins. Vanni also portrays Blade, a member of Gregory’s gang, most of whom were played by real-life Hells Angels. Most were apparently unimpressed with Gregory, although his lieutenant Ice (Joshua Sinclair) fits in well. Whatever the film’s faults, it was a significant international hit at the box office and on video home rental later. It paved the way for a sequel, somewhat inevitably called ‘Escape from the Bronx/Fuga dal Bronx’ (1983).

Before this film, Stefania Girolami had only one other significant acting credit, a supporting role in her father’s film ‘The Last Shark/L’ultimo squalo’ (1981), which was pulled from American theatres due to its alleged resemblance to some other long-forgotten movie about a shark. After a handful of further acting credits, she moved behind the camera, first as an assistant director on her father’s films, but then working in a similar capacity on American projects such as the ill-fated ‘Super Mario Brothers’ (1993) and the far better regarded ‘Empire Records’ (1997). She also worked on television shows ‘Dawson’s Creek’ and the underappreciated ‘American Gothic’. Her greatest success has been as a producer and director for Italian television, helming hundreds of episodes of the popular shows ‘Sottocasa’ and ‘Agrodolce.’

There is much to like in this straightforward action romp if you leave some of your more critical faculties at the door.