Warrior of the Lost World
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| Warrior of the Lost World | |
|---|---|
 The original film poster |
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| Directed by | David Worth |
| Produced by | Roberto Bessi Frank Hildebrand |
| Written by | David Worth |
| Starring | Robert Ginty Persis Khambatta Donald Pleasence Fred Williamson Harrison Mueller Sr. Bruno Bilotta |
| Music by | Daniele Patucchi |
| Cinematography | Giancarlo Ferrando |
| Editing by | Cesare D'Amico |
| Distributed by | Visto International Inc. |
| Release date(s) | September 1985 (USA) |
| Running time | 92 min. |
| Country |  Italy |
| Language | English |
| Budget | Unknown |
| Gross revenue | Unknown |
| IMDb profile | |
Warrior of the Lost World, also known as Mad Rider, is a post-apocalyptic science fiction film written and directed by David Worth starring Robert Ginty, Persis Khambatta, and Donald Pleasence. It was created and first released in Italy under the title Il Giustiziere della terra perduta ("The executioner of the lost earth") in 1983 during the wide popularity of the Mad Max films and many subsequently created post-apocalyptic films of the 1980s. Later the movie was given another italian title for VHS and Tv markets, I predatori dell'anno Omega ("Raiders of the Omega year")
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[edit] Synopsis
The film opens with a Star Wars style text crawl giving a background to the story:
- "THE NUCLEAR WAR HAS BEEN FOUGHT!!! THE EARTH IS IN RUINS!!! ALL GOVERNMENTS HAVE COLLAPSED!!! AN EVIL DESPOT NAMED PROSSOR HAS ORGANIZED A DEADLY MILITIA TO RULE, CALLED THE OMEGA. IN THE WASTELANDS SURVIVE A SMALL GROUP CALLED THE OUTSIDERS. THEY STRUGGLE AGAINST THE EVIL PROSSOR AND HIS OMEGAS. INTO THIS CONFLICT RIDES ONE MAN, ON HIS SUPERSONIC SPEEDCYCLE.. HE IS DESTINED TO BECOME THE WARRIOR OF THE LOST WORLD"
Some other releases show this other longer introduction:
- "In another time,in a distant land... Generations after the radiation wars and the collapse of nations, government, finance, and communications, there came into existence a new Dark Age of Tyranny.
- As each Sector adapted its' own rules for survival, the evil despot PROSSOR brought to power a Congress to enforce his "Laws and Obligations" and armed a deadly Militia, The Omega, to destroy the Outsiders who were trying to establish a more tolerant society- The New Way.
- The region beyond the control of The Omega is the Wasteland, a forbidden zone populated by roving tribes of desperate Marginals who engage in a barbaric struggle for territory and survival.
- Meanwhile, high in the mountains, living among the ruins of past civilizations, dwells a small group of Mystics called the Enlightened Elders. It is here that the Outsiders, led by McWAYNE and his daughter NASTASIA gain inspiration in their struggle against PROSSOR and The Omega.
- Now, into this time of conflict and rebellion, astride his supersonic speedcycle, rides one man... a fearless survivor, who was destined to become the...Warrior of the Lost world"
The Rider arrives in the land on his technically advanced motorcycle with its loyal intelligent computer Einstein. He crashes and manages to pass through the wall of illusion and is found and healed by the Enlightened Elders who have chosen him to lead them in their fight against the evil Omega, an Orwellian state run by the evil despot Prossor. The Elders are allied with the resistance movement, the Outsiders. The Rider first helps Nastasia and the other Outsiders by rescuing McWayne, father of Nastasia and professor and leader of the Outsiders, from Prossor's clutches. While the Rider and McWayne successfully escape, Nastasia is captured and tortured by Prossor.
The Rider gains acceptance from various groups of Marginals (amazons, martial artists, truckers, punks, soldiers, Omega defectors) by winning in their ritual brawl which determines who among them is the strongest. The Rider and Outsiders launch their final attack on Prossor's regime, but are intercepted on the road by the Omegas and a giant armored truck called Megaweapon. As the rebels terminate the Omega patrols one by one with their cars, helicopters, and tankers (with very few losses), the Rider manages to destroy the Megaweapon sending it in short circuit, not before having his speedcycle heavily damaged under the wheels of the truck. The Rider and McWayne storm Prossor's headquarters where they are confronted by the dictator and a brainwashed Nastasia. She wounds the Rider, but when ordered to kill her father, she turns on Prossor and shoots him dead. The Omega has been overthrown and Outsiders and Marginals celebrate as the Rider prepares to move on with the repaired speedcycle. Only in a last-minute twist, it is revealed that the man Nastasia shot was actually a clone, and the real Prossor is still alive. He flies away with an unnamed traitor of the New Way (Fred Williamson) plotting revenge against the "animals" that defeated him.
[edit] Megaweapon and Mystery Science Theater 3000
Megaweapon, an armored truck, was created by the Omegas to enforce their law on the lawless roads of the post-apocalyptic world. The truck has spikes on the front and shoots fire. It was stopped by the Rider by sabotaging the circuitry in the underbelly causing it to short-circuit.
When Warrior of the Lost World was featured on Episode #501 of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Joel Robinson, Crow T. Robot, and Tom Servo found the Rider to be so unlikeable a character that they cheered for Megaweapon instead. At the episode's end, they called Megaweapon by telephone, and Megaweapon (voice of Michael J. Nelson) revealed "he" had survived apparent destruction in the film and, like the crew, could not remember the name of the actor who played Rider (As a running gag throughout the episode, the actor (Robert Ginty) was referred to by the crew only as "the Paper Chase guy." Megaweapon claimed that Ginty's fellow actors used this nickname as well). Megaweapon was occasionally referred to in the riffs of later episodes, such as Episode #614 with San Francisco International.
[edit] Analysis
Like many post-apocalyptic films of the time, this film borrows heavily from the style and themes of Mad Max 2. The Rider is a cynical leather-clad wandering outlaw with a customized vehicle who at first shows little interest in helping in the fight against evil. The Marginals's groups have themed clothing and their vehicles are customized or scavenged vehicles. There is a large road battle between the Outsiders and the Omegas that is influenced not only by the climactic road battle in Mad Max 2, but also by the chase scenes of Raiders of the lost ark.
Donald Pleasence who portrays Prossor wears similar clothing he wore when he portrayed Blofeld in the 1967 film You Only Live Twice.
The Omega state is ultra-fascist in an Orwellian manner. The black-clad Omega soldiers have pale and blank faces, they wear black helmets, and their black pursuit vehicles have spikes in the front. The Omega is fashioned after Nazi Germany. Their symbolic banner is similar to the Nazi flag. It is a completely red triangle with a white circle in the center that has the Greek Omega letter inside. Only one Omega soldier speaks with a Germanic accent at the very end. Curiously, even some mercenaries that side with the New Way have Nazi signs and clothing, and directly related to the Third Reich.
This movie is well known also for the great quantity of goofs spread all over its length, including dead characters that pop up alive and well in other subsequent scenes, rebels and soldiers that hit enemies very distant to the reach of their bullets, the helicopter stolen by McWayne and the Warrior that reappears in the curtain of Omega's city and then returns in the hands of the rebellion, the Omega soldiers that despite patrolling the city in great number fail to notice a group of rebels behind them, etc.
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
It was featured as the first episode of the fifth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
It is said Writer/Director David Worth was hired to write and direct the movie with the caveat that whatever movie he made would match the already-produced ad campaign.
