| Warrior of the Lost World | |
|---|---|
The original film poster |
|
| Directed by | David Worth |
| Produced by | Roberto Bessi Frank Hildebrand Tim Ubels Ben Moerman Ben Keizer |
| 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 minutes |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $500,000 |
Warrior of the Lost World (also known as Mad Rider) is a 1983 Italian 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 television markets, I predatori dell'anno Omega ("Raiders of the Omega year")
The Rider arrives on his advanced motorcycle with its artificial intelligence computer Einstein. He crashes but manages to pass through the 'wall of illusion' and is found and brought back to health by the Enlightened Elders. They have chosen him to lead their fight against the evil Omega, an Orwellian state run by the evil Prossor. The Elders are allied with the resistance movement, the Outsiders. The Rider first helps Nastasia and the other Outsiders by rescuing McWayne, Nastasia's father and leader of the Outsiders. While the Rider and McWayne successfully escape, Nastasia is captured and tortured by Prossor.
The Rider gains acceptance from various Marginals (amazons, martial artists, truckers, punks, soldiers, Omega defectors) by winning in the ritual brawl which determines who is the strongest. The Rider and the Outsiders launch their final attack on Prossor's regime, but are intercepted by the Omegas and a giant armored truck, called Megaweapon. As the rebels destroy the Omega patrols with their cars (Ford Taunus TCs), helicopters and tankers, the Rider manages to destroy the Megaweapon by short circuiting it, but not before his speedcycle is destroyed under the truck's wheels. The Rider and McWayne storm Prossor's headquarters where they face the dictator and a brainwashed Nastasia. She wounds the Rider, but when ordered to kill her father, she rebels, turns on Prossor and shoots him instead. The Omega has been overthrown and the Outsiders and Marginals celebrate as the Rider prepares to move on with his repaired speedcycle.
In a last-minute twist, it is revealed that the man Nastasia shot was actually a cyborg 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.
Warrior of the Lost World was the first episode of the fifth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000. A recurring joke is that the crew can't remember the lead actor Robert Ginty's name, referring to him as "the Paper Chase guy." The crew also find the voice of the speedcycle's display screen so irritating that they cheer when it is destroyed by Megaweapon, referring to Megaweapon onwards as "the only good thing in this movie" and even giving Megaweapon a phone call after watching the movie.
The MST3K version of the movie was released on DVD by Shout! Factory in December 2009 as part of the Volume 16 box set. The DVD includes an interview with director David Worth, who discussed the making of the movie (his directorial debut). Worth previously appeared at the first ConventioCon ExpoFest-A-Rama in 1994, and describes himself as a fan of the show.