Bronx Warriors Box Set
Enzo G Castellari, director of many classic Italian Exploitation movies such as The Last Shark and Bronx Warriors, has been thrust into the limelight thanks to a certain Quentin Tarantino reworking Castellari's Inglorious Bastards. Shameless DVD are releasing three of Castellari's best known films, remastered and uncut... Bronx Warriors Starring: Mark Gregory, Vic Morrow, Fred Williamson, Christopher Connelly, Stefania Girolami, Joshua Sinclair, Betty Dessy Synopsis: New York, 1990: The Bronx is a lawless, no-man’s-land, where the streetgangs are left to their own devices. Into this wasteland flees Ann, future heir of the biggest weapons manufacturer in the world. After falling into the clutches of a rollerskating, hockey stick-wielding gang called The Zombies, Ann is rescued by Trash, leader of The Riders, a motorcycle gang. Meanwhile the corporation needs their heir back, so they send Hammer (Morrow), a psychotic ex-cop, to stir things up, especially between The Ogre (Williamson), self-styled king of the Bronx, and Trash... Review: Italian exploitation cinema tended to feed off whatever trend was coming out of the USA at the time. In the early ‘80s, that trend was a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by lethal streetgangs and motorcycle warriors. Films such as Escape from New York, Mad Max and The Warriors had a big effect on the period and genre directors such as Lucio Fulci (Rome 2027) and Ruggero Deodato (Atlantis Interceptors) were getting in on the act. However it is Enzo G Castellari’s Bronx Warriors which made the most impact. Bronx Warriors begins with a stylish credit sequence showing off the various weaponry (spiked elbow pads! Razor sharp finger thingys!) before introducing us to Ann, a rather strange blonde who is running into the most dangerous part of new York. Shortly after she is attacked by the Zombies and rescued by the Riders, led by Trash (Mark Gregory). Mark Gregory was cast for his well-toned body. I guess it was only on set that people suddenly realised that the guy couldn’t act and it was too late to do anything about it. The guy shows absolutely no emotion at any stage of the film. He looks like he has difficulty just walking and talking. Luckily this fails to derail the movie. The real bad-guys of the movie are nameless suits, executives of the company Ann is running away from. They hire The Hammer, played by Vic Morrow, who infiltrates the Bronx and sets about starting a gang war between Trash and The Ogre, played by Fred Williamson. Modern audiences will be familiar with Fred from his turn in From Dusk til Dawn (“I was in ‘Nam...”) but he starred in countless Italian exploitation movies during the ‘80s, including New Barbarians, also included in the boxset. It has to be said that Fred Williams is the main reason Mark Gregory looks so bad. When you compare Fred’s fight scenes (fast, complex, well-choreographed) to those that Trash is involved in, which seem like Morris dance routines. Bronx Warriors is peppered with genre actors who will be very familiar to most 80’s horror and action movie aficionados. George Eastman stars as head of the Zombies and looks miles better here than in Anthropothagus, while Christopher Connelly has popped up in a number of 80’s Italian flicks such as Fulci’s Manhattan Baby and Deodato’s Atlantis Interceptors. Here he plays Hotdog, a loner who finds himself working for The Hammer. The most interesting character though is The Witch, a henchwoman of The Ogre. A leggy long-haired blonde played by Betty Dessy in her only screen role, The Witch has a great set of weaponry in the shape of razor-sharp finger-covers and her trusty whip which she uses to good effect. Overall the film is very entertaining. Packed with colourful characters, even though the main couple are pretty awful, and quite well-plotted. Bronx Warriors 2 – Escape From the Bronx Directed by: Enzo G Castellari Starring: Mark Gregory, Henry Silva, Timothy Brent Synopsis: Following the events of the first film, Trash is now a loner with a heavy bounty on his back. He spends his days trading weapons and ammunition and avoiding police patrols. The Corporation decides to use The Bronx as choice real-estate and hires ex-Prison Warden Floyd Wrangler (Silva) to “evict” the current tenants (by bursting in on them and flame-throwering them to a crispy death). When Trash’s parents fall victim to the “Disinfestors”, he decides to join up with an underground movement and take the war to the Corporation. Review: Bronx Warriors proved to be something of a surprise hit all round, and director Enzo Castellari had already started production of New Barbarians by the time word arrived of the previous film’s success. A sequel – a better funded sequel, at that – was inevitable. The first thing to note with this sequel is that Mark Gregory’s acting skills have improved a lot. Here he actually manages to emote quite. The production crew got their hands on some pyrotechnics too – although this wasn’t perhaps used in the most realistic manner. Witness Trash managing to shoot down a police helicopter in the opening section, armed only with a revolver... Story-wise, Castellari keeps the bleak edginess that the original movie had, so that you are never sure how things will wind up as a number of key cast-members get killed off at regular intervals.Henry Silva, a stalwart of tv shows, westerns, and thrillers, adds a bit of class as evil henchman Floyd, likening the people he’s massacring to rats, whom he has to “disinfest” for the new landowners. He makes for a perfectly hissable villain here. Verdict: The films themselves are definitely worthy of the attention of anyone who’s enjoyed The Warriors or Escape from New York, however Shameless have put together an excellent package which is worth more than the sum of its parts. Not only do all the films look excellent in their remastered state, but there are a number of extras which also add value. The Shameless commentary track is in face a series of facts about the movies which appear at the bottom of the screen and provide a wealth of facts from naming cast members, pointing out goofs and naming locations, as well as answering the question anyone who’s seen Bronx Warriors wants to know: what’s with the drummer? Also included on the discs are a treasure trove of trailers, some of which are just...jaw dropping. Individual films – 7 out of 10 Box Set – 8 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)
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