In yet another savage, desolate, society-has-gone-completely-down-the-toilet after the Big Nuclear Blast wasteland, only five super-warriors -- the humane, trustworthy Nisus (Al Cliver, acting tough and sturdy with customary earnest conviction), dorky joker Jab (the extremely obnoxious Harrison Mueller), surly Cro-Magnon Catch Dog (sneering Daniel Stephen), quiet, but deadly Asian kung fu specialist Red Wolfe (lithe'n'limber Al Yamanouchi) and rugged survivalist Halakron (the solid Peter Hooten) -- are left to tame the new wild frontier and clean up the repulsive mutated trash making life difficult for all those decent folks attempting to rebuild civilization amid the barren rubble. Catch Dog gets booted from the group after he tries to force himself sexually on the feisty Maida (strongly played by the lovely, willowy blonde Sabrina Siani, who hefts a mean pump shotgun and can kick a** just as well as any dude). Nisus and Maida settle down with a peaceful group who are holed up at an oil refinery. Things are just ducky until a horde of foul, brutish, fascistic motorcycle-riding rape and murder happy Nazi marauders led by the evil, bald, power-crazed Hitler-like despot the Black One (a wonderfully quirky, scenery-gulping slice of ice-cold camp villainy from good ol' "Dr. Butcher" himself, Donal O'Brien), who has the traitorous Catch Dog in his employ as a flunky, come storming into town demanding all of the refinery's fuel. Nisus eats it early on, so it's up to Jab, Red Wolfe, and Halakron to take care of the Black One and his horrible cronies.
Reuniting several cast and crew members from the enjoyable, but slightly blah "Endgame" (Michele Soavi even returns to handle assistant director chores again), "2020: Texas Gladiators" rates as a sizable improvement, thanks to more focused, straightforward plotting and punchier pacing. Joe D'Amato's direction is strictly workmanlike, but fortunately still competent enough to create a grimly greasy'n'grungy atmospheric tone and satisfyingly deliver the necessary blood-spraying, butt-pulping, bullets a firing and bodies a falling action goods, with countless extras getting randomly snuffed at pleasingly regular intervals. Alex Carver's crafty script neatly tweaks standard raucous, rowdy, rollicking Western movie conventions, cleverly updating the plot of "The Magnificent Seven" to a gritty, bombed-out "Road Warrior"-style post-nuke sci-fi/action future: This exceedingly coarse, grimy, rough-edged effort features a lively no-holds-barred barroom brawl which comes complete with a fairly tense Russian roulette game that's directly lifted from "The Deer Hunter," plenty of sweaty white-knuckle shoot-outs and stand-offs, clearly drawn black and white distinctions between the good guys and the bad guys (the heavies are mean, dirty, heartless barbarians who cackle, leer and snarl a lot while the protagonists are true blue salt of the earth types with a firm, unyieldingly faithful moral code and a courageous willingness to sacrifice their own lives so that the beleaguered many who can't fend for themselves will prevail), and a tribe of noble bow-and-arrow wielding Native Americans astride charging horses leading the rousing attack on the Black One's army at the exciting conclusion. All in all, this one sizes up as a really good and thrilling little item.
Reuniting several cast and crew members from the enjoyable, but slightly blah "Endgame" (Michele Soavi even returns to handle assistant director chores again), "2020: Texas Gladiators" rates as a sizable improvement, thanks to more focused, straightforward plotting and punchier pacing. Joe D'Amato's direction is strictly workmanlike, but fortunately still competent enough to create a grimly greasy'n'grungy atmospheric tone and satisfyingly deliver the necessary blood-spraying, butt-pulping, bullets a firing and bodies a falling action goods, with countless extras getting randomly snuffed at pleasingly regular intervals. Alex Carver's crafty script neatly tweaks standard raucous, rowdy, rollicking Western movie conventions, cleverly updating the plot of "The Magnificent Seven" to a gritty, bombed-out "Road Warrior"-style post-nuke sci-fi/action future: This exceedingly coarse, grimy, rough-edged effort features a lively no-holds-barred barroom brawl which comes complete with a fairly tense Russian roulette game that's directly lifted from "The Deer Hunter," plenty of sweaty white-knuckle shoot-outs and stand-offs, clearly drawn black and white distinctions between the good guys and the bad guys (the heavies are mean, dirty, heartless barbarians who cackle, leer and snarl a lot while the protagonists are true blue salt of the earth types with a firm, unyieldingly faithful moral code and a courageous willingness to sacrifice their own lives so that the beleaguered many who can't fend for themselves will prevail), and a tribe of noble bow-and-arrow wielding Native Americans astride charging horses leading the rousing attack on the Black One's army at the exciting conclusion. All in all, this one sizes up as a really good and thrilling little item.