"No Blade of Grass" is a difficult movie to watch. It's depressing beyond belief, graphic and even includes a rape*. It is NOT for the squeamish or someone looking to enjoy what they are watching!
The story is a near future sci-fi film about the apocalypse. Pollution and mismanagement of the planet has resulted in plagues and food shortages...and in some cases cannibalism. In a few cases, such as China, to alleviate the shortages, the government has been wiping out millions in the hopes that others will survive. Eventually, much of the world degenerates into anarchy...with the strongest and most ruthless surviving. In the midst of this is an English family that is trying to make its way to family living in the Scottish wilderness. And, along the way, their morals vanish and it's all about survival at almost all costs.
The idea behind all this is creepy and hard to watch. It is, despite this, an interesting and thought-provoking picture. But it also suffers from one huge problem...bad direction by Cornel Wilde. The actor just seemed to suffer from excessive edits (which were often sloppy and nonsensical) as well as a need to focus on the gross...such as rotting animal carcasses and naked females who had been assaulted. It made me feel a tiny bit dirty watching it. It also featured folks behaving incredibly irrationally at times--very nonsensical such as during the biker gang attack....NONE of that made any sense.
Overall, a chilling picture that is handled somewhat ham-fistedly. For a much better sort of thing, try PANIC IN THE YEAR ZERO with Ray Milland.
*Reportedly, one of the victims was played by an underage actress...and this was just awful and unnecessary.
The story is a near future sci-fi film about the apocalypse. Pollution and mismanagement of the planet has resulted in plagues and food shortages...and in some cases cannibalism. In a few cases, such as China, to alleviate the shortages, the government has been wiping out millions in the hopes that others will survive. Eventually, much of the world degenerates into anarchy...with the strongest and most ruthless surviving. In the midst of this is an English family that is trying to make its way to family living in the Scottish wilderness. And, along the way, their morals vanish and it's all about survival at almost all costs.
The idea behind all this is creepy and hard to watch. It is, despite this, an interesting and thought-provoking picture. But it also suffers from one huge problem...bad direction by Cornel Wilde. The actor just seemed to suffer from excessive edits (which were often sloppy and nonsensical) as well as a need to focus on the gross...such as rotting animal carcasses and naked females who had been assaulted. It made me feel a tiny bit dirty watching it. It also featured folks behaving incredibly irrationally at times--very nonsensical such as during the biker gang attack....NONE of that made any sense.
Overall, a chilling picture that is handled somewhat ham-fistedly. For a much better sort of thing, try PANIC IN THE YEAR ZERO with Ray Milland.
*Reportedly, one of the victims was played by an underage actress...and this was just awful and unnecessary.