The New Barbarians: Warriors of the Wasteland

The New Barbarians: Warriors of the Wasteland (1983)

Genres - Science Fiction, Action, Adventure, Romance, Thriller  |   Sub-Genres - Sci-Fi Action  |   Run Time - 87 min.  |   Countries - Italy, United States  |   MPAA Rating - R
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Review by Jeremy Wheeler

Known by many different titles, this post-apocalyptic gem is remembered for its dime store budget and uncompromising doses of outrageous violence by one of the masters of Italian cult cinema, Enzo Castellari (The Bronx Warriors, Keoma). This flick not only features exploding arrows, but it's cast includes both George Eastman and Fred Williamson, while the funky score is delivered by none other than Claudio Simonetti (of Goblin fame). Fans of the genre will revel in its early 80's schlock as characters spew horribly dubbed dialogue while zooming around in ridiculous looking bootleg bubble cars made from spare Volkswagen parts. As far as the style in the Italian wasteland goes, the mohawks are all hot and so are the costumes -- especially the hilarious see-through plastic body armor that the hero sports during the big finale. For all you gore lovers, there's exploding heads and torsos abound in one bloody kill after another, racketing up the violence beyond the gratuitous level and into flat-out comedy at times. Capturing the true spirit of the low budget rip-off flicks from early 80's, The New Barbarians is neither smart nor original, but a riot for anyone who gets off on Mad Max and all of its the junky followers.