Infofreak Review of 1990: The Bronx Warriors

1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982)

Nowhere near as entertaining as I expected, but still quite enjoyable.

[10 September 2003]

'1990: The Bronx Warriors' is a VERY cheap Italian rip-off of John Carpenter's 'Escape From New York' with a little of 'The Warriors' thrown in. Before I watched it I thought it was going to be a deliriously silly and hugely entertaining trash classic, but I'm afraid for me it just never quite made it. Not that it completely sucks mind you, but I was a bit disappointed. I think if you watched this playing a drinking game where you imbibe every time you see or hear "The Bronx" it might make it a lot more fun! (I said "see" because I was fortunate enough to see this in the original Italian with English subtitles) The two leads are pretty dull, muscleman Trash (Mark Gregory) and runaway rich girl Ann (Stefania Girolami), but the supporting cast includes Vic Morrow (his second last movie), George Eastman (from Joe D'Amato's notorious 'Antropophagus' aka 'The Grim Reaper'), and best of all, blaxploitation legend Fred Williamson ('Black Caesar', 'That Man Bolt', 'From Dusk Til Dawn',etc.etc.). Though why Morrow's character is called Hammer instead of Williamson's is quite puzzling! Anyway, this is quite enjoyable low budget idiocy with some rather laughable looking gangs and enough fight scenes and explosions to satisfy most people. I can't say I was knocked out by it, but it's worth watching, especially if you are a fan of Fred Williamson who steals the movie. But make sure you watch the John Carpenter and Walter Hill classics that "inspired" this first. They are both GENUINE trash classics, not a limp imitation like '1990': The Bronx Warriors'.