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Great LP so far! I’m glad Florida man hasn’t discovered the post apocalyptic version of bath salts yet, if such a thing exists in-game
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Jul 12, 2022 03:56
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Florida Man Goes South With their eventual destination in mind, the gang left Visalia and passed into Bakersfield at the southern end of the valley. Rumor had it the Invaders had made a base as a way to scout out anyone heading southward to Los Angeles. Florida Man decided that rather than head directly south, they'd go westward to the coast and avoid any ambushes in the mountains.  The detour did not gain them much of an advantage, as Santa Barbara was also controlled by the Invaders. The Gator Goons had to keep an eye out; sadly for them, they had no time to enjoy the beaches.  All of Ventura county was Invader territory. Florida Man was getting nervous, but no attacks came. Local reports said that after the initial battle for control things had quieted down, to the point that even a decent-sized gang was able to pass unnoticed, and the Invaders hardly ever interfered with day-to-day life out here.  Harold led them to a bus depot in Thousand Oaks, where they found just a small amount of fuel. More usefully, however, they were able to stop for a few hours and fix the minor damage to the vehicles from the recent battles with the Skulls.  Still worried about the Invader activity, Florida Man drove the gang into Los Angeles proper as the evening was coming on. Surprisingly, there was a lot of activity on the streets. People were milling around on the corners freely, and it was almost as if the place were unaffected by the disaster that had hit the rest of the country.  Scouts discovered that the Invaders had, in fact, taken over, but didn't seem to be as ruthless here as in other locales. The citizens of the city did not seem to mind their control and just went about with their lives. Dade said he'd heard the virus had not hit the region as harshly, which might account for the relatively calm reaction of the populace to the current situation.  As they journeyed southward, they discovered that in Anaheim, there were hand-made ads and posters proclaiming that 'the theme park you always loved' was still open.  Not all the attractions were running, but those that were had been maintained with care. "It sure is good to see that some places are still just about how they were before, huh?" commented Griffin to Florida Man as they watched the rest of the gang ride around in little boats. "Yeah, I'm happy to see things are kept up here," he responded, adding, "It's not like this back in Florida. We got in, but nobody was running the place. I guess you gotta maintain these machines." Cecile walked over to the bench where the two men were sitting. She was holding a cone of chocolate ice cream in her hand. "It's so great to see this place!" she beamed. "It's like being in another world. Why can't we go back and fix things up in Florida? I bet it could look like this, too!" Florida Man said, "Oh man, I'd love to! Hmm, it's a lot bigger out there, though. We'd need a lot of people willing to work the place over to get it up and running. And right now I'm not sure how popular it would be to go back there, so far from where we have to get the scientists." Cecile replied, "Well, they don't have all the rides open here, either. But what they got is pretty special. Maybe we could get just part of it running there, a bit at a time. Anyway, you want some ice cream? I can go get you a cone. They got lemonade, and hot dogs, too!"  As the gang passed down through Orange County and southward towards the Mexican border, they found most of the communities had allowed the Invaders to maintain their loose control. San Diego was the first place where they heard reports of resistance. After crossing the border, they found the headquarters of the mostly-American resistance group in Tijuana. Without widespread support for their resistance movement, however, most of them had to focus more on simply surviving in the hot climate.  Griffin spoke with a number of dissatisfied young men and women who had little interest in raiding into the American territory and wanted out. They could tell that there wasn't much hope of a better life if they stayed in Tijuana, and joined up with the Gator Goons.  Then they traveled eastward on the Mexican highway. They found most of the small towns had been abandoned, long since ruined by either the Invaders or roving gangs. Mexicali was the first town of any size that had a semblance of order. Many of the Mexicans that had fled from the Tijuana area had ended up here, and the local city officials had established a small city-state of their own with strict rules about property, taxation, and tolerance toward gang membership. The Gator Goons were not particularly welcome there, and left in a hurry.  Rather than venture any farther into the desert of Sonora, the gang turned back northward, although not as far back as into Los Angeles itself. In Riverside, they found that the mob in Southern California had apparently been severely weakened as the Invaders gradually took over the region. They had managed to consolidate their power in this one city, but did not dare to push any farther west than Pomona, and had to be content with ruling the Inland Empire.  A fair number of the mobsters in Riverside had fled from Las Vegas as well. From what they said, it seemed as though they had left Las Vegas open for anyone to rule. When the Gator Goons arrived, they found to their surprise that most of the casinos were still operating in some capacity, almost bustling, although the prizes awarded tended to be vouchers for commodities rather than direct cash.  Florida Man figured it would be a good way to spend the afternoon in the town before they headed through Arizona, so he let the gang loose to try their luck. Upon entry, they were informed that they would need to stake some of their supplies as payment for the 'chips', but might well win them back at the end. Most of them had mixed results, but there were two big winners in the group. They were told to redeem their winnings at a location down the 'strip'.  When they arrived at the end of the strip, they found that one of the hotels there had its old sign torn down, and over the entrance was a sign painted in red and black letters, proclaiming it as the "First Church of Satan". A smaller sign near the entrance read, "Redeem Jackpot Here" and had an arrow pointing to the doorway. Florida Man and a few others accompanied the winners inside, as he was very curious to know just what the 'jackpot' might actually be. Sgt. Adams eyed the back wall of the lobby, which had a gigantic pentagram with a goat's head emblazoned in the middle of it. He remarked, "Looks like they finally decided to take the name 'Sin City' literally. Huh." "Welcome to the Church of Satan. Are you jackpot winners, or looking to become members today?" said a chipper young woman in a neat business suit. Florida Man responded, "Uh, so you folks really worship the devil here?" The woman chuckled. "You mean the guy with the horns, red suit, a pitchfork? Master of evil? The one all the god-fearing religious folk blame when they do something wrong? No, that's not what we're about. What we represent is an opposition to all that -- nonsense. We're about taking control of our own life, and making our own choices free of delusion. So, would you like to become members?" Florida Man pointed to the two who had won the prize and explained that they would just like to take the winnings, or at least see what the prize was.  The jackpots entitled them to a huge quantity of fuel, which represented remarkable resources for the Satanists, but at this point was hardly needed by the gang. Florida Man told them to save what they could and distribute the rest to the locals. He himself had been given a coffee mug that had "Viva LAS VEGAS" written on it in big red letters as a gift from the church.  Other winnings were traded more fruitfully at a full-service mall, with food and auto repair being the top priorities. They had been lucky, and the city appeared to be thriving somehow. Nonetheless, Florida Man said he still felt a little creeped out about the way the town was being run, so he moved the gang onward into Arizona. Fortunately enough, those who were running Vegas had apparently been able to keep Hoover Dam in operation. That included the highway across it, so they were able to drive almost straight out of the city to get away.  By the time they got about halfway through the state, they realized that here in the desert, too, the Invaders were on the rise.  Things weren't much better a little to the south in Tucson. Florida Man called a meeting of the gang's leadership that afternoon up on the hills overlooking the city. "I think we ought to head down into Mexico. Like the real Mexico, now." "What for?" asked Jack. Florida Man scratched his head. "Well, from what I hear, that's where the... Invaders really got their start. They say the first landings were there." "You do know they were talking about amphibious landings, right?" interjected Sgt. Adams. "So you think we should, what, take them on directly? You think we can find out where their headquarters are?" wondered Cecile. "I don't know, is that going to get us anywhere?" questioned Dr. Tranh. Florida Man went on. "Seems to me everywhere we go now, they're only getting stronger. You look at LA, they took over the whole place. And it felt like half of Texas, too. Clear up into the north of the country. And it's a big country, you know. 'Course, I'm sure they got ways of moving around the map faster than we can. "Well what I'm saying is, I think we ought to do something about it. I'm not saying we go down and find their leader or main base or whatever. But even if we get all these scientists back to the GUB, well, then what? We get a cure, but we still have to deal with them. And hell, I think they'd probably thank us if we can figure out what the Invader plan is. So... call it a scout mission. We head down, find out the truth, and probably, we get out. Nobody's around who really knows what is going on, and we can tell 'em." "It's not the worst idea, but it sounds dangerous. You sure you wanna risk it?" asked Griffin. "We've been through... tough fights before. We've got supplies, I think we can make it," Jack said. In the end, they all agreed to make an excursion southward.  While they noted a few small gangs patrolling on the American side of the border, no one seemed to mind as they crossed into Mexico. Crossing the desert went smoothly, and they encountered no trouble all the way down to Hermosillo. The city had seemingly been left in ruins as the Invaders swept northward. Local reports suggested that the Invaders maintained only a nominal presence there to scan the desert. Many residents had fled already. Some were attempting to rebuild, but a fair number more were looking for any chance to get out. It did not take much convincing for Griffin, even with his broken Spanish, to sign up more Gator Goons.  The night after they left Hermosillo and the Sonoran desert behind, the gang was attacked by a band of mutants. Although it seemed to be an isolated group, few of the veteran gang members wanted to take chances. There had been little news out of Mexico after the invasions had begun. Everyone was on high alert for possible nuke sites, and antitoxin was used immediately after the fight to prevent the spread of the virus.  Fortunately, no more mutant attacks were coming. The roads remained largely devoid of activity, and most of the small towns seemed abandoned as well.  As they passed through the state of Sinaloa, though, they were met by a road gang. There was a Chevy Corsa wagon reinforced with armor plates and guard bars, and two large black limousines that in another time might have been used for parades. They were marked with 'PFP' in block white letters on the side. Those driving were wearing drab gray police uniforms and sporting submachineguns and heavy pistols.  The Goons spread out as usual, with the Gatormobile taking the lead on the left side.  The enemy zeroed in on Florida Man's car with military precision.  Rather than zip past and behind them, Florida Man went for a flashier trick, drifting into a nearly 90-degree turn at almost 100 miles an hour.  One of the limos tried to get into boarding range, but suppressing fire from the Gator Goons caused the men on the roof to hit the deck after three were shot down.  The Gatormobile then sped across the middle of the highway as all the vehicles drew into close range.  Well-aimed bursts of fire from the trucks and Harold's bus knocked out first one limo, and then the other. Only the Corsa remained as a threat.  As the lead limo went down, return fire from the station wagon claimed one kill in the Ford van.  The Stellar zoomed around to block the car's escape. With the rest of their outfit defeated and no hope of escape, the Corsa turned to ram the Mack truck.  A full barrage finished them off before it could make contact. !11_52_42.png "Woo-woo! That was amazing!" shouted Griffin to Florida Man as the last car screeched to a halt. "You really showed those Federales!" "You liked that, huh?" responded Florida Man, grinning. "Shame these guys couldn't have helped us though. I bet they know something about the Invaders." "Doesn't look like there's a whole lot here," called out Jack as he inspected the back of the defeated gang's vehicles. "Some food, but no fuel or ammo. I bet that's why they were so desperate to fight. They just had to hope to get something from us."  Continuing down the highway, they discovered only more of the same. No large towns had remained. They also noted signs that many had been bombed or been battlegrounds once the Invaders had arrived. Florida Man began to wonder if they would discover anything here at all. Food supplies were still okay, but if they kept pushing southward, there was no way of knowing if they'd find any where they could obtain more. Not only that, but some people had complaining of soreness and fatigue lately. It seemed even if it wasn't summer yet, the long days of travel through the empty desert and destroyed towns were getting to the crew.  A small crazed group of Cannibals in two mid-size cars attacked them on the desolate road, but they were no match for the experienced gang. However, the Gator Goon's vehicles had been through several fights now, and were sorely in need of repair. On a roadside stop that night, Florida Man went with Army Ranger Simms a ways off from the group for a short walk. Things quickly took a turn when a coyote burst out of the bushes and came after them. Florida Man realized he didn't have his gun with him. Army Ranger Simms growled, and then fiercely jumped to protect him as the coyote refused to back off. Florida Man took the only thing he had at hand — the Las Vegas coffee mug — and swung it at the coyote. It connected much more solidly than he expected, and the wild animal crumpled to the ground limply. "Whew! You okay, boy?" he said, patting Army Ranger Simms' side and looking over the panting dog for any serious injuries. "You saved my life. Yeah, I really do think so." He looked down again at the broken shards of the mug and the coyote's lifeless corpse. "Dang. Smashed my new mug." After he mentioned the incident to the rest of the gang, Dr. Tranh seemed worried that the coyote might have been suffering from some disease that made him act so aggressively. She warned the group that they should be especially careful of any strange behavior in the wildlife, and not to get too close to any animals on the roads.  Fortunately, the gang found just what they needed in Durango, the first settlement in a long stretch that seemed to show signs of life. It was clearly under the control of the Invaders, though, so the gang moved on as soon as the repairs were completed. Note that the map has stopped scrolling at this point, as we no longer appear in the center but near the edge. You cannot travel any farther south than this.  Many of those who'd been feeling ill previously now complained of difficulty breathing. Some of the cases were quite serious. Two members had died by the time they reached Torreón. Florida Man ordered a general halt to allow for treatment. That evening, he called a meeting to discuss the matter with the medical professionals. He opened with the question, "What do you think this is? Some new form of the virus they cooked up down here and let loose?" Dr. Tranh replied, "It doesn't seem like it. It's more like something that otherwise would have been treated if... all this hadn't happened. You can expect disease outbreaks when there's no longer good sources of clean food, water, and not many doctors available. Maybe Dr. Dade knows more." Florida Man turned to him. "Well, what do you think, Donnie?" Dr. Dade answered, "My guess is, she's probably right. Look, you know I can't tell you much more than you've already seen from the effects of this disease. You gotta get me a microscope, I'd need a full laboratory... I could tell you a ton about this if I could just tear it apart in detail." He still agreed to help with the treatment of the patients, and they did the best they could. Scouts found an abandoned medical clinic that allowed some room to place the patients that needed rest, and a few sterile supplies as well as medication.  There was hardly any way to stop the unknown malady, though. It ripped through them with a fury, killing more than a third of the group.  While Dr. Tranh assured the group afterward that the sickness was unlikely to kill more of them now that it had spread through the gang, it was little comfort for those who had lost so many of their close friends and compatriots.  Practically every city and town in Mexico looked to be under control of the Invaders, and reports were that they were even stronger further south near Mexico City.  The strange disease had heavily sapped the morale of the gang, not to mention depleting their numbers significantly in a hostile land where new recruits were few and far between. Florida Man had to admit that to press onwards into Mexico would only be foolish at this point. They had indeed scouted a large portion of the country's territory and found only more Invaders as they headed southward. The Gator Goons turned back toward US territory.  When they reached the border, they encountered a group of doctors who said they were 'monitoring' groups crossing the border to prevent the spread of the mutant virus strain. The gang traded for more antitoxin just in case they needed it in Texas. Florida Man asked if they'd heard reports of the disease that had hit the gang so hard down in Mexico. The doctors said there some unconfirmed reports of a new disease in the southwest US or Mexico. All they had gathered so far was that the antitoxin did not work on it, so it was unlikely to be a newer mutant strain. This sickness is a random event that I'm fairly sure only ever happens in Mexico. It's not totally clear what it's supposed to be, and it seems to be a one-time event. The 'survivors made stronger' probably doesn't actually have any mechanical effect, although maybe you are less likely to get infection from mutant attacks; it's pretty hard to say.  After they arrived back in the US, Dr. Dade approached the gang leadership. "I hope you're done with all this foreign tourism. Maybe we could make some real progress now? As I recall you still have two more of our original team to track down, assuming they're all still alive." "Well, we do still want to look for Dr. Smidlapp, so we'll be heading to the Southeast," replied Florida Man. "I would say we do need to get our numbers up. We lost a lot of good soldiers down there, not just from fighting," said Sgt. Adams. "We need to train more recruits, or we won't survive another tough battle." "He's right," said Jack. "We should go east, but get some more fighters. We don't know who or what to expect." "A lot of places know our name, now," added Cecile. "Do you think we're getting a reputation?" "Well, I think it's a good one," said Florida Man. "But, Dr. Dade, you know, we do have to take it a bit slow. That trip hurt us a lot." "Well, it wasn't my bright idea to go down there," grumbled Dade before storming off.  While most of the larger cities in Oklahoma had been maintained with order and peace by the local militia groups, some had decided to go rogue and prey on those travelling the highways. The Gator Goons made short work of one of them. It netted them substantial food, some of which they donated back to the city, since they figured a lot of it had been stolen from them, and Florida Man wanted to stay on their good side.  After the heavy blow from the disease in Mexico, the gang decided to rebuild in Texas. With mutant numbers rising after the destruction of Houston, Griffin figured it could be a good place to pick up more people hoping to escape. Florida Man agreed, since he didn't want to be stuck in a fight with nobody available to crew the guns.  A trip into Austin proved very unsuccessful, though. Either the locals had had enough of outsiders, or were too much under the thumb of the Invaders to want to support the Gator Goons.  Sporadic mutant attacks continued to stymie the recruiting efforts, and after passing through San Antonio, the gang was down to fewer than 50 members. Florida Man took Griffin aside for a private meeting. Florida Man said "Griffin, we really need to keep the group strong. I'm counting on you to convince those folks to join us. Right now it seems to be going poorly. So what's up?" "I know, I know," he replied. "Look, it's tough!" "I'm worried about having so few people. Dr. Dade is gonna be screaming if we don't get him back 'home'. But it's not safe to travel out on the highways without enough people in the cars. One big gang finds us, we'd be toast!" "Problem is, no one here wants to leave. I guess they got it okay. Everyone says they Invaders haven't come out here in a while, and they got a firm control of their own territory here. Say, you ever think of just finding a city to settle down in? I bet there's some big old place where it's peaceful, where nobody at all is going to bother you. Or at least if they did, you'd have the guns to fight them off." "Hmm, I guess that wouldn't be so bad, would it?" Florida Man replied with a faint smile. "But, you know, I kind of like moving around right now. But I hope you can convince them. Tell them we found a way to help the country. That ought to bring more recruits." "Yeah, I suppose so. You really think this whole 'government mission' is for real? Like, they're actually going to help people?" "I do. Now I won't be the one to find the cure, but just wait till you see what they got going in their lab. They'll do it, and we'll bring them there safe and sound. I really think it's gonna work!" He walked away smiling as he looked out over the broad bushy fields that stretched off to the south.  It seemed that large sections of the eastern half of the state had been taken over by the invading army and remained that way. The places that weren't yet captured by the Invaders stayed suspect of outsiders, especially once they heard about recruiting efforts. Almost no city was safe to stay in for very long.  Mutant attacks in the area continued to rise, as the roving feral bands seemed to have shifted southward from Houston with the wind.  Brownsville, a moderately-sized town at the southmost tip of Texas, was one of the few holdouts in the state. Small groups had united to fend off the Invaders, and the enemy army had seemingly left it behind. But with their common enemy gone, the coalition that had fought them off had dissolved into arguments over who would actually run the city. Griffin was able to convince a number of them to discard the dispute over their city and sign up with the Gator Goons instead.  In the nearby McAllen-Pharr region, the mafia had taken the role as the primary gang following the departure of the Invaders. They did not take kindly to having any of their members poached, and most of them were unwilling to leave the 'family' anyway.  Florida Man led the group out into the countryside to scour the farmlands for more food and supplies. Guns were plentiful, but at this point they had no need for any more.  A return trip through San Antonio and then northward brought in a few more new members, but mutant attacks kept the ranks from really growing. They were losing almost as many as they gained each day.  It was not until reaching Oklahoma that they were able to sign up significantly more. Here many residents were sick of the relatively restrictive lifestyle the Reborners encouraged and the militia enforced, and signed up in search of adventure and excitement.  Another of the rogue militia units in the state attacked them on the road eastward, but they, too, were easily eliminated.  St. Louis brought in a few more recruits. Florida Man congratulated Griffin on doing a good job in the city.  But it wasn't long before the word got out about the Gator Goons. They were told to 'consider leaving the state soon' by the officious locals, who had been trying to set up strict new laws to create a city-state out of the metropolitan area.  They followed the highway along the Mississippi River southward until they reached Memphis. They found it under control of a group that had split from the 'Volunteer Guard'. Instead of the relative order they had encountered some months ago in Nashville, Memphis was a chaotic city. The well-armed militia would exercise their power to suit their needs but otherwise had no care for the citizens or the slowly-crumbling state of the town.  That night, a group of the rogue Volunteer Guards who ruled the town came to the Gator Goon camp. Three men, their guns held loosely at their sides, marched forward. One of the barked out, "By order of Major Travis DeChurch, Commandant of the City of Memphis, you squatters are hereby ordered to remove yourself from the premises! That means you get out of here, and get out of town now!" Cecile, who'd been keeping charge of the watch at that time, replied back, "Just who are you to go around kicking people out of town? We came here peacefully, and bothered no one. Some people even traded us food for fuel, and they sure didn't seem unhappy!" The man replied, "We're the only law around here. What we say goes, and we say you die!" They swung their guns up suddenly and opened fire. A few Goons went down in the initial spray of bullets but the guards at the camp took out the treacherous envoys. A brief firefight ensued as a few more of the Memphis soldiers that had stayed back traded fire. It did not take long before the alarm was raised and the whole camp An extra guard was put out in case of another assault, and few in the camp slept well, but the rest of the night was uneventful.  In the morning, a small crowd of citizens had gathered at the riverside park where the Gator Goons had spent the night. Their intentions appeared to be peaceful, though. "You did it," a gruff-looking man said. "You got rid of every one of them!" "Uh, we just fought of the first folks who attacked us," replied a still-sleepy Florida Man. "Was that really all there was of them?" asked Cecile. "They're gone, whatever you did," replied the man. "You gave us our freedom back!" shouted out a woman in the crowd. Florida Man, still a bit confused, looked out over the assembly. All their eyes were on him. "So what are you going to do now? Who's going to run the town?" A clean-cut younger man spoke up. "I hear some other cities have the real Volunteers in charge. You guys with them?" The first man shouted him down, saying "You think these guys are with the Volunteers? Hell, do they look like Tenesseans?" A woman standing between them both retorted, "They won the battle, whoever they are. They're gonna get to decide what happens." "And how do you know they'll be any better?" responded the man angrily. "We need to vote in a mayor!" yelled out another person in the crowd. "Look, someone's gotta decide how things are going to be run from now on, or we won't get anywhere," shouted the younger man who'd spoken up earlier. Florida Man again looked out at the crowd of people. "If you all don't mind, I guess that'll be us for now," he said. This week's film: Land of Doom
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Jul 12, 2022 06:42
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bradburypancakes posted:Great LP so far! I’m glad Florida man hasn’t discovered the post apocalyptic version of bath salts yet, if such a thing exists in-game Yeah, turning the gang into RIPers sounds like a bad idea. Reference to Days Gone if you didn’t guess. The story has taken an interesting turn this update. I would like to see Florida Man find all the missing scientists but settling down sounds good too.
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Jul 12, 2022 08:44
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Just realized there are eight scientists you need to bring in, not seven. Finding one more is not a big issue due to something we'll see in the next update, which is why I forgot the correct number. I also realized that I incorrectly referred to Pedro Pintero as 'Pablo' (the director calling him the wrong name was intentional, though).
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Jul 14, 2022 18:35
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Land of Doom (1985) "I don't need your help! --We all need help these days."  There is an opening narration that mentions a 'Final War', and that the world is now largely unfit for life. As always, everyday life is a desperate struggle to exist. The narrator says she's unsure if she can survive the madness, especially because there is one man who is determined to destroy all good people. What follows are scenes of violent combat in the streets of a city on fire, mingled with multiple sexual assaults and murders. We see our narrator, Harmony, nervously navigating her way around this wanton destruction (although we don't know her name yet and it's not made explicit who she even is). Harmony finds her way to a cave with a wounded man inside it. He gives his name as Anderson and says he's been stuck there for two days. She stays suspicious of him and even a bit brusque. He shoots a snake in the cave and this softens their relationship; she tosses him a bit of food. In the morning she announces that she's leaving. He wants to tag along but she insists that she always goes it alone. Eventually, though, she relents and allows him to come, as long he can keep up. The two spot a line of armored vehicles, mostly motorcycles, heading along a road. The road gang members are all outfitted in studded black leather and look dangerous. Anderson says it's an 'attack group' headed for the next village. There's another scene at what's clearly the villain's lair. One man arrives on a motorbike and reports that they lost nine men trying to get Anderson. The leader explodes with rage and tells them to make sure they get him, no matter what it takes. As he departs, the underling mumbles that one of these days he's going to take down the leader. Harmony and Anderson continue onward. Anderson makes the mistake of touching Harmony, which causes her to immediately lash out and pull her crossbow on him. Right as that happens one of the Raiders shows up and holds them at gunpoint. His name is Demister and he seems to be giddy over the prospect of bringing in Anderson. Harmony tries to go for a knife and Demister stops her; he asks Anderson if she's his "woman". She insists she's nobody's "woman" and the giggling gangster threatens her and calls her a slut. Demister ties Anderson to a tree so that he can assault Harmony without interference. Anderson kicks him before he's fully restrained, and Harmony tries to run off. Demister pins her to the ground, forcibly kisses her, and then threatens her with a knife. He is briefly distracted by Anderson, which gives Harmony time to grab a rock and pounds him in the head. It only takes a few hits to kill the man. Harmony tells Anderson "you got me into this" and starts to head off. She is going to leave him tied up, figuring that he will get himself free eventually, but not in time to catch up with her. Anderson pleads with her that he's not associated with the gangsters. He says he actually tried to get people organized to have a better life, but they gave up and are now ruled by a man called Slater. He promises her that he does know of a place where life is better, and that he can take her there on Demister's bike (she doesn't seem to know how to operate it). She says she can handle herself, but eventually agrees to have him take her to this supposed promised land. The ride for a while, but the bike runs out of alcohol and they have to get off. They spot a group of hooded villagers waving a red flag, and Harmony simply says, "plague". They see smoke at a nearby building and since they need food, Anderson suggests they should at least try and ask for help. Harmony remains extremely suspect, pointing out the dangers and that nobody gives food out for free. It turns out to be a lone man, who nearly shoots them on sight with his rifle. He takes them into his hut cautiously. Once inside, Harmony asks to use the 'outhouse' and the man allows her to leave. She heads into a lower building and finds what seems to be regular butchered meat, but as she looks deeper into the cave is show to actually be human carcasses. Another man shows up and tries to attack her; she fights him off and locks him into the meat room. She heads back to the man's hut and he presents them with food. She's unable to speak openly with Anderson and instead kicks him under the table every time he tries to take a bite. Finally taking the hint (maybe), he asks the man what kind of meat it is; he says it is 'deer meat'. Harmony throws her bowl in the man's face and they both overpower him. They tie up the man and steal what preserved vegetables they can. Harmony warns that they need to move before others arrive; Anderson still seems to be unsure about her claim that the food was human meat. The man wakes up and taunts them as they're about to leave. Harmony wants to kill him, but Anderson says that's what the 'Raiders' would do. Outside the hut, they have a discussion about when it is ethical to kill, when Harmony suddenly senses that two men are approaching. We then see two of the cannibals following their tracks. Harmony dispatches one of them on her own, and they get away. They are then attacked by several plague victims. Harmony kills the one who comes after here, and ends up having to rescue Anderson when three of them jump on him at once. Harmony looks at the dead men and worries that they, too, will get the plague someday. Anderson says if they were going to get it, they'd probably have already had it by now. He touches her to calm her, and she reacts violently. She then reveals that she can't stand being touched, as every men she's ever met has tried to kill her, or... and she trails off. Anderson replies, "Rape you?" and when she turns away with a fearful face he continues, "I haven't." So they both have some growing to do. (To be fair, the actors put effort and emotion into this scene and sell it reasonably well.) That night, while they sleep by the fire, Anderson rolls over close to Harmony. She pulls her knife in sudden fear, but he rolls away a moment later.  In the morning, they witness another attack on a village. Anderson spots the man we earlier saw reporting the failure to catch him, and he calls him "Purvis, one of Slater's prime maniacs". The Raiders fight their way into the village with a surprising number of explosions. There are also a few more brief shots of sexual assault. Anderson says they need to steal a bike, and there's nothing they can do to help the village. Harmony's upset, but it's not clear if she's bothered by the violence to the villagers or the extreme danger of running right into an ongoing battle. Anderson hacks a guy to death to steal his bike (apparently that's not something Raiders would do), and they ride off together. The Raiders notice the bike being stolen, of course. Purvis spots that it's Anderson and sends more of his bikes after them. As Purvis's bikers gain on them, they spy several more ahead of them on the road. Harmony realizes[?] that the bike's too heavy with her on it and she hops off, telling Anderson to continue onward. She doesn't really explain why and he is confused. She goes to hide behind a rock because maybe she's preparing an ambush. There's a comic relief[??] scene where one biker rides up too high on a rock and falls off his bike. Then the biker punches another to take his bike and then ends up going off a cliff because he wasn't paying attention. Another gangster menaces Harmony. She gets on the ground and starts to pose seductively, distracting the man long enough for her to toss sand into his face and knock him off the cliff. Anderson has to stop to refuel his bike. When he does he is held up by Purvis. Harmony sneaks up behind Purvis without him noticing. Anderson tells Purvis he's not coming with him and to 'look behind him'. Purvis thinks it's a trick until Harmony speaks up. It is a trick though, since she only had a stick, but she does pull Purvis's gun from his belt. They leave Purvis with a snake crawling across his boots, and ride off together. Next, they rescue a man who's been run up on a rock by a bunch of wild dogs. Anderson fires off his gun to drive off the dogs. The man speaks somewhat strangely, calling them 'lord and lady'. He gives his name as 'Orland' and reveals his puppy, 'Guinevere'. They let him follow for a bit on his bicycle, but eventually leave him behind. Just after that, they run into an ambush. Both are swiftly grabbed by Slater's men. Orland spots them being taken and rides off (initially shown abandoning his puppy, though he later has it with him**). Harmony and Anderson are taken before Slater. Slater orders his men to take Harmony and 'clean her up'. She responds by spitting in his face and momentarily breaking free. Purvis is also there, cursing them since he hates snakes. Orland has trailed the two back to Slater's compound. He falls into an underground passage, and is beset by tiny hooded people, though apparently not plague victims. Chained up in the prison, Harmony and Anderson have a chat about their situation. Anderson says that Harmony humiliated Slater, and also that Purvis is seeking to make a bid to rule the gang himself. He hopes to use that against them. Harmony also accepts that she made the choices that brought her this far; she's no longer blaming Anderson. He apologizes to her and says he didn't want her to get hurt. She is touched to know that someone actually cares about her. Anderson tries to goad Purvis into rebelling, but to no avail. The two are brought before Slater. Anderson argues with him, and Slater declares that the people who built the 'old world' are also the ones who destroyed it, so only might makes right. He has Harmony chained up to the wall, and implies he is about to publicly rape her and let the rest of his men join in. Even the four women who surround his throne laugh at his jokes about it, and the crowd gets excited.  Orland pops up with a flamethrower. He kicks... something* off a table into the fire which explodes, and most of the assembly runs around in a panic. Anderson and Slater wrestle on the ground. Anderson chops off some of Slater's fingers with an axe. Slater runs off; Orland and Anderson defend themselves from other gang members with guns; Anderson frees Harmony and they all run off through the passage Orland entered from. Purvis now leads the charge to get them, and chases them into the passage. The tiny hooded people are in there. The hooded people get agitated as they realize the Raiders are coming into their cave. All of them exit via a cave mouth that's right above part of the Raider camp, so they aren't particularly safe yet. Orland blows up a large number of fuel barrels in the camp. There's a massive explosion and they run off from the camp. They see Purvis exiting the cave but he doesn't notice them initially. Harmony opens fire, but only wings him. Orland finds an armored pickup truck and they get it running, as Purvis and his men board their bikes. There's a moderate-speed chase down the road. Then Orland's tiny friends cause a rockfall that halts Purvis, at least momentarily. Instead of driving off, they decide to blow up their truck on a bridge. Purvis screams after them. While still in sight of the burning bridge, Orland says he's going to stay behind and live with his new friends (it's apparently really easy to get to them, even though they were just on the other side of the bridge). Harmony and Anderson finally kiss. Meanwhile, Orland spots Slater's metal-gloved hand clawing its way up the hill. He runs back to the other two, Anderson says, "Oh poo poo, here we go again" and they all start running. *[The bizarre details that sometimes actually do mean something have made this shot really bother me. It is very clearly shown that he leaves Guinevere behind. Was it to fix continuity in a later scene? Was it plot-relevant? Is this the key to understanding the whole movie? I don't know, and cannot figure it out.] **[After capturing the images for this update, I realized that the thing he kicks is apparently an oil lamp. When Slater is preparing to bring the prisoners before him, one of his female attendants can be seen opening it up and lighting it. But since it otherwise looks just like a sphere of colored glass, unless you happen to have caught that tiny clue during the villain's monologue, you'd be just as confused as I was. That's just perfectly emblematic of how perversely information-dense yet uncommunicative the film is.]  It's often hard to summarize movies that are not well-made, and that's certainly the case here. However, it's hard to say exactly The plot isn't really convoluted. It's just full of incident with almost no meaning. To include only relevant details would make the summary all too short and maybe present the film as better than it is; I wanted to add enough to demonstrate the way it proceeds but hopefully that summary was not overlong. Since so many of the plot elements go nowhere (and the film is so full of them), it's also a bit hard to pick up on them, as they might only be indicated by a very brief line. I had to watch this multiple times to figure out that some parts that seemed to happen for no reason actually are explained in moments that are very easily missed. For example, Harmony's single line 'plague' to indicate they need to stay away from the red flag-carrying villagers is easily lost, since also in that scene she seems initially puzzled by their presence, and they consider asking them for water as well. So much of the plot also proceeds in a way where events simply happen one after the other, and even when the explanation exists, it's too briefly shown and almost perfunctory. That brings me to the main problem I have with Harmony's character, since this film billed itself as having a strong female lead character, and certainly seems to want to position her as such. She seemingly makes her own choices, but as often as not they feel like plot contrivances. The events are also too often defined by men. Her actions with respect to Anderson are important for protecting him (and herself), but since the antagonist is pitted against him and not her, it feels more like she's just supporting him instead of doing her own thing. Her character also seems much more simply 'suspicious of men' than 'self-sufficient'. She is strong-willed, to be sure, but doesn't actually seem 'self-sufficient' except in a few moments. Anderson has to explain so many events about the other characters, and even if it makes some sense, it still ends up making her rely on him for guidance too often. There are details that flesh out her ability to survive, but they are some of those blink-and-you-miss-it moments, or only minorly affect events. The world of the film is decidedly defined by men, and to some extent, so is she. And while there is some subtlety to that point of view, I'm unsure if the movie is equipped to explore it.  One could make the case that it at least fits the mold of other films of its vintage, and is clearly more progressive than, say, what was produced forty years prior to it. Anderson takes the role that would more traditionally be exclusive to the female lead, as he is the one shown to be more empathetic and concerned about people, and more often in need of being rescued. It's not a simple inversion, either, since he he's playing a masculine but sensitive guy, and she isn't merely a laconic action hero. Her character development is fairly good, although it is sort of strange how the film nearly slips into romantic comedy towards the middle and ending, considering the grim setting it establishes. I kind of feel like this may have started out as a decent story, but there were a lot of misfires along the way. I think at some point it was trying to have something to say. It just undercuts itself often, since frequently what happens isn't related to what the characters have said or done, or what was established narratively, except in a very broad sense. If somehow it presented itself with more clarity or consistency, it would have been fine. The acting is about the only part that works well, and it demonstrates that they could have produced what was needed, if only it wasn't buried in the extraneous plot details. Of particular note is Daniel Radell, who plays both Demister and Slater with such distinction between them that I had to double check to be sure it really was the same actor (Slater wears a partial mask to obscure the dual role). This was one of the few of the more obscure films on my list that I'd seen before I started this series. I knew it wasn't good, but I had figured it was sort of middling fare for the era. On the scale of what I have covered, though, it's pretty far down. Contrasted with another generic post-apocalyptic story, such as Wheels of Fire, about the best I can say is that this is less objectionable. Even then, there are those scenes of sexual assault tossed in here. They don't seem put in to necessarily be exploitative, but instead to establish the threat that Harmony faces. Yet they could easily have been removed since Deborah Rennard, who plays her, does that capably enough on her own. Her trauma feels real. In the end the scenes of unnamed people being victimized do start to seem exploitative simply by being unneeded. I wouldn't even say the film's a worthwhile failure, as it's virtues are too few. It took multiple viewings to even see some of the detail that actually exists but is buried in the too-dense plot. If it were trimmed down and reworked it, well, the characters might be of some interest, but it's still not adding anything original to the genre. Connections to Roadwar 2000  There's not a whole lot here that could be considered original, but it does tick some of the same boxes the game does. It is interesting that this is one of the few films in which the disease victims are not crazed 'mutants', and actually operate more like people suffering in a deadly plague. They generally stay away from others, but some could attack when desperate. You don't really see the ordinary sufferers of the plague in the game, if only because so many are assumed to have died. The road gang, even if it is inspired by Mad Max as much as any of these movies were, has a certain character to it that could be like one in the game. The movie's world doesn't seem expansive enough to imply any other groups like it, however, or that other pockets of life exist. The modification of ordinary vehicles for use in battle also feels pretty similar to how cars end up being used in the game, and this is one of the few films that at least considers resource scarcity in terms of how fuel and food are constant requirements. Although as with many of the details in the film, they don't really contribute to the story and are both easily missed and ignorable.
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Jul 20, 2022 06:49
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The contrast between your writing and the aesthetic the game wants to emulate continues to tickle me. I can't help but imagine everyone in gaudy leather and metal spikes at all times while these conversations are going on.
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Aug 7, 2022 05:06
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It would be great if I could pull off a more crazy style. I'm kind of trying to go for making them the more reasonable sorts who would be trying to keep it together and save the world. I also see the game's world as a bit closer to original Mad Max, where things are breaking down but it's not yet a savage wasteland, as opposed to the later sequels. Even if those are more fun and as you say what the game is leaning on. New updates maybe next week; the game is nearly over and I'll just see how it works to end it. I also have a question for those who ever played the Amiga version. It appears that the 'secret island' is not present, or at least I haven't found a way to trigger it. Has anyone ever encountered it playing this version? Also, can the radio be switched? The C64 one allowed you to select it, but I have not found on option for that either. Kangra fucked around with this message at 18:22 on Aug 16, 2022 |
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Aug 16, 2022 18:18
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