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Uh oh, we’re after Ubisoft’s hometown next! This oughta be a good fight. 
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Nov 6, 2020 01:41
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Hell yes, go Gator Goons!  Fond memories of playing this game on my trusty old Apple IIGS, which also had the same graphics as the Amiga version. If I wasn't playing Nintendo I was glued to my computer playing this game or the Bard's Tale Trilogy. The tactical combat was easily my most favorite part of the game, the resource management less so. Let's just say young me kept running out of gas and food or succumbing to the deadly disease. Or just starting a new game and immediately get killed by an unlucky combat volley. Being a road gang leader is hard. I never did figure out how to win the game, since I only had a bootleg copy and no access to the manual, so I basically just tried to take over every town and collect the sweetest of rides. Buses and trailer trucks were some of my favorites, as well as the construction vehicle since ramming was a huge part of young me's strategy. I would love to see a modern remake or spiritual successor to this game. wafflemoose fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Nov 6, 2020 |
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Nov 6, 2020 15:52
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Battletruck (aka Warlords of the 21st Century) (1982) "We love to kill, so we kill what we love. Is that it? --No."  Synopsis A staticky radio establishes the setting, with news of martial law and limited resources suggesting the aftermath of a war. There is also a vague mention of someone 'terrorizing the countryside'. Then we see the titular Battletruck (an armor-plated semi truck bristling with machine guns) plow right through an abandoned country store. Next we see two men in a horse-drawn half-automobile. The Battletruck shows up and Straker, the imperious commander of the gang, exits. His men discover the two are traders transporting diesel fuel, and Straker demands to know where they obtained it. He slashes the throat of one of the men, and the other leads him to a hidden fuel depot. Straker decides it's an ideal place to set up camp. Before doing so, he has the man who led them there gagged, and tied to a tree. Then he calls over a young woman, named Corlie, and tells her she's "old enough" to handle this. He puts a gun in her hand and orders her to shoot the man. As soon as he lets go of her hand, she stuffs the gun in his stomach and fires, but it turns out to be unloaded. Straker hugs Corlie as he fires off a shot at the trader. That night, Corlie escapes from the camp, seemingly with Straker's tacit consent. The next day, however, the gang's other vehicle (not the Battletruck, but a smaller off-road car) catches up to her and tries to bring her in. She is rescued by a man on a dirt bike, and they escape to his house. His name is Hunter, but he doesn't really want Corlie to stick around. He takes her to Clearwater, a thriving farming settlement set up as a full democracy. Aside from one man who questions if she's more loyal to Hunter than them, the town welcomes her in. Unfortunately, the Battletruck shows up to Clearwater not long after. Corlie sees it approaching from far off and rides off on a horse before Straker arrives. There is a brief firefight once the Battletruck smashes through the gates of Clearwater, but the town soon surrenders when they see they can't penetrate its armor. Corlie escapes and finds her way back to Hunter. She spends the night with him but in the morning, Straker's gang shows up and the two have to fight their way out. They do get away on the bike, especially since Straker seems reluctant to fire on Corlie. They return to Clearwater and meet with Rusty, the only man there who knew where Hunter lived. Rusty reveals his charred hand, ruined by torture from Straker's men. Hunter admits he probably wouldn't have held up for long either. Judd, the man who'd been suspicious of Corlie from the start, comes to reconcile with her. Suddenly he gets violent and then kidnaps Corlie. Hunter goes after Corlie on his bike, but Judd ambushes him with a crossbow. Judd brings Corlie to Straker, and desires to join up with his crew. To prove his loyalty, he goes to show them Hunter's body but they find it isn't there. Straker and Corlie have a father-daughter talk, but it's clear they will never see eye-to-eye. She nevertheless ends up riding back in the Battletruck, seemingly his voluntary captive once again. (No credit for guessing their relationship; while it's never made explicit, it is obvious by this point). Hunter limps back to Clearwater, where Rusty has fixed up a vehicle for him (an armored Volkswagen bug). Hunter makes an attack on Straker's fuel depot and blows up the gas pump. Hunter gets the Battletruck to give chase, but it struggles to make it up the mountain road. Having raced ahead of it, Hunter is able to blast a hole in it with an anti-tank weapon. Straker grows angry, and drives off on another road. Corlie accuses him of running away, but it turns out he is heading to destroy Clearwater. Hunter arrives with the dirt bike and jumps into the Battletruck. In the on-board melee, the driver is killed by an enraged Straker. Straker starts to fight off Hunter, and it is not until Corlie hits Straker from behind that Hunter is able to wound him seriously. The two jump off as Straker is left blindly screaming in an out-of-control Battletruck. Moments later, it goes over a cliff and crashes in a fiery explosion. As an epilogue, we see Corlie and Hunter back at Clearwater. She wants him to stay, but he just hops on his horse and rides off into the distance.  This movie could easily have been another forgettable Mad Max (or really, Road Warrior) knock-off. It's got the vehicular combat, the lone hero reluctantly fighting for the side of good, and even sounds a little like it since it was shot in New Zealand. However, this one makes a lot of interesting choices that many similar films do not. It's clearly trying to be a more grounded version of the post-apocalypse and even has some decent character drama. You also have a rarity in a female protagonist, or at least audience surrogate. The Battletruck is a distinctive design as well; it might well have fit into the Mad Max world but doesn't totally seem stolen from it. Straker, too, is a charismatic and cool villain in a way that these warlord types often aren't. Unfortunately, despite making all these interesting decisions, the film somehow just doesn't come together successfully. There are neat character moments but no real growth. Sometimes scenes last too long, sometimes they feel cut too quickly. The Battletruck never really gets put through its paces in a fight, and indeed its best moment comes when it goes off a cliff. In fact it's such an obvious 'money shot' that the film doesn't even pretend; it goes full slow-motion to make sure we get it as spectacularly as possible. Finally, there is the problem that Corlie presents — is she really the protagonist of this story or not?  I don't want to knock the film too much when it's in a genre that all too often treats women as exploitable for merely sexual or violent purposes. But it's apparent that Corlie is not driving her own story. I can almost appreciate that being passive is just her nature, and the film does convey that decently. For its era, it is a little bit different just by having a female lead character but in another way seems mired in the past of needing the male lead to be the 'real' hero, and so too often she does not choose the course of action. Again to the film's credit, Hunter is at best a deuteragonist, and isn't on-screen enough to be the main character of the movie. He's just the one that people expect to act when something heroic needs doing, and he usually complies. Corlie does have some agency. She makes the choice to run away from Straker (and Clearwater). When put into combat, she actually fights even if she doesn't take the initiative. She does stand up for herself when the citizens seem reluctant to let her rejoin them. She is a character with some complexity, and that in itself does make the film a little more special. It's somewhat odd that this film really seems to be one of the more forgotten entries in the genre. I would imagine those who wanted more action or just a whole movie about Battletruck would have been mildly disappointed by it. It's also lacking in over-the-top crazy characters that might have been more memorable. Additionally, I also think that since it was partially produced by Roger Corman, it gets grouped in with some of his other post-apocalyptic movies, despite being very tonally different from them. Is it an overlooked classic? Not really, but it does offer some distinctively different elements in a flawed but decent movie. Connections to Roadwar 2000  This film comes very close to matching the feel of the world in Roadwar 2000. It is maybe a little more degraded (given that horse-drawn cars are more common than gas-powered ones), and depicts rural life instead of any ruined cities. However, the idea of a gang of cars that are engaging in combat, and the conflict between a ravaging warlord and the locals who are trying to preserve an island of civilization, really feels consistent with the game. It's entirely conceivable that one could encounter a 'Battletruck' and an off-road vehicle in Roadwar, or even a car rigged up with makeshift armor plates like the bug that Rusty makes for Hunter. The combat, too, consists of people shooting guns out of car windows, without any futuristic technology that often gets blended in with this setting. It's also fairly normal for the Battletruck to handle situations by ramming, which is yet another commonality. Although due to the film's budget, you're more often seeing it crash into structures than other cars. As we've also just seen in the game, a fuel depot would indeed be the sort of place that is closely guarded and fought over by some (though interestingly, Hunter's bike is converted to run on methane derived from biowaste). It's also not unreasonable for a player to feel a bit like Straker; he comes off as having a fairly strategic mind even if he's quite harsh in dealing with any perceived threats. We never quite get in Roadwar the sense of any other groups that might be maintaining society as in Clearwater, which would have been a nice touch to have, but we can imagine that once things progress a few more years in that world, such settlements would arise. Kangra fucked around with this message at 00:07 on Nov 11, 2020 |
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Nov 9, 2020 21:13
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Battle truck sounds like a cool movie. Thx for bringing it to our attention.
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Nov 9, 2020 22:22
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Yeah. I do like seeing the full gamut of post-apocalypses, especially since media in general would probably trend towards the crazier end.
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Nov 10, 2020 03:44
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wafflemoose posted:Hell yes, go Gator Goons! It is sort of interesting that it was in one sense really hard to beat this, simply because the plot advancement is rather random, and you never knew quite what to do next. On the other hand, the main story isn't the draw so much as the combat is. I do find it strange that there aren't any modern games that do vehicular combat like this, especially combined with the overarching gang management. Autoduel is the only one that is even similar, and it's from roughly the same era (and action-based). achtungnight posted:Battle truck sounds like a cool movie. Thx for bringing it to our attention. I had watched it a long time ago and only remembered it for the truck. It was something of a surprise to realize just how much else there is going on. The movie is available to stream on Tubi if you can access that, and I think Amazon Prime.
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Nov 11, 2020 00:17
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Kangra posted:It is sort of interesting that it was in one sense really hard to beat this, simply because the plot advancement is rather random, and you never knew quite what to do next. I'm certainly curious to see what events wind up triggering plot advancement. I have vague memories of finishing this game years ago, and I remember certain story beats -- but I sure as hell can't string those memories together into an actual narrative that tells me what happened.
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Nov 11, 2020 14:12
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Florida Man Found Hugging Fuel Tank Florida Man had decided to go back to Montreal. Jack felt the gang might be strong enough now. At the very least most of the members had been given a taste of combat already, so they wouldn't just fold in a tough fight. Mr. Stevens objected, saying that they'd already used up most of their fuel getting to Ottawa, and heading eastward was only putting them farther away from the reliable oilfield sources. Cecile showed up and announced that the mood in the gang was that they were ready to go there. She, too, was eager to get into her first real fight. Florida Man, sensing the people were behind him, went out to tell the Gator Goons to pack up. Come hell or high water, or critical fuel shortage, they were heading to Montreal the next morning.  It was barely a few hours into the drive when the gang encountered a patrol of the Furies. Cecile let out a whoop as she exclaimed, "Time for some action!"  This time, Florida Man allowed the trailer truck to take the lead. The motorcycles wouldn't even be able to scratch it if they headed straight at it.  Nevertheless, that seemed to be their intentions, and the truck swerved away instinctively to avoid a collision.  That somewhat fortuitously exposed the Furies to a barrage of fire out of the truck's gun ports, and in a flash, one of the cycles went down, skidding sideways under the wreck of a pickup truck.  The one with the sidecar had turned away from the truck and seemed to be heading for the Gatormobile. Between shots from the van and the Firebird, it too was not long for this world.  Indeed, as the motorcycle slowed across the median strip, it became an easier target and the fight was soon over.  Mr. Stevens pointed out that if they made it to Montreal, they wouldn't be able to leave. Jack told him they did not intend to leave this time.  As they pulled into the outskirts of the city, the gang held up to get themselves organized. Of Jack's original group, less than a dozen remained. A few more people who'd been with the Gator Goons from the start were improving their skills, but the bulk of the group was untrained. They'd be putting their strength in numbers to the test now.  Next, they found an abandoned auto body shop on the north side of the city and began to plan their attack. Jack figured they should stay on the north, and take control of Laval if possible, since the Île Jésus didn't have its bridges controlled by the gangs. In fact, since all but three of the bridges leading into Montreal proper had been blown, it was actually somewhat better defensive territory for them. Florida Man said he thought the zoo would be pretty safe, as long as the animals were gone. "'Cept maybe the gators, they're all right," he grinned. "Or if you got crocodiles up here, whatever, it's all good." Jack was puzzled. "Not a zoo. L'île Jésus. Laval sits on it, Île de Montreal — where they are – is to the south." "Jesus Island," Cecile interjected. "You know, Jésus – Jesus." "Oh!" responded Florida Man. "Should have called it, 'Isle of Jesus'." He paused and then smiled again. "I love Jesus!"  Before the discussion was finished there was a shouting and commotion from outside. They rushed from the room, panicked that the opposition had already got wind of the Gator Goons' arrival. The people rushing up the street at them did not appear to be part of the organized gang, though. Florida Man grabbed his shotgun and started firing. The attackers were few in number. Apparently a small band of those who'd been driven mad by the collapse of society, and had turned to not just assaulting their fellow humans, but eating them for food as well. Only one person had died in the fight — an unsuspecting scout who'd had their arm ripped off and gnawed on before they could even respond had succumbed to shock. Once the gang started firing, the Cannibals fled quickly.  The gang did find out the next day that their arrival had not gone unnoticed. Some defectors from the gang showed up almost as soon as they'd crossed into Laval. Florida Man made sure not to give them anything better than crossbows, just to be on the safer side. A lot of them seemed to be sincere, though. Perhaps life in Montreal was worsening after the Goons had stirred up trouble last time.  They occupied a good portion of Laval that day, at least on the north end, where the direct bridges to Montreal were gone. That night, however, there was another attack. But still not the Montreal gangs. At first they thought it was more Cannibals, but it turned out to be something worse. A group of the infected. They were vicious and relentless. Two dozen more people were lost in the fight, although the Gator Goons killed more than twice that number. Dr. Balthazar ordered the survivors to make sure to burn the bodies of both their own and the infected who had attacked. He said the antitoxin he had would help if a few people had caught it, but there might not be enough if it spread more widely into the group. He also explained that in addition to increasing aggressive behavior, the disease supposedly causes a sensitivity to sunlight, so that those 'mutated' by it would mostly come at night. After that, Florida Man had to offer extra rations to convince people to take nighttime guard duty.  The situation grew grim the next day, when the Montreal gangs attacked. Maybe they had once again been betrayed by infiltrators? Florida Man did not know, he just had to fight. The battle was over quickly, much to their surprise. Jack figured that it was just a probe. Maybe there really were no spies in their midst. Or maybe their enemy had weakened.  With over fifty dead in the last two days, the Gator Goons were in desperate need of more gang members. They had to take whoever they could. Jack again grew worried about the 'untrained cannon fodder', and Florida Man just told him that their only strength was in their numbers. They couldn't really turn them away, they just had to keep the gang going.  There was some uplifting of spirits later in the day when they were able to break into a shopping center without being bothered. It was a gold mine of supplies, all except for fuel, anyway.  A trickle of more people came in. This time it turned out to be a few old associates of Jack! The reunion was touching, and it was good to have some slightly better-equipped soldiers in the group.  But the fight was growing ever more deadly. The Gator Goons made an assault on the smaller Viau bridge, hoping that it would be less well guarded, but as the most downriver of the remaining crossings from Laval, it turned out to be the most fiercely defended. Twenty more lives were lost in that attack, and a counter-attack came at them in mid-afternoon. After less than a week in the city, the Gator Goons had taken over a hundred casualties.  Another recruitment patrol ended in disappointment, as the gang encountered another group who spat on their offer to join. These didn't seem to have the facepaint like the ones they'd seen in Windsor and Hamilton, but it was no less discouraging to the group.  Another battle whittled down their numbers again. Some of the men and women were definitely improving their battle skills, but Florida Man began to wonder just how long this could go on.  Things only grew more desperate, as fewer locals were willing to join up anymore. The gang spent the remainder of the day in fruitless searches.  It was a bright and warm Sunday morning as Florida Man sat on the hood of the Gatormobile and stared at the clouds. He was contemplating whether maybe he needed to leave the city. The Gator Goons were a real gang now, but had he pushed them too far? Perhaps Jack was right and he was bringing in new people only to lead them to their deaths. This Montreal gang might be more than they could handle right now. Yet he figured even Jack wouldn't be too happy if they decided to abandon the fight to control his city. Mr. Stevens approached and said he felt that, given all the losses lately, maybe it was time to cede this battle. They had enough fuel to get to Ottawa easily, regroup and reform, and then return. Or go somewhere else if that was the decision. For now, he thought they ought to say goodbye to Montreal. "It's hard to say it...time to say it..." he muttered, and then just looked at Florida Man questioningly. Cecile wandered over. "Hey, what's got you looking so bothered?" she asked of Florida Man. Mr. Stevens explained that they were thinking it was time to get out of the city. Temporarily, at least. Cecile said she didn't see the problem - the gang was winning most of their fights. Florida Man accepted that, but mentioned that they'd been losing so many people, and it was getting harder and harder to bring in new recruits. Cecile said, "Yeah, but we're all fighting better and better. And I bet we got better guns than them, too." She hoisted the gun she'd been carrying, an M4 Carbine. Florida Man, a bit stunned, asked, "Where the heck you'd get that from?" "It's an American army rifle. We got a bunch of them from the guardsmen back in Hamilton. That was a tough fight, and you didn't run away there, did you?" "Well, dang! That is a pretty sweet piece, I gotta say." She let him handle the gun for a bit and he asked if there was any other special equipment they got from the New York Guardsmen. She said she thought there had been a few grenade launcher attachments, but most people removed them since they weren't able to reload often enough. His mood brightened, Florida Man walked off to give the orders to keep looking for new recruits. Maybe they'd make a run to the south side of the city, or out off to the northeast again. Mr. Stevens walked away somewhat dejectedly. Cecile didn't bother to tell him she'd already run out of ammo for the M4. She figured they'd find some more somewhere soon enough anyway. Maybe even more grenades, if they were lucky.  A late-morning probe into the outskirts brought in a few more goons willing to fight to take the city. They just wanted a guarantee that there'd be free access over the bridges so they could trade in Montreal. Florida Man said he had no problem with that.  That afternoon, they had to prepare for combat again when they spotted another fiery red motorcycle speeding up and shooting randomly in the air. More Furies, taunting them into a fight. Florida Man didn't mind the action; this was going to be an easy one. He called over Cecile to ride along and show off her gun, but she said she felt she'd be better suited staying on the truck for now.  The Chevy van was the first to get close to the cycle, but realized that the narrow alley they'd driven down had the side exits blocked by wrecks. If the motorcycle were to come in, it'd be a head-on collision!  Jack slammed on the brakes and spun the van around. The motorcycle veered away from the alley and across a dirt lot toward the semi truck.  Meanwhile, in the Gatormobile, Florida Man spotted a second enemy. He swerved to allow more of the car's weapons to get a good firing angle.  The first bike went down in a matter of moments, leaving just the one remaining. Although only the Gatormobile was close enough to engage it.  Florida Man smashed the accelerator to get away, but the Furies' bike came too quickly. Even as the guns on the roof opened fire and killed the driver, it smashed straight into the left rear side of the car.  The Gator Goons had won again, but with the damage to the Gatormobile, they'd be needing to stay at least another day in Montreal. Their fate was now decided. Thankfully the taste of combat had improved a fair number of the new additions.  An attack came at 8 a.m. the next day. It was vicious, as the first volley hit seven people right off.  But it was surprisingly short. In fact, the Montreal gangs were on their last legs. The Gator Goons had taken control! The gang spent the remainder of the day securing the city, and grateful locals brought them gifts of food and medicine. While Florida Man went off to celebrate, Jack assisted in appointing leaders of the newly free Montreal. Some of the goons decided they wanted to stay. Florida Man asked Jack if he wanted to remain, but he said he owed it to Florida Man to at least stick with him until he could liberate his own hometown.  With the major accomplishment of taking on a city the size of Montreal completed, Florida Man said they should start scouting other regions. First, however, they needed to make a run back to 'Oil City' so they could set up more fuel caches. They headed back to Ottawa and fixed up the cars.  On the way out of Ottawa, there was a surprise: two more Furies cycles. It'd been apparent that they had been allied with the gangs in Montreal, and this was a clear attempt at vengeance.    The battle was over almost before it started. The Furies were too uncoordinated — and as ever, too weak — to cause an trouble for the Gator Goons. This is the 'quick' tactical combat. You can still shift people between positions on the vehicles, and at the start you select target priorities as well as ramming ratio. The latter isn't that useful in practice since all the vehicles on the other side are looking to ram you anyway. But when it's two small motorcycles and we have a big truck loaded with guns, it's a (mostly) safe bet that all the vehicles will survive the fight.  They made the overland run down to Syracuse again. Fuel was still kind of tight, so they had to stick around in the town to scrounge for more gas.  Which led to something they weren't quite expecting, but maybe should have. An attack from the Invaders! Apparently they had been recognized more quickly now, and were seen as a legitimate threat. It must have only been a small patrol they encountered, however, as casualties were light. Florida Man was surprised to discover that the bodies of the enemies they had killed were found to be human. Either their disguise was very extensive, or they'd managed to employ humans on their side. He wouldn't be surprised at either option.  In a rush, the Gator Goons fled to Rochester, and ended up there completely out of fuel. Of course, even that city was under control of the hated Invaders, but they had to hope for a lucky break soon. At least they were able to fill out the gang's numbers more. Even if the Invaders hadn't come at them hard, every loss hurt when the goons were so weak.  The lucky break did come, and it was a big one. Acting on a rumor from one of the new recruits, they found a small ranch outside the city limits which had a giant capacity fuel storage tank. It seemed the proximity to the oil fields allowed the place to keep it filled, but whoever had been there must have fallen victim to the Invaders, or some other group of bandits.  They stored as much as they could, but still had to leave half of it behind. At first Florida Man said maybe it'd be better to just live there for a while. Jack, however, convinced him that this would only put them in more danger from the Invaders, who would be able to plan a precise attack on them if they stayed. Cecile peeled him away from the tank, and asked where they should go next, since it did not appear that they needed to hit up the oil fields as planned.  With as much fuel as they now had, he thought it would be a good time to scout the Northeast some more. Without planning on stopping, they hit the road and headed in the direction of Boston. This week's movie: The Ultimate Warrior (1975)
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Nov 12, 2020 23:01
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I had forgotten we’d already been to Montreal.  The Ultimate Warrior... I remember a wrestler by that name.
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Nov 13, 2020 02:30
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So what happens if you run out of fuel in a place you're not strong enough to conquer? Do you just go into a failure cascade and get slowly whittled down until all your people are gone and you lose?
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Nov 13, 2020 03:13
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TheNakedJimbo posted:So what happens if you run out of fuel in a place you're not strong enough to conquer? Do you just go into a failure cascade and get slowly whittled down until all your people are gone and you lose? It can go that way, but in cities you can usually keep searching for loot and you have a fair chance of finding fuel at some point. You can also keep searching for people and gain enough to win the fight or at least break even until you get fuel. Running out of fuel outside of a city is an effective death sentence, since while there may be a super long shot to find fuel, it's most likely not going to happen before you run out of food (unless you're in farmland). Realistically you would probably reload rather than deal with the tedium, unless you want to test your luck for whatever reason. I'm honestly not 100% sure that you ever find fuel on some terrain types.
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Nov 13, 2020 07:55
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The Ultimate Warrior (1975) "Turning on our own will only destroy us."  Synopsis The film opens with a title stating "New York 2012 A.D." followed by shots of abandoned streets and ruined buildings. We see two men trying to catch pigeons. Just as they succeed in grabbing some, a gang of men comes in to murder them and steal their catch. Some other men on a rooftop observe a man at the New York Public Library, who they say has been standing there motionless (and shirtless) for two days straight. This group's leader, known as 'the Baron' takes some people with him and makes a recruiting pitch to the man, who remains impassive. They leave, and on the way back are ambushed and forced into an alley as one of their men is slaughtered in the street. Suddenly the man from the library appears; he single-handedly defeats about half a dozen of the attackers and the rest flee in terror. The man gives his name as Carson, and he reveals he only decided to join them due to the Baron's mention of having a stash of cigars. He agrees to come and fight for them, but says he is planning at some point to join some relatives on an island off the coast of North Carolina. The Baron reveals that the commune he runs might be running short of supplies, and that he plans to take his pregnant daughter and her husband (who has managed to cultivate new, viable vegetable plants) off away somewhere. He suggests that such an island might be an ideal destination. Carson is sent to see what happened to a young couple and their baby who ventured into dangerous territory in search of food. The gang of thieves has caught them and let the baby cry to lure him out. Carson kills a few more of them and again manages to escape before their leader, a red-haired man named 'Carrot', can catch him. There are clearer signs of trouble brewing in the Baron's commune, as squabbles break out and one man is sent into exile (spelling certain death). The Baron discusses his plans to abandon the commune with Carson. The Baron says his absolute priority is ensuring that his botanist, Cal, is able to share his knowledge of growing new crops. That night, Carrot's gang sneaks up to the roof in order to steal from the garden. When Cal discovers them, he grows furious and rushes them. Carson runs to the roof as soon as they hear the shouting, but it is too late to save Cal. The Baron tells Carson that he'll have to take Melinda and the seeds on his own. Melinda is adamantly opposed to leaving, so the Baron slips her a sleeping pill. He leads Carson into an underground passage that leads to the subway tunnels. Before they depart, he tells Carson that if it comes to saving one or the other, he should save the seeds. The commune, however, has noticed the Baron's actions. Unsatisfied with the Baron's attempt to mollify them, they storm his office and bludgeon him to death. Briefly they turn on each other but stop as soon as they realize what they are doing. Carrot learns that Carson has left the commune and he orders his men to find him in the tunnels. The two are able to elude them by hiding in a dark passage, but as they continue onward, Melinda starts to have her baby. A few minutes later, the baby is born, and Carrot's gang catches up. Carson dispatches a couple more of the gang with his knife, and everyone but Carrot runs off. Carrot attacks him with a sort of 'hammer' (the heavy ball on a cable, not the hand tool) and knocks away his knife. Eventually Carrot is knocked into an open pit, but Carson ends up precariously on the edge, with the ball wrapped around his own wrist and Carrot dangling below him. Carson locates an axe, but is unable to hit Carrot or cut the cable. He is forced to chop off his own hand with the axe, and Carrot plummets to his death. Over the credits we see Carson and Melinda walking along the beach with the baby, suggesting that they have made it to safety, at least for now.  The Ultimate Warrior comes rather early in the set of post-apocalyptic films, and while it explores the typical themes, it uses a different approach to them. Instead of just assuming a nuclear war, this is set in a world that's been devastated by epidemics first and foremost, and then some sort of environmental degradation. Nevertheless it is concerned with how small conflicts might lead to self-destructive violence. Instead of seeing the nuclear war as inevitable (as many films in the 1980s did), it's possibly trying to signal the need for greater cooperation despite each side's differences. It could probably also be interpreted as having an environmental message as well, since both Carrot's camp and the Baron's side are seen as equally concerned with survival in harsh world, and Cal's seeds offer hope for a better future for both of them. Of course, the film is very interested in showing off the action and fighting. Carson is played by Yul Brynner, and he displays a sense of implacable energy whenever anyone faces off with him. Those fight scenes are decently done, but kind of go too quickly. It's almost too easy for him to win, even if it is rather impressive. Even in the climactic 'chop off your own hand' scene, which is almost too contrived to take seriously, Brynner has the right amount of anguish to really sell the moment. This isn't quite a martial arts film, but there is certainly some influence there. What I find odd about it is how much it really avoids indicating anyone's motivation except as it relates to the plot, which is just full of conveniences. Why is Carson standing there motionless? Not explained, it's just a way to get them to come out to him so the attack can happen on the return trip. What does Carrot use the baby as a lure but not properly ambush Carson? What even happens to the remainder of the commune? Presumably they die, but we do not ever see them once the Baron is gone. Carrot never even learns about the Baron's death. He's focused entirely on Carson by that point, since as the film nears its conclusion he's basically the obstacle that can be used. We can infer that he's motivated by revenge, but he never even really says it. On the whole, Carrot is a pretty second-rate villain; Carson doesn't really know him except from what those in the Baron's commune have told him. The best dynamic is actually between the Baron and Carson. Carson has a stoicism mingled with a certain delight in combat. He is not particularly altruistic; he just does what's asked of him because he's getting paid in food and cigars* for it. The Baron (Max von Sydow) has a stern and callous nature that is equally impressive in a way. He has all the air of a politician who is still capable of managing the people under him but no longer cares about them, if he ever did. Neither of them are particularly selfish or shallow, though. The Baron is pursuing his goal (preserve Cal's knowledge of seeds) above all else, but isn't trying to be mean. He resigns himself to his fate with a simple "it's open" when he hears the mob coming to his office door. Carson has the eventual goal for himself of reaching a safer haven, but he's willing to work with others as long as it's mutually beneficial. Fighting is something he's especially good at, and it's served him well in this collapsed civilization.  This is a film that from a modern point of view might seem overly cynical, since most of the people depicted end up causing death and misery, even if they aren't actively trying to massacre each other. Melinda is probably the closest to a 'virtuous' character but she barely exists except as a plot device. I still feel it's maybe not just being so down on humanity, though. It's certainly not nihilistic, since there is something of a hopeful ending. Outside of just telling its story of fighting and survival, there's a suggestion that we should hope we don't end up the same way, should the world come to it, but with a realist slant that suggests it might be unavoidable. *Now that he's gone, Yul Brynner wants to remind you not to smoke. Connections to Roadwar 2000  While this is a world in which vehicles and lootable resources have mostly been used up, the set-up of competing communities that take their own approach to survival is one that resonates with the Roadwar game. Even if in-game there isn't too much distinction between the labels, the very fact that there is a variety of gangs makes it feel a bit richer. In the movie, even Carrot's side is shown in their living space, and they actually seem reasonably happy. It's just their approach is based on thievery, while groups like the Baron's are trying to improve the world in their own way. One of the things that seems to fit is that most of the people are still remaining in the cities. In the game, some people might be drawn to the city-states if they are the only source of order. In the film, it seems more like these are people who just never were able to leave. Carson is from Detroit, and says it was somewhat similar to what he sees in New York, and outside of the island he is heading to, there doesn't seem to be any desire on the part of most people to get out of the cities and establish themselves elsewhere.
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Nov 16, 2020 19:03
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achtungnight posted:I had forgotten we’d already been to Montreal. I've never really followed wrestling, although I recall the name. Do you know if there's any connection to the movie character?
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Nov 16, 2020 19:06
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Good job Melinda's baby followed TV rules and only took a few minutes to be born 
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Nov 16, 2020 19:17
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Wrestling Connections- no idea. I was just rambling on as I tend to do.
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Nov 16, 2020 20:42
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Really curious to find out who these invaders are, while the ultimate end goal is, well, pretty obviously gonna be either the cure or a return to the old
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Nov 17, 2020 04:43
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sincx fucked around with this message at 05:56 on Mar 23, 2021 |
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Nov 17, 2020 06:28
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Florida Man 'Liberates' Truck From Religious GroupGUB Director Herrell posted:July 20, 1999  As they left Syracuse behind and for the first time were headed toward Troy, Florida Man directed the crew to make a wide circle around the city. They didn't need to go back there, at least not yet, he figured. Instead they drove straight through and made it to the Connecticut River by noon the next day.  Once they crossed over into the next town, they noticed something peculiar. Nobody was guarding the bridges, and while there were signs of looting, there was a little less trash in the streets. Most of the people they saw went together in groups, as was normal in any city, but they did not seem to be on their guard, even when the Gator Goons drove by. There didn't seem to be anyone wandering with their weapons brandished. When the gang stopped at one of the open spaces in the middle of the city, they even spotted a group of adults playing baseball. One of them left the game and came over to the goons. "Welcome to Springfield," he said cheerily. "What a lovely sunny day it is. May the new light bless you." "What's going on here?" wondered Florida Man. "Who runs this town?" "No one... and everyone. We are the Reborn Children. All belongs to everyone. Here we maintain a peaceful life, and we manage the Dictionary. Maybe you have some new words you can give us from your home city," he added questioningly. "The what now?" asked Florida Man, growing more puzzled. "You may join us if we wish. We have escaped the suffering of the old world and gone through the new birth." He raised one arm and spread it toward the park. "Even if you do not become reborn, you are welcome to anything here." "Uh... you mean just take it? I don't want to get in trouble with whoever owns it." "No one is in charge. Speak with Child Romano if you want food. If you need help with your vehicles, maybe Child Gallagher can help. She is probably over at the reservoir now." Florida Man stepped aside for a moment. He spoke with Harper Stevens, saying it'd be pretty nice if they could just take the town without having to fight for it. Stevens said it was probably for the best long-term, since having this city under the Gator Goons would ensure a solid presence in the Northeast US, before the Invaders had a chance to expand their holdings.  When they announced to the Gator Goons that they were just planning to take over the town, there was a decidedly mixed reaction. While most were relieved that they did not have to fight, a large number of them grew angry that the Gator Goons would just take advantage of the city's generosity. Some quit the gang on the spot. Over the course of their visit, a number of them simply left as they saw the attractiveness of this new religion. The Gator Goons had gained a town, but lost the respect of many members. I wanted to show this off once just to demonstrate what happens. Although it turns out somewhat fortuitously that we're in about the only situation where it can be a good idea to take a Reborner town -- our gang is weak enough that fights for cities are tough, and we also need to add to the cities we control, since that's necessary for plot advancement. Also, despite the flavor text, this desertion only happens one time, and only if you take control.  Despite the fairly friendly nature of the townspeople, the mood in the gang was decidedly sour. The next day Florida Man decided to move on and directed the group to head down to the ocean shore. An afternoon spent relaxing on the beach was a welcome break. For a moment they could all forget about the terrible upheaval of the past year, and could just enjoy the Atlantic breeze.  They continued on into Rhode Island, only to be reminded that more cities than they thought had been taken over by the Invaders. Florida Man cursed the aliens for coming ashore there and sped on up toward Boston. He hoped that city, at least, would not have fallen victim to their plans.  After holding up in Quincy to be safe in case of attacks in the big town, the Gator Goons sent out their scouts into the city. They came back with the report that the religious cult had taken hold to an even greater extent here. Jack threatened that he'd be gone with the van in an instant if Florida Man considered seizing control of the town. Florida Man assured him he had no such intentions. He hoped that they could at least spend some time there to rest up before heading back to Ottawa or Montreal, though. After all, even if they knew what he'd done in Springfield, these folks didn't seem like they'd bear any grudges, right? And they were always so willing to share...  Indeed, it seemed as though they did not care at all about the forced takeover of one of their cities. Perhaps they didn't really consider control of a city to be something they controlled. It admittedly was nice to see people who acted so friendly, almost as if the country hadn't just been turned into a flaming wreck in the course of a year.  On the other hand, the intense communal atmosphere made for poor looting. It seemed as though the city had worked together to salvage all the resources they could, and that included programs to clear out and manage the stocks of most of the grocery stores, clothing shops, and even gun shops. Still, a few abandoned spots had been overlooked, so they were able to grab a little extra here and there.  One of the things that was easy to find was an unused vehicle, as the Reborners seemed to care little for them. The streets were littered with usable cars. Most of them were no better than the ones the Gator Goons already had. But there was one that caught Florida Man's eye — a custom-built dune buggy that someone found in the side yard of a West Roxbury three-decker. It had a bulky black pipe frame and chunky rear wheels. It would offer essentially no protection in a firefight, but it did have a sizable platform for holding supplies in the front. There was something about it that just appealed to Florida Man, although he didn't start to drive it himself -- Cecile wanted to give it a spin and she tore up and down the block in it. The roar of the buggy's overpowered engine managed to win over a few of the goons, so it was added to the vehicle roster.  The next day, Florida Man was down visiting a park the locals called "The Old Common" (one of them said, "everything is the commons now") and noticed that right in the middle of Charles Street, there was an old Mack truck, hooked up to a trailer that was about half-full of food and medical supplies. The back of the trailer was open and it appeared as if the Reborners had set up a staircase attached to the back for easy access. He walked up to one of the women standing near the staircase. She asked, "Do you need anything? We have food for anyone who needs it." "I was actually wondering, do you ever move this truck here around?" "No, well, no, I guess not really. It was loaded up with supplies from around town, and brought here to this distribution point." "See, I was wondering, if maybe we could have it?" "You need so much food? We shall let it go. But it has no gas in it now," she said softly and looked at him with sad eyes. Florida Man chuckled. "Uh, actually, we just need the truck. You can keep the trailer, you know. We got enough food. Kinda need it if we're gonna fight off some of those road gangs. You know, some of these cities, they ain't so nice as you folk." "Would it not be better to join the movement. Become one of the reborn and greet the new light." "Well, I'm looking to get back home some day. But we might have to fight the Invaders. You better watch out for them. You know I think they might be al—" he broke off, and then spoke again, "Communists or something." "Ah...lovely," she said, staring up at the sky over his shoulder, as if an iridescent butterfly had suddenly flown down from the sun. "So... you all wouldn't mind, would you?" "What you need, you need. All is ours, all is yours." She smiled and turned to the other people minding the trailer. "He will be taking the truck," she announced. I somehow got the screen right after getting the truck, but you can see the vehicle count went up, as did the free space. Note the listed fuel supply does go down to fill the 'gas tank'.  He proudly returned and told the Gator Goons that he'd scored another big tractor. They hitched it up to a trailer they found at a delivery truck dispatch center. Cecile and Jack were shocked to find that Florida Man had just taken the truck from the Reborners, but he pointed out they really weren't using it to get around. Mr. Stevens assured the others that he'd seen the truck out there just parked and unmoving, and promised they'd make sure to offer protection for the city any time they needed it. Briefly, Florida Man considered some options for an ongoing plan for this region, but he didn't want to try anything too complicated. He was pretty happy to have another truck. They'd be pretty unstoppable on the road with two trucks. They departed Boston shortly afterward and headed back to Springfield. He gave out the message to those that had left the gang were welcome to stay in any of these towns, but they might enjoy the 'reborn' life more in Boston.  A short scouting trip south to Hartford confirmed more bad news — the Invaders had taken that town, too. Florida Man was wondering how widespread the invasion in New York had been. Some of the original Gator Goons from Troy said they must have been coming in through New York City first. That was a thought that frightened him a bit, because he had hoped that once the gang got a bit more powerful, he could at least make a visit to the big city again. Now he was afraid they'd need to be a lot stronger to handle that town.  Eager to put more distance between himself and the Reborners, and wanting to take advantage of the strength of two trucks, Florida Man gave the signal to head straight west. He planned to go back to Oil City and then make a scouting run into Ohio and Michigan. They group once again made full speed and bypassed Troy. At the next stop, Dr. Balthazar and Jack approached Florida Man and pointed out that with the two new additions to the fleet, they were burning through their fuel a lot faster than when they'd gone out there. The truck, of course, required a lot, but that dune buggy was guzzling quite a bit of gas, too. The concern was that they'd be out of fuel well before they made it to Rochester.  Florida Man was unconcerned. They'd basically done the same already the last time through. And even the group of Invaders hadn't been as bad as they expected, so maybe it would just be all right. They pulled into Syracuse without an ounce of fuel but what remained in the gas tanks of the cars. The Gator Goons spread out to search for just a little spare gas.  A full day went and the Gator Goons had no luck finding anything; even the typical finds of food or tires or medicine were rare.  Yet another day passed, and the mood in the gang grew tense. No gas, and no Invader attack either. There'd been a few actual sign-ups to the gang, some locals seemingly growing desperate as the resources in the town were drying up. The Gator Goons at least were able to offer plenty of food and water. Florida Man grew nervous, wondering if the Invaders had abandoned the city after zapping away everything that remained, as a sort of retaliation for having failed to drive out the Goons before.  They did encounter some of the 'healers' who were willing to trade for the anti-viral drugs, and one of them even offered to be the group's doctor, but Florida Man felt comfortable for now with Balthazar.  Five days after they arrived in Syracuse, the first attack came. Was it the Invaders mounting a sneak attack, or disgruntled residents tired of the gang's presence? Florida Man never would find out for sure. And still, not a drop of gas to be found.  Whichever it had been, the sneak attack could not have come at a worse time, as that evening an actual Invader force showed up to battle. The Gator Goons had been weakened, and did their best, taking out as many of the enemy as they lost.  After the fight, though, there was an unnatural quiet. The Gator Goons cautiously went to inspect the deserted battleground. In one of the houses they'd taken last, they discovered plans showing the lines of attack on the Gator Goons, and the indications that there were to be no reinforcements from either nearby city. The failure of this attack meant that Syracuse was no longer a priority target. The Gator Goons had won!  The ordeal had come at a terrible price; they'd never planned to stop here, and it was almost by dumb luck that they'd halted the Invaders. Looting parties were able to find more supplies, although the gang was down to just a few dozen loyal members. Florida Man was still shocked that they had really done it. They'd won over an Invader town, even if it was a small one. Maybe they really could take them on back in Troy now. I discovered from the manual, only after this, that apparently gang combat can deplete the resources of a town. (Normal looting does that as well.) City size plays a role in this, so it would seem a combination of our previous visits contributed to this problem. I can't confirm, but I'm fairly sure it resets if you take control.  With control of the city secured, the group could relax a bit more. They were able to find a large stash of fuel; not enough to really get far, but it would make it to Rochester, maybe even Oil City if necessary.  Fortunately, some of the gas they'd set aside from the big tank they'd discovered could still be found in Rochester. They loaded up with just enough to get them out to Oil City.  Out near the oil wells, the Gator Goons once again found themselves in a battle with the 'Hard Hat' gang that ran this territory. Cecile revved the dune buggy's engine as she waited for the rest of the gang to catch up. The buggy had bounced easily across the dirt field ahead of them, only to spot four bulldozers arrayed against the goons. This was going to be a real battle this time. Road battle size is actually determined by the number of vehicles, but gang battles depend on the city size. It is possible, just barely, to be a one-vehicle gang once you get something like a trailer truck, but we will not do that.  The armored enemy bulldozers rumbled in a tight formation across the oilfield. They engaged at long range, but no hits landed for either side.  Cecile continued to head straight into battle. Florida Man actually looked a bit concerned when he saw all four of the construction vehicles converging on her at low speed.  The Hyundai was trying to swing around to engage from the side, but found its vision blocked by old oil pumps and large rock piles.  Cecile swerved her more maneuverable buggy hard to the left. She was managing to lure them straight into range of the trucks.  The Stellar and the van did attract the attention of one of the bulldozers as a shot went right through one of their hard hats.  Unfortunately, focused fire from the rest of the enemy gang took out two of Cecile's unprotected companions. She pushed the accelerator down hard to get away from the deadly rain of fire.  Jack was drawing dangerously close to a collision with one of them, but he was determined to draw their fire away from the dune buggy.  But there came another shot from the one still trying to head towards Cecile, and suddenly, she was alone at the wheel. She let out a yelp and ducked her head down.  As she passed right by the Mack, several of the goons on top made a leap to get on her car, if only to ensure that she didn't end up losing control. One commando misjudged the attempt and she paid the price with her life.  Florida Man had finally been able to bring the Gatormobile around into the fight. He could probably avoid any collisions easily, but he still didn't want to get too close to the hefty bulldozers.  This group was not only coming with more vehicles, but they had better guns, too. Automatic weapons fire from two of them ripped into the back of the van, leaving several more dead.  The Freightliner prepared for more broadsides of the Hard Hats. It was in a pretty solid position to make a run past them, although there was still a bit of cover between them.  The Mack, meanwhile, had pushed heavily on the brakes just to be sure that the bulldozer wouldn't try to ram it.  A dogged pursuit of the van took out one more of the Gator Goons.  Florida Man fired off a shot out the passenger side window that finished off the first of the Hard Hat's bulldozer.  Two more went down quickly from a barrage from the truck and the van.  Cecile regained her composure, and the crew on her dune buggy was able to start firing off shots again.  With the Gator Goons circling around it on four sides, the final piece of heavy equipment went down. There was no mercy to be shown this time.  A very decent amount of fuel could be loaded into the trucks now, although there was some grumbling that maybe someone had nabbed a few too many cases of beans back in Boston.  The Gator Goons could stand to fill out their ranks a bit more, but Florida Man figured they were ready to make a another run, this time to Lake Erie and beyond. This week's film: A little break from the normal post-apocalypse, Death Race 2000 (1975)
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Nov 20, 2020 08:22
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The Hardhats always gave me trouble since my main strategy in these battles was to shoot the tires or ramming enemy cars into scrap. Construction vehicles don't have any tires to pop and they're not something you want to ram into either. Had to learn how to position my vehicles to get the full benefit of my volleys. Also, full broadside from a fully manned large vehicle like a flatbed truck is a glorious thing to behold. wafflemoose fucked around with this message at 00:18 on Nov 22, 2020 |
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Nov 21, 2020 17:54
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It is interesting how the gangs can gain their own feel, merely by varying their vehicle types and troop quality.
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Nov 22, 2020 08:26
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Death Race 2000 (1975) "Sure it's violent, but that's the way we love it!"  Synopsis The film starts with the commencement of the '20th Annual Transcontinental Road Race' in New York City. There are indications that this is the future, but things also seem a bit wrong, such as the American flag having a big yellow fist in place of the blue canton of stars. The racers come to the starting line; and each of them seem to be custom-themed in some way for the road rally, especially in ways that make the vehicles look more dangerous. The racers start with 'Calamity' Jane, who has a cowgirl theme in a car with bullhorns named 'The Bull'. Next is 'Matilda the Hun', who has a prominent swastika on her helmet and drives a car called 'The Buzzbomb'; her supporters in the crowd wave Nazi flags and aside from scuffles with fans supporting other drivers, nobody seems to bat an eye. Third is 'Nero the Hero', who seems to have an ancient Rome theme and is portrayed as quite vain. Then comes 'Machine Gun' Joe Viterbo, with a 1920s Chicago gangster theme. Finally, the crowd favorite and returning champion arrives; known only as 'Frankenstein', he drives a car with a sort of reptilian theme*. The president appears from his 'summer palace' in China, and delivers an inspirational message to send off the racers. Frankenstein has apparently survived many crashes and had body parts replaced over the years with mechanical versions. He wears an all-black outfit that also covers most of his heavily scarred face. His navigator, Annie, is new to him, and he is a bit wary of her. He does allow her to look under his mask -- and she finds that his face is completely unblemished; the scars are part of a full face mask. The racers split up as they leave New York toward Pennsylvania. Machine Gun Joe is shown heading toward a construction crew working in the middle of the street. All but one of the crew rushes for safety, and then instead of swerving around, Joe aims right for the man, killing him brutally with the blade on the car's front. We then learn (in case we've forgotten the film's title) that this race has a twist: the racers earn 'points' by killing pedestrians they encounter along the way. A few of the other contestants score points with kills. This includes Frankenstein, although he makes an unexpected move when, instead of killing a group of elderly hospital patients for 'Euthanasia Day', he swerves on to the sidewalk and hits the nurses and doctors instead, even though he scores fewer points. Throughout the race, there is analysis from newscasters, covering it like they would a big sporting event similar to the Olympics (including such things as interviews with the widow of the first man Joe killed). There are some who object to this horrific bloodsport. There is a resistance group led by a woman named Thomasina Paine also watching along, and they have plans to sabotage the race. It is revealed that Frankenstein's new navigator Annie is in fact Thomasina's granddaughter, secretly planted for reasons as yet unknown. One part of their plan is put into action early on: when Nero spots a family picknicking and goes after the baby in a bassinet (worth more points), it turns out to be a bomb that explodes, killing him and his navigator. The next day, Frankenstein causes a minor ruckus when he circles around and runs down the 'deacon' (who had announced the race). He does end up getting credited with the points, however. Farther along the route he gets ambushed by the resistance. He avoids it, and then curiously sees a man dressed up just like him. He runs the man down, but seems to have lost some time on the race. Joe Viterbo, it turns out, was misled by Annie into taking a false shortcut. Matilda runs over Jane's navigator while he's working under the car, prompting them to get in a fierce chase up a mountain road. Matilda gets away by splashing mud onto Jane's windshield, but is then led off a cliff by a detour sign and a fake painted 'tunnel' set up by the resistance. The report of Matilda's death is initially suppressed by the news agency.  Frankenstein has grown suspicious of Annie after the ambush. He realizes she led him into it, since she hasn't planned the rest of their route for the day. She reveals that the plan was to kidnap him and hold him ransom in exchange for the abolition of the race. This causes Frankenstein to break out in laughter. That night the news reports announce Matilda's death, but instead blames it on France, who the president says is also responsible for the country's economic troubles. Joe finds Annie in the garage and nearly chokes her to death; Frankenstein shows up and beats up Joe in a fistfight. Later, Frankenstein reveals that he was raised in secret by the government and is only the Frankenstein for 'this year', which explains why Frankenstein seems to survive so many crashes - he actually doesn't. On the third and final day of the race, Jane is killed after being attacked by a resistance motorcycle that leads her toward a land mine. Both Joe and Frankenstein manage to avoid further resistance attacks; Frankenstein survives only because he slips Annie a short-term knockout drug so she can't cooperate with the resistance. When she comes around, he tells her that his own plan when he completes the race is to go and shake the president's hand. He pulls off his gloved left hand to reveal that it actually is a mechanical hand, but with a grenade embedded in it (and yes, he calls it a 'hand grenade'). Joe, meanwhile, is enraged and determined to kill off Frankenstein. Annie is forced to throw the hand grenade into Joe's car, blowing him up. As the car arrives triumphantly at the finish line, Frankenstein exits the car and strides up to the podium to meet the president. Thomasina is in the crowd, though, and shoots him before he can get there. But then they pull off the mask and it's revealed to be Annie instead. The real Frankenstein, who had been hiding in the car, drives straight at the platform the president is on, causing it to collapse and the president to fall to his death. In the epilogue, Frankenstein has become the new president and married Annie (who seemed mostly unharmed by the shot). Most importantly, he announces that the race has been cancelled forever.  *I don't think the car is ever named. I actually was not thinking of this movie when coming up with the concept of the 'Gatormobile', though. I don't picture the Gatormobile as being themed this heavily. In case it's not clear from some of those plot moments, this is largely a goofy and ridiculous film. However, it's also an entertaining satire that (in my opinion) doesn't indulge too deeply in the thing it's trying to satirize. The moments when people are killed are for the most part given just enough of an edge not to feel silly, but don't focus in on the violence (there is almost no gore). And despite the moments that seem taken straight from a cartoon, the film delivers them in a straightforward style instead of dwelling on the humor. David Carradine as Frankenstein goes a long way toward establishing the tone, as he delivers his lines in a delightfully deadpan style. The political satire is fairly broad for its time (when neo-Nazis could be seen as a joke, and the political parties might have believably merged into one 'Bipartisan Party' as the film terms it). Of course the media satire is as valid then as ever, although it comes closest to direct parody of specific figures of the day (Howard Cosell and Barbara Walters). It's a bit more complex when it comes to sexual politics, where it ends up being a sleazier production. On the one hand, all of the navigators are simply expected to sexually service their drivers, and this does include both the male and female drivers. The two women, Jane and Mathilda, are shown as having a healthy sexual appetite without it coming off as a negative trait, and there are both male and female bodies put on display. But there's a clear imbalance in several of the on-screen images, such as when you have Annie completely undressed and prostrate in front of a Frankenstein who has merely unzipped his jacket. In truth, that part is fairly tastefully shot - this isn't exploitation. But there also isn't much of a motivation for all these scenes to exist, aside from spicing up the film a bit. It seems more like an actual holdover of the free-love era than an attempt to send it up.  If Mad Max was the film that created the paradigm of the post-apocalyptic film, Death Race 2000 has had nearly as much of an impact on films that came after, just without being copied so directly. It has a clear influence on Mad Max itself; even if this film doesn't focus a lot of attention on them or involve combat directly, some of the vehicles sequences are still excellently shot. The not-quite-serious take on a dystopia became something of a trope in many post-apocalyptic settings (here the impetus for the police state in America was the 'World Crash' in 1979). With all its various sub-plots, the film is maybe a bit too scattershot in its structure, and its influence is thus a bit more spread out as well. Some critics of the time did find that the film was treating human life too lightly, given that there is a pretty high death count in the end. It's true that it's not going very far to highlight this aspect of movie violence, but in my consideration, it does at least give viewers a chance to consider the question, even if the film moves a bit too breezily to confront the problem head-on. I'm on the side that it's a light satire that doesn't have a lot to say, but is a pretty fun ride. Everyone in it seems to be having fun making it, and that gives it an extra boost of enjoyability. Connections to Roadwar 2000  Although in Death Race 2000 there isn't direct vehicle-to-vehicle combat per se (any collisions are incidental in the vein of typical racing events), there can be no doubt that with the casual treatment of human lives, and the intended use of the vehicles as weapons, this story has a big influence on games such as Roadwar. Of course, there is a much more infamous video game that is associated with the film (Exidy's arcade 'Death Race' game), and that set a precedent for just how violence can be represented and interpreted by players of the game, or at least how the media might react to it. In this game we're going to see cumulatively hundreds of casualties and many vehicles destroyed, which is mostly numbers going up or down. The world of Death Race isn't as degraded or difficult to survive in as the one in the game, and we don't score any sort of 'points', so there is some difference in how we're expected to interpret these figures, but in both cases, it's not meant to be taken too seriously. This is not a particularly grim future setting. And of course, there is the name. The '2000' moniker was applied in the waning decades of the millennium to anything that wanted to seem forward-looking, from computers to bath soap. Giving the game this name, though, seems to be a fairly direct nod to the movie, especially when there isn't a particular reason to use the year for a future 'road war', except to imply a sort of dystopia in which killing people in a car might be a form of entertainment.
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Nov 23, 2020 20:41
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So it's Wacky Races with an R rating? I may honestly have to look this one up.
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Nov 23, 2020 20:54
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Seen this movie and enjoyed it. The remake too, which I am willing to talk about if you don’t plan to cover it at some point. I can definitely see some political figures of our day supporting a Death Race- not saying who, but they’re quite active on Twitter calling for the blood of their opposition.
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Nov 23, 2020 21:04
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Black Robe posted:So it's Wacky Races with an R rating? Yep, that's pretty much it. With an extra dose of political satire. achtungnight posted:Seen this movie and enjoyed it. The remake too, which I am willing to talk about if you don’t plan to cover it at some point. I can definitely see some political figures of our day supporting a Death Race- not saying who, but they’re quite active on Twitter calling for the blood of their opposition. I'm trying to stick with movies that are more contemporaneous with the game, so I'm avoiding anything post-1990, so go right ahead. I might have drawn comparisons, but I haven't seen more than a few scenes of the newer series or the '2050' sequel. Any discussion is welcome.
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Nov 23, 2020 23:35
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Fun fact: Carmageddon originally started off as a Deathrace 2000 game but the developers lost the license so they went "gently caress it" and made their own game loosely inspired by the movie. Max Damage's car even bears some resemblance to Frankenstein's car.
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Nov 23, 2020 23:44
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Kangra posted:I'm trying to stick with movies that are more contemporaneous with the game, so I'm avoiding anything post-1990, so go right ahead. I might have drawn comparisons, but I haven't seen more than a few scenes of the newer series or the '2050' sequel. Any discussion is welcome. Gotcha. Ok, well, I'm not sure how much the general crowd will want to discuss the sequels and remakes of Death Race, so I'll just talk about them in brief. Death Race, the remake, came out in 2008. It has the same race on a smaller scale, taking place in an island prison and still a TV spectacle but with only prisoners and guards exposed to the violent event, not civilians. Frankenstein and Machine Gun Joe are the only recurring characters, both have some elements of the originals (Frankenstein is a legacy character, Joe is his rival) and some new features (Frankenstein actually has a family on the outside). They actually end up cooperating to win the race, escape prison, and take down the corrupt warden sponsoring the race. The film features a lot more vehicular combat and character development than the original, including a sequence with a huge truck packed full of shooters that definitely makes me think of battles in Roadwar 2000. Death Race 2 and 3 were direct to video prequels of the above film that came out in 2010 and 2013. Death Race 2 shows the origins of the first Frankenstein driver, while 3 has him participate in a big racing event in Africa that expands the popularity of the franchise and ends with him in the prison from the first movie. There's a lot of B-movie actors in these films, and a lot of showing off of cars and vehicle combat. Other than the obvious, not much connections to Roadwar or the apocalypse. Death Race: Beyond Anarchy is the sequel to the 2008 film, released in 2018. The race is now a huge global event, taking place in the largest prison in the world. Frankenstein is both star and director of the race, as well as the film's main antagonist. And interestingly enough, the hero of the film is originally supposed to take down the race but instead gets nuts about it and takes up Frankenstein's role after beating him, complete with mask and moniker. More of the same vehicle combat, B-movie actors, and over the top action abound. There was a sequel to the original Death Race 2000 film also- Death Race 2050. It has the same race, colorful vehicles and characters, and political satire in even more effect. I haven't seen it personally, though I did watch the original and the 4 films I mentioned above. Interesting note- Death Race is sponsored by the Weyland Corporation. A company with the same name was also responsible for the Xenomorphs in the Alien franchise. Hmm...
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Nov 24, 2020 00:53
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Florida Man Discovers Mexican Food ConspiracyGUB Director Herrell posted:August 2, 1999  The band of Goons rested for the afternoon at the oil field, and planned out their route. They'd head southwest, into Ohio first. The plan was to drive at night in order to avoid any gang patrols, as they didn't know who controlled this territory yet, and recent casualties had left them in a poorer position to fight.  As the sun set and they prepared to get into their vehicles, however, there was a sudden movement all around them. Shadowy figures approached. They were the the infected, coming in a much larger wave than the Gator Goons had seen so far. A lengthy fight ensued, with many people having to engage in melee combat as the deranged humans rushed at them to rip them apart. By dawn, it was clear that some of the warriors from the night before had been infected with the mutant strain of the virus. Balthazar ordered them to stop for an hour so he could administer the 'antitoxin' drugs. He told them if they didn't handle it now, they'd be quickly in a situation where they'd end up "exhausting their stash".  They made it to the outskirts of Youngstown after midday. Scouts discovered that the town was likely to be controlled by the Invaders. It was a worrying prospect, since this was farther inland they'd expected to find this enemy. Doubly worrying since the gang was in no shape to deal with a big fight after the losses to the disease.  Rather than push on into Ohio, the Gang made the decision to head a bit southeast, toward Pittsburgh. As they crossed the Allegheny, they spotted at the end of the bridge a checkpoint staffed by men and women in military uniforms. It turned out to be Army and Air National Guard members. While initially formal and brusque, they relaxed a bit when informed that the Gator Goons had scored a victory against the Invaders in Syracuse. The group said that they could remain in the city if they wished, but would face harsh penalties if caught looting.  The soldiers then directed them to "talk to Victor". A man in his fifties with a salt-and-pepper beard came out and told them he'd be happy to help fix up their cars. He hopped on board and directed them across the bridge. They stopped at an old steel foundry. Victor explained that the industry had already been on the decline lately, and when the "world shut down" as he put it, that left a lot of work piled up. There were many spare steel plates that could be used to reinforce all of the Gator Goons' vehicles.  They traveled on to a few more auto shops, where modifications were made to improve the performance of all the vehicles. Victor said they'd do it not just to balance out the extra weight of the armor plating, but they'd make it better. He went on to explain that the problems in Pittsburgh had started earlier on than for most. There had been some shootings last year, and the National Guard had been called up to maintain order. As the country descended into anarchy from the pandemic and then the nuclear attacks, the already-in-place troops had assumed control of the city. Those that didn't like it had left. It was a harsh rule in the main part of the city, but Victor said it made him feel safe. "Yinz'd better stay out of trouble," he added. "And don't go into downtown after sundown. They'll shoot you on sight for sure." Florida Man assured them that the gang would stay clean, and they had no intention of heading out of Pittsburgh to Daunton that night. They were hoping to find a few women and men to build up the gang, and then they expected to leave for Ohio. Victor told them to be careful in Ohio, he thought there were some pretty strange people there. This is really the only way cities are characterized in-game. These special events only happen the first time you enter the city, and are always the same for a given location on the map. Sometimes, like this one, they give you some really good benefits.  Needing to build up the numbers, the Gator Goons signed up some more members. Most of the city's residents seemed content to stay in the safety of their own town, but there were enough to be found ready to seek adventure.  They drove off straight past Youngstown and Warren, and instead stopped in the larger city of Cleveland. It was controlled by a local Ohio gang.  That evening, the first attack came. The Gator Goons fought off the small band of forces. Florida Man knew there would be more to come soon, however.  Harper Stevens wanted to leave, saying "these city walls ain't got no love", but Jack encouraged him to stay and build up. The core of the gang was pretty seasoned now, so even with fewer numbers they could live through a prolonged fight.  Further recruitment, however, did not produce good results. There was another encounter with one of the strange face-painted group. A couple of them asked if the Gator Goons were heading to Detroit, but in the end none of them signed up.  Cecile was curious to know why all these people were heading to Detroit, and suggested they should go find out. Florida Man figured they weren't seeing much luck in Cleveland, so they took off up the highway again. Stevens was relieved, saying he thought the next town would give them better luck.  In Toledo, they encountered another city where a loose hold on law and order was being held by the Ohio National Guard.  Stevens was pleased that they were able to operate in a safer environment for asking for more members. The Gator Goons were starting to look more like a formidable force again.  Even if they couldn't loot supplies there, Toledo would be a secure place to store them. Florida Man thought they didn't really need to conquer any more cities if they didn't have to; they just needed to be able to get around without being attacked all the time.  To Cecile's disappointment, they headed straight southwest. Florida Man promised her they'd be circling back through Detroit, and by then expected to be in better shape for whatever fights they might have to get into. He didn't trust those weird-looking folk.  Both Dayton and Cincinnati were found to be Reborner cities. Stevens thought it might be wise just to take one of them to secure a base in the region, but Florida Man overruled the idea, wanting to let them do what they wanted. He was feeling happy that the Invaders had not seemed to penetrate far into this region.  Jack had gone out early in the morning alone, and arrived back with a group of men who he said all wanted to see some action. According to them, the Cincinnati area had been quiet for weeks, with hardly even any road gang activity.  The Gator Goons spent another day around the two towns, staying more time in the quieter town of Dayton. There wasn't really much to be found there. The Reborners were busied with negotiating with the local farmers to keep the city supplied and the farms running that summer. They said the gang was welcome to take anything they had, but the gang found there wasn't all that much worth taking from them.  Not all was peaceful, it turned out, as more of the mutants arrived at the night and attacked the Gator Goons. One of the Reborner leaders suggested that the gang must have invited the attack, since the town had not had any problem with mutants before. "You live a life of violence, and they are drawn to your violence," he insisted.  Among the Reborners there was a group of doctors able to provide more medicine to counteract the virus. Dr. Balthazar nearly tried to convince them they should just give it away if the mutants never attacked them, but Jack convinced him it was only fair to compensate them with some of the gang's other medical supplies.  Not wishing to trouble the Reborners any further, the Gator Goons prepared to depart for Indiana that afternoon. Florida Man had pulled over the Gatormobile to relieve himself in an alleyway in Cleveland before heading out. As he was zipping up his pants, he heard a voice from the shadows mentioning something about the 'GUB' and a secret password. He wasn't sure if this was some Invader trick or a government spy or just some lost and crazed Reborner. Unsure of what to do and a little wondering if someone was going to be trailing him, he held up the gang for a little while before proceeding.  He wasn't sure of who he could trust. He told Jack he thought the gang's numbers were a bit low, and even if this state seemed comparatively peaceful, they shouldn't expect that to last. He'd feel safer with more people around to fight. He did not mention what had happened in the alley to anyone.  The next day brought a clear and warm summer day, and they made good time to Indianapolis, the next major city. As usual, scouts had been sent out around the city to figure out who had control of it. Florida Man had parked the rest of the gang at an abandoned golf course near the city limits. He was out for a walk on the greens when Cecile approached him. She told him she had some concerns about the dune buggy. "It's fun to drive, you know, and I know in Pittsburgh they tried to fix it up better, but it's still a little... weak." "Sure does look fun to drive. Hey, why not take it for a spin on the course here?" he asked. "Yeah, but if we meet some more road gangs, I'm not sure how good it'll be. On or off the road." "Like the Furies? We ain't had a problem with them. Those construction guys sure were tough, though." "I just think it might not be the vehicle to fight from, you know." Suddenly their talk was interrupted by a noise from the nearby trees. A curiously overdressed man in a rumpled heavy coat and hat was crouching in the bushes. "Psst. You Gator Man? You know the G.U.B., Government Underground Biolab?" "Uh, is that where they're hiding the aliens?" The man gave a dark look. "Aliens? No..." "Wait!" cried Florida Man. "That's what the crazy guy was talking about. Back in the last town." "You know these people?" whispered Cecile. "You met someone? An agent?" questioned the man in the trees. "So what's the password?" "Ummm..." mumbled Florida Man. Cecile nudged him. "Did they give you a password? They had to have. You met a secret agent?" she hissed excitedly. Half out loud he said, "It was pan-sea?" "Pansy?" she asked. "Or, oh wait, did they say panacea?" "Yeah!" he cried, relieved. "Panacea" he almost shouted to the man. "Shhh!" responded the agent. "Don't let everyone know!"  The man spoke again, quickly and quietly. "The G.U.B., it's in Tacoma. Head to Tacoma. The G.U.B. wants you." Before they could answer the man ducked down again and darted off deeper into the trees. Cecile ran to where he'd been, but no trace of him could be found. "Taco Mac? He say Taco Mac? I think that's up in Atlanta. Never been myself, but I got a friend who loved it," said Florida Man. "No, he said Tacoma. I think it's a city. Somewhere in the US?" "Oh, uh okay." Then his face got more serious. "Look, this top secret stuff? Don't tell anyone else. I don't know what's going on. Maybe these people are crazy. Maybe they know something. I think they're trying to trick us. But either way, let's keep it quiet, okay? Don't go blabbing to the others about it." "Sure," she said. "It'd be pretty cool if these are real spies, though," she added, smiling brightly.  It was late evening by the time the scouts returned, and by then the Gator Goons had set up camp for the night. But once again, a wave of the hyper-aggressive 'mutants' appeared as the sun went down. Fortunately, they were not armed with weapons, and the goons dispatched them with only a few people lost in the initial attack. It was nonetheless getting to be annoying.  That day was spent stashing some supplies in the city and checking for reports on the roads and cities to the west. They heard vague reports to 'stay out of Illinois' but couldn't tell if that was anything real or just regional rivalry. On the positive side, several of the local gang members said they wanted to ride with the Gator Goons, especially when they heard that they were likely moving on to the northeast.  The second night in Indianapolis, another wave of mutants came. This time, over a dozen people were lost, and more became infected. Dr. Balthazar administered more rounds of the 'antitoxin' treatment, but complained that they really ought to get away before they used up all their best supplies. Florida Man considered it might be wise to move on now. Maybe this was the secret horror of this part of the country? No Invaders, no big gangs, but mutants every night. Florida Man thought these twisted humans had been chasing them from out of the mountains of New York, but maybe they'd been actually moving toward more of them, not away. They were still decently strong, and had an okay amount of fuel, so he ordered the group to move out on the highway to the north.  They'd only just started their way out of the city when they spotted a group of cars on the highway approaching them at high speed. These weren't just the small cycles of the Furies, or the trundling bulldozers of the Hard Hats. These were some fast-looking and high-quality sports cars. It looked like the Gator Goons were in for a fight.  The Gatormobile was a little ways back from the rest of the cars, but quickly accelerated to join the pack. As the opposing gang grew nearer, Florida Man heard music playing. It sounded like some loud rock. He thought he could even make out the song. He heard the singer saying "...if you squeeze my lizard..." but that sounded too strange to him to be right.  The rival gang's cars were in sight now. One of them was a shiny red 1968 Shelby Mustang Convertible. It looked to be perfectly preserved and not a scratch on it. There was also another convertible, a black Chevy Camaro from the 1980s. It, too, was waxed and polished to a bright shine. This was the one that seemed to be playing the music. Further back, there was another black car, a hard-top this time. It was a sleek early 90s Trans Am. All of the cars were beautifully detailed, and all seemed to be coming at them as fast as possible.  Florida Man figured they'd be tougher than the Furies, maybe, but pretty easy to pick off. With the Gator Goons having a two-to-one advantage in vehicles - and a far greater advantage in guns - they'd make short work of these guys. Their behavior was a bit strange, though. Even with the few guns they had, they didn't look like they were trying hard to deal damage. They seem to mostly just rocking out to the music and firing off shots towards the Goons at random.  It was too late that he realized just what was happening. Avoiding the truck, the Camaro had skidded across the road in order to make a direct line toward the dune buggy and the Gatormobile. The music was blaring ever louder. Florida Man could hear the chorus now, "...killed by death...killed by death..." and the men on board the convertible were shouting along at full volume, their eyes wild with enthusiasm and bloodlust. As the Gatormobile slowed and twirled away, the dune buggy tried the same. But in order to get turned, it had to slam hard on the brakes and slow down, and had little room to maneuver with the truck still on one side, and wrecked cars on the shoulder on the other.  The other enemy cars, meanwhile, had decided to team up on the Freightliner. The Mustang swung out directly in front of it while the Trans Am shot around some wrecks toward its rear. Gunfire from the van took out two passengers in the Mustang, and shot nasty holes into its pristine side, but did nothing to deter the driver.  Seconds later, there was the sound of crunching glass and twisting steel as the Camaro plowed into the dune buggy. Both cars mashed together and twirled around in a solid wreck as parts - and blood - went flying in all directions. The music died and the battle seemed almost silent for a moment. None on board either vehicle had survived. Cecile, who'd decided to give up on the dune buggy and had instead taken a position at the rear of the Mack, stared at the carnage, and then looked knowingly at Florida Man.  A half-second later, more sounds of violent destruction were coming from the other side of the highway. Over there, the Mustang had crashed into the Freightliner's tractor as it attempted to turn. The truck could still move, but it was a much more significant hit than one from a little motorcycle had been.  All the vehicles tried desperately to take out the driver of the last remaining car, but it was to no avail. It made an easy turn around and slammed into the rear trailer.  The Gator Goons had survived the battle, but it had come at a heavy price. They salvaged what fuel and medicine they could from the wrecks. After examining some of the destroyed enemy cars, they discovered the drivers had black leather with "Motorheads" written on them. Apparently that was the gang they had to worry about around here. They seemed a more credible threat than the Furies had been.  Out on the highway, they had little chance of finding a decent repair shop, or at least one with acceptable tools to use. Their only choice was to camp for the night, fix up whatever wheels they could, and then drive the limping truck all the way up to the next city.  They reached Flint, over a hundred miles away, late the next morning. The scouts reported back simply that this town was controlled by "The Mob". This time it was Jack who was confused. "A mob? Like an armed mob?" "No, they mean like 'the mob'," said Florida Man. "Right?" he asked the two scouts. "You mean, the big mob." They nodded in response. It seemed they'd been a little shaken up, since two of their friends had been nabbed when they had started poking around what seemed to be the organization's headquarters.  Jack had to get the full explanation from Harper Stevens, although neither of them could figure out just how an organized crime network could operate on a national level in these circumstances. Whoever it was, they both agreed that this little town wasn't worth fighting over. Florida Man, meanwhile, wasn't above trying to get new members any way he could, even if it meant moving in on the mafia's territory. Most of the new members weren't actually affiliated with the Flint gangsters; they were just locals trying to get attention from one of the bigger gangs. Some of them just wanted to get out of Flint.  It didn't take much nudging from Stevens to get Florida Man to head out of Flint as well. They needed fuel anyway, and there were rumors of an oil supply nearby, or maybe even an oilfield. The gang drove out to the countryside, and weren't too surprised to find someone ready to defend whatever oil reserves were available there.  What did come as a surprise, however, was just who was there waiting for them. The hard rocking music was blaring yet again. This time the riffs were strong and dirty as opposed to the squealing guitar of the last one they'd heard played. The cars were still fancy hot rods and just as well-maintained as any of the ones they'd seen before. One of them was a convertible Gran Torino with a shining chrome supercharger sticking through the hood. There was another convertible, an electric blue 1982 Corvette, and finally an AMC Javelin. They were a little out of their element in this grassy field, but they were revving their engines for a fight nonetheless.  Florida Man didn't want to lose any more vehicles if this was another group of suicidal speed demons. He ordered the gang to spread out, and keep their distance from both friendly and enemy cars, just to avoid any danger.  He was especially worried about the Freightliner. They hadn't found a place to repair it in Flint, and it could definitely not take another hit and be usable. It was staying well back from the battle.  The opposing cars stayed in a fairly tight formation to begin with. The music, coming from the Corvette, could be heard a little more clearly, with the car's occupants shouting along: "Way too fast, way too fast!"  Jack drove the Chevy van just within shooting range and then turned away. It ensured that he wouldn't be rammed in the slow-moving van, but the goons on board failed to knock out any targets.  Once the enemy gang spotted the Mack, however, they made for it with as much speed as they could muster on the unpaved dirt.  Gunfire from the truck and the van took out several passengers, but the cars continued to drive on. The driver on board the Corvette shouted along maniacally with the song, "I'm a speedfreak!"  In the Mack truck, Cecile and the others on board fired off all their guns and took out the Gran Torino just before it was about to hit. The truck driver barely managed to get the vehicle away without getting a scrape.  The full force of the truck's guns assaulted the Corvette not long after. The engine seized up and the car slowed to a stop with the driver slumped over the wheel. The music of the radio remained as the song headed into the guitar solo.  The Javelin was in hot pursuit of the Chevy van. Accurate gun fire out the rear eliminated the final threat. The Gator Goons had defeated the Motorheads before the speedsters had been able to touch them. It was a big relief to all.  A search of the enemy cars, however, didn't yield any big stores of gas; just what they'd needed for the fight. The field they were in had no storage tanks, and the oil pumps were all rusted and dry. Had the Motorheads just decided to come out for a joyride to death? The Gator Goons had enough fuel to make it to Toledo, where they'd be safe, and they could even get to Detroit. But they were sure there was gas somewhere in this oilfield, or had it all been used up already? This week's film: Radioactive Dreams (1985)
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Nov 28, 2020 22:56
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Radioactive Dreams "You wanna know the saddest thing, Rusty? Me and Marlowe used to be a couple of swell, decent Joes."  Synopsis The opening sequence of this film starts in 1986 (there are two title cards with a lot of text that add next to nothing and also apparently are not in every version, so I'm ignoring them) as we see two men and two little boys witness a nuclear explosion and then run into a bunker. We jump forward to 2001. The two boys, Marlowe and Phillip, are now adults and have spent their whole lives in the bunker. The men who took them there are gone, and so the two decide to leave the bunker for the first time. Although they appear to have some awareness of what has happened in the outside world, they've decided to dress like the hard-boiled detectives they've read about so much, and they mimic the speaking style constantly as well. Phillip also breaks in at times to give us voiceover monologues, just as Philip Marlowe in a movie might. Shortly after leaving the bunker, they encounter the first "real live woman" they've ever seen, being pursued by the first "real live mutants" they've ever seen. They rescue her (although she knocks out Phillip with one punch when she sees him) and she rides along in their car for a bit. She gives her name as Miles Archer. They find a phone booth at the side of the desert road. Miles kisses Marlowe (and feels him up), steals his gun, and then runs off. However, she has dropped something very important in the car: two keys. Before anything further can happen, the duo are attacked by a post-apocalyptic biker gang of pink-wigged bandits. This part is set to a song, almost as if it were a music video. In the fight the trailer with most of their supplies is lost, but they survive. Examining the case that held the keys, Phillip notices the name 'Dash Hammer' on the front. Marlowe gets excited, because this is one of the men who put them in the bunker. Marlowe considers him to be 'Pops' but Phillip, the more cynical of the two, insists that if those people had been their fathers, they would not have abandoned them. Driving along a little farther, they encounter two foul-mouthed kids dressed in disco outfits, who are apparently 'Disco Mutants', and so possibly not actual children. Phillip and Marlowe turn the tables on the Disco Mutants, but their gas tank is shot so they have to leave the car behind. They rescue a kind of hippie-looking woman that the Disco Mutants had tied up. Her name is Rusty Mars, and she says she knows who Miles Archer is — a 'New Wave Punk' who they should stay away from. They walk with Rusty into the next town, Edge City. Upon entry, they encounter a Greaser (yet another gang member, of course dressed like a 1950s greaser). He gives them a bit of trouble but Rusty handles the situation. Another song starts up as the pair wander goggle-eyed through the sights and sounds of Edge City. They follow Rusty to a club; she eventually takes Phillip to a back room, where she starts to seduce him. He is of course nervous and awkward. Once things progress a bit and she has him lying on a table, she shackles his arms and suddenly the rest of her companions come out. They speak about Phillip as a "pig" and "meat" they intend to sell or possibly eat themselves. The cannibals are upset to find that Phillip does not have the keys on him. He does a bit of prestidigitation to reveal the hidden keys, and then fights his way out. The Greaser helps them get away and tells them everyone is after them for the keys. He tells them he only helped them because Miles has paid him to, but then tries to take the keys from them at gunpoint. The cannibals arrive and kill the Greaser, but Rusty holds her fire when they run off. The two continue to flee, and encounter more Disco Mutants, who are eaten by a sewer monster. Two oddly dressed lizard-looking people show up demanding the keys, but as they fight the sewer monster Phillip and Marlowe escape. They later overhear that if Miles gets the keys, she'll "launch the missile". Miles shows up with a small cart and they drive off together. Another song starts up as they drive, and it's about as close to a straight-up music video as the film gets. At Miles's place, Phillip discovers that the keys are indeed for an 'MX Warhead'. Miles tries to get the keys from them and they have to run away while the song continues to play. Meanwhile, the Disco Mutants have chased down Rusty and threaten to kill her for the keys. Phillip and Marlowe rescue her, which leads into another musical number. Rusty attempts to apologize but Phillip wants nothing to do with her. They two then make an obvious appearance at a night club, intending to stir up attention and draw the rival gangs into a nearby warehouse. Phillip says the plan is to get the gangs to kill each other. They get the jump on Miles, but then the two masked creatures show up. When Miles mentions the men's names, the masked creatures pull of their disguises to reveal that they're actually Hammer and Chandler, the two men who put them in the bunker. Marlowe expects a joyous reunion, but they demand the keys anyway. Phillip gives them up. Just then, the Disco Mutants and a bunch of other gangs do show up and a lengthy firefight ensues (set to music, naturally). In the end, Hammer and Chandler are shot, and Miles grabs the keys for herself. She's about to leave after simply saying, "Thanks" but turns to shoot at the last moment. Marlowe and Phillip are quicker on the draw, and Miles dies. They ask the dying man what happened in the bunker, but are just told, "the past is the past...get on with your life, kid." Phillip does say, "Thanks, Pop" in the end. As they leave the warehouse, Phillip reflects that maybe he should just lighten up and enjoy life, adopting the more upbeat attitude of Marlowe. The two head out dancing as the crowd from the club looks on. In a final voiceover, Phillip says that they decided to hold on to the keys, just in case they ever had need for a nuclear missile in "a tight jam".  For a good portion of this movie, it's a fairly silly, kind of goofy comedy with a bit of a post-apocalyptic edge. The sense of humor is rather puerile (it cannot stop milking the 'private dick' jokes), but it's relatively inoffensive and the characters are all fairly likable. Somewhere past the first hour, though, it's apparent that it wants to be taken a lot more seriously, as it briefly become just a noir thriller in an unusual setting. Unfortunately, that tonal shift doesn't really work, especially since what it was doing in the first part is a good deal more entertaining, and the plot is jumpy enough that it doesn't really flow well as a serious film. It manages to recover somewhat with the ridiculous ending (which is also the best song) but it's hard to get around the weirdness of it all. To some extent, it's possible to see what the goal of this shift might have been. It seems to want to show that what started out as an optimistic venture into an unknown world resulted in these people nearly having their dreams crushed and their souls corrupted by violence and betrayal. That would make it a full-fledged noir, but it really doesn't want to go that route entirely. Nor should it, really. The very concept of having these characters show up in this sort of world is too easily a comedic set-up. The two are doing a decent job pulling it off as well, since it does not dwell too much on the 'fish-out-of-water' jokes that it could easily have overused. It's actually pretty nice that there's no need to explain the concept of nuclear missiles to the kids, or how basic things in the world work -- they might not know right away, but can figure them out. They are naive, but not excessively stupid. (I may be giving the film a bit too much credit here, since sometimes it seems like sloppiness in the story structure, but i find it acceptably convenient.) I cannot fail to mention the rather notable use of music throughout the film. If you've seen enough films from the 1980s, it does not feel particularly out of place to be suddenly having the soundtrack so prominent in the film. There are several moments, again increasing somewhat as the film goes on, where it starts to take over for longer than you'd expect, and in a way it verges on becoming a musical fantasy where the actual plot becomes unimportant. I don't think it quite falls apart, but only because of the already somewhat farcical nature of the story already.  Although, speaking of the 1980s, this is one of the most 1980s films ever, at least in how it looks and feels. I'm choosing films from this brief period, and most of them of course reflect the film-making style of the time. This one, though, is just steeped in the culture, to the point that you'd probably consider it to be laying it on too thick if it were released as a retro-style film today. The costuming, the lighting, and almost everything on screen just screams out the style, particularly in Edge City. The music selections are extremely fitting for the time as well. I'm not sure I'd recommend the soundtrack, since it's featuring artists that never made it big, and most of them feel like style-parody songs of much better artists from the period.  This film never got a decent home video release beyond VHS, and is likely to never get a high-definition version. It was directed by Albert Pyun. He's had a lengthy but mostly independent career (his biggest film is probably Cyborg), so none of his movies have ever been marketed very widely. It is a bit of shame because it does look really good, at least in terms of being an excellent record of the 1980s, so a better version would be nice to see. I feel if were just a bit more coherently crafted it could be an absolute cult classic. It's a film I really wish were better, but I just have to accept that it isn't quite there. Connections to Roadwar 2000  This film is one I almost didn't choose since although it is post-apocalyptic, it isn't quite in the vein of most of the movies I've chosen, in that they kind of relate to the atmosphere of this game. However, the one vehicle fight scene near the beginning does work rather well visually, even if it's borrowing from The Road Warrior somewhat. If I'd seen this earlier I absolutely would have stolen the gang concept for the Furies, because they fit my idea of the motorcycle gang almost perfectly.  The various types of themed 'gangs' sort of fit the game as well, at least in the road gang. The film also does the cannibals as a gang fairly well, in that you could believably see human meat being a commodity in the world it presents. That said, it's one part of the film that maybe goes a bit too dark instead of being darkly comic; again if the tone had managed to be consistent throughout, it would be more successful on multiple levels. Kangra fucked around with this message at 06:34 on Dec 4, 2020 |
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Dec 2, 2020 06:50
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brb changing my username to Disco Mutant God, I love utterly insane 80s movies  And films don't need to be coherently crafted to be cult classics, just look at Tommy.
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Dec 2, 2020 08:59
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Other examples of incoherent cult classics- Rocky Horror, American Beauty, Plan 9 from Outer Space. Heck, a lot of movies could make such a list.
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Dec 2, 2020 11:40
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Fair point. I don't if maybe this needed to be a bit more insane, or just a little flashier. Also it bothers me unreasonably that the character is named 'Phillip' instead of 'Philip' (as in Marlowe), but that's what the credits say. Here's the final dance number to enjoy anyway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzTYzh3C9bY
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Dec 2, 2020 17:48
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Showed up because I had no idea what this game was, stayed for movie reviews. Great thread so far 
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Dec 3, 2020 04:41
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Great LP so far! I played this game a while back, got a massive army of tractor trailers but I could never figure out how to progress the story.
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Dec 4, 2020 02:28
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Florida Man Ensures Faygo Plant Will Stay Open The Gator Goons continued to search through the purported oilfield in the wooded area south of Flint. The battle with the Motorheads had given them no leads.  As they ventured farther south, they failed to find any oil supplies, but did run into a new enemy. A pair of vehicles being driven by a wild gang of Cannibals. One of them was a stretch limousine that had once been white.  With the Freightliner still in need of repair, the trucks held back a bit from the action.  The Cannibals didn't seem to have a particular plan, other than maybe picking on the smaller Gatormobile first.  Florida Man took advantage of their greed to lure them toward the guns of the other cars.  Unfortunately it didn't seem as if the enemy cared whether their meat was shot up with bullets, and one passenger went down inside the Gatormobile.  As the two trailer trucks circled around to the side of the big limo, it turned away, realizing the trap.  Cecile, who had shifted to the Freightliner, directed the guns to fire at the easier targets on top, before they could duck into the safer interior.  The limo was now engaging with the Mack as Jack turned the van in a wide circle to cut off their escape. To prevent any collisions, the truck shot off the front tires of the limo, forcing it to slow down.  Meanwhile, the Hyundai and the Gatormobile were making short work of the other car, a small blue Toyota Corolla.  Some of the Cannibals made a brazen attempt to board the Mack, but were quickly knocked off the top.  As the Mack zoomed off away from the limo, the Freightliner made a low-speed turn to get away before it attracted too much attention.  With the Toyota handled, the other cars made to rejoin the battle.  Jack's van skidded across a slippery muddy patch of ground, and the limo hit his rear end, causing minor damage and halting both vehicles.  Since only a handful of cannibals remained on board the other car, Jack ordered his topside crew to board.  Some failed to make the leap safely, but a good number of high-level warriors made it.  As they dropped down through the sunroof, they dispatched the last few occupants with ease. Since the car was still running, and in decent shape, Florida Man decided to keep it. All they'd need to do is fix those tires.  It was clear that the Cannibals hadn't been on the lookout for fuel in the oilfields; they probably only waited around to ambush the people who came searching.  Early the next morning, one of the scouts discovered a nearly-full fuel storage tank at an abandoned vehicle testing track on the outskirts of Detroit.  With as many fuel cans as they could load filled up, the Gator Goons headed back into Toledo to get the cars repaired. Florida Man didn't want to take any more chances with the Motorheads.  That night, Florida Man discovered a paper travel map of the USA. He looked around for a long time before spotting Tacoma, out in the northwest corner. It looked a long ways away; it was practically at the opposite end of the map from Tampa! He wondered who or what was lurking out there that could have heard of him.  The vehicles were fixed up and the tour of these states was complete. The gang now headed into Detroit, anxious of what they might discover there.   To their surprise, the people of the city were incredibly friendly. There were also quite a number of people willing to fix up or work on any car they brought to them. For merely a small amount of food or medicine in exchange, they were offering tune-ups and performance enhancements.   The work included fixes and improvements to every aspect of the vehicle. It even went beyond the useful improvements they'd gotten in Pittsburgh; most of the vehicles would be a lot safer in a fight now, not just from bullets but from being rammed.   Florida Man noticed that among some of the auto shop workers, there were a few dressed up in the weird black-and-white facepaint he had seen in Windsor and at other places around the region. He asked the head of the shop who they were. "Oh, those are the Juggalos! They had a real big concert or something a couple days back. Like Woodstock or something." "Uh... Juggalos?" "Yeah, they're fans of this band here. They like to dress up like them, do crazy stunts or whatever. You should head to where the gathering was, maybe someone there can help you." Florida Man thanked the man and told the gang that they were going to get to the bottom of what was going on with the strange encounters they had.  He reached the site that the shop's owner had directed him to. He found a bunch of the odd-looking 'Juggalos' still hanging around listening to some music and dancing around in the park. About an hour was spent searching fruitlessly for someone who might be in charge of the place. Most of the Juggalos didn't even want to talk to him, but eventually he was able to get in touch with one of the people who'd been involved with the concert, a Mr. Van Winkle. He was a slender, square-jawed man sporting a braided goatee and a wisp of a soul patch. Van Winkle told him he'd just missed "the gathering" by a few days, and seemed disappointed. Florida Man wanted to know if he, or the Juggalos, or someone else ran the town. Van Winkle said, "No, man, we're just all here to have some fun. Me, I'll probably try to get back to Miami pretty soon." Florida Man was pleased to have found a fellow Floridian. He asked if van Winkle wouldn't mind sticking around to keep the city safe, but the offer was turned down. After discussing the matter with Mr. Stevens, he decided that Detroit would come under Gator Goon control, with the Juggalos allowed to hold their gathering whenever they wanted, as long as they didn't mess with any of the other citizens. Mr. Van Winkle said he'd pass on the message to the 'ICP' that they could keep the town in its semi-anarchic condition.  Florida Man wasn't sure what he was going to do with another city under the Goons' control, given how stable this part of the country seemed to be. Still, he never knew when things could change. Maybe the local National Guards would get power-hungry like the ones in New York, or the Reborners would turn not just hostile but violent. The Gator Goons stashed a large amount of supplies in one of the unused office buildings in downtown Detroit, and prepared to head back to Ottawa to decide where to go next. Florida Man's discussion with Mr. Van Winkle had made him feel a little homesick, and he figured the Gator Goons just might be powerful enough to fight their way down the Atlantic coast by now.  Before, leaving, they hoped to gain a few new members from the region. Scouts asked around among the Juggalos, but there were none willing to sign up.  Things went better with some of the tinier gangs in Detroit. A few had been dreaming of trying to seize control in the city, but lacked the will to do so. Many among them were ready to join up once they saw how powerful the Gator Goons had become.  The drive back to Hamilton was uneventful. Once there, they made sure to secure a cache of supplies in the city. Cecile went around trying to convince some of her old friends to come along with the gang, but it seemed she alone was ready to leave that town.  The Gator Goons were getting to be pretty noticeable whenever they traveled. They tried to sneak through Toronto in the early morning hours to avoid the 'tariff' imposed by the bureaucrats who ran the town. The gang made it through the city without incident, but someone was waiting for them right as they got outside the city.  The Lake Erie Guardsmen, having been driven out of Hamilton, were now patrolling the highways in the area. The group that came for the Gator Goons seemed as if they'd been setting up the ambush for a while. There was a beat-up open-top M151 jeep, a black stretch limousine, and a Crown Victoria station wagon, which were all decent-sized vehicles, and might have presented something of a challenge on their own. But the big issue was that they also had their own trailer truck. It looked to be their primary command center, at least on this stretch of the road. The Gator Goons were in for their toughest fight yet, against an opponent who wanted nothing more than revenge.  Florida Man threw caution to the wind and drove hard, right down the center of the highway.  At high speed, he turned his car, hoping to distract the enemy while the rest of the Gator Goons got into firing positions.  But the trained soldiers knew better than to throw their lives and vehicles away in a ramming maneuver. Instead, they aimed for the tires of the Goons' cars. The Gatormobile went skidding off to the side of the road and nearly crashed into the barricade on the shoulder.  They employed the same strategy on the Mack truck. It did not affect its performance quite as much, but did force the driver to be a little more cautious at higher speed.  The Gator Goons decided that turnabout was fair play. Not only did they unleash a burst of fire on the men inside the jeep, but they fired on its tires too, causing the vehicle to hop and skid as it bumped along over the median. It had to brake suddenly to avoid colliding with the Guardsmen's truck, and the truck stalled as it hit an old wreck at low speed.  Jack directed the van to fire off on the limo's wheels, and it spun into a crash once the tires came off.  With the Gatormobile's tires damaged, Florida Man was stuck far ahead in a one-on-one battle with the Crown Vic. He could only hope that the Gator Goons could trust in the new armor plates they'd gotten in Detroit.  But although the armor plating was useful for keeping the occupants safe, it wasn't doing much to cover the tires. Two more hits, and the Gatormobile was barely able to stay on the road.  Back in the middle of the fight, the jeep was knocked out by fire shortly afterward. The command truck was still having trouble extricating itself from the pile of wrecked autos.  Jack noticed the trouble Florida Man was in and called on Cecile to fire off from the Freightliner at long distance. It took out most of the passengers, but the driver was still inside and looking to finish off the last tire on the Firebird.  Jack's van had already taken a hit to the tires as well, and he knew that with a flat he wouldn't be able to catch up to the station wagon. He took careful aim out the window with his rifle, and with one shot, finished off the driver. The Gatormobile might need some new wheels, but would live through this.  The Lake Erie Guardsmen had been reduced to just their command truck as the Goons' cars polished off the limo. But that truck wasn't going to go down very easily.  Keeping their distance, the Goons made wide circles with all the vehicles that could fight, ensuring that the enemy truck was exposed to fire on all sides.  But the command truck was well-armored, and the could only rarely get a lucky shot off.  The Gator Goons limo ventured just a bit too close, and several of the Guardsmen's soldiers jumped on board.  Little by little, the Guardsmen were being worn down.  On top of the limousine, the weaker members of the rival gang were quickly dispatched. That left one soldier against six, although he appeared to be well-trained. He pulled out a large combat knife and steadied himself on the roof.  Florida Man was leery about getting too close to the truck, since a single hit would knock out his car. He did try to at least get into firing range. As he grew closer to the Goons, he shouted out, "Hey, shoot at the guys on top! They're easier to see!"  Cecile took his advice and immediately the strategy paid off. With more of the enemy forces knocked off the roof, that'd be fewer guns firing back (and less risk of being boarded if it came to that).  On top of the limo, nobody seemed willing to take on the man with the knife. He knocked his first victim over the side with a cut to the arm and a surprise sweeping kick.  The top of the command truck continued to be raked with fire. There were fewer than a dozen soldiers up there now.  They almost seemed to be getting easier to eliminate.  On the limousine, though, the enemy soldier was still holding his own. He'd stabbed another Goon and thrown the limp body at another warrior, knocking her off the side of the car too. Inside the limo, the occupants grew nervous and afraid to go up through the sunroof.  The command truck had finally been cleared off on top. Only whoever remained inside was left.  With the last few of the Guardsmen inside worn down, and aware the end was coming soon, they finally surrendered. On board the limo, the veteran gave up willingly as well. The Gator Goons could not but help admire the bravery he'd displayed. Jack offered him a spot in the gang, but the enemy soldier declined.  The gang looted as much fuel as they could from the command truck, then shot up the interior and the engine. They left the remnants of the Lake Erie Guardsmen tied up in the trailer.  They couldn't afford to go back to the cities to get the cars fixed up, so they just got new tires on where they could and rolled on.  But they'd barely made it ten miles before they were drawn into another fight. It seemed the Lake Erie Guardsmen had called for reinforcements. Florida Man told the gang to get ready, and hold back before they got their wheels shot off.  As the opposing cars raced towards them, it looked as if they weren't quite aware that the Gator Goons had won the recent fight. They were coming in as fast as they could, without opening fire immediately.  Two of their limousines ended up colliding as the Gator Goons stole a trick and shot off a tire on one of them. The one in the rear fishtailed and slammed into a wrecked car; the limo caught on fire seconds later as the soldiers fled from it.  This time, there was no command truck to concern them, so the heavy barrages from the Goons' own trucks could target the smaller vehicles first.  Jack spotted the limo and a station wagon moving close to each other, and ordered another attack on the wheels.  Both cars were able to avoid a fatal crash, but as more bullets came in, the station wagon was rendered an immobile wreck. The limo was now trapped!  Sensing the tide had shifted, Florida Man gunned the Gatormobile past the tractor. It tried to make a turn to the side to smash his car, but he was going much too fast for it.  He left the tractor in the dust as the rest of the Goons caught up to finish off the handful of soldiers on top of it.  In a limo-to-limo firefight, the Gator Goons model was the winner, thanks to the helpful workers back in Detroit providing an extra level of protection.  The renegade national guard's 'reinforcements' had only contributed to the supply of the Gator Goons.  After another night on the road, the Goons headed for the safety of Ottawa. Hopefully this would be the last they'd ever hear of the Lake Erie Guardsmen. This week's film: Fist of the North Star (1986)
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Dec 4, 2020 22:13
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Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken) "Will they be able to survive without you to protect them?"  Synopsis The opening narration tells us that there are opposing forces of the universe need to remain in balance. In particular, there are the martial arts of Hokuto Shinken (North/Big Dipper style) and Nanto Seiken (South Dipper style*), and they should not come into conflict. We also learn that in 199x, the world as we know it was destroyed in a nuclear holocaust. The remnants of humanity struggle over the few remaining resources, and there is little hope for the future. We then see the protagonist of the story, Kenshiro (aka Ken), and his girlfriend Yuria ('Julia' in the dub) wandering through the wasteland. They encounter a former friend of Ken's named Shin who challenges him to a fight, although Yuria warns them not to, since Ken is in the Hokuto tradition and Shin is of the Nanto. Shin wins by performing an attack that seems to nearly slice off Ken's limbs. He starts to torture Ken to death by poking his finger straight into his chest, leaving large round scars each time. Yuria agrees to go with Shin to save Ken's life. Ken's older brothers Raoh and Jagi have witnessed his defeat. Both of them are jealous that Ken was the one chosen to be 'Fist of the North Star' (i.e. the champion of the Hokuto school). Jagi sees Ken's broken body and tosses him into a canyon. Raoh, the elder of the two, goes to their father and tells him that by rights he should carry on the Hokuto tradition, since the man's faith in Ken was misplaced. Their father is mistrustful of Raoh's selfishness, and kicks him out of the dojo. Raoh responds by murdering the man and declaring that he will be the true Hokuto master. We then see two kids in a dune buggy being chased by members of the gang of a man named Zeed. As the gang is about to crush one of them (a girl named Lin) to death, she makes a sort of psychic cry that rings out across the landscape. Kenshiro, now sporting a beard and looking more serious, arrives in response. Ken battles with the gang members; he is able to kill them seemingly just by touching them and causing their heads or other body parts to explode after a few seconds. Zeed turns out to be a giant of a man, nearly three times as tell as Ken. Ken is able to knock him down, but Zeed gets back up and taunts Ken to continue the fight to the death. Ken simply replies, "You are already dead." Moments later, Zeed's body twists and explodes from the inside. It turns out that this is in fact the power of the Hokuto school - to attack the 'pressure points' of the body, resulting in internal disruption that leads to death. The power can also heal, though, which Ken reveals when he heals Lin's muteness. In a nearby village, a gang is intimidating the locals into worshipping a statue of a man with seven scars. It appears to indicate Ken's scars from his fight with Shin, although the statue's face is covered by an iron mask. There is another man, named Rei, who arrives and confronts them, since he is searching for the man with those scars. Rei appears to follow the Nanto school. Ken shows up, and sees the statue and destroys it. He explains to Rei that this is in fact Jagi, his older brother. Jagi had betrayed the honor of their art because he is willing to use any tactic that gives him an advantage (in particular he tried to pull a gun on Ken). Ken used his power to leave Jagi deformed but not dead. Rei is mistrustful, but explains that he is looking to save his sister Airi who was kidnapped and enslaved by a man with seven scars. Ken leads Rei to Jagi's hideout. The two brothers confront each other and duel on the top of an abandoned skyscraper. Jagi again tries to use dishonorable tactics, and Ken finishes off the hit to Jagi's head which results in his body completely exploding. Before dying, Jagi reveals that Yuria is being held at the city of 'Southern Cross' by Shin. The two children who Ken rescued earlier (Lin and Bat) show up, and Lin is excited to show Ken that the seeds he gave her have sprouted. Ken then heals Rei's sister's blindness, but she is still mentally damaged from the years of slavery. Meanwhile, we find that Raoh has taken to calling himself 'Ken-oh' ('King Fist'), and seeks to consolidate power by conquering the world. He is also using the Hokuto arts in combat.  Shin makes up his mind to go fight Raoh. When Yuria learns that Jagi was killed by Kenshiro, she runs off immediately to look for Ken, whom she had thought to be dead. She is unable to escape, however, when she runs directly into Raoh and he takes her as a prisoner. Raoh and Shin fight. Ken shows up to find Shin's palace burning, and Shin waiting for him. Shin is unprepared for Ken's increased power since their last fight, and also seems devastated that Yuria never really loved him. He allows Ken to defeat him, and reveals that Raoh has taken Yuria to the dungeon of Cassandra, where Raoh has built his fortress. Rei and the two kids have found their way to Yuria, possibly with Lin's help. They buoy her hope by giving her the flower that grew from her seeds. Raoh discovers the flower and makes a public demand for the person who grew it to give themself up. Rei steps forward and claims that he was the one who grew it, and he challenges Raoh to combat. As they fight, Kenshiro approaches, but he does not arrive in time to stop Raoh from killing Rei. With his dying breath, Rei pleads for Ken to avoid the fight that might destroy all hope for the future. Ken decides that he must face his destiny and fight Raoh. An epic battle ensues that leaves the two spouting blood and nearly destroys half the city. Raoh gets the upper hand only for Ken to keep coming back. They continue to trade blows to the point that both of them fall senseless to the ground together. Raoh, however, gets up first** and is about to kill Ken, when Lin simply pleads for them to stop. Raoh has a moment of mercy, and leaves them, but indicates that their paths will cross again some day. In an epilogue, Lin and Bat are walking through the wasteland and discover that flowers are now sprouting on their own in the wilderness. Kenshiro wanders a windswept desert, searching for Yuria; as the credits roll he seems to be chasing her ghost in a hidden valley of evergreen trees.  *The South Dipper corresponds more or less to Sagittarius in the Western system of constellations. ** In the Japanese home video release, both of them get up together. While this film is not without some amount of depth in the characters or plot, it's really all about the fights. Each of the primary story arcs build up to a confrontation, and then you get a fairly satisfying fight scene. The connecting sequences are just enough to give the motivation for why these characters keep on fighting, and fill in some background on the post-apocalyptic world. The setting isn't quite as fleshed out as it could be, since it seems to be mainly there to heighten the usefulness of martial arts. There is an almost mythic quality to the story and characters, too, so it seems okay they are somewhat broadly portrayed. Each of the main ones has a distinctive look, and not only are they using quasi-magical powers, they are often fighting against enemies that feel supernatural (such as the giant Zeed, or another man who is able to turn his skin to iron). You could almost imagine that these are the legends that future generations might tell of those who saved them when the world seemed to be in its darkest place. As said, it does all comes back to the fighting sequences. This film was made in 1986, two years before Akira really transformed film animation (I probably won't do Akira, since I consider it only peripherally post-apocalyptic). The animation in general is fairly basic, and is possibly drawing too much on the printed version, as there are images that look very good but still feel static. There are also occasionally interesting editing choices, but the movement just isn't done very well. That is very noticeable in the fights, outside of perhaps the final one with Raoh. The Hokuto style has a neat narrative convenience in that characters can have a dialog without having to be engaged in combat, but it also means that the damage of the hit is not shown as it happens.  There's still an aspect of the combat that actually does work well, and that's in the deaths. The film is not excessively violent or gory (bear in mind that it's a lot of fighting nonetheless), but it is quite gruesome in the ways that people's bodies twist into horrifying forms before dying. There is some monster-movie level body horror at times, as for whatever reason it's often the brain or head that starts to expand first. Even the sequences of people dying in the nuclear war are quite striking, and it's those that make it on balance a decent-looking film, as long as you don't mind that too much. In some ways it could be said that by showing how repulsive this fighting is, and by having a somewhat anti-climactic ending, the film is possibly giving a bit of commentary on the need for violence. It never really explores this in the characters much, however. Kenshiro doesn't end up saying much at all; he really does just seem to be a strong, silent character who mostly fights for good but has no qualms about killing any of his opponents. Shin has the most to say about the necessity of violence, but it seems to be more an aspect of his character than something the film is trying to see. Even he lashes out in destructive anger, and just seems to be more an emotional and sensitive person than Ken. Even the ending seems to be less about trying to end the violence and more about leaving the story open, given that the full series was not shown in the movie. From what I've heard, the anime series or manga form is probably the better presentation of this story. I might agree, although I'm not familiar with either. This film does feel like a condensed version of a larger story that isn't fully told. But on its own, it still functions fine. The animation definitely feels dated, but it surely has its moments, assuming you can find them enjoyable. As for the dub vs. the sub, I've watched both. The dub does a bit more to be a self-contained story than to rely on external backstory, but the voice acting also has its weak spots along with the odd name change or two. However, if you are going to watch it, it is probably going to be for the fighting, and those moments are watchable no matter which presentation you choose. Connections to Roadwar 2000  The film is definitely post-apocalyptic in setting, as there are the ruins of big cities and it's set about a generation after civilization has fallen. It is clearly inspired more by kung fu films of the 1970s (Bruce Lee movies in particular) but it does provide a viewpoint on how people might behave once the environment and society has been completely destroyed. There are enough hints that most ordinary people are just trying to get by, mostly with the continuing thread with Lin and Bat who demonstrate the hope for the future. The film naturally lends itself readily to a different sort of game (there are over a dozen fighting games based on the series) since it's a series of big fights, so it is in a way comparable in just the amount of fighting that occurs when the world falls apart. There is actually a tiny bit of vehicular battles when Lin and Bat appear, since they show up in a dune buggy, but it's all about the one-on-one hand fighting. It would be fun, but of course a very different game, to see what would happen if your Roadwar crew could suddenly get away with violently punching their opponents instead of having to usually shoot them (on-vehicle combat, such as taking over another car, does seem to be melee, since it doesn't depend on the missile weapons carried).
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Dec 9, 2020 08:41
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The Gator Goons wish they had an ally who knows Hokuto Shinken. 
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Dec 9, 2020 10:16
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Florida Man Ends New York Gang War The Gator Goons took a brief rest at Florida Man's castle in Ottawa. With such a large haul of fuel from the Lake Erie Guardsmen, they were able to fill up a tank in the town that would give them an emergency reserve if they ever needed it.  They did not spend long in the city, though. They took off for Montreal the next day, and a night's rest was spent there as well.  The next morning, the gang was having a post-breakfast walk through the city center when Jack approached Florida Man with a question. "So, what are the next steps for the Gator Goons? Montreal is safer than ever. We can probably capture any other place we wanted now." Florida Man folded his arms and rubbed his chin. "I was thinking, it might be time to head back to my home." "Down to Florida? We can make it there sure. And if it needs liberating, I'll be there with you." Mr. Stevens mused, "Been far away for far too long?" Cecile said, "But what about the—" and stopped herself short, then continued, " the rest of the country? Out west would be great to see!" Giving Florida Man a knowing look, she added somewhat quietly, "I always wanted to see, you know, Vancouver." Dr. Balthazar chimed in, "The western side of the country is very far away, though. We'd barely have enough gas to make it. Florida, man, maybe we could get there. And it is his home." Florida Man, his mind made up, declared, "I'm going home. But on the way, you know what? Jack, I think you're right. I bet we'd be able to take New York City. Just walk right in and take it, no matter if the Invaders got it or no. Gator Goons, let's head out!"  They'd barely made it over the US-Canadian border when they spotted some old enemies. The Furies had come, with a few more motorcycles this time.  But with all the improvements that the their own vehicles had received, what would have likely been an easy win became an absolute cake walk. Only a single casualty was suffered by the Gator Goons as they wiped the Furies off the road with ease.  Before heading down to New York City, the gang made one more pass through Troy. They spent one night there. The next morning, Florida Man stopped to visit the parking lot where it'd all began. After taking a look around, he just decided to get out of the city. Less than half a dozen members remained of those that had joined back then, and the gang had grown in ways he could not have imagined. He briefly considered paying a visit to Neckdaddy's side of town. Then he realized that no longer concerned him. They were bound for New York City, and didn't need to spend a minute more in this little town.  They arrived in New York before noon. Florida Man discovered the city was noticeably more quiet than when he'd left barely half a year ago. It seemed most of the population had either died in the pandemic or fled to the countryside. Or perhaps, they were killed by the Invaders. The gang grew nervous as they wandered past all the abandoned buildings. They headed on to Manhattan, and began searching for signs of life among the towering skyscrapers. When they reached the UN Headquarters near the East River, they spotted a woman coming toward them from the complex. Her slightly rumpled business suit attire should have seemed ludicrously behind the current state of the world, but she somehow carried herself with an air of respectability that commanded attention.  Florida Man brought the gang to halt and stepped forward. "This is your gang, I suppose. Elpida Stojanova," she said curtly, holding out her hand. Florida Man shook it enthusiastically. "Say, you look like you're involved in things here. Like the government?" She tensed a bit, but nodded her head. "Have I been looking for someone like you! So, do you know if the president is still around?" "The President? Of the US? No, no. No one has heard from him in some time. This is the UN building, the United Nations." She sighed lightly. "It is perhaps no longer relevant." She gave the whole gang a glance and then stared back at Florida Man. "This city, too. It is, I think, dying." She folded her arms in front of her and started pacing. "I am one of the few of the delegates that remain. I came from Macedonia," she said, her voice rising a bit, "and almost everyone from the other countries left. Or they have died of the pandemic. "The American government seems to have fallen. Here, New York, too. There were gangs here. Sometimes I could negotiate a peace. A truce. But the fighting would come back. People would leave. Only now, it has become quiet. I think maybe I should go too." Florida Man gestured awkwardly toward the gang. "Well, we kind of have Harper Stevens managing things now, but I guess..." "If you think you are better off with Harper Stevens, choose him." She sighed again and took a few steps toward the towering building behind her. Cecile gave a nervous wave and asked, "Excuse me, do you know anything about... a biolab? Maybe working on a cure or something?" Elpida's face flashed darkly. "What rumors have you heard? I'm sure everyone thinks someone someone is working on a cure, but you should not believe all they say." Florida Man whined, "Cecile! It's a secret! They said not to tell anyone!" Elpida whipped toward him. "Who is 'they'? Did you actually meet with someone from the G.U.B.?" Florida Man winced as he recognized the name. "Yeah. This guy... he was telling us to go there." Elpida had come closer to Florida Man and lowered her voice. "Go there? You know where it is?" She turned to Cecile. "Did they tell you where it is?" Cecile responded with a half smile. "Well, we weren't really heading there now... it's kind of far..." and she gestured somewhat helplessly at Florida Man. Elpida pointed a finger at Florida Man and spoke again. "Come. Let us meet inside. Bring your Harper Stevens if you want. We must discuss this."  They spent the next two hours arguing over what direction the gang should go next. Elpida argued they needed to go to the G.U.B, or soon the Invaders would have complete command of the country. She also wisely pointed out that if they were to head to Florida now, they might get there right in the middle of a hurricane, in a time when hardly any news service would be around to warn them. Florida Man said he wasn't too worried about that, since he had a plan if that happened, although he did say he "was a little unsure about what to do with the trucks". In the end, he finally agreed that he'd at least get Elpida out there, and maybe she'd be able to get him in to talk with 'the president' if he was there. The rest of the gang was mostly willing to go along. Jack hadn't really expected to make a journey that far, but he was up for it. Dr. Balthazar was hesitant, and said he might make up his mind later, depending on what it was like out there. Cecile, of course, was raring to make the journey. Mr. Stevens refused, however, saying he was not prepared to leave behind the cities in their 'empire' so soon.  The one other thing they'd learned from Elpida, and later confirmed by scouts, was that whoever might have been in power previously had truly abandoned the city. It actually was theirs for the taking. Since Harper Stevens had decided not to come with them to Tacoma, they offered him the chance to be mayor of New York. But he didn't want the job. He said he'd be perfectly comfortable managing the Gator Goons up on Ottawa, and maybe ensure the rest of Canada was safe from the Invaders as well. Stevens looked admiringly at Elpida, and said "You remind me of who I really am ... a leader of men!" He smiled.  In preparation for the long journey westward, the Gator Goons made sure all their vehicles were in prime shape. With the run of the city, there wasn't much need to worry about rushing the job, and they were able to relax for at least a day.  As word got around that there was a new ruling gang in the town, many more New Yorkers volunteered to join up. Most were installed in city government positions, but a number wanted to get in the gang to fight, and were given a spot in the trucks.  The summer wasn't going to last forever, though, and so the gang started off once everything was in order. They crossed the bridge into New Jersey, and found most of the region to be still under the anarchic control of the local gangs, some of whom had been driven out of New York. They moved on.  In Philadelphia, they discovered that the Invaders had taken over that city. Given its size, Jack suggested they had probably set up a large base of operations here, and the Gator Goons would need to watch their step or get out quickly.  Florida Man opted for the latter. As they made their way up into the hills of eastern Pennsylvania, however, they encountered a familiar foe: It was the Hard Hats, the gang of construction workers who'd been guarding the oil fields in the region.  The Goons lined up on the highway to approach their enemy. It was just three bulldozers, so all they needed to do was focus their fire on the drivers, and avoid any vehicle-to-vehicle hits.  Even the Mack had no trouble deftly maneuvering around the scores of abandoned cars littering the highways. Avoiding the Hard Hats would present little difficulty.  Despite the enemy gang's skill at handling their own bulldozers, there were still only a few people on each of the vehicles. Only a few hits were needed to take one out.  The Gator Goons could spin circles around them, confusing the opposing gang into spreading out their fire at different targets.  The Hyundai had a close shave as it blew past the blade of one of the dozers. It was practically moving like a sports car at this point, though, so it was able to speed away in time.  The bulldozer missed the car and nearly smashed into the fence on the shoulder. From behind, the guns of the Freightliner finished off the crew.  There was just one more enemy vehicle remaining. Jack's van fired off a barrage that delivered the death blow.  As with the other group of Hard Hats, this one was likely hauling fuel for delivery to some other outpost. It was a huge boon, as now the Gator Goons could make all the way to the West Coast without needing to search for more on the way. The gang was cheering and shouting as they transferred the gas cans to their own trucks.  The celebration was short-lived. Another group of Hard Hats had already marked them. The Gator Goons rushed back into combat mode.  This group was a bit more disciplined; they stayed in a tighter formation and took more careful aim with their guns.  The Hyundai and the ungainly limousine nearly collided as they crossed paths in front of one of the enemy tractors.  It was a move that put the limo in danger of being hit, as the tractor swerved and came at them as fast as it could. Rapid fire from the guns of the two vehicles was unable to knock out the tractor's driver.  As the Stellar sped off in one direction, the limo slammed its brakes and spun in a screeching circle back up the highway.  It was a close call, but it had made it. Florida Man was forced to swerve the Gatormobile around to allow the limo and the Freightliner room to move past each other.  The Freightliner gave a broadside that knocked out a tractor, leaving just the vehicles on the north side of the road remaining.  It did not take long for the Gator Goons to polish them off.  Exhausted from the combat, the gang made camp for the night and started out for Pittsburgh the next morning.  Their troubles with the Hard Hats were not over, though. Another, smaller group of tractors came to harass them.  The fight was over swiftly, with minor damage to the Gator Goons' cars.  Those tractors had been carrying a full load of supplies, too, but it was more than the gang could carry at this point. The extra fighting ended up delaying them a full day, though.  They reached a shopping mall in Monroeville the next morning shortly after dawn. Inside were a group of people who'd barricaded themselves in, expecting the worst. They were quite relieved when the Gator Goons told them that Pittsburgh was actually one of the safer cities they'd seen, and was being effectively controlled by the National Guard.  Florida Man knew they'd need to do a lot more fighting to make it all the way out west. Elpida made a succinct plea to the citizens of the city who found themselves still in rough circumstances despite the National Guard's efforts, and the gang's ranks swelled again. A good politician means you often don't have to risk envoys to get people to join up. This rarely happened with Stevens, but it'll be a lot more frequent with Elpida, although it's not obvious in the screenshots.  They'd lost a bit of time on the road through Pennsylvania, so the Gator Goons rode on without stopping until they made it to Cincinnati. Florida Man hoped the Ohio Reborners wouldn't still be holding the gang's violent lifestyle against them, and would allow them free access through the city. This week's film: City Limits (1984)
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Dec 12, 2020 04:36
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sincx fucked around with this message at 05:56 on Mar 23, 2021 |
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Dec 12, 2020 05:04
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Hey, I played this game as a kid. Don't think I ever realized there was a plot, just drove around getting in fights and dying. Good times.
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Dec 14, 2020 05:27
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City Limits "I'm inevitable. --No."  Synopsis The story starts with a young man showing up at a farmhouse with some of his wounded friends in tow. The farmhouse owner, a gruff man named Albert, is a bit surprised to see him, but welcomes them in nevertheless. Then we hear Albert in a voiceover telling us that this is Leland, one of the many orphans from a plague that killed off most adults and destroyed civilization as we know it. Albert tells us that he and Leland had lived in peace for a long time, but trouble was growing closer to them. Leland wanted to head into the city to join a gang called 'The Cutters', and Albert let him go. Leland, riding a motorcycle and wearing a sheep skull as a helmet, passes a sign indicating the City Limits and sees the city (not named but clearly Los Angeles). He rides through the empty streets until finally spotting some vehicles; they head toward a gated enclosure and Leland follows them in. Albert tells us they are 'outsiders'. Inside the compound, a man named Bolo asks what he's doing and tell him to get away from his vehicle; he rides off instead. Leland (who goes by 'Lee') spots some people on motorcycles and he asks if they're Clippers, but they wheel around and attack him. He manages to evade them, and one of the bikes crashes. He flees and encounters another group of people on bikes, who are actual Clippers. He tells them he wants to join, but their leader, Mick, tells him to go back to the farm. One of them, a girl named Yogi, is sent to escort him out of town. On the way, they encounter some people telling them that Lee killed 'Bob'. Yogi brings Lee back to the Clippers, explaining that Bob was a 'DA', a member of a rival gang that the Clippers have a truce with. The Clippers are preparing to hand Lee over to the DAs to prevent a gang war, and they meet with Ray, the officious leader of the DAs. They are uncertain of what to do with Lee initially, but take inspiration from a comic book in which a similar event happened that led to the character having to endure a trial by combat on an alien planet. The two gangs arrange for the trial to happen the next day. We then see that Ray is secretly reporting to the 'outsiders' at the compound, and he lets them know the Clippers will be in their territory. At the contest the next day, Ray shows up with two people from the compound. They say they're with the Sunya Corporation, which has been authorized by the federal government to restore 'central services' to the city. Their representative, Dr. Wickings, tells them they plan to restore light to the city, but Mick turns her down, saying the city lights were before his time. Lee wins the combat and as a result is made a Clipper. Albert fills us in on a few more events, such as that Sunya is bringing in guns for some reason. Whitey, a Clipper, drunkenly enters DA territory and overhears a meeting in which Bolo is offering the guns to Ray. Whitey is discovered and Bolo shoots him unceremoniously to show to Ray that they are being serious now. Wickings is concerned by these developments, but is told by her superior (a man named Carver) that this is 'progress'. She finds out that the corporation's new orders state 'secure workforce by any means necessary'. At Whitey's funeral, Ray shows up with the DAs and tries to warn him about Sunya. Bolo shows up with the guns and starts massacring the Clippers. Wickings, now disillusioned with Sunya, has escaped but arrives only in time to attend to Mick's gunshot wound. With the Clippers in chaos, Mick meets with Ray but discovers that Ray just wants him to accept that Sunya rules the city now. Bolo shows up and tries to torture Mick. The rest of the gang, along with Wickings, comes to rescue Mick and they all flee the city. They show up at Albert's farmhouse, at which point it's apparent that the everything up to this point was supposed to be a flashback. The Clippers spend some time recuperating at the farmhouse. Mick says he plans to leave on his own, because he thinks the Clippers are done. Lee reacts by telling Mick he's wrong. Lee then inspires the others to go back and fight; they fix up their bikes with armor and even get Albert's old Cadillac working again. The gang then goes to a Sunya 'training class' (for the former DAs, possibly) which Lee interrupts. When an armed guard in the class fires his gun on Lee, the class revolts and rushes him, and they grab guns of their own and run outside. All of them head to the main Sunya compound, along with Ray. Wickings was able to sneak in to cut the power so they can crash the gate. Fighting breaks out in the compound. The Sunya side is much better armed, and when Bolo discovers Wickings, it appears all is lost. But then Albert sends in radio-controlled airplanes armed with explosives. These cause much death and destruction, including eventually Bolo. Once inside, they gang arrives at Carver's office. He tells them that if they take him out, he'll just be replaced by someone else. Ray, however, rides his motorcycle straight at Carver's desk, pinning him against the wall and killing him. A final voiceover from Albert lets us know that the Clippers and DAs united together and were able to run the city themselves.  This is a movie that could have been a moderately interesting take on the 'partial-collapse' post-apocalypse, where the world hasn't changed drastically. The various factions are not just straight good and evil; indeed they all seem to have their own distinct motivation, and it sort of feels realistic. Lee's ignorance about life in the 'big city' should also make for an okay story hook. Even the attempts to 'restore' the city that end up in a cynical abandonment of ideals in favor of the quick and dirty solution would make the corporation's plotline ring somewhat true. Unfortunately it just is not very well put together, and the end product is fairly bland and even boring. While it's hard to say that only one particular aspect really sinks it, the poor editing of both the story (and the film) really does stick out. A bit too much is left unexplained, such as why Sunya is so interested in the gangs - is it because they hold power, or their members can be exploited, or are these actually the only available people for them to use? We know the adults died off, but it's not clear if the gangs are the only ones that remain (although it is, like so much, vaguely implied that this could be the case). The 'flashback' transition is so poorly done that it really comes almost as a surprise that they are ending up back at the farmhouse scene, and I don't think it's intentional. There is another 'flashback' of one character to her childhood, which is even worse, as it shows her looking out the window and apparently seeing herself as a child. With a stronger editor, some of this could be a lot better, although I still don't know if that would elevate it to a good film. There are mild weaknesses in a lot of ways; it would probably just be a mediocre one in the end.  Structurally, there is also the problem that so much time is spent on with a decently-paced build-up to Sunya's use of guns that the retreat to the farm lasts far too long. It makes for an awkwardly-late second act. While the final battle makes for a decent climax, the aftermath is also rushed, since it's really unclear again why Sunya is reacting they way they did - maybe Wickings covered up the deaths of 90% of the staff, or maybe the corporation just doesn't care either way. The film almost does work, or might have worked with a bit more revisions, which only makes it frustrating that it isn't quite there. I think would I would have liked more is if there were some more definite choices connecting people's actions to the plot. The characters are mostly consistently written and the acting is generally competent if uninspired. There just aren't enough clear indications that what they do has an effect (aside from accidents like Lee 'killing' Bob, or Whitey stumbling on to the conspiracy). The city itself is vaguely defined in terms of who is still alive. The gangs may or may not have goals; they could just be kids hanging out together, but then it's unclear what they actually control. This movie is probably best known, if it's known at all, as an episode from Mystery Science Theater 3000. It's one that has some pretty decent jokes, but one of them is entirely that the film is utterly unmemorable. I don't know that it really is bad, it just ends up being bland. It almost feels like a shame, because it does have some bits and pieces of a better movie in there. Connections to Roadwar 2000  In many ways this film actually comes very close to the type of city life that Roadwar is depicting. Or it might be; it's hard to know if the city is actually abandoned a generation after the plague, or if that is just the low-budget nature of the film. That there are farms still out there is consistent with the Roadwar world. These are civilizations at their low point, but it's conceivable that the promise of restoring some of what was lost is possible. Another commonality is the gangs who are vying for control of the city, of course. They even battle a little bit on their bikes, but the vehicles are mostly a means of quick transport. Although as in the game, fighting from gang-to-gang is largely done on foot in the city, often with firearms. Then you also have a government that is trying to help, but is mostly powerless. Indeed, as we'll see in the game, the government is having to rely on the gangs to help solve their problem, although it's not as though the player's gang is expected to actually be responsible for the city's infrastructure (if you want that, I suppose try Shadow Empire).
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Dec 15, 2020 07:15
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