1990: The Bronx Warriors

1990: The Bronx Warriors (1990: I Guierri Del Bronx) (1982)

Runtime: 93 minutes

Directed by: Enzo G. Castellieri

Starring: Mark Gregory, Vic Morrow, Fred Williamson, Christopher Connelly, Stefania Girolami Goodwin

From: Fulvia Film

What a lineup of movies the Criterion Channel has added for January. Their new collections are: 

HandMade Films
Some Ava Gardner movies
James Gray’s New York
Several Ken Russell pictures… no relation
Postapocalyptic Sci-Fi
Sundance Favorites
Cat Movies

Thus, for a few days in a row you could check out the Disney movie The Cat from Outer Space, The Devils, Slacker, The Killers, We Own the Night and Time Bandits. That is hysterical; so is them adding THREE Enzo G. Castellari films. I chose this film from the director as despite my mirth when it comes to viewing many old Italian genre flicks, this was one I hadn’t gotten to. 

Did it ever start off hot: after awesome opening credits featuring sweet title music and the immortal credit “Action Sequences: Rocky’s Stuntmen Team and The Hell’s Angels” (!) a 17 year old Anna runs away from her dad in 1990 Manhattan to the Bronx, which has been declared a “no man’s land” and the police stay out. Vic Morrow-his last picture before Twilight Zone: The Movie; now that is bittersweet-is hired to capture her. We then see a gang on roller skates meet up with Anna but is “saved” by a gang of bikers, some of whom wear Nazi iconography. That gang is lead by TRASH, who doesn’t wear any of those hateful symbols so I guess we’re supposed to like him as the film is focused on him & Anna… I guess. Then, there’s literally a drummer out in a parking lot dropping a sick beat as Trash meets with OGRE, i.e. professed king of the Bronx Fred Williamson.

The rest of the film isn’t quite as glorious; after all, that drummer doesn’t appear again, making his inclusion all the more astounding. Be that as it may, I was still enthralled by the trash that I was witnessing. In case it wasn’t blatant by what I described, the movie in fact is “inspired” by both The Warriors and Escape from New York. 1990 NYC doesn’t look any different from 1982 NYC, including how the Bronx actually looked like a postapocalyptic wasteland IRL. It was a fitting backdrop for this fun tale where Trash falls in love w/ Anna (she ran away from Manhattan as her dad is a heel who is a successful arms dealer), the gang experiences in-fighting and Morrow is an ever-looming threat.

Not everyone will enjoy this silliness but I sure did. While I would have liked more bizarre gangs, what we saw still tickled me pink. So did Ogre’s girl Witch wearing a dominatrix outfit as she uses a whip on foes. For those that enjoy the old Italian genre films w/ a funky-ass score (from Walter Rizzati; its resemblance to the scores from the movies it ripped off varied at times), some peculiar moments and rousing action scenes… you may enjoy 1990: The Bronx Warriors as much as I did. After all, you may never see an actor (Mark Gregory, who portrayed Trash) walk on set rigid as if he has a stick up his ass! Sorry for being crude, but there’s no better descriptor to use.