The New Barbarians (Italian: I nuovi barbari; also known as Warriors of the Wasteland) is a 1983 Italian post-apocalypticaction film directed by Enzo G. Castellari, written by Castellari and Tito Carpi, and starring Giancarlo Prete and George Eastman. The plot takes place in 2019, following a nuclear holocaust, where two loners among the remains of the starving human race protect a group of pilgrims from a vicious gang bent on genocide.
Plot
In the year 2019, after a nuclear war, humanity is reduced to a few starving groups. A ruthless gang called "The Templars" constantly raid settlers in an attempt to exterminate everyone in order to purge the Earth. A former Templar, Scorpion, along with his allies, prevents a small band of religious colonists from being massacred by the Templars.
The New Barbarians was shot outside of Rome in late 1982.[1][4] When discussing 1990: The Bronx Warriors, The New Barbarians and Escape from the Bronx, Castellari stated the three films were written, prepared and filmed in six months.[5]
For the stunts in the film, Castellari stated that he filmed each scene at three different speeds: 24fps, 55 and 96. Castellari stated that this allowed him to "edit the whole sequence in a more interesting way. It gives much more impact to the entire stunt and it actually looks much more impressive and powerful than it actually is."[4]
Release
The New Barbarians was released in Italy on 7 April 1983.[6] It was released in the United States in January 1984 under the title of Warriors of the Wasteland.[4][7] It was distributed by New Line Cinema.[1]
Reception
Castellari had positive recollections of making the film, stating that it "was an extremely cheap movie. The budget was incredibly small but I'm quite proud that I succeeded in making a movie shot on the outskirts of Rome."[4]Variety found the film derivative of Mad Max 2 as well as having elements of Hal Needham's Megaforce and other films.[1]Variety felt that Casterllari made a mistake in using slow motion opposed to George Miller's exciting high-speed action scenes, finding that the films car chases "look to be occurring at 25 mph".[1] In Phil Hardy's book Science Fiction (1984), a review found the film to be too derivative of Mad Max 2.[3] The Monthly Film Bulletin described the film as a "shamelessly watered-down, warmed-over" version of Mad Max 2.[8]
In a retrospective review, AllMovie awarded the film two stars out of five, found that the film captures "the true spirit of the low budget rip-off flicks from early 80's, The New Barbarians is neither smart nor original, but a riot for anyone who gets off on Mad Max and all of its the junky followers."[9]
