WARLORDS OF THE 21ST CENTURY (1982)

WARLORDS OF THE 21ST CENTURY (1982)

Tagline: After the destruction of World War III comes a new kind of hero!

(Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi) [PG]

This movie is also known as BATTLETRUCK in case you are trying to look it up, but it will come up under its original name if you are trying to buy it or stream it. This thing is set in the future after the “Oil Wars” or WWIII. I think in the 80’s they were just assuming vehicles would always only use oil and that there would eventually be a war over it. The same kind of premise is used in MAD MAX: BEYOND THUNDERDOME. 

In this one, Hunter (played by Michael Beck who is best known for being in both THE WARRIORS and XANADU), is a drifter. He’s just out there looking for stuff that looks like it’s going bad. Then he’s gonna just deal with that on his futuristic junkyard motorcycle, with his awesome outfit and gun. You don’t wanna run into this dude, because he’s just a full-blown bad a-s. Anyway, there is a brutal murderous warlord who is taking over every little town he sees in his battle-truck. His kidnapped daughter of sorts named Corlie (played by Annie McEnroe, best known for being Jane Butterfield in BEETLEJUICE), doesn’t want to be part of the program, so she’s running away. That’s when Hunter steps in, because like I said…he’s just a bad a-s stomping bad guys. Can Hunter and a few villagers fight off the terror of a warlord and his battle-truck? 

To be honest, this thing might be a guilty pleasure for me moving forward. The first 15 minutes or so are kind of rough, and I almost turned it off, but it doesn’t take long before you start to see a bit of a story unfolding. The opening monolog is very MAD MAX, so that part didn’t hurt. I wasn’t crazy about Annie McEnroe in this role, but Michael Beck is pretty awesome. We also get a John Ratzenberger sighting. This was just as CHEERS was starting up, and post his appearance in STAR WARS: EPISODE V - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Having said that, the acting in this is pretty freakin bad. Very few of the roles were played by people who didn’t just seem like they were trying to get a paycheck or just weren’t cut out for this. 

I will say this movie was done on a very low budget, but some of the house designs and the elements we find in the small village for instance are pretty cool and fit the movie. What kind of doesn’t fit the movie is how freakin sophisticated the battle-truck Straker (the warlord played by James Wainwright), uses is. However, I could see what they might have been getting at is that this is in the distant future, and only the powerful would have access to that kind of tech. Perhaps the Oil Wars called for these kinds of vehicles to be made over time? The opening monolog does mention governments putting the cities under Marshall Law, but that the rural areas are being terrorized by “bandits”, or “warlords”. 

All in all, this movie for me was a bit of a diamond in the rough. I would gladly watch it again and found it quite enjoyable. There is something to be said about practical effects as well. The explosions in this movie are all pretty freakin great and the final sequence doesn’t let down at all. 

While it is not MAD MAX and does have its issues, I have to give this movie a 5 out of 7 if I am being honest. I actually really liked this damn thing.

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