The New Barbarians

The New Barbarians (; also known as Warriors of the Wasteland) is a 1983 Italian post-apocalyptic action 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.

Cast
Giancarlo Prete (as Timothy Brent) as Scorpion
Fred Williamson as Nadir
George Eastman as One
Anna Kanakis as Alma
Ennio Girolami (as Thomas Moore) as Shadow
Venantino Venantini as Father Moses
Massimo Vanni as Mako
Giovanni Frezza as Young Mechanic
Iris Peynado as Vinya
Andrea Coppola as Mako's Friend
Zora Kerova as Moses' Woman

Production
The New Barbarians was shot outside of Rome in late 1982. 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.

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."

Release
The New Barbarians was released in Italy on 7 April 1983. It was released in the United States in January 1984 under the title of Warriors of the Wasteland. It was distributed by New Line Cinema.

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." Variety found the film derivative of Mad Max 2 as well as having elements of Hal Needham's Megaforce and other films. 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". In Phil Hardy's book Science Fiction (1984),  a review found the film to be too derivative of Mad Max 2. The Monthly Film Bulletin described the film as a "shamelessly watered-down, warmed-over" version of Mad Max 2.

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."

References

Bibliography

External links
 
 

1983 films
1980s Italian-language films
Films directed by Enzo G. Castellari
1980s science fiction action films
Italian science fiction action films
Films set in 2019
Films set in the future
Italian post-apocalyptic films
Films scored by Claudio Simonetti
1980s exploitation films
Italian films about revenge
Rape and revenge films
New Line Cinema films
1980s Italian films
Films set in the 21st century
Films set in the 2010s