I guerrieri dell'anno 2072
Tags: violence, sadist, sci-fi

Plot synopsis:
Rome, Italy, The 21st Century. WBS TV's chief of programming, Cortez (Claudio Cassinelli), is fuming at the constituently high ratings enjoyed by a rival American companys show, 'Kill-Bike' contests The show has features gladiatorial fights to the death on motorcycles, and has made a hero of a man called Drake (Jared Martin) the unbeaten champion. Cortez is all the more bitter because it was he who discovered Drake in the first place. WBS's current answer to the American show is 'The Danger Game', a simulation game showing the hallucinations of a contestant experiencing the approach of violent death. Fear, panic, and screaming at the extremely realistic simulations triggers a further increase in the intensity. Unfortunately for the station, even this spectacle fails to compete against the American show.Cortez and his two female assistants, Sybil (Penny Brown) and Sarah (Eleanor Gold) receive a video message from the mysterious station boss, Sam, demanding that they recreate the formula of gladiatorial contest and set them back to where they began: in the Coliseum. Sam orders the WBS station, a sort-of flying saucer controlled by a computer system called Junior, to fly over there and initiate training of the future contestants who will be chosen from the Death Rows around the world. Meanwhile, Drake has been imprisoned for the murder of three men who killed his wife Susan (Valerie Jones) after they broke into his house, and he (conveniently for WBS) is now under the sentence of death for taking the law in his own hands.Drake is brought to the training compound and a detector strip is seared into his wrist. There, he has to contend with the sadistic Chief of the Praetorian Guard, Raven (Howard Ross), and the hostility of the other future contestants. Some of them are introduced; Abdul (Fred Williamson) is an African-American Muslim extremist; Akira (Haruiko Yamanouchi) is a notorious Japanese serial killer; Kirk (Al Cliver) is a German-born robber/killer; and Tango (Tony Sanders) is a Latin American terrorist. Drake also meets an old friend of his from his WBS days, a deformed employee with a fiber optic eye called Monk (Donald O'Brien), who offers Drake some reassurance.The next day, Drake is strapped into a 'hate stimulator' device, designed to measure the point when man can be provoked into murder. Despite the best efforts of the machine, which creates holographic images of his wife's killers taunting him, Drake does not crack. Cortez's assistant, Sarah, is perturbed by this and becomes attracted to the prisoner. Drake soon earns the respect of the other prisoners after facing off in a battle of wits with the vicious Raven, who is impotent to actually harm the prisoners because of the upcoming TV show. Sarah meets and befriends Drake and shows him videotape evidence she has discovered that proves he was set up for his wifes murder merely to get him on the show. A strangely powerful microprocessor smuggled in by Monk facilities an escape attempt. When it fails, footage of Drake and the other prisoners in their escape attempt turns up immediately on the TV news. Who is the mystery cameraman? Raven is given limited access to torture the prisoners with electric shocks. But the harrowing experience bonds the principle gladiators even more. Meanwhile, Cortez is becoming more enraged by Sarah's investigation of Drake.The following evening, Sarah visits Professor Towman (Cosimo Cinieri), the inventor of Junior, the WBS computer system, looking for a way to gain access to the restricted files. The professor has become a mystic and talks about his inevention's soul. Professor Towman gives Sarah a pass-chip to access the computer when he is suddenly murdered by a unseen assailant. Sarah gives chase and sees that the killer is Sybil. But before Sarah can try to capture Sybil, she too is shot and killed by an unseen assailant.Meanwhile, the WBS Gladiator Contest commences, with each contesting racing around the modified arena in modified motorcycle carts fighting in a chariot-like run. Many contestants are killed, including Tango. Suddenly, Sarah interrupts the games by riding into the arena on a motorcycle. She has discovered from the computer chip that Junior will trigger the bracelet devices of all the surviving gladiators to kill them all 20 minutes after the show ends. Revealing this information to Drake and the rest of the men, they mount an attack on the control tower, killing all the guards, including Raven. But most of the gladiators, including Akira, are killed in the assault. Drake, Sarah, Abdul and Kirk break into the main control room and discover that Cortez is found to have plotted the death of the survivors in order to discredit Sam and take over as station head. Cortez is killed by Abdul who shoots him. Then, a computer screen image of the company boss, Sam, appears and informs them that 'Sam' is really just a video projection of the computer, emanating from a space satellite, 200,000 miles above the Earth. The computer knew of Cortez plan but let it happen to a point.The four surviving rebels force entry into the main terminal of 'Sam', with the aid of Sarah's pass key. But Kirk is killed when he unwisely tries to remove his bracelet himself. Then, the three surviving rebels are attacked in the control room by Monk, who is revealed to be the traitor who filmed the escape attempt with a mini-camera built into his eye. After a bitter fight, Drake kills him and Sarah uses some of the information stored on his camera chip to access the destruction codes. In the nick of time, Sam is blown up, and the deadly bracelets are deactivated. With the battle won, Drake and Sarah fly off together in a hover-vehicle to start a new life for themselves, elsewhere.

Review: It is a bid sad that he is remembered only for his gore movies, though they are classics.But Fulci making a sci-fi movie still sounded like a disaster, especially given the low budgets with which Fulci worked during the period when he made "New gladiators".
At the end, the movie resumes pace again for a rather satisfying ending.As often noted, even by Fulci's daughter Antonella, the "New gladiators" is highly reminiscent of "Rollerball" and of other classic American sci-fi-movies such as "Logan's run".
Fulci and the scriptwriters get an extra credit for managing to incorporate a throat slashing with Poe's pendulum into this movie!All in all, "New Gladiators" is a slightly messed up movie with interesting details to keep you amused.
As such, it is much more entertaining than recent Hollywood big budget sci-fis which feature even less story and more silly plot elements than the worst Fulci movie and are completely brainless..
THE NEW GLADIATORS is the 20th movie by Lucio Fulci I have seen, and it marks a little piece of movie-going history for me.
Much of the same goes with The New Gladiators, but unlike Conquest, or any other Fulci movie for that matter, it has a more obvious problem: It's a sci-fi-fantasy movie with a budget taken from the tin can of a bum!
One mad scientist here, one Gestapo-dressed Howard Ross there, who is a threat one second, and totally outsmarted the next, and I don't blame Fred Williamson for later claiming "I have no idea what that movie was about".But who cares, right?
You can also count on a third staple present in most of Fulci's work and the factor for which he is probably best remembered; His predilection for incorporating extreme gore scenes into his films (even his non horror efforts such as the film in question) In relation to all of the above, sure enough and true to form, Fulci yet again delivers the goods.The story set in the future, depicts a world where deadly gladiatorial contests take place for the TV viewing audiences' pleasure.
The said contests take place on motorcycles whereby the combatants are required to batter their opponents off of their bikes with the last man standing being declared the winner.Jared Martin (Yes Dusty Farlow from Dallas!) plays Drake, the Kill Bike champion who along with the likes of B-movie regulars Fred Williamson, Al Yamanouchi and Al Cliver must fight for their lives in this cruel sport.Sadly it has to be said however, that there are far too few scenes of the sport in question with the vast majority of the films running time being squandered on a boring conspiracy storyline (and lots and lots of shots of peoples eyes!).
Luckily things do pick up commendably in the final 30 or so minutes though and we get to see some admittedly excellent battle scenes involving motorbikes and sidecars in a futuristic take on the famous chariot sequence from Ben Hur.Overall, whilst not one of Fulci's best works, this is certainly far from his worst and provides a fairly entertaining watch.
Sure the idea of recruiting death row prisoners as futuristic gladiators and broadcast their battle to live and death live on television is still extremely grotesque but the underlying and less obvious themes of "The New Gladiators"  like the appalling formula of reality-TV and the always-increasing quest for sensationalism  were way ahead of their time.
This film is one of the numerous futuristic exploitation ventures that were released in the early 80's, all of them with the intention of cashing in on the huge success of John Carpenter's "Escape from New York".
All these movies are incredibly violent, feature grim sets and flamboyant effect and  oh yeah  for some reason they practically all star Fred Williamson!
Awesome, undemanding and adrenalin-rushing entertainment from Maestro Fulci, "The New Gladiators" offers a spitfire of explosions, macho-showdowns, squeaking bike tires, decapitations, laser beams and revealing manly skirt-outfits!
Riz Ortolani delivers one of the best scores of his career (perhaps even second only to his work for "Cannibal Holocaust") and Fred Williamson remains the male role model for utter coolness, despite the fact he plays his supportive role on automatic pilot..
There's some decent ideas in Lucio Fulci's contribution to the Italian post-nuke sci-fi action sweepstakes of the early '80s, but they're rendered somewhat inert thanks to the wooden acting of the Americans, and the horrid dubbing of the Italians.
This film, a precursor to The Running Man, depicts a futuristic game show in which contestants are stalked and killed.
this film is a precursor for running man and like Lloyd Kaufmann says on the DVD edition I watched - it is certainly much much better than Ridley Scott's Gladiator...For anyone who considers himself a Fulcci fan, this film is a must..
Directed by Lucio Fulci, it's all about a future world where criminals battle one another on motorcycles for TV ratings.
From 1990: The Bronx Warriors to The New Barbarians, Exterminators of the Year 3000 and so many more, post-apocalyptic films replaced westerns, slashers and sword and sorcery films, so of course, Fulci would make one.This one's written by Dardano Sacchetti and Elisa Briganti, who also worked on all of Fulci's classic films like House by the Cemetery, The Beyond and City of the Living Dead.
In fact, Fulci had issues with the producers from the start, as he envisioned a futuristic Rome covered by domes instead of the skyscrapers that ended up in the finished film.
Really, this is a film beset by issues — it's the last time Sacchetti would work with Fulci.Read more at bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/08/03/warriors-of-the-year-2072-1984.
The thing is, Claudio is an exec for some rival show and wants to up the stakes by having gladiators go toe to toe, to the death, but needs Dallas guy as he draws the big ratings.
Instead of Big Fred driving about on a bike chopping heads off people, we get our Hero trying to escape the prison, fighting other prisoners, going up against the guards, and both him and one of the TV exec girls tyring to find out who killed those guys who killed his wife.
Anytthing's possible in Italian cinema.So, New Gladiators is, as they say, not one of Fulci's best.
Totally unconvincing as an actual view at the future, New Gladiators (aka: "Rome 2072: The New Gladiators" or "Fighting Centurions") is none the less an extremely entertaining Sci-Fi action programmer from Lucio Fulci.
At times gory, action packed (full of exploding-for-no-reason vehicles), cheese-tastic dialogue ("Go to Hell!", "I would - if I thought it would increase my ratings!") and delicious scenery reused from other Italian sci-fi films, giving the film the feel of an episode of Doctor Who circa 1983 as directed by slow-minded aliens.Jared Martin, of the 1980s War of the Worlds series and Fulci's own AENIGMA, is our hero - the star Killbike champion.
They are trained in hilarious strobe-lit scene with mentally-projected holograms to become more effective killers (this has very little to do with the game show they ultimately compete in), there's a love story, in-fighting, a sadistic guard...You get the picture.No, words cannot describe the joys of the picture - small model sets, actually entertaining sci-fi ideas (almost universally executed beneath their value) and Riz Ortolani (orchestral composer and film composer for "Cannibal Holocaust" and Fulci's "Don't Torture a Duckling" and "Perversion Story/One On Top of the Other") contributes a scruzzy New Wave rock score which is a total, rip-roaring triumphant cheesefest.
There's a short interview with the beautiful Antonella Fulci (not as good as on the "Zombie" blu-ray or Arrow "Gates of Hell" Daughter of Darkness interviews) apparently filmed by herself or a friend (note the Divine "Love Reaction" vinyl prominantly displayed...did she think John Waters owned Troma?), a Dario Argento interview (not a lot involved here, but mention is made of Fulci and how he didn't play a part influencing Dario, at all), a short Robert Englund interview about...Dario Argento, and the usual introduction and trailer.
There's also some Troma extras with nothing to do with the film.Considering it's a full screen video master, and the film is clearly missing some information (yes I would prefer a 1.85:1 transfer but fortunately New Gladiators was not a cinemascope production, so we're not missing too much), the transfer is pretty good.
Once you get used to the idea that in this dystopian future, a particular shade of dark green has replaced the colour black, you'll notice it upscales just fine.Overall, it's the best version of the movie out there I'm aware of (apparently the US Media release cuts out some of the violence) and it's pretty cheap, so pick it up..
New Gladiators (1983) 1/2 (out of 4)Italian apocalyptic film is set during 2073 when TV audiences have been turned onto violence after years of war.
The latest game show is to have gladiator battle, which with Fulci directing, leads to countless death scenes.
This is an incredibly cheap sci-fi film that might be called an early version of what would become The Running Man but this thing here is so cheap that it should get on your last nerve after the ten-minute mark.
Even though there are a lot of deaths in the film, if you're expecting classic Fulci gore then you're going to be highly disappointed as there is very little outside the previous mentioned throat slash.
I just have to recommend watching these two Lucio Fulci films (from his 80's period) as a double feature.
Under normal circumstances, I might at least have been able to say a few more substantial things about THE NEW GLADIATORS (as I've seen more Italian films in the same vein).
A cinematic experience that seems nearly impossible to review...I saw CONQUEST together with two friends (who have already seen more than one Fulci film).
While one was shaking his head in disbelief, uttering words like "I don't think I quite get this movie...", the other one was constantly impressed with the pure genius of Lucio Fulci, not able to suppress his enthusiasm throughout the movie.
One thing is certain, though: When someone the likes of Fulci tackles the Sword & Sorcery genre, you simply have no alternative than to watch the movie.ROME 2033: THE FIGHTER CENTURIONS (or THE NEW GLADIATORS, as it is probably better known) was an even more fun watch.
Probably because my two friends were a bit more familiar with the movies Fulci heavily steals from (from BLADE RUNNER to A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and from THE RUNNING MAN to ROLLERBALL).
It's a wonderfully derailed, nonsensical mish-mash of futuristic idiosyncrasies riding the wave of the popular Italian post-apocalyptic action films at the time.
I only watched this because it was directed by Lucio Fulci and featured Claudio Cassinelli, an actor I like.
I was certainly disappointed.The idea that condemned prisoners would fight to the death for TV ratings has been overdone with Rollerball, Logan's Run, Blade Runner, and the new film, Death Race, which will certainly suck me in because it stars Jason Statham.This was just a bore for the most part.
It just never grabbed me and made me want to care about anyone, including "Dallas" star Jared Martin or Fred Williamson.Pick one of the others mentioned and you'll be better off..
The Italian knock-off of "The Running Man " directed by Lucio Fulci is not as good as it seem when it definitely gorier and a whole lots chessier but there are some factors hold it back to be a perfect entertaining movie.Fred Williamson always shine in his role even when he not the main character but there too much sci-fi mumbo jumbo talk and the evil AI sub-plot out of nowhere all make the movie boring to me before all the good stuff that is the deadly games.
Italian director Lucio Fulci is best known for horror flicks.
This movie won't be for everyone, but fans of dystopian sci-fi flicks from Europe are sure to like it..
The work of prolific Italian director Lucio Fulci is most notable for his output in the horror genre, where he made some genuinely good films, such as The Beyond and The House by the Cemetery (both 1981), and some not-so-good, yet still fondly remembered, such as Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979).
His entries into sci-fi are somewhat less well-remembered, which is almost a shame, as this, Warriors of the Years 2072 (also known as New Gladiators) is at least an intriguing idea.
Set in a future where TV corporations seem to rule, airing gladiatorial battles in order to boost ratings, popular champion of the intelligently named Kill Bike, Drake (Jared Martin), has been framed for murder in order to lure him into a new to-the-death game show.
Sensing the audience are desperate for blood and death, the ruthless TV network plan to set a band of Death Row prisoners against each other in a motorbike battle, complete with nasty weapons.It plays like an earlier cheap version of The Running Man (1987), but with cardboard sets, dodgy costumes, and the guy that played Black Caesar.
After knocking out a succession of gory cannibal flicks and umpteen cheap clones of Romero's Dawn of the Dead, several of Italy's horror directors moved on to the post-apocalyptic genre, bringing fans a tirade of silly Mad Max inspired nonsense with suitably daft titles: New Barbarians; Atlantis Interceptors; 2019: After the Fall of New York; New Bronx Gladiators of the Year 3000 (actually, that one's not real...
but you get the idea).Amongst these iffy, cheap looking and often laughable efforts was Lucio Fulci's Rome 2033 - The Fighter Centurions (as it was known here in the UK), a violent (natch!), cheesy, and amazingly shonky production, made slightly more interesting by the fact that it's plot bears more than a passing resemblance to the Arnold Schwarzeneggar hit The Running Manwhich was made three years later!Jared Martin plays Drake, star of the bloodthirsty show Kill Bike, in which contestants on motorcycles must attempt to slaughter their opposition.
However, when the corrupt bosses at TV network WBS decide that they need something even more brutal to help them win the ratings war, they frame Drake for murder and enrol him as a participant in their latest TV spectacular, Battle of the Damned, a fight to the death between condemned criminals in a gladiatorial arena.There's also some boring nonsense about a super-computer planning to take over the world, and a beautiful WBS employee who attempts to help Drake avoid certain death, but, let's face it, that's probably not why most people will sit down to watch this.
An early graphic throat slashing turns out to be merely an image projected into the mind of a game-show contestant; much of the motorbike mayhem results in bodies being either blown up or crushed, but with very little gore on display; and the brief decapitation of a gladiator ends with a shot of the neck spurting blood.For maximum enjoyment, I advise viewers to sit back, forget about the lack of splatter, and just revel in the sheer silliness of the whole thing: the incredibly bad Bladerunner-style cityscapes; the entertaining chariot race featuring really naff-looking, customised bikes; and the fact that, somehow, not only do all of the condemned criminals know how to ride a motorbike, but they can all effortlessly pop a prolonged wheelie!.
Entertaining but not a 'good' Fulci film ......
The fact is that Fulci made films in a number of different genres as diverse as Westerns, Gialli, Sword and Sorcerer and even comedies in the early days.'The New Gladiators' is a futuristic Sci-Fi film that seems inspired by the success of films like Escape From New York or even The Road Warrior.
If you want Fulci at his best, watch one of his early gialli like 'Don't Torture a Duckling'.It's a shame that Fulci became known as a guy who simply directed gore epics because his films are varied and his best films are outside the well known Zombie films.
We're pretty sure you'll have a wheelie-popping' good time when you watch The New Gladiators!.
Not since the late night wars of the early 90's has TV competition been this fierce...say what you want about The New Gladiators, the movie was definitely ahead of its time.
But Fulci and his team deserve a lot of credit for being so forward thinking.Of course, this is Fulci's entry in the Italian post-apocalyptic sweepstakes (technically we don't know if an apocalypse happened this time around, so let's just say "futuristic").
Needless to say, the presence of Fred Williamson livens things up, and he has an impressive cast to back him that fans of Italian genre cinema will certainly recognize.
But we're pretty sure you'll have a wheelie-popping' good time when you watch The New Gladiators.For more action insanity, drop by: www.comeuppancereviews.com.
Fulci's cynicism and idiosyncrasies shine through, making THE NEW GLADIATORS a thoroughly watchable B-movie..
Lucio Fulci's very cool and interesting futuristic sci-fi/action flick.
Whipped into fierce fighting shape by sadistic trainer Raven (a robustly evil Howard Ross) and befriended by token compassionate chick Sarah (the lovely Eleanor Gold), Drake has to mix it up in lethal combat on elaborately made-up motorcycles with a savage bunch of barbarians who include Al Cliver as a scruffy ape, Hiruiko (Al) Yamanouchi as a feral mohawked chopsocky demon, and almighty blaxploitation bad-a** Fred "the Hammer" Williamson as a cool, composed, cocky and swaggering smooth dude.A most uncharacteristic self-criticizing sci-fi/action picture departure by famed Italian horror movie specialist Lucio Fulci, this suitably violent and gory outing offers a barbed, cynical, corrosive commentary on the bloodthirsty gorehound viewers who enjoy watching Fulci's gruesome fright features by showing a bleakly amoral futuristic society where warring TV stations try to score high ratings by broadcasting excessively brutal and barbaric fare like "The Danger Game," a particularly gross simulated atrocity offering which crassly caters to the lowest common denominator by going heavy on the mondo fake bloodspilling.