From:
darkangel5@REMOVETHISBITlineone.net
Having watched, and mostly enjoyed, The Bronx Warriors I decided to give
the sequel a go.
Now THIS is much more like it and how I thought the first film would be
more like. Set several years on from the original, apparently in the
year 2000 if the alternate title "Escape 2000" is anything to go by and
the the evil corporation mentioned in part 1 is forcibly evicting the
remaining residents of the Bronx and shipping them off to a new housing
project in New Mexico, so they can redevelop the area.
Overseeing the evictions are Henry Silva and his private security firm,
who are also out exterminating the remaining gangs and for some reason
are looking to track down Trash from the first film, who is now a loner.
So, notwithstanding, Trash hooks up with a new gang, they kidnap the
boss of the evil corporation and hold him hostage and proceed to go to
war with the private security firm who are after them.
Clearly this had a much larger budget than the previous film and spends
a lot more time utilising the crumbling, burned out buildings prevalent
in the Bronx during the early 80s.
It's also a lot more action packed, with the last 20 mins or so being
one big battle between the gangs and the security firm. It's actually
quite violent, with the security firm using civillians as unwitting
suicide bombers to take out the gangs and 12 year old gang members
lobbing grenades at their armoured cars.
There's one hilarious scene where a corrupt politician, played by
Italian regular Paolo Malco, who has been watching the battle from afar
with Henry Silva, decides to flee the scene in his porsche when things
start getting out of hand. But instead of driving away from the battle,
decides to drive right through the centre of it and his car (with him
inside it) gets taken out by a grenade.
I read somewhere that there are over 170 killings on the film, but given
how many are blown up or shot during the course of the film,
particularly in the end battle, I would have thought the total was much
higher.
I also couldn't help but wonder if the people behind Robocop 3 didn't
"borrow" a few ideas from this. As the opening scenes showing a private security firm forcibly removing tennants and hearding them into the
backs of trucks was eerily reminiscent. As was the end battle, where the residents (or in this case the gangs) fight back.
If you love cheesy Italian violent action films this ones a blast. It
was originally released in the UK and parts of Europe as "Bronx Warriors
2". The original UK release was surprisingly called "Bronx Warriors 2
:The Battle for Manhatten", which was strange considering the Bronx and Manhatten are 2 completely seperate districts and the battle was over
former, not the latter.
As a parting note, whilst The Bronx provided a backdrop for many a film
and TV show over the years, owing to the years of urban decay and social deprevation that saw buildings fall into desrepair, disuse and finally
crumble, as crime, gang violence and drug use shot through the roof. The
Bronx today is barely recognisable as the burned out wasteland shown in
films like this.
The whole area has been extensively redeveloped, and whilst many of the
old urban tennament buildings still remain, haing been completely
refurbished. Sure, there are still small pockets of gangs, there is
still crime, particularly in the housing projects, but these are a far
cry from the war zone this place was depicted as during the 70s and 80s.
Anyway, definitely worth a watch. Good popcorn film!
--
Best Wishes
Simon (Dark Angel)
http://www.realmofhorror.co.uk
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