Warriors of the Year 2072

Summary

“Live from the New Coliseum in Rome, Italy!”

I follow Severin Films’ release schedule throughout the year and over time I have grown to amass a fairly large library of their releases. They perform two large sales a year – one in June, and one closer to Thanksgiving. One of my favorite promotions they have ever done was last year’s sale which focused on Italian Post-Nuclear science-fiction films. I couldn’t help but purchase the entire bundle so I could feast my eyes on films that included Warriors of the Year 2072 and Endgame. Last night, I finally sat down and watched Warriors of the Year 2072. Directed by legendary filmmaker Lucio Fulci, Warriors is a film that in many ways distills everything I love about the moderately budgeted VHS-ready Italian films of the Eighties. The film borrows large concepts from several films and smashes them together until it becomes something else entirely. The ambitions largely exceed the budgetary limitations, lending this film (and this genre) a homegrown quality that I admire. I am a great fan of Fulci’s other pictures, so I was excited to see his take on futuristic science fiction. It did not disappoint!

In Rome, in the year 2072, on the worldwide phenomenon television show Killbike, biker Drake (Jared Martin) is the most famous and beloved contestant on the Seven Seas Network. Outside of the show, Drake is in a relationship with the equally adored actress Susan Harper. From his viewing area, Cortez looks at the ratings of the show with dismay. Another show, The Danger Game simulates real danger (such as putting a contestant in a Pit and the Pendulum simulation) through electrodes attached to contestants. The contestants earning prizes for staying calm for the duration of the simulation. The ratings for digitized shows are falling sharply, because people have realized that the contestants are not in any actual physical danger. Drake is famous outside of the digital arena for his storybook relationship with Susan. It is decided by the powers that be- mysterious station manager Sam who communicates via telecommunication, to bring back ancient violence in the form of actual Gladiator battles. The program purchases twenty convicts. The convicts have volunteered to fight in gladiator bouts for the chance to gain freedom, but the system decides that a positive role model should be involved in the games to gain confidence from the public. Drake is the obvious choice. Men enter his home and kill Susan. Drake stumbles upon the murder scene while the killers are still present. After killing the three murderers, Drake is arrested. Framed for the murder of Susan, he is “allowed” to fight in the gladiatorial fights which will be called “The Battle of the Damned.” The sadistic chief Raven (Howard Ross) puts a metal bracket into Drake’s arm as a fail safe against escape. Drake is thrown in with a ragtag group of convicts, including Abdul (Fred Williamson.) There is more at stake in the upcoming games than any of them can imagine.

I enjoyed the hell out of Warriors of the Year 2072. The film manages to borrow Artificial Intelligence elements from 2001, city miniature effects styling from Blade Runner and Logan’s Run, sporting elements from Rollerball, and all of the film’s elements are pushed through Fulci’s cinematic lens: how fun is that? I am not going to pretend that every idea in the film works perfectly, but I had a big stupid grin on my face for the duration of the film. 

Like any good speculative science fiction film, it gets some things right about the future: for example it basically predicts shows like Fear Factor and the reality television craze. It predicts that AI will erode mankind’s humanity in some form. Some of the ideas present in the film have come to pass, while some of the ideas look a little silly when viewing the film forty years after its release.

The soundtrack by Riz Ortolani is rad. Synths and electric guitar are allowed to go nuts as if Ortolani was trying to figure out what rock and roll would be like in the future. The future sounds a little like disco, and I can’t say after seeing the success of groups like Daft Punk that Ortolani was too far off. I loved the sound of this film.

The miniatures and special effects work is really enjoyable. At no point does anything feel completely convincing, and at no point does that deter from the enjoyment. I miss the days of hand crafted miniatures for films. 

The acting in the film is not top tier, but it is passable enough to not distract the viewer from the barrage of visuals from Fulci. Jared Martin is a little bit flat as a leading man. He is a pretty ineffective stand-in for James Caan’s protagonist in Rollerball. I won’t say that his performance is by any means terrible, it’s just not very memorable. Fred Williamson appears in the film as Abdul, and does his thing. He wears a headband for the duration of the film, and it looks great. 

This is a picture that is not about acting as much as it is about Fulci being given a wide berth to conjure interesting visuals at every turn. One example would be a training sequence where Fulci uses strobe lights to create the illusion of characters fighting virtual characters. It is a very clever way of performing futuristic concepts through the use of a low-key technique. Fans of Fulci will have a blast seeing the future through his lens.

Overall – Warriors of the Year 2072 was even better than I could have hoped it would be. Fans of Fulci or the Post-Apocalyptic Italian pictures of the Eighties will want to snatch up this release as quickly as they can!

Video

Severin Films has provided a very good looking transfer in 1080p of Warriors of the Year 2072 in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 with an MPEG-4 AVC encode from a 2K scan. The restoration seems to have been done by Studio Canal. It is fine work! There is some print damage, and some sequences are just out of focus, but for the most part this is an amazingly well done restoration. I watched the film on my Epson projector secret and was very impressed with the level of detail. Grain is very well resolved. Colors look great with vibrant blues and healthy looking skin tones. Fans will be more than pleased with the way the film looks.

Audio

Similar to the video, the audio has been lovingly restored. Severin Films has provided a solid DTS-HD MA 2.0 track in dubbed English. The sound quality on the tracks is essentially reference quality, and the soundtrack by Riz Ortolani is really enjoyable. Fans of the film will be pleased.

Supplements:

• Commentary with Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thomson – Howarth, the author of Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films and Thompson (from Mondo Digital) discuss the film’s production, Fulci’s career, and much more. As one would expect, it’s another fantastic track from these two. I am always happy to hear these two discuss Italian genre films together.
• The Fulci Tapes: Conversations Between Lucio Fulci and Michele Romagnoli – these conversations between Fulci and Romagnoli are audio only, but have accompanying video that plays during the conversation. The conversations are short but lively, with some good input on Warriors by Fulci himself.
• Unloved – Screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti discusses in good detail his work on this film for Fulci and how another project (Blastfighter) had been contracted to Fulci at the same time which led to contract disputes. It’s a good discussion with a legendary screenwriter.
• The Nicest Villain – Actor Howard Ross discusses working with Fulci on both New York Ripper and Warriors of the Year 2072.
• The Good-Hearted Gladiator: Actor Al Cliver Remembers Lucio Fulci – Cliver looks back on his working relationship with Lucio.
• My Father, the Hero: An Interview with Antonella Fulci –  Lucia’s daughter Antonella talks at length about her father and his career.  
• Photographing the Future: Giuseppe Pinori Travels Back to 2033 – The cinematographer discusses his work on Warriors of the Year 2072 and briefly discusses his work on Murder-Rock.
• Four Times Lucio – actress Cinzia Monreale briefly discusses working with Fulci on Silver Saddle, The Beyond, Sweet House of Horrors, and Warriors of the Year 2072.
• Trailer
• A CD is included with the Warriors of the Year 2072 OST by Riz Ortolani

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4.5/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Warriors of the Year 2072 will appeal to anyone who enjoys the Italian Post-Apocaylptic science fiction VHS craze of the Eighties. This film is a great example of everything I love about that genre. Screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti and his co-writers blend elements from numerous prominent science fiction films into one entertaining amalgamation. In doing so, the film becomes its own thing. With Lucio Fulci behind the camera with cinematographer Giuseppe Pinori, there is always something visually interesting occurring onscreen. I had a blast watching the movie. The transfer from Studio Canal and Severin is very attractive. The supplemental materials are excellent and diverse. The film also comes with a CD soundtrack of Riz Ortolani’s enjoyable score. Highly recommended!