Own the rights?
Having recently watched I Am Legend, I felt in the mood for some more post-apocalyptic action, so, once again, into the DVD player went The Ultimate Warrior, one of my all-time favourite examples of the genre.Just like the recent Will Smith blockbuster, this movie takes place in the year 2012, after the fall of civilisation; in this hellish vision of the near future, the planet's plant life has been ravaged by disease, leaving survivors struggling for food.Yul Brynner plays Carson, a tough street-fighter who is hired by Baron (Max Von Sydow), leader of a desperate group of survivors, who are suffering from frequent attacks by a rival gang, led by the vicious Carrot (William Smith).But Baron has a hidden agenda: he really needs Carson to help his pregnant daughter escape from the city, along with Cal, her horticulturist partner, and their precious cache of plague-resistant seeds.Directed by Robert 'Enter the Dragon' Clouse, The Ultimate Warrior is a gritty, uncompromising effort blessed with a quality cast and some brutally violent and well choreographed fight scenes. Baldy Brynner is perfect as the honourable hero for hire, and looks totally bad-ass stripped to his waist and brandishing a wickedly sharp dagger. Likewise, Smith is excellent as Carson's heartless nemesis Carrot, a savage brute so cruel that he thinks nothing of using a baby as bait to lure his enemy into a trap.From it's opening scene, in which a cobweb-strewn, dusty, derelict loft provides the setting for a violent ambush, to the gripping bloody finalé, which sees Brynner and Smith battling to the death in a long abandoned subway, the Ultimate Warrior is unrelentingly harsh glimpse into a possible future where life is cheap, and often short.*Am I alone in thinking that GoGo's ball and chain in Kill Bill looks remarkably similar to the weapon wielded by Carrot at the end of The Ultimate Warrior. Perhaps Quentin took notice of my letter after all.
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