Movie Review - 2019: After the Fall of New York (1983)

I really like post apocalyptic movies as they show us our broken world over run with anarchy…but only if the movie is done right. I just finished watching “2019: After the Fall of New York” (1983). I had such high hopes for this movie but it failed to satisfy.

The story opens with mercenary extraordinaire Parsifal. He roams the wasteland just trying to stay alive but seems that he is always looking for a fight or a race. He later is captured by the Pan American Federation of the west and forced into to completing a mission for them. His prize is a spot on the space shuttle to the new world. He has to infiltrate New York to find the only woman who is capable of producing babies. Having this woman’s eggs will ensure the human race will survive. Parsifal won’t be doing it alone; the Federation has sent two men with him to assist. New York is currently run by the Euraks –an evil empire. There are also other smaller groups of humanoids which have been mutated by the radiation and they are hostile. All of which will make it difficult for Parsifal and associates to search, retrieve and get out alive. The group also meets up with a midget and an ape man who assist. Parsifal rescues a blond beauty on the way and she also helps the cause. The mysterious fertile woman is found in a cave sleeping in a stasis container. She is the daughter of a scientist who recently passed. He had put her to sleep in hopes of trying to repopulate but had some problems trying to find fertile males. The climax ends with a last ditch effort to leave with her sleeping pod in a station wagon fixed with iron plating and chains. Parsifal was able to escape by helicopter. The movie ends with her waking up on a space ship headed for a new world with Parsifal.

The story was okay, it does have some merit. When the movie actually played out it in a jumbled mess, it was soon detracted and ended up making it uninteresting. Some acting was alright while others not so good. The camera work was okay but I think the edit cuts were too abrupt. The overall effects were reasonable for a 1983 production. With laser gun sounds and cheap visuals. You could clearly tell it was a scale model set of New York but realistic looking enough than a model train layout. I do think some scenes were filmed on a set stage but it is what it is. When you watch an older film you have to keep in mind about what they had to work with.

I wouldn’t recommend watching this one at all. It’s a little on the silly side to be taken serious but if you like post apocalyptic films then I would say go ahead. It’s like a rip off of ‘Mad Max’ with ‘Escape from New York’ with the cheesiness of ‘The Love Boat’. I rate it 5/10 but note that it could have been put together better than it was.