1990: I guerrieri del Bronx (1982) is a campy fusion of the aesthetics and narratives of The Warriors (1979) with Escape From New York (1981). 1990: I guerrieri del Bronx was a successful attempt by Deaf International Film to cash-in on these box office hits without spending very much money. Enzo G. Castellari, best known for his films Keoma (1976) and Inglorious Bastards (1977), co-wrote and directed 1990: I guerrieri del Bronx for producer and frequent Fulci collaborator Fabrizio De Angelis. After 1990: I guerrieri del Bronx, De Angelis and Castellari spent the next six months making spin-offs, sequels, and quasi remakes of this surprise hit.
1990: I guerrieri del Bronx follows beat for beat the plot points and character arcs of Escape From New York and The Warriors. What’s interesting about this telling of that story is how director Enzo G. Castellari creates his own unique post-apocalyptic world. The two heroic gangs that belong to protagonists are defined by their hyper-masculine vehicles; motorcycles and cars respectively. In a stroke of inspired looniness the other two gangs show a penchant for rollerblades and hockey equipment or Bob Fosse choreography.
In contrast to the hyper-masculinity of the good guys, these other gangs are queer coded. The tap dancing “Fosse” gang decked out in steel plated bowlers, glitter, and face paint are as over the top as they are on the nose in this respect. The rollerblading gang, on the other hand, is relatively subtle as a commentary on the queerness of the burgeoning gym culture of the early eighties. The queer coded rollerblading gang are, as was typical of the time, vilified and wholly expendable.
1990: I guerrieri del Bronx is otherwise a bit of a disjointed mess. Vic Morrow’s campy bad guy performance as Hammer is the polar opposite of Fred Williamson’s turn as Ogre, King Of The Bronx with all of his cool and tough guy stoicism. But the real weakness is in the lack of chemistry between the romantic leads Mark Gregory (Trash) and Stefania Girolami (Anne). Neither one of the leads seems aware of the tone of the movie in scenes apart from each other, and when they are together they just look bored. Throughout the film Gregory is overshadowed in his performance as the leader of the gang by his underlings which doesn’t do much for setting him up as the hero.
Unsurprisingly the best parts of the film are the one scene with the tap dancing, Cabaret-esque gang and those scenes where Fred Williamson and his sidekick Elisabetta Dessy (Witch) kick ass. Italian exploitation films like 1990: I guerrieri del Bronx often don’t have much to offer audiences beyond such superficial pleasures, but I’m not complaining. Any movie with Dessy cracking a whip while Williamson brandishes a saber is fine by me.
