THE STORY: I don't know why, but I really like a decent after-the-apocalypse movie. This movie is a product of the seventies...when I think about this movie, and the movies Omega Man, Soylent Green and Escape from New York I come to the conclusion that we were pretty pessimistic and fatalistic in the 70's.

Some kind of plague has ravaged the earth. This plague has wiped out humanity's food supply. The cities have become dying husks, with bands of people huddled together for survival. Things have become desperate...there are people that have begun to eat other humans to survive. Its the year 2012, New York City. A small community known as "The Commune" is led by the Baron. (Max Van Sydow) The Baron's people need protection...when a mysterious stranger named Carson (Yul Brynner) is seen standing in front of the abandoned library for two days the Baron enlists his help. Carson proves himself as a capable fighter. He also tells the baron he'll be on his way to an island off of the Carolinas soon. He has family there and they have sent word that they have a supply of water and food. The Baron decides on a plan. His daughter, Melinda is pregnant, by Cal, a botanist in the commune. Cal has built a garden on the rooftop of one of the building that feeds the people...but more importantly, Cal has created hybrid seeds that are resistant to the plague! Unfortunately, a band of ruffians led by "Carrot" wants the commune's food and the seeds. Cal is killed by Carrot's men during a robbery in the garden. The Baron tells Carson his plan...he wants Carson to take his daughter to the island with him...and the seeds. The Baron knows sooner or later Carrot's men will overwhelm his people. In order for humanity to survive Carson must take the seeds to a safer place. The Baron even tells Carson that if he has to choose between the seeds and his daughter, the seeds must survive. The people in the commune are furious when they discover that the Baron has given Carson a substantial amount of food and water and sent him away. One of the people even goes and tells Carrot of the plan. (and Carrot of course kills him.) Carson and Melinda make their way out of the city through the subway but Carrots men attack. Carson kills them all. Carrot himself faces Carson, and the two fight to the finish. The battle costs Carson his hand, but he destroys Carrot. Melinda gives birth and the three of them head to what will hopefully be a better life.

This movie held little tension. At least to me. You see, Carson won every fight he was in. You never ever got the feeling he was going to lose. I'm sure these fights were considered violent and exciting when the movie was made, but they're kind of tame in the light of today's video violence. That wasn't the problem...the problem was Carson's invincibility. When we first see Carson fight he's shirtless. Yul Brynner just didn't have the look of a really strong guy...he had the look of a bald guy that was in decent health, but not a 'macho-muscle guy look'. I'm not bashing Yul...I loved him in The Magnificent Seven and The Ten Commandments. If some reason were given to explain how he's the baddest badass on the planet it would have been easier to swallow the concept of him beating a bunch of dudes by himself. Or did I miss something in the 70's? I didn't know that Yul Brynner was considered the toughest man alive back then.

Best Lines: "You have a supply of cigars."- Carson's reasons for helping the Baron wasn't the promise of three squares a day and a roof over his head...it was because the baron offered him cigars.

1.) When we first meet Carson its because the Baron has been watching him for two days. Carson has stood still in the same spot like a statue for two days. When they first said this I thought "He'd better be a [unwrite]in' Ninja." I'd have to ask, WHY? More importantly why wasn't Carson attacked while standing motionless with his eyes closed for 48 hours? Anyone else that comes outside the commune's barricade is almost instantly attacked by Carrot's men or crazy people.

2.) Barrie, a young mother in the commune is furious that she can't get any powdered milk for her baby. She insists to her husband that there has to be some powdered milk in the bakery down the street and she wants to go look for it. He refuses. Now I have to wonder why didn't she think that someone else might have found it if it was there? To make it even more moronic, Barrie leaves the compound with the baby to go look for the powdered milk in the bakery. Her husband asks if anyone's seen her and a guy on sentry duty tells him they let her out of the gate WITH THE BABY awhile ago! What kind of idiots are these people? Its not a big community so they all know each other...yet this goon lets a small woman with a baby out on the streets of post-apocalypse New York!? Where people outside the gate are generally killed on sight?  You won't be suprised to learn that the husband goes after her and she still insists on looking for the powdered milk in the old bakery...and makes a damn good amount of noise too....which attracts Carrot and his thugs, who promptly kill them and use the baby for bait to draw Carson in.

3.) Carrots men climb up some conveniently placed planks into Cal's garden. They kill Cal when he tries to stop them. There was only one guy on guard duty up there and he bought the farm too. Man, these people are stupid. First, why didn't they move the planks to prevent such a thing from happening? A brain-damaged chimpanzee could see that those planks were a security hazard to the all-important garden! Even Carson says when the fights over, "Get rid of the planks." Secondly, the all-important garden only had one poor shmuck on guard duty? The other people in the commune don't seem to do much other than bitch about how hungry they are. Yeah, it might not be smart to have a bunch of them in the garden but more than one guy would've helped.

4.) The traitor guy never had a motive for telling on Carson and Melinda to Carrot. But we know he's a weasel. He set another guy up for stealing a tomato.

NUDITY AND SEX: None

HUH?: Carson never explains how he's such a good fighter. We don't learn anything about him except that he has family on some island. Was he a soldier, or a boxer? He fights with a knife...maybe he was a criminal. Anything to explain it would have been nice. Plus, why did he stand outside for two days motionless if he's on his way somewhere?

How exactly did Carson's family send word that they have it good in the Carolinas? There's no telephones or postal service. (That'd be a hell of a route...fighting crazed cannibals to deliver a letter) According to the Baron's story about his father's car the world ground to a starving halt in 1980! So we know that its been at least 30 years of really bad times! Maybe Carson has an aunt that's a psychic and sent him the message telepathically or even by carrier pigeon...no, that's not gonna work...in the beginning of the movie we see that people are eating pigeons! (Uck...that's like eating a rat....but I'd do it if I was starving!)

You know, the Baron seems like a pretty intelligent guy. The commune seems to have a decent number of men...they have a garden so you know they have some food...one can only assume they hunt for pigeons or rats or whatever also. Now, Carrot, as the Baron puts it, is a "good organizer". So lets assume that Carrot is clever. Still, why didn't the Baron, who is probably more intelligent than Carrot, attempt some kind of assualt to get rid of Carrot's threat? Carrot's flunkies don't seem too smart...just vicious in that desperate-end-of-the-world way. Carrot himself seems to only be a ruthless, talented thug. If I were the Baron the first thing on my agenda after makin sure we had some kind os sustenance and defense would be to organize a force to, well, kill any threat. Wouldn't you?

THE TALLY: This movie seemed to have the same sets from the Star Trek Episode "Miri" and the old "Planet of the Apes" TV series. I can't call it a bad movie, but as I said before, it had little tension. I knew Carson would win any fight he was in. Maybe if Carson had been injured a little in one of his fights, or if his opponents looked tougher. Still, it was enjoyable. Rent this if you want to see an end of the world movie made before Mad Max.