Get Your Pistol Out (Bronx Warriors 2 (DVD))

Member Name: spencer_hawken

Product:	Bronx Warriors 2 (DVD)
Date:	14/06/08 (54 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: New sub plot

Disadvantages: Worse than the original, surely not?

Having watched Bronx Warriors, and in honesty giving it a fairly low rating it would be rude for me not to have a look at the movies sequel shot the same year and aptly titled Bronx Warriors 2. Kind of shot back to back with the original, it's amazing how good the previous movie looked compared to this offering.

Like the original the story is set in 1990, when New York has fallen out of control due to gangs and The Bronx has been declared a no man's land. In the original movie the gangs ruled supreme over the Bronx, but in this sequel the president of a conglomerate decides to kick out the occupants of the Bronx to redevelop the area into a desirable location. Of course our gang of hoodlums don't want to give up their home without a fight.

Leading the cast is bodybuilder come actor Mark Gregory reprising his role of Trash one of the few survivors from the original. Gregory considering the short time between filming both movies seems to have paid a visit to fat camp, but not with the intention of losing weight, more to put it on. Yes Gregory had been at those muscle bulking compositions in his fight to look like the Italian version of Arnold Schwarzenegger, no longer walking like a ballet dancer it seems Gregory now is having trouble walking full stop. And here he seems to have a new super powered weapon, a pistol of all things, but one so powerful that it can blow helicopters out of the sky with a single shot; near the back end of the movie Gregory uses the same pistol to blow up a van, yet middle of the film he has to shoot it three times to kill an enemy, interesting weapon don't you think?

Gregory is not the only thing to have changed, the whole structure of the movie seems different, instead of following a similar vein to the original where the movie has a hint of The Warriors about it, this story follows more along the lines of The Planet Of The Apes movies with Gregory as Trash, Giancarlo Prete as Strike, and Alessandro Prete as Junior (father and son not only in the movie but in real life too) leading President Kent through the wastelands in order to seek justice and keep control of their precious Bronx. There are lots of explosions, gun fights, and travelling through caves in order for our heroes to complete their mission.

Director Enzo G. Castellari uses scriptwriter Tito Carpi to create a tale of political corruption between Floyd Wrangler (Henry Silva) and Vice President Hoffman (Paolo Malco), who use the kidnap of President Kent in order to get a little something for themselves. Sadly this is the only working part of the movie, and had this been giving more focus the movie might have been more successful.

The script is diabolical, the sort of thing put together by a five year old "Look at him run... he's such a fag! Ha ha ha" being an example of the script quality, but believe it or not one of the better lines in the movie. Humorously the character saying the line and a fellow character are blown up shortly after by a grenade, almost as if punishment for using such naff lines in a public place.

The movies editing needs to go on trial too with badly cut together segments that remind me of that stop motion animation used on puppet shows like Wallace And Gromit and Morph, here however this effect is used during violence, one minute a character is minding his own business the next second they are blown sky high, but with little reason or explanation why.

In Bronx Warriors Trash was a rebel without a cause, a vicious killer, misunderstood but the hardest guy in the block; yet in Bronx Warriors 2 we find this hardened man living in an apartment with Mum and Dad, who for bizarre reasons have a massive poster of their son on the wall. Thankfully though Mum and Dad are quickly despatched in the movie by police officers in silver suits wearing black motorcycle helmets, not content to just kill them our police officer killers make a barbeque with flamethrowers of Trash parents, WHOOOOOSH!

It's asad fact that Bronx Warriors looks like a masterpiece compared to this sequel, yet I guess there are worse films out there. From my much loved Italian movie stable this one is a real stinker, although I'm sure to find something worse. On the plus side the camp white suited, gold tap hated thugs make a return to do an Astaire and Rogers style routine, these characters being the lasting impression from the previous movie. Sadly stars that made the first movie Vic Morrow, Fred Williamson, and Christopher Connelly may have been all that was needed to elevate this out of a rather sticky mire.

Sadly or rather fortunately I guess Bronx Warriors 2 is only available on the now nonexistent Vipco label in the UK. You can pick up the movie for only £2 from the likes of Amazon and Ebay, there are trailers for Shogun Assassin, Psychic Killer, Cannibal Holocaust as the only special feature worth a mention.


Spencer Hawken 06/08

Summary: A sequel....... WHY????