Exterminators in the Year 3000 [Blu-ray] [US Import]

Scream Factory digs even deeper than usual with their latest hi-def offering of the sci-fi / apocalyptic “Exterminators of the Year 3000.” Director Jules Harrison’s (aka Giuliano Carnimeo) low-budget Italian / Spanish blend of “The Road Warrior” and Death Race” blows up all over the screen with exciting car crashes and chases. To add even more camp to the movie, the most ridiculous dialogue you’ll ever hear is overdubbed as half the cast speaks English and the others shout their lines in their native tongues.

In “Exterminators of the Year 3000,” the post-apocalyptic earth is a desert and water is the most precious substance of all. A band of survivors must turn to a mysterious stranger (Robert Iannucci) to battle a ruthless gang of motorcycle psychos for control of the wasteland and the water. Can their reluctant savior defeat the sadistic outlaws and get the water back home before their supply runs out?

Every part of “Exterminators of the Year 3000” invokes images of other end-of-the-world films of the 1970s and 1980s. The demolition derby jousting and destruction is obviously heavily influenced by “Mad Max,” “The Road Warrior,” and the original “Death Race 2000.” The survivor’s compound, water plant, and other locations are extremely reminiscent of the ones seen in “Logan’s Run” and “Battle for the Planet of the Apes.”

Anti-hero Alien looks like he walked off the set of “Megaforce” wearing Barry Bostwick’s hair and headband combined with Peter Hunter’s costume from “Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone.” Alicia Moro’s wardrobe and makeup department appear to have watched episodes of “Battlestar Galactica” and studied Farrah Fawcett’s hairstyle in “Saturn 3” to get their inspiration. Head bad guy Fernando Bilboa looks as if he was given permission to raid the left-over wardrobe from “The Road Warrior” for his outfit.

Scream Factory gives more bonus material than one would expect for such an obscure movie as “Exterminators of the Year 3000.” Audio commentary is provided by Actor Robert Iannucci. He also provides a detailed interview where he talks about his involvement in the making of the movie and shares his experiences working with the other actors. TV spots are included as well.

Although it’s nowhere near as graphic as movies of this nature would be today, “Exterminators of the Year 3000” is rated R. It contains violence and gore, profanity, alcohol use by a minor, and frightening and intense scenes. The scene of a young boy downing beer after beer as a pain killer might offend some. One other sequence has our heroes battling mutants that resemble the deformed ones from “Beneath the Planet of the Apes.”

“Exterminators of the Year 3000” is the perfect film for those who have ran out of “Mad Max” and “Death Race” flicks to watch. It’s a B-movie to top all B-movies that conjures up the same tingles and giggles you get when watching anything Roger Corman produced or directed in the 1970s and 1980s. With the release of “Mad Max: Fury Road” so close on the horizon, I can’t think of a more fitting time for audiences to enjoy this little known cult classic.

After the global success of the 2nd Mad Max movie titled "The Road Warrior" here in the states, the Italian film industry at that time started churning out dozens of cheap Mad Max ripoffs to cash in on another film's success. One of those films was 1983's "Exterminators of the Year 3000" which has received a bluray release courtesy of the awesome folk at Scream Factory. Whereas gasoline was the ingredient that the world had ran out of in Mad Max, in "Exterminators of the Year 3000" the world has ran out of water. The film was like so many other cheap Italian knockoffs made on the cheap and that is a big part that adds to the charm of films of this particular ilk. It doesn't make hardly any sense plot wise and features an abrupt ending that makes even less sense. The film is a bit too long and could have been trimmed up easily by about 20 minutes of so which would have helped it. It's not my favorite Mad Max ripoff but is still a decent little time waster.

As for the bluray quality, the film is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen and the picture quality shows that the film didn't receive any kind of frame by frame restoration. Detail is moderate but the film doesn't feature any compression artifacts and this is the best by far the film has ever looked so fans should be happy. The sound only makes use of the front channels but is mixed well. Extras include any interview with the main star of the film any long with an informative and fun commentary track featuring the same actor. Overall you could do worse than this film but it does what it sets out to do and is worth checking out overall.

This is such a cool movie with an equally cool soundtrack.
Kinda like Mad Max italian style with lots of slow mo crashes and explosions.
An electronic soundscape that speeds the movie along through the dirt and rocks.
I love everything about it!

With the release of MAD MAX and it’s follow up THE ROAD WARRIOR low budget studios jumped on the band wagon making post-apocalyptic films like crazy. The majority of these came from Italy, a country known to latch on to various genres that were big making them their own. So when this movie was released fans of the genre flocked to theaters showing the film. It might not have been playing at enough screens to make a dent financially but it did well enough to have several more films released with the same theme going forward.

After nuclear war has made most of the world a barren desert wasteland people form packs trying to survive. Most are the angry, warrior type groups seen in movies like this. They wear the most outrageous outfits that seem to have nothing to do with their environment and spout various forms of headbands and accoutrements that simply make them look terrifying to the normal scavenger on the road. But they aren’t the only ones out there.

Another group has banded together to do their best to continue the survival of mankind. Gathered in a well-protected fortification they have greenhouses held in caves within. But their water supply is running low and if they can’t find any soon all of the plants will die and with them this ragtag group. The father of one young boy has already gone in search of water never to return. Now his son sets out to follow in his father’s footsteps, recruiting a loner he come across named Alien.

A loner by choice Alien really doesn’t want to help the group at all. He’s more concerned about getting back his car, a specially modified ride that he stole from the leader of the motorcycle gang that’s been terrorizing anyone on the road. But the young boy and Alien eventually find an engineer that Alien knows as well as his helper. When they learn that the boy has an idea of where water can be found they decide to help. Alien still wants to run off but has second thoughts. Before the end of the film one group will face off against the other, some will live while others die and the future of the world will be decided.

The first thing to know about these movies made in Italy is that there was no expense too great for them to put their stories on film. That’s because they had little to no expense to work with. But that didn’t stop them from making some decent action/sci-fi films that are as enjoyable today as they were when released. While the end results may not compare to the original films that inspired them as well as the Spaghetti westerns did to their inspiration, movies like this did result in some fun flicks.

The biggest part of the budget for these films went into the vehicles that were modified or blown up in one way or another. Second on that list was the screenplay that put it all in motion. While all involved do a great job the actors were further down the list than these two items and it doesn’t matter. As I said, all involved do a great job with the material they have as well as the fact that many didn’t even speak the same language as those around them. These films were noted for involving actors from around the world, language be damned.

The end result is a bit campy at times but a full blown action flick at others. The story is involving enough and the movie doesn’t lose near as much in translation as many do. The fact that the depth of the plot isn’t that deep helps with that. What the result is is a fun time for those who like the genre and for those looking for something different to watch. The blu-ray put out by Shout/Scream Factory is as clean as can be expected for a low budget film like this and should please those who’ve had to scrounge around for bootleg copies of the film or VHS copies. The extras are a bit lean but I’m guessing there weren’t many to be had with this one. If you’re a fan though you’ll definitely want to add this one to your collection.

Exterminators of the Year 3000 is the story of a second-rate Mad Max character named Alien. In this Spanish-Italian rip-off of The Road Warrior, Alien travels the wasteland in search of water that he can sell to become rich. Along the way he meets up with a kid and a woman who eventually help him defeat a gang of desert raiders.

There are some great schlock moments to savor here. If you’re feeling a bad movie night, I highly recommend this for Mad Max fans and lovers of Italian 80s cinema. Have a few drinks and enjoy this with some friends. There are plenty of laughable moments and opportunities to riff the film for taking itself so seriously. Don’t spoil it for yourself if you’re interested. It’s worth it.