By the year 2040, civilization has gone from bad to worse and regressed to the medieval. Mobile guerrillas prey upon villages scattered across a drought-scarred landscape. Enter a few good men and women who join the fray to defend a helpless town against vicious bandits. Sound familiar?
Imagine THE SEVEN SAMURAI or THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, less several pesos and a body or two, and betrayed by an editing technique that resembles the handiwork of a shredder. And despite the title, there are no dunes in DUNE WARRIOR, a pseudo-epic produced south of the border.
The film opens as William (Luke Askew) and his band of degenerates annihilate a peaceful village with swords, guns and rockets to seize the water supply. After years of drought it is more precious than bullets and blood, which runs profusely. A lone survivor--not for long--tells them there is no
water here, but that a reservoir awaits them in Chinle, a distant town. By now William's ghastly crew is parched, irritable and short of gasoline. They push on to Chinle, where slaughter and pillage are sure to abound. Although critically dependent on its water supply, the settlement has failed to
post sentinels to warn of danger. The human sheep are too busy digging in the dirt--an unexplained task--to know of attack until William strikes.
Val (Jillian McWhirter), the belle of Chinle, escapes that night to seek help for her people. At daylight she is chased by a horde of mutant midgets, but is saved from an awful fate by Michael (David Carradine), whom we briefly met as he surveyed the aftermath of William's first raid. With sword
slung over his shoulder "Kung Fu" style, he roams the wasteland hunting the evil chief. (Just what their connection is, or why Michael is an avenger, is unclear. Perhaps William murdered his family. Or, since they bear some resemblance, maybe they are estranged brothers.) Michael takes Val to
Freetown, a regional center. There, she meets a freelance troupe of warrior rogues and rascals, led by John (Rick Hill), who unite to defend her home.
Meanwhile, the conquering gang withdraw to raid elsewhere, leaving only a token guard. Michael and company recapture and fortify Chinle, then train the locals in combat to prepare for William's return. But among them lurks a traitor, Val's fiance Luis (Henry Strzalkowski), who severs the fuel
lines to the flame throwers, thus disabling the main weapons for the brief siege. The warriors and some villagers offer a robust defense but are forced to retreat into the hills. Dorian (Blake Boyd) is captured and sentenced to fight William's lieutenant to the death in the morning. Meanwhile,
John discovers a cache of automatic weapons and grenades in a cave. The freedom fighters return at dawn to do final battle with their ruthless oppressors. Michael duels William and metes out justice.
DUNE WARRIORS tells a simple story, sunk by poorly executed action sequences. Several times, the awkward editing, with scant regard for continuity, strings together separate sword fight master shots in mid-motion. Paging Sam Peckinpah! The dialogue, performances, production design,
cinematography, combat dynamics and stuntwork are all mediocre at best. Credibility is therefore the first casualty. And not a whisper is devoted to all the corpses and pain. Similar carnage has been seen before, and often to far more potent effect. (Violence, sexual situations, nudity.) leave a comment
