Reviewed by Brain #1.
Films Genre: Post Nuke Topics Discussed: Mutants, Canadian Filmaking, Sci Fi Channel, TV Pilots, Remo Williams
Deathlands: Homeward Bound
For those of you not in the know, Deathlands is a book series by James Axler, it's an adventure series in similiar vein to Destroyer of Mac Bolan novels except set 100 years after a Nuclear War. I've read a few and they are fun page turners, lots of macho gun talk but the backdrop and characters pave over that. Having said that, Deathlands : Homeward Bound manages to do something quite rare which is make a watchable movie despite what is obviously a limited budget. Shot in the outskirts of Toronto (I swear I am not focusing on Canadian projects!) Deathlands follows eye patched Ryan Cawdor (Vincent Spano) and his crew of soldiers of fortune as they venture into a dark chapter of Ryan's past. First off, the casting is almost perfect, everybody looks how I'd imagine them other than Jack the Mutant, I always pictured him looking more like Elric the elf. The film makers cleverly use editing, filters and sound to make you think you're watching a bigger budget production and it works. The material is based on the fifth book although some characters are missing, it's good starting point to meet the characters. Deathland's actors don't take themselves too seriously (save for one scenary chewing bad guy) and they really shouldn't. Traci Lords is the "name star" here but she's rather bland and I'd rather watch stunning co-star Jenya Lano anyday. It's obvious that Deathlands was produced to serve as some sort of a pilot for Sci Fi channel, apparantly many Deathlands fans hated it. I think that it would have gained a strong following had it been given a chance. However, anytime a crew of misfits gets into a futuristic vehicle and heads off into the forbidden zone, I'm the first guy in line. FINAL ASESSMENT: TOO BAD IT DIDN'T GET PICKED UP. *** (out of five) IMDB Death Lands Page Homepage
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