An Enraged New World (2002) User Reviews

Amateur sci-fi movie is great fun

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 7 July 2016]

WOW! A highly impressive fifty-minute movie from Scythe Productions, their most professional to date and also their most cinematic! Mike Martinez and his cast and crew build on previous experience to deliver an excellent little movie, packed with neat camera tricks, directorial flourishes, an engaging story and some hilarious acting in places! A steady tide of well-choreographed action keeps the movie zooming along nicely and the amount of work and effort put into the production is tremendous. Things begin explosively as the credits play out over a string of explosions (footage cribbed from other movies, of course) while pumping music plays. The film begins for real when three astronauts crash-land in a lake and find themselves in a barren world seemingly totally devoid of any human life (incidentally, this opening is EXACTLY the same as in the film THE AFTERMATH!).

After lots of trekking through some splendid (and eerily isolated) Alaskan scenery, our unlucky heroes find themselves battling mutant gas mask-wearing soldiers and soon only one man, Corporal Roger Corman (!) is left alive. Taking a hostage, he escapes into a nearby city and makes a horrific discovery. Okay, so AN ENRAGED NEW WORLD doesn't have a lot of story, but being an action-orientated flick it doesn't need to. The latter half of the film is packed with gun battles, stuntmen, and cheap explosions and is a real riot to watch. Things finish off with a genuinely surprising twist ending which I didn't see coming and which throws a whole new light on previous occurrences. Although the acting is a bit lacking (although noticeably better than in THE FROZEN INFERNO, for instance), leading star George Thompson is impossible to dislike, proving himself a force to be reckoned with in the action stakes (that flip he does is a hoot!) and mugging into the camera more openly than Jackie Chan at other times!

Mike manages to throw in some pleasing references to his beloved Italian cinema (Lenzi' THE EXECUTIONER appears playing on a television in one scene, and there's a YOR THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE poster in another) whilst spicing the film up with music varying from orchestral pieces to a newly-composed synthesiser score which is impossibly catchy. One of my favourite scenes is in the spooky segment with the ALIEN theme playing - a nice touch. Most impressively of all, Italian cult cinema icon Gordon Mitchell appears in a cameo appearance which is almost exactly the same as the one he had in 2 + 5: MISSION HYDRA (both scenes involve Mitchell appearing for ten seconds on a monitor), thirty-seven years previously! Cheesy computer animations only add to the irresistible brew. AN ENRAGED NEW WORLD is everything it should be but above all else is a lot of fun - so I recommend seeing it now!

Unjustly praised Martinez Effort

[znowhite01 · 4/10 · 17 February 2008]

An Enraged New World is hardly the Martinez masterpiece its reputation and user comments want you to believe, but when placed in a career as sketchy and tumultuous as his, the cringe factor is considerably less than any of the Video8 efforts. Opening with a horrendous techno beat more suitable for the dating scene at a dive bar than a gritty sci-fi adventure, we're soon thrown on board a spacecraft (more likely the server room for tech services at the local college) with three astronauts finally landing after seven years of space study. (Whether they had gay relations or remained celibate for all that time is a question plaguing this viewer.) After a crash in the lake in a series of unconvincing miniatures and plundered stock footage that would make Antonio Margheriti and Umberto Lenzi collectively throw their hands in shame, the three 'nauts roam a deserted countryside trying to piece together logic and sanity. The proceeding banter and play acting between these thespians is easily the worst I have ever seen in my life of movie-watching. These dumbos do line readings with the confidence of first graders reciting Shakespeare and even their mere task of reacting is horribly misguided and awkward. Even worse, these "actors" wander the frame with not a clue what to do, and it just takes me right out of the narrative. It also doesn't help that Mike directs them one line at a time and from poor angles to boot, making whole scenes even more disjointed than the actors could have made them on their own. And what's with all the hand-held zooms and blown out skies?

So a couple death scenes come and go with no dramatic tension besides the fun of identifying which Italian crime score Mike has plundered yet again. One particular combat sequence has the worst editing and choreography of any action scene outside of high school plays. I thought the out-of-focus shots during this karate match were poor photography, but now I know Martinez was trying to blur his inept actors and phony punches. We then move on to the best scene of the movie: a college campus massacre. Could have used some blood, then again this movie could have used a script. On to some really great locations in the snow now, and the sequence with masked soldiers surrounding George Thompson in the abandoned factory is easily the most tense in the entire picture, this in part due to the lack of music, great sound design and decent (or maybe I should say non-cringing) acting from Thompson for once. With a tape now in his possession, he returns to a frosty apartment complex and forces his way into some stupid tart's house to watch it. She can't act for heck either and she's quickly shot down by a platoon of gunfire with nary a squirt of blood. Very convincing again, Mike.

An enraged new gunfight take place in which the credits proudly proclaim 44 humans were killed (like anyone gives a rat's fanny) and the protagonist wakes up in a frightening plot twist that may seem cool for anyone who hasn't seen Fight Club. So basically, it's cool for no-one. Gordon Mitchell shows up and he's underutilized in his not-so-great cameo, but compared to the rest of the hacks around him, it's a Daniel Day-Lewis performance.

On the plus side, it's fairly well-paced and somewhat ambitious even when considering it fails on so many levels.

Mike's best film to date!

[Pingo-2 · 9/10 · 15 February 2003]

AN ENRAGED NEW WORLD is something unique: it's a low-budget very long short-film that actually is entertaining, fun, action-packed and even has a GREAT twist ending!

Mike A. Martinez has made pretty much fun short-films, but AENW is his absolute best. It shows that Mike will someday become a very good feature director. He has a great sence of humour and a LARGE amount of imagination, which is so important when creating no- or low-budget films.

In AENW we meet three astronauts that find themselves on an Earth they are not familiar with when they come back from their seven year mission. It starts of like PLANET OF THE APES, becomese then DAY OF THE DEAD and suddenly turns into something completely different with one of the best endings I've ever seen in a production like this.

AENW has some moments where everything isn't perfect, as the shuttle-crash in the beginning for instance. But this is all lifted by great acting by George Thompson, very cool effects in the later part of the movie and perfect locations and sets!

Mike has, as always, done a tremendous job with directing, filming and especially editing! Mike is a very creative editor, which shows in AENW.

AENW is the Scythe-guys first production featuring female actors too, which is both good and bad. It's fun to see that someone more than just Mike's closest friends shows up for a good time "at the studios" :), but the actresses doesn't do any remberable performances. This doesn't matter though, because the action is so intence, so nicely done and very cool, that you forgive them for any bad acting.

AENW is the best short-film action-movie I've ever seen. 48 minutes have never past this fast! Now I am only waiting for Mike's new movie CHIMERA!

9 of 10

Mike has done a great job

[SgtSlaughter · 10/10 · 12 August 2002]

This is the only movie I've seen made by Mike Martinez and the crew at Scythe Productions, but it's a great movie. Well written, acted, and edited. Also some great music, stunts, and gunfights. Real costumes and sets are here too. Gotta love the plot twist at the end, too. AND Gordon Mitchell, from many 60s-70s Italian-Spanish films appears here as well. Adds a lot of credibility to the movie. Perhaps Scythe's next movie will be even longer, on an even higher budget and will grace the big screen. I hope to see more from these guys in the future.

An entertaining Sci-fi look at the woes of the real world.

[jtomasp22 · 8/10 · 23 April 2002]

An exciting bit of entertainment from Independent film producer, Mike A. Martinez and his Alaskan film troupe.

The story is brought to the screen via a viable script with loads of flashy special effects and exciting dialogue. Coupled with a stirring mixture of World class film scores and original music it sets the pace for drama, intrigue and a unique twist of the plot near the end.

An exciting idea for a movie, we would love to see more from Scythe Productions down the road someday. This time perhaps, on the big screen, and with a big budget. Possibly, even a remake of this film with an extended script, and same fine cast and crew.

Gordon Mitchell's cameo was no doubt, one of the film's high-lights and added greatly to the film, being well placed within the folds of cinematography, by the astute editing of Mike Martinez himself.

For the vote, we'll have to give this film a thumbs-up and a big eight. As a fan of Mike Martinez and his work, I reason that there is always the best, yet to come. Keep up the great work Guy.

An entertaining movie.

[fswah · 9/10 · 30 March 2002]

This is an entertaining movie and extremely well done for the resources the director and cast had access to. Recommended to those who enjoy plot twists unlike most other movies.

Good stuff

[zacheh · 4 December 2002]

Enraged New World is promising homegrown no-budget sci-fi film that appears to have been shot largely in Alaska. The location work is outstanding for what was probably a film that cost the price of the DV tapes and PBJ Sandwiches for the actors. The lead George N. Thompson (as Corp. Roger Corman!) gives a good performance and makes up for some of the unevenness of a few of the other actors. What really make the film enjoyable is the strong, serious, story and direction. Think Tarkovsky's THE STALKER meets Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD with a dash of Bruce Lee. Martinez shows a nack for storytelling and it would be interesting to see what he could do with a budget.

Great low budget film

[zacheh · 24 May 2003]

Enraged New World is great homegrown no-budget sci-fi film that appears to have been shot largely in Alaska. The location work is outstanding for what was probably a film that cost the price of the DV tapes and PBJ Sandwiches for the actors. The lead George N. Thompson (as Corp. Roger Corman!) gives a good performance. What really make the film enjoyable is the strong, serious, story and direction. Think Tarkovsky's THE STALKER meets Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD with a dash of Bruce Lee. Martinez shows a nack for storytelling and look forward to seeing what he will do in the future with a budget.